The power of keeping a secret
Thursday January 13 2005 08:57 IST
By Karmayogi
Secrets are the secrets
of success. Some people usually keep them. They become successful in life and
conscience keepers of friends. Others usually do not keep secrets. They are the
human vehicles of Word of Mouth, socially known as gossip.
It has a powerful role to play in the society. The Mahabharata gives a subtle
dimension to this social phenomenon, making it a universal phenomenon. It is
the capacity to know the secrets of other without anyone telling them.
Karna's one burning desire was to know his mother. Krishna came to him and in
the course of his conversation informed him of his birth to Kunti and Surya. It
came to Karna as a relief and a revelation. He then understood why the Sun
constantly figured in his life.
On the battlefield, Karna approaching Bhishma on his bed of arrows was greeted
by the words, ‘‘Come, Kunti putra.'' Karna was startled
and said, ‘‘Oh, you know.'' This again happened with Kripachariyar.
It happened once more.
Socially, the word is passed on from mouth to mouth. Spiritually, ideas are
afloat in the atmosphere and enter into minds that are receptive. Bhishma and Kripa
are advanced souls living in a spiritual atmosphere. Such people can know
anything they choose to know. On hearing of Karna's death, Kunti reached
his dead body to mourn over it.
The Pandavas who were passing by were wondering why their mother subjected
herself to such an indignity. It was an insult to Arjuna who beheaded him – Radheya,
son of Radha the wife of a charioteer. To hear out of her sacred mouth that he
was not Radheya but Kunteya, was an outrage to Yudhisthira.
One secret, an earth-shaking secret, kept by his own mother who was a virtual
goddess to him, was the cause of this war, the death of thousands of soldiers,
and scores of brave warriors on either side. Had he known it earlier, Yudhisthira
said, there would have been no war.
Why did she ever keep it a secret? How did she come by the POWER to withhold
such a secret whose might was equal to the 18-day war? Yudhisthira, an
embodiment of Truth, was outraged at the magnitude of that power and was
scandalised by the way it was used. He too felt thwarted. Mild as he was, he
discovered in his human depths the revolt human nature is capable of. He wished
to destroy that power at its genesis.
He instantly cursed all womanhood with a total inability to withhold ANY secret
whatsoever. Having followed filial obedience in the extreme – which life does
not approve of – Yudhisthira was driven to the opposite of a curse.