When Jayadratha was killed by the clever plan of Krishna, when that terrible incident happened, Duryodhana was pacing up and down in the night and he was thinking, “What is this? The clouds just came and then went! I am not a weather-man. This Krishna is just too much.”
Gandhari, his mother was thinking, “I must protect my son. This is cheating. With Krishna on their side, Pandavas will get victory.”
Gandhari thought, “I have my siddhi.”
So she said, “My dear Duryodhana, come and see me in the night without any clothes. When you stand before my eyes, I will take off the blindfold and by the force of my siddhi over the years, I will make you so strong that no one can touch you.”
So in the dead of night, (because one has to be very late to walk around with no clothes) Duryodhana decides to come out and he walks. Everything is quiet and he makes a turn and who does he see?
He sees Krishna.
Duryodhana is thinking, “Of all the people in the world, why should I see this personality?”
Krishna saw him and starts smiling.
Duryodhan became ruffled. He said, “why are you smiling?”
Krishna said, “why you think I am smiling? Grown up man with no clothes walking in the dead of the night. Are you mental?”
Duryodhana becomes embarrassed and he says, “No no. I am just going to see my mother.”
Krishna says, “Your mother! You are going to see your mother with no clothes on? Where have you learned your etiquette? Some decency is required. At least wear some gumcha or something and go to see your mother. I know you had a bad day in the battlefield but that does not mean you have to become mental.”
So what happens now?
Duryodhana thinks, “Yes, it is very bad. I am very much embarrassed.” He tells himself and checks himself. “I am going to wear my gamcha now. Once Krishna goes, and I stand before my mother, I will take it off. Then everything will be alright.”
So he goes before his mother. Gandhari says, “Are you ready son? Is everything okay as I told you?”
He says “Yes.”
She opens her eyes and sees him.
She goes all the way down and she sees the gamcha. At the end of it, Duryodhana’s thighs could not be strengthened because they were covered.
Gandhari tells Duryodhana, “I gave you just a simple instruction to take off your clothes and stand.”
He said, “I met Krishna.” Gandhari thought, “why of all people must my son meet Krishna? In the night, the Pandavas were very happy and they must have all gone to sleep. Why is this Krishna roaming around?”
She asks, “What did Krishna tell you?”
He said, “Krishna told me just wear a gamcha and it is not right to walk around without any clothes. Mother, I agreed to Him and I told myself I will remember at the right point, this instruction that I should remove my clothes.”
But Gandhari realized with an air of resignation that no matter what she planned for her son, the truth is Krishna in a very simple and cheeky way was teaching her something that, “Gandhari, whatever plans you have for your son, is not within My line of vision. It is not going to help. You are only going to be disturbed.”
But till the end of the war, Gandhari could not accept this. Even though Gandhari was a very virtuous lady.
Moral of the story:
We must understand that nothing is in our hands and everything is in the Lord’s hands. So destiny is really not under our control.
But we plan so many things. To plan is not bad but we should make our plans accoridng Krishnas desire. So how to know Krishna’s plans? Shatra says there are 3 ways to know Krishans plans. This 3 ways are: Sadhus, Guru and Shastra. By consulting them who are in contact with Krishna we can know what to do, except for great souls who has direct contact with Supreme.
The next question is how to accept Krishna’s plans and it begins with the conviction that we do not want what Krishna does not want for us. For this we need strong faith that Krishna know what is best for us.
Having accepted His plans how to execute the plans? The main factor in all spiritual activities is devotion and ofering them to the Lord as Krishna says:
Bhagavad-gita As It Is 9.27
yat karoshi yad asnasi
yaj juhoshi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurushva mad-arpanam
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform — do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
PS: I humbly request all the devotees to please forward and share this
moral / instructive stories they hear so that everyone can be benefited by hearing about Krishna and his dear devotees.