TUE EN0 Of rnt MAKE SACRIF1CE

l thelr deme ins

by luslng ihu
i s n a the onc n ho had MYTHOLOOY AND EOLKLORL
pomd he ranh gnddevs ih P'anlavas lell shnt SNAKE WORSHIP
hat he wmuld nd the
wnkd
espite the mar and tleltbeene Iho tnditional itual worship of snakrs nonth of Sh1a/an ard tie lesttval
ol nnghteous kings hey had not let go ol theirvhtoy olsered by the lindu comrnanity Nar
observed to rommemorate the day
Yu. m king decid prejudlers and rage And thus, Panchami l celebrated on the lfth day Hindus arros tndia and epul seek the
I1 was
who is the hew ot blessingr of snakes tor tho wellare cf
the:t
Swarga lor the
Kauravas of the bright hall ol the Hindu month
and
he iale and who Naraka
Ihe conchided
lor the Pandavas of Shravan It is believed that Asluka
fatnilies Serpent deities made of slver

thevillain Still unconvineed. Janamejaya

intervened to stop the snake sacrifice
stone or w0od are propstiated with

flowers and bathed in milk

Janamejaya had organized by King Jananejaya in the
nohing to0 say He Cxpressed his doubt. "II does
not feel
recalled the many right." he said Astika
forces that changed explained that the stay in
the course of the Swarga or Naraka was limited,
and not for
ale the many eternity "Once their
ments and demerits have been
boons and curses, and
plethora of man-made exhausted, the Kauravas will
a
and the Pandavas will lal
laws. It was a lale of
people rise They
will continue with
struggling, deaing with crises, their journey
making mistakes, and repeating through the cycle of rebirths
them, in innocence or ignorance,
They will be born again, and
will die again, and the
while trying to make their lives cycle of
worthwhile Confused still, earning merits and demerits will
continue, until they learn what
Janamejaya questioned why Yudhishthira learned - the
the tale was named "Jaya"
purpose of existence "

when there was n0 real victory. The purpose of existence is HINDU DEVOTEES WORSHIPPING SERPENT DEITIES DURING THE NAGA PANCHAMI
FESTIVAL

to attainwisdom, and not to

The meaning of true victory
Vaishampayana explained that
there are two kinds of victory -
Vijaya and Jaya. Vijaya refers
to material victory, with a
winner and a loser; Jaya is
spiritual victory, where tlhere
are no losers. "The victory at
Kurukshetra was Vijaya, and
not Jaya. But when Yudhishthira
let go of his anger and forgave
the Kauravas unconditionally,
there was Jaya," explained the
sage. He called that victory the
true ending to this great tale.
Swarga and Naraka
The king voiced his confusion
again. "Though the unrighteous
Kauravas were defeated in
battle, they still ended up going
to Swarga. Whereas, the victors,
the Pandavas, ended up in
Naraka. It does not make sense."
Astika, the serpent, explained
that one goes to Swarga for the
merits earned in one's lives,
and to Naraka for demerits. The
Kauravas had been cleansed
accumulate merit," Astika
continued. "One needs to
question onesell - why do we
do what we do? Once we
trulyY
accept the answer, we break free
from the cycle of birth and death,
to discover the realm
beyond
Swarga-Vaikuntha - where
there is peace forever."
Unsure, Janamejaya said, "1
thought the Pandavas did what
they did to uphold dharma." But
Astika explained that had the
Pandavas followed dharma, the
victory at Kurukshetra would
also have led to victory over Sell.
The Pandavas followed Krishna's
directive to do what was good
for the world, but this victory
did not change the Pandavas
themselves. They did not gain
any wisdom. And in the absence
of spiritual insight, they gloated
over their victory.
The sage then explained the
spiritual insight that eluded his
forefathers. "Conflict comes from
and
rage, rage comes from fear,
fear comes from lack of faith.
This lack of faith had to be purged
from the minds of the Pandavas."
Janamejaya then remembered
Krishna reciting the Bhagavad
Gita to Arjuna before the war He
heard Krishna say, "If you have
faith in me and the balance of
merits and demerits, you will
not be insecure." Enlightened
by Krishna's words, Janamejaya
admitted that the lack of faith
made him angry with the serpents.
He realized that he was deluding
himself with arguments of
fa person controls himself
and reads the account of the
Mahabharata ... he advances
towards Supreme success."
SAGE VAISHAMPAYANA TO KING JANAMEJAYA, SWARGAROHANA PARVA:
THE BOOK OF THE ASCENT
justice and vengeance: the
snake sacrifice was not dharma.
Astika and Vaishampayana
realized that Janamejaya had
finally inherited the wisdom of
his forefathers. An expression of
peace descended upon the king
Chanting, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,"
the mantra for peace, he declared
the end of the sacrifice. The king
had overpowered his fear and got
rid of his anger. "Shanti" did not
mean peace in the external world,
but was a cry lor inner peace.

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