Skip to main content

Empathy and its value

 We just concluded our Govardhan Pooja 2023 or Annakoot for this year. We displayed Sri Krishna in 4 different forms as he is worshipped in different parts of India and elsewhere. This was an eye opening for many as some of us didn’t realize that these were forms of Krishna!

One of the most interesting form amongst all was the Lord Jagannatha!

Lord or Bhagwan Jagannatha is any form is depicted as an incomplete form but with big rather huge eyes for its form. The question is why? The Lord has big eyes because he sees it all. He sees you, me and all of us. He sees all of our issues and our problems. He sees and watches each of the hardships we go through and supports us along the same. 

But really what does he see? You me, others or our acts, wants, needs, stories and thoughts?

Sri Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison. But he was transported to Gokul and was celebrated by a doting mother and a father –Yashoda and Nandbaba. He was always surrounded by the people of Gokul, Vrindavan and surrounding villages that accused him of stealing butter, but adored him dearly. Krishna was always surrounded by love and all he saw was love. 

Later in life, Sri Krishna saw Kansa – a despotic ruler who sent his father to prison to assume his throne. Kansa was also the reason why Sri Krishna’s parents were in prison. Kansa tried to kill Sri Krishna multiple times through his growing up years. Did Krishna see him like a villain or as a child who was born out of angst? Did Krishna see Kansa as a tyrannical ruler or a person longing for love? Did Krishna killed Kansa and looked at him in disdain or granted him peace?

Sri Krishna later established Dwarka and was known as Dwarkadhish. In this capacity, he intervened in the popular battle of Mahabharata where he tried to mediate between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He even promised his army to fight against himself in the battle. But did he really see two cousins fighting themselves? Or did he see Duryodhana – a child deprived of love. 

Duryodhana had a father who could not see due to his blindness since birth, and a mother who would not see due to her blindness in order to support her husband. Imagine a child in place of Duryodhana! Wouldn’t the child be scarred for life? 

Sri Krishna saw Duryodhana for what he was and admired him and showed his blessing in every bit possible. Possibly that’s the reason for the large eyes of Lord Jagannatha. He sees it all. Yet he showers his blessings on us. 

I wish we all grant the Krishna in us a chance. Be able to see the other for what they are – Do not judge by appearance or one event at all…. See who they really are, why are they the way they are! Have an empathy towards everyone. Not only will it make us Krishna, but will also help us develop a better human being.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flags and their meanings in Mahabharata

Last night I was telling the bedside story to the younger love of my life, when she asked – “How do you identify the leader of the troop in a war – particularly in a warzone where a lot of people are fighting against each other”? While I explained to her how the modern warfare works and how the generals lead the army today, I also imagined the warcraft of yesterday and started to describe the vivid imagination fueled by the magnanimity of the movies like Bahubali, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. The job was simple as we both had watched the movies together. And she understood all that I told her. Yet a question from her made me fumble – Do all the warriors have a flag on their chariot, and what do they mean? In my research for the answer, I stumbled upon the information that I would like to share with you too. In the Viraat Parva of Mahabharata, Arjuna under the disguise of Brihannala plays the role of the charioteer for Prince Uttara of Virata kingdom. Under the condition
7 comments
Read more

Karwa Chauth - Why does moon rise so late?

I have often wondered as to why the moon rises late on the Karwa Chauth night. It’s probably because our hungry stomachs rebel and start cursing the moon instead of praying, that slows it down! Actually on a full moon day, the moon rises exactly at the time of sunset. The moon takes 27.3 days to travel once around the earth. This is also the next full moon day. To travel 360 degrees in 27.3 days, the moon moves approx. 13 degrees towards the east every day. Thus the moon rise increases by approx. 48 min per day in relation to the sunset. On the Karva Chauth day – 4 days after the full moon day, the moon rises 48*4 = 192 min (3 hrs and 12 min) after the sunset. Now please do notice the moon rise timings everyday and see the pattern!
1 comment
Read more

Ganesha - Reviving the series - 10

The series cannot be completed without mentioning the reach of Lord Ganesha to cultures outside of India. In this last post for this year’s series, I shall try to present some more lesser known facts about the spread of the Lord Ganesha’s influence in Indian and non Indian cultures. During the early medieval period, both Jains and Buddhists incorporated Ganesh into their pantheon. The Ganesha cult thus travelled with the Mahayana Buddhism to distant lands, including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, China, Mongolia and Japan. Ganesha’s worship spread in all the regions rapidly. Manjangan ( Ganesha ) temple in  Bali ,  Indonesia Ganesha in Ta Prohm, Angkor For the Jains, Ganesha appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. The earliest reference to Ganesha in Jainism is in the Abhidhanacintamani of Hemachandra. It refers to several appelations of Lord Ganesha such as Herama, Ganavgnesa and Vinayaka and visualizes him as elephant headed, pot bellied
Post a Comment
Read more