Krishna Belonged to whom?

A very interesting and beautiful episode happened in the run up to the war of Mahabharata. The battle lines had already been drawn and it was a time when both sides got busy building as many alliances and partnerships as they could. At some juncture, the Kauravas realised that they need to have Lord Krishna on their side else he would be a big threat to their success. He not only owned a gigantic army, but also was considered a brilliant strategist and superlative warrior. Hence, knowing fully well that Krishna was a well-wisher of the Pandavas and their close ally, they still decided to approach him to join their camp. And as fate would have it, both Duryodhana (Kaurava) and Arjun (Pandava) happened to arrive at his palace almost at the same time. But, finding Krishna taking a nap, they both decided to wait. 

It must have been a very difficult wait for them, because they thought now only one would be able to get the deal. So when Krishna finally woke up, both immediately tried to get down to business with him. Sensing the tension in the room, Krishna decided to satisfy them both, but true to his reputation, made a very mischievous offer. They could either pick him, though he won't fight himself, or they could pick his majestic army and he asked Arjun to pick first. For a general or a prince, who is about to go for a massive war, the choice would have been very obvious. But contrary to common sense, Arjun chose to have Krishna in his camp instead, to Duryodhana's big relief. And then as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Many of us might have heard this story several times, but I would like to appreciate here the deeper meaning that it conveys. And the moral of the story, as they say, is to always choose the Guru/God over everything else. It may appear counter intuitive at first but it ultimately pays off in the longer run. Spiritually or materially, when you have the Supreme as your friend, it's but natural that everything falls in place eventually.

It doesn't mean to shy away from one's duties, but it is to make the Divine your friend and GPS. There are many things that can give us a false sense of security, like fame/fortune/connections/resources etc. But it means nothing if the GPS/compass of life has broken. Arjuna was wise enough to have realised it so early and hence, was lucky to have received the precious knowledge of Geeta first hand. Think what would have happened had Duryodhana chose Krishna over his army? 😉