Passage 3

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In plain words

Take them all as the Kauravas, and compare me with Dharmaja, the eldest of the Pāṇḍavas,” he said. To this the pandit: “Mahārāja! The brothers of Dharmarāja, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, are very great men. Bhīma has strength of arm and strength of mind. He has the power to pull up huge trees, roots and all, with his bare hands. Arjuna is a mighty hero; he won many titles: Arjuna, Phalguṇa, Pārtha, Kirīṭi, Bībhatsa, Savyasācī, Dhanuñjaya and more. And then Nakula and Sahadeva too are men of great intelligence, great warriors, valiant men. You must have brothers who can stand equal to such men, must you not?” he said. Hearing these words, the Pāduṣā thought for a while, pointed to his commander-in-chief, a man like ‘King Kong’, and told him to take that man as Bhīma. He told him to take his chief minister as Arjuna, and two other ministers as Nakula and Sahadeva. The pandit: “Mahārāja! So far, all is well. But the chief cause of the Mahābhārata war was Draupadī. She was the wife of all five Pāṇḍavas. If you make known whom I am to take as that Pāñcālī, I will then begin writing,” he said. The Pāduṣā fell to thinking. If he thought of telling him to take his own crowned queen as Draupadī, she would have to become wife to the remaining four as well, would she not! His heart would not agree to that. Then he saw his mistake and gave up that idea. In this way, history holds incidents beyond counting where Bhāratīya pandits shut the mouths of critics with answers that fit the occasion. In ancient times the Bhāratīyas held their culture and traditions in unshakeable reverence and faith. But today the Bhāratīyas themselves are neglecting Bhāratīya culture.

For every student, Bhāratīya Vedānta is like the mother, and Bhāratīya culture is like the father. After a man is born, he recognises first his mother, and then his father. In the same way every student must first recognise Bhāratīya Vedānta and Bhāratīya culture. When you recognise this principle of ‘mother and father’ well and live by it, no mistake of any kind will happen. The land of Bhārata is very vast, with countless ever-flowing rivers. If you want to farm, there is all the land you need. The castes and creeds, the dress and the languages, the customs and the ways of life found in the land of Bhārata are in no other country.