Attack of anger
One attack of anger exhausts three months of health and efficiency
Once Lord Krishna set out to kill Jarasandha. But whenever Jarasandha came out of his city to fight Krishna, the latter would flee from the battlefield. Was Krishna afraid of Jarasandha? Not at all. But Krishna wanted to find out the appropriate means of slaying Jarasandha. Krishna had a strategy. Each time Krishna went to challenge Jarasandha, he would get enraged. He would come out to pursue Krishna. Krishna would go on retreating. By repeating these tactics several times, Jarasandha was made to expend his strength in futile rage. A man’s strength is considerably reduced by his anger. A man’s life-span is cut to pieces by the shears of envy, anger and hatred. Envy is the main cause of shortening a man’s life; when a man gets angry, his whole body trembles. His blood gets heated. It takes three months for the blood to get cool again. One moment of anger may consume the energy got from six months of eating. This is the way anger debilitates a person. By systematically weakening Jarasandha in this way, Krishna enraged him nine times; time after time, getting nearly caught and escaping from his hold; these bouts of rage so weakened him that, when the final bout took place, he could be easily overpowered!
Learning Points:
Even when you are slandered, you should not lose balance. Put up with slander and scandalising talks. Anger is the chief enemy of Sadhana (spiritual practice), as Vishwamitra discovered. The flames of anger, pride, hatred, envy are more devastating than other fires; they arise in the mind stealthily and in spurts; they are ever demanding more and more to feed upon… You dread fire when it leaps at a distance; what then is to be said when it is inside your very self? How to put out these awful flames? Well, Sanathana Dharma (the ancient spiritual code) has certain extinguishers tested by experience and guaranteed by sages. They are Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness), Shanthi (Peace) and Prema (Love). Saturate your heart with these, and you are rendered “fireproof.”
References:
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 26, Ch. 27
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 11, Ch. 24
- Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 11, Ch. 11
- Thought for the day, 26th May 2008
[Adapted from ‘Divine Inspirations Volume 1 – pg 107’]