Krishna, having all the powers that he had, was very intuitive.
When he saw Arjuna approaching this time, Krishna could sense there was something not okay. Arjuna’s usual energy and grace were clearly missing. He seemed pre-occupied and unsettled about something. Arjuna had never before come unannounced to the city of Dwarka.
Krishna welcomed him with a tight embrace. He took Arjuna to the sitting area by the window. The night was beautiful and mesmerizingly quiet. In the distance, one could see lanterns creating a magical view of the horizon. Clearly the magic was lost on Arjuna.
Krishna asked Arjuna, whom he treated as a dear brother, whether he would like to have a hot meal after the long travel. But Arjuna, with a half-smile on a worried face, mentioned that he wasn’t feeling hungry.
Krishna allowed Arjuna to soak in the atmosphere for a while. He then lovingly put a hand on his shoulder, and asked “What is it that even takes away the hunger of the greatest warrior of the nation?”
Arjuna sighed and Krishna could see the struggle on his face. He could see that Arjuna was in a lot of emotional pain and anxiety. He expressed to Krishna that actually he was quite embarrassed and ashamed to even talk about the subject.
To which Krishna answered that Arjuna came to Dwarka because he knew that Krishna was the one he could open his heart to. Krishna’s warm and loving eyes glowed with the light of all the oil lamps that lit the area.
Arjuna nodded. Krishna allowed him all the time he needed to say what he wanted.
Finally, Arjuna hesitatingly expressed that he was jealous, and was finding it hard to share. He was the person who won her, and he still had to share her with his brothers. His mother had ordained that all the brothers were to be her husbands. He was envious, yet wanted Krishna to save him from his selfishness. He loved his brothers and also Draupadi, and had no clue what to do.
Love could humble even the greatest of warriors. Krishna could feel his pain.
Arjuna the mighty wanted to know why a person is selfish.
Krishna looked at the shimmering lights in the distance and said the problem lay in the fact that man is not selfish enough. Selfishness of the greatest denominator and the smallest denominator is lost to man. If man found that, it would take care of all of man’s troubles.
An already exhausted, hurt Arjuna looked at Krishna in a daze. This strange riddle was not what he had expected.
Krishna explained further. Humans were made selfish for a reason, if they were not selfish, they would not be able to survive and they would not be able to progress in their soul journey. However, humans seemed to have failed on both the fronts.
Arjuna said he had no idea what Krishna was talking about. Yet, Arjuna knew Krishna too well. Therefore, somewhere deep down he was aware that there was a celestial secret that he was going to learn. And with Krishna, he also knew that he would have to be patient.
He urged Krishna to explain this riddle.
Krishna nodded and turned around to face Arjuna.
“Let us look from the smallest to the greatest denominator. A man first is selfish for himself, is that right?”
Arjuna nodded.
“Next he is selfish for his family, then for his community, then perhaps for his city, in rare cases for his country but the greatest denominator is lost to him. Do you follow what I am conveying?”
“You mean the entire planet?” Arjuna’s eyes widened with a realization.
Krishna smiled, “Yes, after a point when the numbers start becoming too big Man stops caring. It is too much for him to grasp but he does not understand that in the largest good is his good. If he is not selfish about the planet there is no point being selfish about the country, the city or the community.”
“What is the smallest denominator then,” wondered Arjuna.
“Your soul. You may think that your body is the smallest denominator but there is something even more valuable and smaller, the soul that your body hides. If you are selfish for your soul, then you will never think of just the body.”
Arjun sat awe-struck looking at Krishna.
“The creator made you selfish for the extreme ends of the spectrum where Man unfortunately never reaches. If you are selfish for the entire planet and then selfish for the soul all your decisions will be wise and moral. You shall see the real yourself.”
Arjuna nodded and whispered, “The soul would never agree to carry the burden of such jealousy…”
Krishna did not respond, he let Arjuna live with what he had just learned. He knew that Arjuna was reaching out to his soul, it would probably take him all night, or even much longer, but the phase after that would be well worth it.
Metaphorically, Arjuna represents each of us. Draupadi is like our planet. Krishna represents both the universal consciousness as well as our soul. It surely is not as simple as expressed here. And yet, if our population were to look at global issues such as ESG, Sustainability, Climate through the prism of this metaphor, maybe, just maybe, more meaningful solutions could be found.
The same metaphor could be applied to long standing relationship issues and friendships as well.
Being a Mensa gold medallist may not resolve all issues.
Note – the basic inspiration of this storyline has been derived from an article by Vikram Bhatt. Thank you, Vikram Bhatt