Every Wave is Favorable

THE PAṆḌAVAS MOURN

There by the banks of the holy river Ganges sat the noble Yudhiṣthira. He gazed down the river which had given birth to his grandfather Bhiṣma, so many generations past. Gandhari was seated there along with the blind king Dhirtarastra who lamented greatly the horrors of war. The mighty Arjuna was seated there as well, along with his wife and his brothers.

The lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, watching from his chariot, smiled. The great forest sages had gathered by the banks of the river to sanctify the peace after the great war. Then Kṛṣṇa spoke to pacify the hearts of the gathered mourners. He said, “The jealous Duryodhana did his best to steal the kingdom that was rightfully Yudhiṣthira’s, but now his time has past. His clever plots bore ill fruit; his envy did not reign.

“The kings who sought to destroy righteousness are resting quietly, their ashes born by the sacred river Ganges to their fate. All scores were settled. With the reign of Yudhisthira, dharma shall be restored.  It is time I depart.”

Indian Miniature Painting, Krishna on chariot, releases the defeated Rukmi

The gathered Paṇḍavas along with Draupadī prepared to say farewell to their intimate friend and ally Krishna, who had seen them through so many hardships. Krishna was ready to return to his rule in the kingdom of Dwaraka.  

KUNTĪ’S PRAYER

But as Krishna mounted his chariot was ready to depart, the mother of the Paṇḍavas,  Kuntī, raised her head and broke her silence.  

Having  offered Ganges water to the dead, Kuntī was mourning.  Wiping tears from her cheeks she turned to her nephew, the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa and smiled. 

“Nephew." She said.

"You are my family. You were my brother's son. But, you are so much more than just a nephew to me, Kṛṣṇa." She said. "My father, you know, was the great king Kuntibhoja. But you spent so much time in Vrindaban, I used to think you were just a humble country boy. Now, you're all grown up. Look at you. And I can see your divine nature. Now I see you that you are much more than the boy from Vrindaban. You are greater than the greatest King. You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as you revealed yourself to my son, Arjuna."

“But even as King of Kings you always present yourself very humbly. You are King of Dwaraka, yet you drive the chariot of Arjuna as if you were only a horse trainer."

"But now I know you are God Himself, come to right the wrongs of this world. It is said that whenever dharma goes astray you appear."

"You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You exist within and without everything. Your true divine nature is  transcendental and beyond human understanding."

“And so, before you go, I bow to you. I am your old auntie Kunti. But let me kneel to you. You are my brother Vasudev's  child, You  were born in Mathura. Devaki, your mother, always loved you. But my brother took you to Vrindaban where you were adopted by Nanda. It was only to protect you from the cruel King, Kamsa. He put your mother in jail just to kill her babies. There was a prophecy that the child of Devaki would kill the king, so Kamsa killed her children. We had to protect you. That's why Vasudeva took you across the Yamuna river to Vrindaban. Vasudeva is my brother. So I was always your aunt, even before your sister Subhadra married my son Arjuna. She's a good girl. Arjuna will good care of her.

"But even though Vasudeva and Devaki were your parents, you were always Nanda's boy. Nanda and Yashoda. I am your royal aunt. But I bow to you,

 O lotus born, with lotus eyes and lotus feet. You have saved us all from so much suffering. Your mother was imprisoned by the cruel Kaṁsa, yet you saved her. And you have saved me again and again. You have saved my children from constant danger again and again, so I, sometimes I pray for danger, that I might see you and think of you again and again. When Duryodhana and his gang tried to kill my little Bhīma with a poisoned birthday cake, you were there. “

“When our house was set on fire, you were there. When we were chased by cannibals, you were there. You were there during our exile in the forest, and you were there when war was declared. And when the great battle was fought, you were there. And now you have saved us from the wrath of Droṇa’s son. O lotus-eyed you saved us from poison, from fire, from murderers and cannibals and also from the wrath of war. Sometimes I pray that fire may come close, that danger may threaten us, because I know that you will be there. I wish that all these troubles may come that we could only see you again. Therefore do not leave us now, but stay.”

Notes:

Once again I'm using a section from the Bhagavat Purana or Srimad Bhagavatam to draw out the meaning of the story of Mahabharata. This verse especially expresses the inner sense of Vaishnavism.

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat

tatra tatra jagad-guro

bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād

apunar bhava-darśanam

SB 1.8.25

All these 

I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.25)

ca·lam·i·ty

kəˈlamədē/

noun

plural noun: calamities

1. an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster.

   synonyms:

   disaster, catastrophe, tragedy, cataclysm, adversity, tribulation, affliction,misfortune, misadventure "she has survived more calamities in the past three months than most people experience in a lifetime"

Kunti says that bad news is good, because when there's bad news she remembers Krishna. 

Shridhara Maharaja comments on bad news:

"from all directions only good news is coming to me - no bad or unfavorable news. All favorable news will come to me if I can be on that level, that plane, if my ego can take a stand there. In that universal wave, every vibration will only carry favorable news to me."

"Not only is the environment not my enemy but we shall find out that this is the grace of the Lord. Whatever is coming to me like an enemy, this is the grace of the Lord. I can't see this. The dirt is on my eye. Rather, I see the opposite. But everything is divine. Such a searching attitude is necessary. All is the grace of the Lord. Really it is so but the disease is in my eye, the disease is in my feeling, the disease is in my ear. I am diseased and if that disease is cured I shall find I am in the midst of the graceful world, I am a member of the gracious world. Only the cover is deceiving me from having the real estimation of the world."

Here, Kunti is saying that even negative things are favorable, since they remind us of a higher power and the need for prayer. They bring us closer to God and Krishna. When we consider our eternal nature, we can understand that this world is temporary. With dedication on the eternal plane we will see that every wave is favorable. 

Once again, Shridhar Maharaja:

         tat te' nukampam susamiksamano

        bhunjana evatma-kritam vipakam

        hrid-vag-vapurbhir vidhan namas te

        jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

        (SB 10:14:8)

With the help of the guru, the scriptures, and the previous experienced persons, I shall try to stand the test, that "Yes, because the bile is so, everything is tasting bitter. But this process will remove the bile. I shall have to wait for some time, and when the bile is gone, I shall taste sugar candy as sweet." 

When normal, I will be able to feel that so many sweet waves are coming from all around to me. Maya santusta manasah sarvvah sukhamaya disah (SB 11:14:12). "For one who is satisfied with Me, then all the directions, all the four directions will bring only good news to him." All waves will carry only welfare to that person who is satisfied with God only and nothing else. "I want God, and His interests are my interest. He is the loving father, guardian, or friend of everyone." 

Now we are distracted and have many different interests, but if we can put God's interest in the center, then we shall be able to find, to read, that from all directions only good news is coming to me - no bad or unfavorable news. All favorable news will come to me if I can be on that level, that plane, if my ego can take a stand there. In that universal wave, every vibration will only carry favorable news to me. Maya santusta manasah, "He who is satisfied with Me alone, sarvvah sukhamaya disah, he will see that all the directions are only carrying happy news to him, cent-per-cent good news". So a readjustment is necessary, and religion means proper adjustment. We are now incorrectly adjusted and are concerned with different types of separate interests; that is the difficulty. We have to change and find out the universal interest. That universal wave is the most fundamental current.