There are certain stories associated with our ancient epic the Mahabharata, which imply that the Law of Karma is an eye-for-an-eye type of petty justice. These tales although not part of the original Sanskrit Mahabharata written by Sage Vyasa, exist outside it as part of a pervasive folklore fabric.
Despite being deeply incorrect in their claims about the workings of karmic law; these tales nevertheless have survived to the extent that one such story about Queen Gandhari and the insect eggs, has even been inserted into a recently published popular retelling of the Mahabharata (Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik), reading which a particular Spiritual Bee viewer got confused about the workings of karmic law.
So in this third video on karma I debunk this specific folktale about “Queen Gandhari and the Insect Eggs”, which rests on the misguided premise that the Law of Karma is an eye-for-an-eye type of barbaric and petty justice.
In fact when the reader contacted me about this contradictory story, at first I assumed that this tale is probably part of the voluminous Mahabharata. However it’s message was so much at odds with Vedanta that I decided to investigate it further. A detailed check of the Sanskrit Mahabharata revealed that this story is not present in it at all. Instead, as we shall see in this video, the Mahabharata records a vastly different karmic explanation that Lord Krishna gave to Queen Gandhari, on why she lost her 100 sons.
However, Devdutt Pattanaik in his retelling of the Mahabharata, has omitted Lord Krishna’s original explanation and in its place inserted the insect eggs folktale. In fact the description of Pattanaik’s book on Flipkart discloses that the author has incorporated various circulating legends and folktales into his retelling – but in doing so he has unwittingly, destroyed the integrity and spiritual message of the original Sage Vyasa’s Mahabharata.
As we shall see in our video, the Gandhari and insect eggs story is completely at odds with Lord Krishna’s profound karmic Updesha (message) of the Gita, the Gita being a subsection of the Mahabharata. Arbitrarily cutting and pasting this story into the Mahabharata, has decimated the spiritual solidity of the Mahabharata by making the Mahabharata inconsistent with other sections of itself. Furthermore, as we shall see in this video, by contradicting all of Lord Krishna’s profound teachings on karma in the Gita, this insect eggs story invalidates the entire Gita, and from there it overthrows the whole of Vedanta and Hinduism itself!
So the lesson here for us is that we must exercise great caution when reading retellings/translations of our ancient spiritual texts. The authenticity, accuracy and integrity of the original text must have been diligently preserved by the re-teller/translator, otherwise we risk ending up utterly confused.
- Gahana Karmanogati by Shriram Sharma Acharya (HINDI) | Free
- Introduction to the Gita by Sri Aurobindo
- Essays in Philosophy & Yoga & The Life Divine by Sri Aurobindo | Free
- Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo, recorded by A.B. Purani
- Work without Motive – Talk by Swami Vivekananda | Free
- Sage Vyasa’s SANSKRIT Mahabharata (HINDI Translation – 6 Volumes) | Free
- Sage Vyasa’s Mahabharata (ENGLISH Translation – 18 Volumes) | Free
More Posts in the “Karma” Series:
- VIDEO: Part 1 – What is the Meaning of the Word Karma? What is the Law of Karma? – understanding of Karma based upon the teachings of 2 great sages of Advaita Vedanta – Swami Vivekananda & Sri Aurobindo.
- VIDEO: Part 2 – Law of Karma is Not Eye-for-Eye | Understanding How Karmic Justice is Dispensed – The law of karma is not an eye-for-an-eye type of petty and mechanical justice. There is a divine intelligence, the intelligence of our soul, which guides the law of karma and which responds rationally by scrutinizing the motives and intentions with which we perform each and every action.
- VIDEO: Part 4 – Can Divine Grace Wipe Away Our Past Karmas & Alter Our Destiny? – Can God’s Grace save us from bearing the karmic effects of our past actions? The answer revealed through the tale of Markandeya a boy fated to die at age 16.
- VIDEO: Part 5 – Does an Avatar Have Free Will, OR Is He Bound by the Law of Karma? – Does an Avatar take birth out of his own free will, OR is an Avatar compelled to be born in order to work out his past Karmas? Answer in this video.
