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Mahabharata katha London
2012
Jay-Vijay refused to allow Santkumars into divine presence. They felt
their position as the door keepers gave them the right to bar access to any and
all they saw fit. Instead of aiding access, they blocked access to God.
In their arrogance, they forgot ‘WHY’ they were placed at the gates of
Vaikuntha. They made up rules of access - specifying who can get access to
God (gender, ethnicity, creed), what you had to wear (clothes, signs and
symbols) or when you can come to see God etc. These ad-hoc rules and
regulations restricted access in a place where there are no restriction to
access - vai+kuntha (without + restrictions)
Sanatkumar, like Sanatan dharma, are eternal and have no concept of restrictions
in terms of spirituality. Anyone can access the divine within and without
with no restriction. Child, adult, young, old and dying have the chance to
seek God. Prahalad and Dhruv got to see God as children. Uddhavji,
Kubja and gopies got to see God as an adult. Raja Muchkund and a whole
host of sages (male and female) got darshan when they were old. Gajendra,
Ajamil and Bhishma saw the divine beauty on their death bed. There is no
gender bias in the eyes of God. Men, women and those of the neuter gender
have been graced by God. Rich and poor, dumb and intelligent, humans,
animals, ethereal spirits, devas, danavas, nagas, kinnaras, even rakshasas like
Vritrasur have been graced with divine compassion. Who were Jay Vijay to
say no to naked, childlike Sanat kumars ?
Gurus and Godmen who believe they have the power to grant access to God beware!
If they feel they can control who can can't access God, or who is worthy and
unworthy of divine grace, are putting themselves up in the same category as Jay
Vijay. Their great karmas may have got them to the exalted post of being
gatekeepers of God, but, if instead of helping all sincere seekers, if they
start judging who is and isn't worthy of Hari-krupa, they themselves will be
judged !! Those who feel they control the access to God have a lot of
responsibility and a lot power. If misused or misapplied, it can lead to
terrible karmic repercussions.
The curse of the Sanat kumars cast the mighty Jay Vijay from being Parshads of
Vishnu to danav yoni. So great was their fall that it took God's personal
interventions for three successive births to bring them back to Parshad-hood !!!
Imagine the amount of karmas they accumulated by their arrogance that it took
Shri Vishnu so long to bring them back!!! Usually, just a glance from the
divine is enough to burn off all karmas and restore a soul back to universal
soul. In this case, God had to personally come and kill them on three
occasions to burn off their karmas and bring them back to their former state !!!
The weight of impeding someone's - anyone's - spiritual progress must be truly
massive !!!
Thinking of this story reminds me of Amirkhan in film PK and how sometimes the
Gurus and Godmen of all religions act as agents and gatekeepers of God.
But instead of helping others, they hinder their progress with man-made rituals
and pointless processes. This might increase their own importance and make
them feel indispensable in their community, but it accumulates such a weight of
karmas as to be crippling to the soul. Who else but God can help in such
dire situation!!