“My son alone should be the ruler” this is how every
selfish father would think. The welfare of the citizens is never the concern,
only the name and fame of the dynasty becomes imperious. This has led to
disaster time and again. A father who is blinded by the love for his son will
never see if his son is worthy enough to be the leader, he just wants to see
him ascend the throne. His progeny clinging to power will be the only wish and
will do anything to let the power remain within his dynasty. The hunger for
power and love for dynastic rule is deadly combination. It takes the sense out
of the individual and drives him to restore to the most unethical and illegal
methods. If this attitude is nurtured it develops hatred towards the rival. The
hatred is so much that the individual can go to any extent to stop his rival
from gaining power, even after knowing that his rival is better than him. This
is the point where the love for dynasty takes a back seat temporarily to
counter the rival. The hate towards the rival for a while subdues the love for
dynasty.
Ashwattama, the son of Dronacharya wanted to take
revenge on Pandavas after the entire Kuru Dynasty was wiped off in the
Kurukshetra war. In haste he hurled the mighty “Brahmastra” as a counter to
that Arjuna too shot the “Brahmastra”. The collusion of the two mighty weapons
would be disastrous to mankind and hence Bhagwan Vyasadeva requested both
Ashwattama and Arjuna to retrieve the weapons. Brahmastra is a Shastra (Weapon)
which is used with a particular mantra; the mantra is the code to the weapon
and with the mantra a Shastra becomes Astra. As there is a mantra to initiate
an Astra there is a mantra to abate it too. Arjuna and Ashwattama both recited
the mantra to subdue the weapon. While Arjuna was successful Ashwattama failed.
Even after knowing about the mantra to abate why did
Ashwattama fail to control the Brahmastra???
After the Kurukshetra war Duryodhana with the broken
thigh is lying in the battlefield. The rage of revenge is not yet doused.
Ashwattama one of the survivors approached him and asked him about the next
course of action. Duryodhana asks him to ensure that the entire clan of
Pandavas was eliminated. He did not wish Pandavas to rule Hastinapura. With the
entire Kuru Dynasty and its well-wishers killed in the war it was only Pandavas
who could rule Hastinapura as per Raja Dharma. The question was who would rule
Hastinapura if the entire clan of Pandavas were eliminated. The hatred towards
Pandavas made Duryodhana lose his sense and request Ashwattama to procreate
children with his wife so that they can rule Hastinapura.
Ashwattama who was a Brahmachari for his entire life
did not object to the proposal which was against Dharma. This became the reason
for him to not retrieve the Brahmastra. This incidence from the life of
Duryodhana tells us that the mind-set to cling to power which he had obtained
as an asset from his father Dritharashtra. This mindset had made him stoop so
low that he never imagined how his wife Bhanumathi would have felt if
Ashwattama had approached her asking her to co-operate with him to beget
children. The hatred towards others pulls an individual to think as a criminal
and behave like a beast.
That is what being Power-Hungry is all about!!!!
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