Gurudev, why did Lord Krishna not come to Abhimanyu’s rescue in the fierce battle the way He had rescued and helped Draupadi? What is the secret here?
Lord Krishna came to rescue Draupadi when she called Him for help. Abhimanyu (Arjuna’s son) was a warrior. He had decided to sacrifice himself in the war for the noble cause. But he did not learn the intricacies of war completely. He only half-understood them and went off to the battlefield. In a fit of zeal and enthusiasm of a warrior, he drove into battle in the Chakravyuha (an intricate and specific type of battle formation) and got stuck inside.
Now, if Lord Krishna wanted, He could have helped avert the entire battle altogether, not just the unfortunate killing of Abhimanyu alone. Such questions can always be asked. Lord Krishna was wise and capable in every way, so He could have easily stopped the battle from taking place. Then why did He not do so? See, Lord Krishna went thrice as an ambassador of peace to strike an agreement between the Pandavas and Kauravas to avert the battle. But every time He had to return empty handed.
There is a beautiful story related to this, which I have narrated earlier also. One day Lord Krishna was dressing Himself up in the finest garments, etc., while his charioteer waited outside. The charioteer waited for a long time for his Lord to come out, because Lord Krishna had instructed him to keep the chariot ready. Lord Krishna took time to dress Himself, adjust his crown and ornaments. Now just like a driver sometimes comes in and asks you, “Sir, are we going to go out, or is the programme cancelled?”, Lord Krishna’s charioteer entered His chamber and asked Him, “O Lord! Where are we going today? You seem to be preparing quite elaborately for some meeting”.
To this Lord Krishna replied, “I am planning to go meet Duryodhana today”.
The charioteer was struck with disbelief and said, “O Lord! Why do You have to go meet Duryodhana? You simply have to snap your fingers and he will come running and fall at your feet. Why do You have to take the trouble of going to him?”
A driver too has a sense of belongingness and certain right to ask the master, which is why often we see a driver say, “Sir, please do not take this route. Let us drive through the other route today, since there is heavy traffic on the other route”.
Lord Krishna’s charioteer too put his concerns forward on hearing His travel plans. Lord Krishna replied, “My dear! Darkness does not come to the Light. It is Light that has to go to the Darkness”.
Then Lord Krishna also said, “See, Duryodhana does not recognize Me and who I really am. He only recognizes outward appearances and outward display. Duryodhana will only see what I am wearing, what kind of chariot I have come by, and what kind of clothes and ornaments I am wearing.” Lord Krishna was very intelligent in every way. Now there is a question asked, as to how Lord Krishna ended up having 16,000 wives. Do you know how the modern city of Baghdad (Iraq’s capital city) got its name? How many of you here know the story behind Baghdad’s name? In ancient times, there was a wicked king by the name of Narakasura. He had a son called Baghadutta. From his name Baghadutta came ‘Baghdad’.
The king Narakasura ruled over that region which is now Iraq. He had 16000 wives or consorts. He would marry any woman he liked. He caused a lot of pain and trouble to the people of the kingdom.
When I had gone on a visit to Iraq recently, people there told me, “Gurudev, there are about 100 villages here where there is not even a single male person. Saddam Husain had every man in these 100 villages killed at his command, so that there are only women present now. Narakasura had done a similar thing in the past, some 5000 years ago. It is surprising to see how history has somewhat repeated, and what kind of impressions are carried by that place even till today. So Lord Krishna went there and killed Narakasura. Now after the king’s death, the 16000 ladies decided that they will commit suicide (as they had lost their husband), because they will not be accepted back into their father’s home as they were married.
The land had been freed from Narakasura’s wicked rule and was called as Pragjyotishpur. Do you know what Ahiganasthana means? It means a place which has many different species of snakes. The root ‘Ahi’ has two meanings here. One meaning is a snake, and the other refers to naturally occurring minerals.
After Narakasura’s slaying, Lord Krishna installed Baghadutta on the throne of Pragjyotishpur and since then the name of the place got changed to Baghdad. There is a place called Tikri where Lord Krishna stopped to rest for a while, using a Tikaav (a bedrest or seat support). All these 16000 wives came to meet Lord Krishna there and expressed their desire to commit suicide, since their own families would not accept them back as they were Narakasura’s wives, and would insult or admonish them for being consorts of such a wicked king. They did not wish to live the rest of their lives with such a stain or blemish on their character and modesty. Then Lord Krishna stopped them, and said that, “I will pass on my surname to you. You can then say that you are my wives”.
In order to uplift the sense of dignity and self-respect of those women and save them from committing suicide, Lord Krishna in this way married all the 16000 women in one day. In a way, Lord Krishna gave those women Jeevan-daana or the gift of a new life. Otherwise no man was ready to accept and marry any of the women. So when these ladies returned as the lawful wives of Lord Krishna, they were received with great respect and honour in the society.
