Real solution can only come by including the world, not by isolating ourselves, says AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI
Everyone faces problems. How we solve them determines whether we will succeed in doing so or get entangled in it and lose our peace of mind. In the epic Mahabharata, Dronacharya was a very important character. In his childhood, he became friendly with Drupada who later became a king. Dronacharya became a saint and he used to spend time in meditation. His family had measly income. They could just manage two meals a day. He had a son, who used to ask for milk. They could not afford to buy milk for him. Therefore, the boy’s mother used to mix wheat flour in water to make it look like milk. But she was unhappy doing so. Therefore, one day, she complained to her husband about their abject poverty. Dronacharya now began to think about how the situation could be rectified. In this process, he remembered his childhood friend Drupada, who had by now become a king. Maybe he would help as they had parted after taking a vow that they would share everything in future. When Dronacharya met Drupada, the latter instead of helping him made fun of him. Dronacharya felt insulted, especially when this humiliation came from his childhood friend, who was very close to him.
Dronacharya now vowed to teach Drupada a lesson which he would never forget. Dronacharya decided to annex the kingdom of Drupada. For achieving this aim, he became a paid teacher of the Kauravas. He trained their children in the art of warfare. Since Dronacharya was very good, he produced expert warriors like Arjuna. Once Dronacharya was satisfied that his disciples were ready, he sent them to conquer Drupada, which they duly did. Dronacharya took half of the Drupada’s kingdom and left the other half to him. Now Drupada became enraged and vowed to avenge this humiliation. That is another story but we will restrict ourselves to Dronacharya’s future activities. He was now tied to the kingdom of Hastinapur. In the subsequent war between Pandavas and Kauravas, he was obliged to take the side of Kauravas, who were in the wrong. He was killed in the war having discredited himself, having taken the side of adharma.
Where did Dronacharya go wrongIJ He made the same mistake as we all do; we gather facts about the problem and focus on them without including the rest of the world, ie we try to solve our problems by isolating ourselves from the rest of the world, whereas the world has much to do with our problems and their solutions. The ideal way to solve a problem, ie its evaluation, analysis and its consequences requires inclusion of the rest of the world and also its superintendent — God. Real solution can only come by including the world, not by isolating ourselves from the rest of the world. If Dronacharya had thought of the wider ramification of his problem, he would have never acted the way he did, whereby he got into trouble and lost both his dharma and life.
In short, we have to love the world. It will provide what we need. We cannot solve our problems by hating the world. Being a part of the problem, we need the world to solve our problems. Dronacharya should have acted like a guru and his disciples would have given enough dakshina to meet all his needs.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com