Krishna severed his ego, who are we to keep it?!

It is a known fact that Lord Krishna played a major role in the battle of Kurukshetra that was fought between the Pandavas’ and the Kauravas’ for establishing dharma (righteousness) on the planet. As the world’s longest epic, Mahabharta has many stories that impart wisdom, but the following narrative has a lesson to be learnt.

Before the great war, Lord Krishna went to Karna to convince him to join the Pandavas army because he was a renowned warrior, the Pandavas’ brother, and Kunti’s (Pandavas’ mother’s) eldest son. Karna, on the other hand, declined the Lord’s request and proclaimed that he would stay on the Kauravas’ side to protect his best friend, Duryodhana. Moving forward to the day before the combat, the Kauravas army’s chieftain, Pitamah Bhismah, forbade Karna from battling on their side, which dismayed him. Madhava, not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, approached Karna again and encouraged him to join the Pandavas’ army, but Karna refused, claiming his loyalty to Duryodhana.

Lord Krishna, being the Almighty, could have stepped aside or not have bothered to urge Karna to join the Pandavas’ army after being rejected once, but he was determined on the broader picture rather than his pride. He knew that if Karna agreed to shake hands with Pandavas’, he would indeed be able to fight alongside his brothers instead of against them and that the Kauravas’ army would be rendered ineffective without him. All in all, it would be a win-win situation. The key to note is that Krishna, being the Supreme God, might have reasoned that he didn’t have to talk to Karna twice as he was clear regarding his intentions the first time. “I am the Lord of the Lords, why do I need to go and ask him over, even after being refused once?” Krishna could have thought. Besides, Karna dared to turn down the Lord himself without even contemplating his request. Nonetheless, Krishna was more concerned with the well-being of everyone who was there to guard dharma than cosseting his own ego, which is why he took such a step. This is why he is the almighty God and the ultimate savior. 

Often, we place a high value on ourselves, our ego, and would not do anything to harm our pride since “I” and “Me” are more important to us than anything else in the world. We lose a lot in our life because of our ego, especially relationships and bonds with our loved ones. We are unable to discern between right and wrong because we are blinded by our ego. It is all about having a broad mind that considers everyone’s well-being rather than narrow thinking that only circles around us.  It’s more about determining the right course of action than it is about pondering what’s in it for ourselves. Govind’s evident lesson to us is that compassion triumphs over ego. Keeping love along with dharma as the foundation of all we do and not letting ego get in the way should be the primary objective of our life, and we can do it by reminding ourselves that if Lord Krishna cut off his ego, who are we to keep it?!

“Ego doesn’t come close to the Lord

Who are we to give it applause?!”

Mansi