In the 6th canto, in the story of Vrtrasura- a great devotee of the Lord we read about Indra offending the three Brahmanas - Brhaspati, Vishwarupa and Vrtrasura.He is haunted by the resulting sinful reactions and does not find peace anywhere. To protect himself from the results of each offense he commits a new offense each time. We see that he keeps getting thus entangled due to his attachment for material opulence and power.This is not very different from what neophytes like me get entangled in.
This is a three part article that helps us examine the different motivations for each of the offenses and the lessons to be learned from each so that we can try to avoid the same and be more respectful in our interactions.In each part we will examine each offense.
Indra's first offense : Indra Offends Brhaspati, his Guru
Once when Brhaspati , the spiritual master of all the demigods was visiting Lord Indra, Indra did not get up from his seat , did not offer obeisances and neither offered a seat to him, even when he was his Guru. This was a grave transgression of etiquette. Indra was also accepting worship and glorification in his Guru's presence and because of being overly attached and proud of his material opulence he forgot his duties.
Lessons from the first offense :
Srila Prabhupada states in the purport to SB 6.7.12 "According to the laws of nature, when one is extremely opulent one becomes degraded, and this is true both individually and collectively".
Material opulence leads to pride. As we see in this pastime - pride and obsession with the material energy makes us callous towards vedic ideals. We may not experience such gross material opulence like Indra- being fanned by Gandharvas, Kinnaras with Apsaras dancing and white umbrella's over our head.However we experience the subtle opulence of fame, prestige, extraordinary talent, high position at work, etc.If we are not firmly rooted in our sadhana we will remain in material consciousness by enjoying those things and go further deep in material consciousness. We will become callous and commit offenses to people around us.
By committing offenses - aparadha , Radharani's mercy will leave us and we will slip in our devotional service. Offenses make us weak in our spiritual life. We not only slip from the spiritual platform but we also become increasingly susceptible to Maya's attacks.. We can also see this with Indra- because of this offense we see him gliding down further in the material pool and committing further offenses.Being firmly rooted in our sadhana, in strong association of devotees and developing a service attitude towards devotees will help us protect ourselves from mundane pride and its effects. By associating and serving devotees we will be able to see their wonderful qualities which our many times better than us.
We must accept our situation as a result of our previous actions and thus pray fervently to the Supreme Lord Krsna for His mercy and offer devotional service unto Him. This will clear all the misgivings in our heart.
In the next post we will see the effects of the first offense and how Indra gets entangled as a result of this offense. And then how he commits another offense to counteract the effects of this offense.
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