18. The Wisdom of Fate

The great Kurukshetra war had ended, leaving the battlefield strewn with the fallen Kauravas. Though victorious, Yudhishtira was weighed down by grief and guilt, believing himself to be the cause of such immense destruction. Seeking solace, he turned to Bheeshma, the wise elder lying on his bed of arrows, and poured out his anguish. Moved by Yudhishtira’s distress, Bheeshma narrated the following story to him:

Once, there lived a noble and wise woman named Gautami. One day, a great tragedy struck her. Her only son was bitten by a serpent and died instantly. A hunter, who had witnessed the event, was furious. Seizing the serpent, he brought it to Gautami and said, “This wretched creature took your son’s life! Just say the word, and I shall kill it at once.”

But Gautami, being a woman of great virtue, stopped him. “Will my son return if you kill this snake?” she asked gently. “No. Taking its life will not undo my loss, but it will burden you with unnecessary sin. Please let it go.”

The hunter, however, remained stubborn. “Such a creature deserves the highest punishment for the irreparable sorrow it has caused you” he argued.

Just then, the serpent itself spoke. “I am not to blame,” it hissed. “I was merely acting under the command of Mrityu, the God of Death.”

At that moment, Mrityu appeared and explained, “I did not act on my own. I was only carrying out the will of Kaala, the Supreme Lord of Time.”

Then, Kaala himself manifested before them all and declared, “Everything that happens is a consequence of one’s own karma. A being reaps the fruits of its past actions, and events unfold at the destined time. The boy’s death was inevitable– neither the serpent nor Mrityu is to be blamed, for they were merely instruments in executing what had already been set in motion.”

Gautami, wise as she was, accepted this truth, and the hunter, enlightened by the lesson, released the serpent.

Finishing the tale, Bheeshma said to Yudhishtira, “The fate of the Kauravas was not of your making. Their own actions led them to destruction, and you were merely an instrument in the grand design of Dharma. Therefore, do not be worried.”

From this story we learn a timeless truth: One has to reap the results of one’s karma either in the same birth or in a future birth. So, wisdom consists in performing meritorious deeds and avoiding sinful ones. ❃❃❃❃