When I had posted about Nitya Geeta Sudha, a kind soul requested me to identify one verse that signifies or rather captures the entire essence of that chapter. This is a very challenging task as Srimad Bhagwad Gita speaks to individual in different ways at different times and to different individuals differently. It’s not an understatement to say that this indeed is an Herculean task. Embarking on this journey, I first beg for forgiveness for the lapses and gaps in my understanding and invoke Sri Krishna to guide me on this arduous journey. In this series, I aim to identify and quantify exactly one SINGLE shloka / verse (not a compound verse i.e. 2 back-to-back verses) that I feel exactly captures the essence of the chapter. Along with this I aim to identify some notable mentions and some interesting aspects of other verses. This is just my attempt to put down my understanding of Sri Krishna’s words and I am quite certain that this in itself will be a learning and humbling experie...
In Mahabharata, one of the most discussed events is the Draupadi Vastraharana. Among the many stories around this incident, I would like to draw attention to one of them. When Dushassana starts pulling the vastra of Draupadi, it seems she was holding onto the last shred of cloth and calling out to Krishna. There comes a point of time where she just lets go and surrenders herself to the almighty. Sri Krishna does come to the rescue of his sister and ensures her respect, dignity and honour are protected. As humans, this is a great lesson of Bhakti and surrender. There comes multiple instances in one’s life where circumstances seem to compound on each other and there seems to be absolutely no way out of the pit we find ourselves in. In times of such hopelessness, naturally we turn to the almighty for emotional support, some sort of divine intervention or guidance. We hope or rather believe that Bhagwan or God ensures that he will take care of us in these testing periods and wo...