A Day At the Lake
Jessica returned to the living room with a can of cream soda for each
of them. "Doesn't this bring back memories, Heath?" Jessica
asked.
"I
can remember sitting in this same spot ten years ago listening to
Grandpa tell us amazing stories like how him and Grandma met.
Those were the days," Heather responded. "Now tell us another
one, Grandpa."
Grandpa
Beeney re-arranged himself in his chair, took a sip from his can, and
smiled. These were the days he treasured. "The next story
I'm going to tell you is about karma as well, but it's a different kind
of story. Yudhishthira, his four brothers, and their wife were
exiled for thirteen years by their Duryodhana who held a grudge.
During
this time, they lived in the forest and were approached by a
brahmin. This brahmin told them a mysterious, giant deer had
stolen his staff along with the kindling he used to make the
sacrificial fire. The five brothers chased the deer, but were
unable to find the deer."
"A
giant deer stole a staff? That's something I've never heard
before," Jessica interrupted.
"That's
what's great about these stories, Jessica. These aren't the same
stories you hear over and over again," Grandpa replied. Then he
continued with his story. "After they realized they were not
going to be able to find it, they were thirsty and needed to find
water. Yudhishthira sent the youngest brother, Nakula, to look
for
water. Nakula found water and just as he was about to drink, he
heard a voice. The voice explained that Nakula must answer some
questions before he could take a drink. He did not listen, took a
drink, and died. Some time passed and Nakula did not
return. Yudhishthira sent Sahadeva to find water and
Nakula. He did not return and one after another, the third
brother and then the fourth brother, Arjuna and Bhima
went to find water and did not return."
"You
would think after finding each brother dead, they would listen to the
voice," Heather stated.
"That
would be the obvious observation, Heather. However, their thirst
overtook their sense of logic and they needed a drink," her grandfather
explained. "Finally, Yudhishthira went to find water after his
four brothers had left and had not returned. He arrived at the
lake and
found his four brothers dead. He was confused because it looked
as though they had been killed by a supernatural force. Just as
he was about to take a drink, he heard the voice as well.
Yudhishthira stopped and answered the voice. He replied, 'I agree
not to drink any water until you have asked your questions, but please
hurry. I fear that my thirst will become unbearable.' The
voice asked Yudhishthira what seemed like a million questions.
The voice asked, 'Who is the friend of the exile? Who is the friend of
the householder? Who is the friend of him that ails? And who is the
friend of one about to die?' Yudhishthira answered,
'The friend of the exile in a distant land is his companion, the friend
of the householder is the wife; the friend of him that ails is the
physician: and the friend of him about to die is charity.' Yudhishthira
answered all of his questions with quickness, not even having to think
hard. Finally, the
voice stopped asking questions. It explained, 'You have answered
all my questions correctly. I will bring back to life one of your
brothers. Which one will you choose?'
"How
could he choose only one? I don't know that I would be able to do
it!" Jessica exclaimed. "It would be such a difficult choice."
"Yes,
it would, but Yudhishthira used his own logic to determine who to
pick," Grandpa explained. "Yudhishthira chose Nakula, who was
actually his stepbrother by a different mother. He
explained that he had two mothers. If only two sons were to
survive, he wanted both of the mothers to have one of their sons
alive. Nakula was brought back to life and the voice revealed
itself. It was Yudhishthira's father, Yama. Yama did this
to test Yudhishthira's strength of mind. He passed with flying
colors. The other three brothers were revived. The lesson
in this story is to take heed of your surroundings and use logic to
determine the best approach. Don't be so quick to ignore the
advice you are given."
"That
was a great story, Grandpa. I think that is something we will
always remember and it fits perfectly for the journey we are about to
go on," Jessica said. Heather agreed.
Author's
Note: In this story, I did not change any information. I
re-told the story as it happened. Unfortunately, I didn't have
enough words to tell the whole story as I would have liked to. I
think including a lot of the questions would have been beneficial, but
I felt that it would cause the story to be too long. In this
story, karma is seen through Yudhishthira's actions. He heeded
the words and advice of the voice, did as it asked, and in the end, he
gave life back to his four brothers who were foolish and did not
listen. I think this story is important to the two girls because
they are headed off to war. It is important to look at your
surroundings and analyze it before making decisions. This is an
important aspect of war and this is something that they can remember
and take into consideration while they are overseas. There are so
many stories of karma that it was hard to choose just a couple. I
decided to use the ones that best fit my frametale and I think this one
worked perfectly. Although it does not directly relate to war I
think it provides a great lesson in karma.
Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose
Version of the Indian Epic.
Beaverton's Cedar Hills. Websource:
Cedar Hills
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