Canto 3 Chapter 1 Flashcards
1.Describe the incident which caused the War of Kurukñetra (8)
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was the rightful heir to his father’s kingdom. But just to favor his own sons, headed by Duryodhana, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira’s uncle, adopted various unfair means to cheat his nephews of their rightful share of the kingdom. At last the Pāṇḍavas demanded only five villages, one for each of the five brothers, but that was also refused by the usurpers. This incident led to the War of Kurukṣetra. The Battle of Kurukṣetra, therefore, was induced by the Kurus, and not the Pāṇḍavas.
- What reasons does Vidura give for:
a) returning the legitimate share of the kingdom to the Päëòavas?
b) expelling Duryodhana? (12-13)
a) The first thing he said was that Lord Kṛṣṇa was intimately related with them as their cousin. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is worshipable by all brāhmaṇas and demigods, who are the controllers of the universal affairs. Besides that, Lord Kṛṣṇa and His family members, the royal order of the Yadu dynasty, were the conquerors of all kings of the world.
b) Lord Kṛṣṇa is directly the Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, and Duryodhana was inimical to Him. He would therefore be unable to protect his father, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, after his death. He himself was to fall down because of his faithlessness towards Viṣṇu. How, then, could he protect his father? Vidura advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra to get rid of such an unworthy son as Duryodhana as soon as possible if he was at all anxious to see to the good of his family.
- Why does Vidura call Duryodhana “offense personified”? (13)
Duryodhana was exactly like blind, troubling eyes; he would be a source of great trouble to the family of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, as foreseen by Vidura
- Explain how mäyä acted here both internally and externally (16)
Vidura could see that Duryodhana, under the influence of māyā, the external energy, was making progress on the path toward his own ruination. He therefore considered the acts of the external energy to be supreme, yet he also saw how the internal energy of the Lord helped him in that particular situation.
He was always ready to leave the place and devote himself completely to the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Now he got the opportunity by the grace of Duryodhana, and instead of being sorry at the strong words of insult, he thanked him from within because it gave him the chance to live alone in a holy place and fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord.
- Why didn’t Vidura approach Kåñëa directly? (17)
because he was not sufficiently freed from sin. One cannot be one-hundred-percent devoted to the Lord unless and until he is completely free from all effects of sin. Vidura was conscious that by the association of the diplomatic Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana he had lost his piety and was therefore not fit to associate at once with the Lord.
- Identify some of the facilities offered by holy places of pilgrimage (17, 45)
Places of pilgrimages are meant for eradicating the sins of the pilgrims, and they are distributed all over the universe just to give facility to all concerned for attaining pure existence and God realization. One should not be satisfied, however, merely by visiting the places of pilgrimage and performing one’s prescribed duties; he should be eager to meet the great souls who are already there, engaged in the service of the Lord. In each and every place of pilgrimage, the Lord is present in His various transcendental forms.
The purpose of pilgrimages is to remember the Lord constantly, and therefore the Lord is known as tīrtha-kīrti. The purpose of going to a place of pilgrimage is to get the chance to glorify the Lord. Even today, although times have changed, there are still pilgrimage sites in India. For example, in Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, where we had a chance to stay, people are awake from early in the morning at 4 A.M. up until nighttime and are constantly engaged, some way or other, in chanting the holy glories of the Lord. The beauty of such a pilgrimage site is that automatically one remembers the holy glories of the Lord. His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes and entourage are all identical to the Lord, and therefore chanting the glories of the Lord invokes the personal presence of the Lord. Any time or anywhere pure devotees meet and chant the glories of the Lord, the Lord is present without any doubt.
- Explain the significance of the Lord’s cakra (23)
The Lord’s cakra is the symbol of the power by which the Lord controls the whole manifestation. The tops of Viṣṇu temples are marked with the symbol of the wheel so that people may have the chance to see the symbol from a very long distance and at once remember Lord Kṛṣṇa. The purpose of building very high temples is to give people a chance to see them from a distant place. This system is carried on in India whenever a new temple is constructed, and it appears that it is coming down from a time before recorded history.
- List the three features of His internal potency (31)
Out of many potencies of the Omnipotent, there are three features of His internal potency — namely saṁvit, sandhinī and hlādinī.
- List members of the Yadu Dynasty mentioned by Uddhava in verses 26 to 35.
Pradyumna
Ugrasena
Sambha
Yuyudhana
Akrura
Aniruddha
Hrdika
Carudesna
Gada
- List reasons why Lord Kåñëa did not chastise the Kurus immediately after they insulted
Draupadé in the assembly at Hastinäpura (43)
- He want to see His devotee as the hero of the battle of Kurushetra
2.He waited for all micreants king of the world to assemble in one place
3.There was other kings who have became proud of wealth/education and followers
4.They were agitating the earth by movement of military strength
5.There was puffed godless king who was giving trouble to innocent
6.The Lord descent was to decrease the unwanted population
