home
Shri Datta Swami

Posted on: 22 Jul 2024

               

No role in the Bhagavatam has constant merit. How to keep them as examples?

[Ms. Bhanu Samykya asked:- Swami, You said that we should be like Satyabhama, who overcame her fascination over her demonic child Narakaasura and killed him. But, comparing her with Rukmini in the context of Krishna Tulaabhaaram, You told that Satyabhama has rajas and God appreciated the Sattvam of Rukmini. Comparing Rukmini with Radha and Gopikas, You told that care-not devotion of the latter is the highest. Comparing Draupadi with wives and Gopikas, You told that the devotion of Draupadi as sister is highest. But, Draupadi lost all her children due to the attitude of revenge. Nobody is having constant merit in all incidents. How to keep them as examples?]

Swami replied:- An actor acts in a bad role as villain and the same actor acts in a good role as hero. You must take only the role and learn the lessons separately as messaged by different roles and you should not mind about the actor. For example, Satyabhaama is the incarnation of Goddess Earth. In Krishna Tulaabhaaram, she behaved in a hasty manner due to her quality of rajas. Here, the message is that we shall not overcome by the quality of rajas and be hasty. You shall not analyze about Goddess Earth while analyzing Satyabhaama. Goddess Earth as the actor has climax patience. She only acted in the role of Satyabhaama to give this valuable message to us. All the stories written in secondary scriptures (Puraanas) are based on the intention to give good messages through different roles. You should not attribute the nature of the role to the nature of the actor. It is told in a story that God Shiva (in the form of Kaalabhairava) plucked the 5th face of God Brahmaa for telling a lie. Here, God Brahmaa is acting in the role that speaks a lie. This does not mean that God Brahmaa actually spoke a lie. The role of God Brahmā spoke a lie to give a good message to the world that speaking lie in certain context makes God furious. Actually, God Shiva is God Brahmaa and God Vishnu. If you touch the actor, the whole drama disappears and no good message can be given to the world. You may doubt that why is the actual God (Brahmaa) selected for such a bad role? The message here is that even very great people speak lies even in certain sacred contexts in which lies shall not be spoken. Shiva is in the role of God. This means that you shall not speak a lie before God. Sometimes, the same actor may act in a good role or in a bad role. If you take the actor directly, you will be confused seeing the diplomatic behaviour of the same actor since you are not considering the natures of actor and role separately as the real basic entities.

Swami
 
 whatsnewContactSearch