power of truth

Having lost their kingdom in the gambling fiasco to Duryodhanna , the five Pandavas and their consort Draupadi were banished in to the forest without money and property .One summer day they did not find any food for miles and miles - there was no animal they could kill or fruit they could pluck to satisfy their hunger. They were about to collapse in exhaustion when Bhima saw a mango tree with a huge glowing mango hanging on it. Under the tree was tiger skin but there was no one around.

Bhima climbed the tree and plucked the fruit and was about to divide it among the five brothers and Draupadi when a man came and asked who they were. The Pandavas informed the man of their identity.The man replied: “ so you are the ones who gambled away their kingdom . If that was not bad enough what you have done now is worse – you are in bigger trouble now”

The Pandavas wanted to know what wrong they had done.The man told them that a powerful rishi had meditated under the tree for twelve years and had prayed for that fruit. Now that the fruit was ripe he had decided to eat it. He had gone down to the river to bathe and then come and partake of the fruit. He would l be very angry when he sees the fruit had already been plucked. He was sure to curse and kill the Pandavas for doing so.

Yudhhister replied that there was no problem because they had not eaten the fruit and they would give it back to the rishi. The man replied that the rishi was very particular about doing things himself and refused all help. He would want to bring down the fruit himself and would be very angry that someone has already done this . He said “if you want to save your lives, better find a way to put the fruit up where it was.”

The Panadavs were in fix- It seemed what Duryodhana could not accomplish they had brought up on themselves by their own ignorance. They tried everything possible but just could not lift the fruit even high enough. Draupadi called Lord Krishna for help and he arrived. Krishna agreed there was grave danger to their lives. But there was a way out: “One by one ,all of you must tell what is closest to your hearts and the fruit will go up and reattach itself . Otherwise the rishi is sure to kill all of you.”

Yuddhister began:

The thing closet to my heart is truth .Without truth we cannot be happy with our self or with others. Truth gives us confidence and leads to respect for others .It makes life pleasant and easy and makes an old man young. If you do not have truth it makes you suffer from poverty amidst plenty; misery amidst happiness, defeat in victory, ill health in a healthy body and pain in the moment of pleasure. Its virtues are endless.

After he finished the fruit lifted about man’s height upwards.

Then Krishna asked Bhima to tell what was close to his heart. He spoke: “Truth is good. But strength is dearest to be. Truth without strength is like a lion without teeth, I have always worked hard to develop strength to support truth”.

When he finished the fruit rose up another six feet.

Now it was Arjun’s turn and he said: “Truth and strength are important. But we need skill also, as with skill we can put a square key in a round hole. When a child is stuck in the womb we need skill to get it out and mere strength will not do. And of all the skills, archery is closest to my heart “

The fruit rose another six feet.

Then spoke Sahadeva, ” Raising cattle is dear to me , because with this you can get food and generate wealth. With wealth there is happiness. Truth, strength and skill depend on wealth, because then we have food to eat and the other necessities that sustain life.

Sure enough the fruit raised another man’s length,

Nakula the fifth brother now spoke: “To raise the fastest horses is close to my heart because I love speed. Truth, Strength, Skill and Wealth will lose meaning if we do not have timeliness.

Lo behold! The huge mango rose up another man’s height.

Now it was Draupadi’s turn. “The dearest people to me are the five Pandavas . They are like my five senses.” In fact, she added. “I have never even thought about another man. “

The fruit suddenly fell to the ground. Her five husbands were shocked and speechless.

Krishna smiled. “Draupadi “He said. “Think clearly and tell the truth, or all will be lost “

Draupadi blushed, then took a deep breath and said “At the place of my svayamvara there was another man named Karna. He did not compete for me because of the rules laid by my father, but I somehow wanted him to. He was like my sixth sense “

As she finished the fruit shot up and reattached itself to the stem. The Pandavas and their queen rushed for cover, just as the rishi returned.

They were still hungry but happy to be alive.

POSER :

Why did Draupadi hesitate to speak the truth? What is the power of truth?

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