The right connection in this world full of greed and self-obsession

The world is full of Duryodhana. These Duryodhana are so self-obsessed that their self-interest becomes the center of their universe. They occupy different positions just to serve their self-interest. They want to have more and more wealth, better networks of relationships, and more power. In their quest to get all these, they play with the minds of people. They have Dushasana with them who is mad after desires and knows that his desires will be fulfilled only in the company of Duryodhana. They know Karna who has been deprived of his fundamental rights and offers little bait to him and Karna is willing to sacrifice his life for them. They know Dronacharya who wants to take revenge and therefore manipulate Dronacharya to fight from their side against their enemies. They manipulate Bhishma too, who is bound by the rules to fight from their side.

There is hardly any person concerned about the systems. Family, organizations, communities, and societies all are being treated as proprietorships for individual benefits. These Duryodhana are so mad with their cause that they can even attempt to burn the Pandavas alive in Lakshagraha. They can openly cheat by not giving due rights to the Pandavas. They can cheat in the game of Chausar to defeat Pandavas and take away their rightful kingdom. They can even insult the family members of Pandavas.

It's definitely easy for anybody to be Arjuna. Even after so much torture and exploitation, Arjuna does not want to kill his cousins. Because he does not have that hatred to take revenge. He is concerned about setting up fair systems and has a genuine apprehension. He is concerned that with so much bloodshed and loss of lives, for whom the systems are to be set up. I feel that any person who wants to set up the systems has this genuine question in his mind. When all his colleagues, friends, and family members are just concerned about the promotion of self-interest then who is he fighting with, and for what cause? He gets disillusioned. He feels that there is no purpose in setting up the systems by displeasing friends, family members, and in fact everybody around.

However, this is the real test of Arjuna and his connection with Krishna. Arjuna chooses Krishna over his entire army. That is the strength of Arjuna. That is why it was only Arjuna who got to see Krishna in his true form. No other character could get that divine vision or get the preaching of Bhagwad Geeta. Every doubt and frustration of Arjuna fades away when he sees the Vishvaroopa of Krishna. Krishna answers all his questions in Geeta.

What matters at the end of the day is the center of our life. If greed and self-obsession is the center of our life, we will become Duryodhana and we will be surrounded by the people like Dushasana, Karna, Dronacharya, and Bhishma. It will be like living in a well. The more the greed and the deeper will be the well. It is a very constrained and limited life. That is why all these persons obsessed with self are often so restless. They become agitated when any of their desire is not fulfilled. Since nobody's desires can be fully satisfied, howsoever fortunate a person may be, they live in a perpetual state of agitation and aggression, which on occasion turn into depression.

If Krishna is the center of life, despite being in the forest and having nothing to eat, a person lives with great contentment and satisfaction. He roams around in the open sea. His perspective is very wide. His lives life was full of possibilities and explores so many possibilities. Rama's life in the forest is full of exploration. He met so many rishis and explored so many new dimensions of life. Kaikeyi's life in the palace is also full of guilt.

So, everybody has a choice at each point in time to be Arjuna or Duryodhana.