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The tale of
king Ambrish and Sage Durvasa is a stark warning to all gurus who feel
they are greater than God and can do as they please. It is a wake up call
to all gurus who feel they should be worshiped over and above God ! Tale
of Ambrish and Durvasa is a warning and an example to all Gurus with
overinflated egos.
Durvasa
muni expected his disciples to suffer any number of privations without
complaint. Unconcerned about anyone's discomfort or pain, Durvasa expected
everyone to wait on him hand and foot. He expected unflinching devotion and
attention at all time.
The
original tale of Emperor Ambrish and Durvasa muni is a simple one.
One day, Emperor Ambrish was about to break the Ekadashi fast when Durvasa muni
happened to come to his palace. Seeing the muni, Emperor Ambrish welcomed
him and with due respected requested him to preside over the ritual of breaking
the Ekadashi fast. Durvasa muni promptly accepted and went for a bath to
cleanse and refresh himself from his travels. Like so many inconsiderate
gurus even now, Durvasa did not care about being late and expected everyone to
wait for him. King’s own priests were worried that the auspicious moment
was passing away and the fast would not be broken within the time stipulated by
scriptures.
Caught in a
spiritual dilemma, the king decided to break the fast by consuming water, but
still waiting for the muni to return before eating any food. Durvasa muni
came at his own convenience and was shocked that the Emperor drunk water without
him ! His own rudeness and timekeeping not withstanding, he became angry
with Ambrish and resolved to destroy him ! In his outrage, befitting an
egocentric guru, Durvasa released a demoness to devour Ambrish !
God is God.
His sense of right and wrong is more astute than ours. Seeing Ambrish in
danger, Lord Vishnu sent his Sudarshan chakra to guard Ambrish.
Durvasa muni felt he was being
chased by the Sudarshan chakra all over the universe. He fled from place
to place for a year, yet no one offered him refuge from the blazing chakra.
The matter
became complicated and it became a battle between Gurus vs Govinda.
Durvasa vs Vishnu, but the person who suffered in the middle was Ambrish !
While Durvasa sought help from all and sundry, Ambrish kept up his fast, waiting
for Durvasa muni to return.
Eventually Durvasa muni sought the
help of Vishnu, pleading him to avert the anger of the chakra. Vishnu
bhagwan advised Durvasa muni to seek the refuge of the person he had wronged -
Ambrish. Shri Vishnu surmised that the chakra was protecting Ambrish and
would continue to do so as long as he needed protection. Durvasa was
upbraided by God for taking his disciple for granted, for having been unduly
late and being angry though he was in the wrong. If Durvasa apologized and
truly repented for having made Ambrish suffer, the chakra would stop pursuing
him.
Humbled by divine advise, Durvasa
sought to appease Ambrish. Ever the dutiful disciple, Ambrish fell at the
feet of Durvasa muni and sought to appease him ! The chakra kept burning
brightly and eventually, Durvasa realized his mistake. He gave up his
anger, his feeling of being slighted, his ego, his insistence of being placed
over and above everyone and apologized to Ambrish for having made him wait for
breaking his fast. As soon as Durvasa gave up his vasana of being "always
right", Sudarshan Chakra returned to Shri Vishnu.
Sudarshan
means “good” or “clear view”. Shri Hari's chakra is capable of cutting
anyone and anything it chooses to destroy. If it wanted, it could have
killed Durvasa muni in the blink of an eye. But, instead the chakra
"chased" the muni, because it wanted to teach Durvasa a lesson. The moment
Durvasa learned his lesson, the chakra returned to Shri Vishnu. Shri Hari
only wants us to reform. Like a good parent, God does not enjoy punishing
us. God always tries to help us improve ourselves. If we are willing
and able to reform, God sends us advise, opportunities and mentors to help us.
God only punishes people when people refuse to change, despite several
opportunities.
Sudarshan
means “good” or “clear view”. Gurus need to have a clear vision of where
they are leading their disciples. They need to rise above the cacophony of
sycophants and remember that they are guides, not gods. Guru is a guru
thanks to the existence of his disciples. Teaching people is a privilege
and not a prerogative. Guru should be humble, thankful for the opportunity
to be able to teach and happy to have the chance to contribute to other people's
success.
Sudarshan means “good” or “clear view” and this is important for Vaishnavs too. We have to have a su =clear, darshan=view too. Vaishnavs have to guard themselves against confusion and misinformation being given to them in the name of religion. Whether we choose to see it or not, through God’s grace, Sudrashan is always there for us.
There are two other articles in this relation to this -
Why do "we" gravitate towards Gurus
Dangers of being a Guru
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