Why did Krishna not save the Pandavas when they played dice with Duryodhana & Shakuni? Wonderful explanation by Krishna himself: From his childhood, Uddhava had been with Krishna, charioting him and serving him in many ways. He never asked for any wish or boon from Sri Krishna. When Krishna was at the verge of completing His Avatar, he called Uddhava and said, "Dear Uddhava, in this avatar of mine, many people have asked and received boons from me; but you never asked me anything. Why don’t you ask something now? I will give you. Let me complete this avatar with the satisfaction of doing something good for you also". Even though Uddhava did not ask anything for himself, he had been observing Krishna from his childhood. He had always wondered about the apparent disconnect between Krishna’s teachings and actions, and wanted to understand the reasons for the same. He asked Krishna, "Lord, you taught us to live in one way, but you lived in a different...

After Kurukshetra war, Dhritrarashtra asked Krishna, “I had 100 sons. All of them were killed. Why? Krishna replied, “50 lifetimes ago, You were a hunter. While hunting, you tried to shoot a male bird. It flew away. In anger, You ruthlessly slaughtered the 100 baby birds in the nest. Father-bird had to watch in helpless agony. Because you caused that father-bird the pain of seeing the death of his 100 sons, you too had to bear the pain of your 100 sons dying." Dhritarastra said, "Ok, But why did I have to wait for fifty lifetimes?” Krishna answered, “You were accumulating ' Punya' or good deeds during the last fifty lifetimes to get 100 sons - Because having 100 sons requires a lot of Punya or good karma . Then you got the reaction for the 'Paap' (sin) that you have committed fifty lifetimes ago.” Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.17) "Gahana Karmano Gatih" The way in which action and reaction works is very complex. God knows ...

A Story – A trap of intellect on a spiritual path One man came to a master and said, “You know, guru, I have read all the books available about enlightenment, now I need only one drop and I’m enlightened. Someone told me you are a great master and you can add me that drop.“ The master said, “ I’m waiting for the same thing, that drop which will give me the same effect!“ So the person got disappointed thinking, “Stupid guru“ and he left. Then a disciple who was sitting next to the guru said,“Guru, you could actually help him. You are guiding all of us. Why are you not helping this man?“ Then guru said,“He is a confused person. He has to spend years to unlearn and empty his intellect. “ It’s like that. We eat a lot of food, at an amazing buffet we want to eat everything, then we think, my stomach is very, very heavy, what will I do now? So we have been eating emotionally. We have been acquiring knowledge emotionally. What is happening at the end of the day is you ha...

Interesting conversation between Karna & Krishna - From Mahabharat Karna: "My mother left me the moment I was born. Is it my fault I was born an illegitimate child? I did not get the education from Dhronacharya because I was considered a non-Kshatriya. Parshu-Raam taught me but then gave me the curse to forget everything since I was a Kshatriya. A cow was accidentally hit by my arrow & its owner cursed me for no fault of mine. I was disgraced in Draupadi's swayamvar. Even Kunti finally told me the truth only to save her other sons. Whatever I received was through Duryodhana's charity. So how am I wrong in taking his side?" Lord Krishna replies, "Karna, I was born in a jail. Death was waiting for me even before my birth. The night I was born I was separated from my birth parents. From childhood, you grew up hearing the noise of swords, chariots, horses, bow, and arrows. I got only cow herd's shed, dung, and multiple attem...

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was not happy at all. One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; Why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy? The King asked the servant, 'Why are you so happy?' The man replied, 'Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.' The king sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the story, the advisor said, 'Your Majesty, the servant has not yet joined "The 99 Club".' 'The 99 Club? And what is that?' the King inquired. The advisor replied, 'To truly know what The 99 Club is, just place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep.' When the servant saw the bag, he let out a great shou...

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport in Dubai. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me. He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Abdul, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Abdul's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Abdul said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Ab...

Chandano means sandalwood. It is a metaphor of tremendous significance. On the sandalwood tree live poisonous snakes attracted by its tremendously powerful perf ume. A forest of sandalwood trees is a dangerous place; on one tree you will find at least a dozen poisonous snakes. They cannot leave it, the perfume is such that they are almost hypnotised. Poisonous snakes live on the sandalwood tree, but the purity and the perfume of the sandalwood is not affected at all. Hence it became a beautiful metaphor for the man of awareness. The man of awareness becomes like a sandalwood tree. All kinds of snakes are there: anger is there. greed is there, jealousy is there and envy is there; they are all there hanging on the tree, but the man of awareness is not affected at all. His perfume remains pure, he is not poisoned by them. On the contrary, those snakes become so hypnotised by the sandalwood tree that they forget all about their poison. It is as if they are snakes no more, dangerous ...