Prof Vijay Kumar Mehta
The venerable image of Lord Krishna emerges as a potent ambassador of Peace in the micro to macro voyage of life. His birth on this earth makes society free from evil and prepares the world for a better life with peace and progress in union with God and the alike conscience. In the Micro search for Peace, the Bhagwad Geeta very clearly describes how a spirit takes up life in union with God and aspires for the evolution of transcending peace. Since aspirations shape the trajectory of one’s life, the peace of mind is essential to such an evolution of human aspirations. The Holy Geeta, the lesson of mankind by Lord Krishna, speaks vociferously for the evolution of calm and quiet mind. In the below mentioned shloka, Lord Krishna advises, Arjuna to maintain equivalence of mind:
Just as the ocean remains undisturbed by the incessant flow of waters from rivers merging into it, likewise the sage who is unmoved despite the flow of desirable objects all around him attains peace, and not the person who strives to satisfy desires. (The Geeta- Ch.2.70)
The human peace of mind is the ladder to reach the position where he can view the essence of life on this earth. In the consecutive sloka, Lord Krishna continues to guide His devoted follower, Arjuna.
That person, who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of greed, proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace. (The Geeta- Ch.2.71)
In this verse, Shree Krishna lists the things that disturb one’s peace, and then asks Arjun to give up such propensities:
Material desires: The moment we harbour a desire, we walk into the trap of greed and anger. Either way, we get trapped. So the path to inner peace does not lie in fulfilling desires, but instead in eliminating them.
Greed: Firstly, greed for material advancement is a great waste of time. Secondly, it is an endless chase. In developed countries, very few people are deprived of enough to eat and wear, and yet they remain disturbed; this is because their hankering is still unsatisfied. Thus, those who possess the wealth of contentment possess one of the biggest treasures of life.
Ego. Most of the quarrels that erupt between people stem from the ego. Mark H McCormack, author of What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School writes: “Most corporate executives are one giant ego, with a couple of arms and legs sticking out.” Statistics reveal that a majority of executives, who lose their jobs in the senior management level, do so not because of professional incompetence, but because of interpersonal issues. The way to peace is not to nurture and increase pride, but to get rid of it.
Proprietorship: The feeling of proprietorship is based upon ignorance because the whole world belongs to God. We came empty-handed in the world, and we will go back empty-handed. How then can we think of worldly things as ours?
In the potent manner, Lord Krishna advises in the Chapter 18 of The Geeta, Liberation by Renunciation:
O Descendant of Bharata surrender unto Him completely and by His grace you will attain absolute peace and eternal abode. (The Geeta- Ch.18.62) This is all how to achieve peace on the micro level to lead our life in serenity and peace. This individual serene and peaceful state of mind give birth to the peace on the micro level- between members of family, members of community, members of different nation and provide progress to all citizens of the earth.
Theory of Dialogism & Lord Krishna-Peace on Macro Level
Realizing the aftereffect of war – the annihilation of civilization and mankind, Lord Krishna plays the potent role of Ambassador of Peace between two states- The Pandavas and the Kaurvas. Lord Krishna represents as an ambassador of Peace from the Pandavas to the Kaurva King Dhritrashtara. The Theory of Dialogism by Bakhtin also finds its echo in The Mahabharat. Mikhail Bakhtin is famous due to the concepts of dialogue and dialogism. ‘Dialogue is primarily the basic model of language as discursive communication. When Lord Krishna approached the Kaurava King, Dhritrashatra’s Kingdom, the former made use of the Theory of Dialogism to establish security and peace between two states and avert war, as war brings ashes of annihilation.
Lord Krishna: The Ambassador of Peace in Hastinapur
Lord Krishna, the very embodiment of peace, appraised Duryodhana and Dussasana for their hospitality in their royal palace. Since he came there as an Ambassador to negotiate for peace, it was not right for the him in the role of an Ambassador to accept their hospitality as long as one’s mission was completed. He said that he would gladly accept their hospitality after the mission was completed. This offended both the princes Duryodhana and Dussasana.
With these pleasing words, Lord Krishna went to the house of Sage Vidura who gave a hearty welcome to Krishna. Sage Vidura was not pleased that Krishna should come, for negotiating peace. Then Krishna said that it was not as if he did not know that Kauravas were people with evil intentions. Despite this, he felt that when innocent people were being troubled and bloodshed was forthcoming, then everyone who had a responsibility should try his best to prevent injustice and bloodshed, and it was in this context that he was trying to negotiate.
When Sage Vidura expressed his doubts on the issue of peace negotiations, Lord Krishna assured him that according to Dharma, which was only too well known to Vidura, all efforts should be made to establish Peace. He said that irrespective of the success or failure, we must do our duty to establish Peace the very hallmark of any civilized society.
In the assembly of Kauravas capital, Lord Krishna proposed that there should be peace between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He then said, “Let the two families of Kauravas and Pandavas remain friendly forever and establish peace and prosperity in the world. The entire world wanted peace and this was the only word that they were looking for.” He further said that he had come there as a messenger and ambassador in the context of wanting peace. The peace proposal was made in diplomatic manner to avoid war and maintain harmony among the two royal families. Lord Krishna appealed to Duryodhana’s sense of duty and morality by urging him to consider the consequences of war and destruction.
When negotiations failed and war became inevitable, Lord Krishna finally suggested a compromise, by which the Pandavas would be given only five villages and the rest of their Kingdom could be taken by Duryodhana. Duryodhana was full of pride and ego and felt that conceding any territory to the Pandavas would undermine his authority and status as the Kaurava prince. He viewed the Pandavas as rivals and denied to give any piece of land the size of the needle point. Duryodhana feared that even a small concession could empower the Pandavas, allowing them to regain strength and power.
Lord Krishna’s last and least desire of five villages for the Pandavas was turned down by Duryodhana the Kaurava Prince and the whole Campaign of Peace by Lord Krishana submerged in Duryodhana’ ego and pride; and this invited the great Mahabharat War.
But we must repose our faith in Peace and remember, in the words of the famous Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr:
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
The things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
Which should be changed,
And the wisdom to distinguish
The one from the other.
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