चाह गई चिंता मिटी, मनुआ बेपरवाह।

 I was listening to the story of King Shantanu from the Mahabharata this morning. King Shantanu looks at Ganga and falls in love. I really don't know what "love" means here. He decides to marry her, and Ganga agrees on the condition that the king will never ask about her identity or what she does. Eventually, she gives birth to 7 children and offers the newborns to the river. The king feels extremely pained by this and yet does not say anything to keep his promise. However, when the eighth son is being offered to the river, the king becomes extremely angry and stops Ganga, asking her why she is doing this. Ganga tells him the story that these 8 babies were the 8 Vasus who were cursed by Sage Vashistha. When the Vasus begged for pardon from Vashistha, he said they would be born, and soon after, they would attain salvation. However, since one of them did not beg the pardon of Vashistha, he could not be offered to the river and stayed as Bhishma.

Bhishma's life was the most painful in the entire Mahabharata. The Mahabharata began with Shantanu's desire to marry Ganga. The foundation of the Mahabharata was laid with the desire of Shantanu to marry Satyavati. Due to the condition put across by the father of Satyavati that her son shall be coronated as the king of Hastinapur, Bhishma took a vow not to marry and to protect the kingdom of Hastinapur. These two vows laid the foundation for the Battle of Kurukshetra and for Bhishma's constant suffering. Bhishma took the vow to protect the kingdom of Hastinapur, and that's why he participated in the Swamvara of Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika to get queens for Vichitravirya, the son of Shantanu and Satyavati. Against the rules of Swamvara, he took away the princesses and yet refused to marry them. Directly or indirectly, he stood on the side of Adharma on many occasions. He could not prevent Shankuni and Duryodhana from cheating the Pandavas in the game of Chausar and sending them to the forest. He could not stand with the Pandavas when Duryodhana planned to burn them in the Lakshagraha. He could not stand by the side of the Pandavas when Dushasana tried to take the clothes off Draupadi. Finally, in the battle of Kurukshetra, he also fought against the Pandavas and Krishna.

One desire of Vasu led to the battle of Kurukshetra. I don't know why we can't see what desires do to us? Can't a king like Shantanu understand what his desire will lead to? Can't Dhritrastra understand that his own desire will be the cause of the destruction of his entire family? Can't Duryodhana see his desire to be the ruler, leading to the killing of all his brothers? Shantanu had lust, Dhritrastra had an inferiority complex and wanted to be the ruler of Hastinapur to prove his superiority, Duryodhana was ambitious, and his ambition made him arrogant. Bhishma desired to prove himself true to his word and become an icon of strength of character. Dronacharya desired to defeat Drupad. Karna desired to be proven a better warrior than Arjuna. 

Where do all these desires come from? Why did Krishna have no such desire? How can he leave Radha and his friends so easily, despite being so deeply in love with them? Krishna's love was so profound that Hindus still celebrate the Raasleela of Krishna, yet he left Brij at the drop of a hat. This is because krishna knew that love is not dependent on physical proximity. The love between Krishna and Radha to date has no parallel, despite their being apart from each other throughout their lives after Krishna left for Mathura. Then how can Shantanu not leave Ganga and Satyavati? Krishna left Mathura after defeating Jarasandha because he knew it was not a peaceful place and would always be prone to attack. He did not make it an ego issue. This is because he did not have an inferiority complex. How could Krishna not develop that arrogance despite both Arjuna and Duryodhana coming to beg his support? It is because Krishna did not have the shallow understanding of life that Duryodhana had. Duryodhana had a very limited understanding of life, and he never ever challenged that; his "well-wishers" doomed him further by adding fuel to the fire of his arrogance. 

It's not easy to live like Krishna. However, we can try. That's the entire purpose of the Mahabharata. It just requires one thing. Setting the centre right. Setting the centre around truth. Truth is never limited. It is never static. The truth evolves constantly, and that's why we have to be constantly aware. That's what Krishna did all through his life. It's not so difficult to watch ourselves. We can easily notice which action of ours is guided by what instinct. The deeper we enquire, and the more clearly we see that all these desires are the result of some deep disconnection within. If that inner connection is well-established, the outer world will lose its attraction for us. Not so that we will renounce the world. We will live like Krishna, not bound by anything, yet living fully in each and every moment. Krishna was not affected by any outcome of the Kurukshetra, yet he was present at every significant event on the battlefield as if he directed the entire play. That can happen when we are complete within and not seeking. We are at our best when we don't seek, and we don't seek when we are complete. Rahim, a famous Hindi poet, says:

चाह गई चिंता मिटी, मनुआ बेपरवाह।

जिनको कछु न चाहिए, वे साहन के साह॥