YAKSHA PRASHNAM – SATSANGH PART 10
Q: WHAT IS THE ESSENTIAL FEATURE OF FORGIVENESS?
A: FORGIVENESS CONSISTS IN ENDURING ENIMITY. (
Forgiveness is the greatest quality. Forgiveness is not carrying any hurt the next moment. Forgiving and forgetting is a great austerity. When Arjuna brought Aswathama (who killed the sons of Draupadi over night) to Draupadi, she said 'let our Guru Patni not suffer like me, losing the child'. Great act of forgiveness! Even in great sorrow she could think about the suffering of another and her compassion replaced the anger.
After the Kurukshetra war was over, the king Dhrithrashtra and Queen Gandhari were looked after by the Pandavas as their own father and mother. All past forgotten and that is why they could shower the love on the king and the queen. It is very difficult to love people who have enmity towards us.
By mistake my teeth has bitten my own tongue, will I punish the teeth? Both belong to me and I am convinced that it is mine. Forgiveness comes naturally to a person who sees himself in everyone.
Not forgiving people around us and not forgiving ourselves leads to many diseases like cancer, ulcer according to Reiki. Anger shown is better than the anger bubbling inside all the time. The best example for this is Duryodhana. He was never at peace because of the enmity that was bubbling in him incessantly. That enmity destroyed him completely.
Vidura told Dhrithrashtra, "People take a forgiving person to be weak. But in reality forgiveness is a great power. Forgiveness is a virtue of the weak and an ornament of the strong. Fire falling on a grassless ground is extinguished by itself. An unforgiving individual defiles himself with many enormities. Righteousness is the one highest good; forgiveness is the one supreme peace; knowledge is the supreme contentment; and benevolence, the sole happiness".
The great rishi Kashyapa spoke to Draupadi when she was angry about the Kauravas:
"One should forgive under every injury. It has been said that the continuation of species is due to man being forgiving. He, indeed, is a wise and excellent person who has conquered his wrath and shows forgiveness even when insulted, oppressed and angered by a strong person". The illustrious and forgiving Kashyapa has, in this respect, sung the following verses in honor of men who are forgiving.
"Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice, forgiveness is the Vedas, forgiveness is the Sruti. He that knows this is capable of forgiving everything. Forgiveness is Brahma; forgiveness is truth; forgiveness is stored ascetic merit; forgiveness protects the ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together. Persons that are forgiving attain to the regions obtainable by those that have performed meritorious sacrifices, or those that are well conversant with the Vedas, or those that have high ascetic merit. Those that perform Vedic sacrifices as also those that perform the meritorious rites of religion obtain other regions. Men of forgiveness, however, obtain those much adored regions that are in the world of Brahma. Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is quietness of mind. Can we then abandon forgiveness, which is such, and in which are established Brahma, and truth, and wisdom and the worlds? The man of wisdom should ever forgive, for when he is capable of forgiving everything, he attains to Brahma. The world belongs to those that are forgiving; the other world is also theirs."
"Having listened, O Draupadi, to these verses in respect of forgiveness, content thyself! Give not way to thy wrath!. Forgiveness and gentleness are the qualities of the self-possessed. They represent eternal virtue." Those are the verses sung by Kashyapa in respect of those that are ever forgiving.
Once there was a great king named Vishwamitra. One day he learned that there was a saint in his kingdom whom everybody adored. The name of this saint was Vashishtha, and everyone gladly touched his feet. Now, although Vishwamitra was a very great king, nobody used to come and touch his feet. People were afraid of him, and they would tremble before him. But with Vashishtha it was different. People gladly touched Vashishtha's feet with deepest appreciation and admiration. So Vishwamitra was extremely jealous of Vashishtha. Vashishtha was a very great saint. After praying to God for many, many years, Vashishtha had realised God and could speak to God face to face. Vishwamitra knew that this was the reason why everybody adored Vashishtha and not him. So he too started praying to God. He prayed to God for a couple of years very seriously, often fasting but still he did not realise God. Then he became impatient. He went to Vashishtha and said, "You have realised God, but I have not been able to. I wish you to tell the world that I have also realised God, like you."
Vashista replied, "How can I say that?" "You can say it," the king insisted. "If you tell people, everybody will believe you, because you yourself have realised God. You know who God is and you speak to God. Tell everyone that I have realised God. Otherwise I shall kill your children!" Vashishtha said, "You can kill my children, but I cannot tell a lie." Vishwamitra, being the most powerful king, had the hundred sons of Vashishtha killed. The hundred sons were very well educated, kind and spiritual. They had studied the Vedas, the Upanishads and other religious and sacred books. Nevertheless, the king killed them all. Even after doing this Vishwamitra was not satisfied because Vashishtha still refused to announce that he had realised God. After a few months he thought, "This time he has to tell the world that I have realised God, or I shall kill him as well!" With this idea in his mind he went to Vashishtha's small cottage. Before knocking at the door he stood outside quietly listening to the conversation inside.
Arundhati, one of Vashishtha's wives, was saying to her husband, "My lord, why don't you say that Vishwamitra has realised God? If you had said it I would still have all my children. They were such nice, kind, devoted children. They were all jewels. But just because you wouldn't say that he has realised God, he has killed all my children, and who knows what he will do next!" Vashishtha said, "How can you ask me to do that? I love him. He has not realised God. How can I tell people that he has realised God? I love him and that is why I cannot tell a lie." Even though Vishwamitra had killed the hundred sons of Vashishtha, the father could still say that he loved him!
When Vishwamitra heard what Vashishtha said, he came running in and touched Vashishtha's feet, crying, "Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, my lord. I never knew that anyone on earth could love a person who had killed all his children." Vashishtha placed his hand on Vishwamitra's head and blessed him. He said, "Today you have realised God, because today you know what love is, what truth is. God is all forgiveness. I am forgiving you because the God in me is forgiving you. Today you have realised God."
We learn that the ideal of forgiveness is the supreme ideal. When we pray to God we see God's qualities: love and forgiveness. When we receive love and forgiveness from God we can behave like God towards other people. Vashishtha's hundred sons were killed, even then he loved Vishwamitra. Then, when Vishwamitra begged for forgiveness, Vashishtha gave it immediately, as well as giving him his inner Light, Joy and Power.
Like Vashishtha, we always have to forgive people when they do wrong things. In this way we give them our Light, our Truth, our Joy. From this story we also learn the importance of associating with holy men. When we are in the company of a spiritual person, even for a second, what transformation takes place in our life! Our life is changed in the twinkling of an eye.
SUMMARY:
Every one of us has a big list of complaints and stories on what happened many years before. We are still living with the dead past unable to forgive us as well as others.
The sieve keeps all unwanted things like stones, dust etc in it and drains the good; the winnowing tool drains all unwanted and retains good alone. It is our choice of life to be either a sieve or a winnowing tool.
Our action is complete when we forgive and forget.
IF WE REALLY WANT TO LOVE, WE MUST LEARN HOW TO FORGIVE.
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