Interpreting Actions in the World Based on Our Preconceived Ideas and Notions

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In the Mahabharata, a story is
related that illustrates the

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inability of anyone to judge an
action by the outer form it

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takes or the result that
eventuates.

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The birth of Bishma is related.
In the Adiparva, Prince Shantanu

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fell in love with a beautiful
woman he met and asked her to

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marry him.
She agreed on the condition that

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he never questioned any of her
acts.

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She gave birth successively to a
number of sons and immediately

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took them to the river Ganga and
drowned them one after another.

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This went on for a number of
times.

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Finally, Chantanu could no
longer stand it that his

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presumptive heirs were being
killed by his wife and he broke

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a promise and asked her what she
was doing.

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She then replied that he had
broken his promise and thus she

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would have to depart, but she
would keep the last and final

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sun alive.
This sun became Bishma, the

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renowned elder and warrior in
the Mahabharata War.

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She indicated that she was
actually an incarnation of the

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river Ganga and had taken birth
expressly at the request of

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certain celestial beings, the
Vasus, who had been cursed to

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take a human birth in their
former lifetime.

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She had agreed to release them
from the curse by giving birth

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and then immediately ending
their lives.

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Thus she was carrying out an
action related to another

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domain, another plane, another
realm of experience played out

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in the material world of human
life.

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Who among us could have
understood such a line of cause

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and effect that departs so
widely from our normal human

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conceptions about the
significance of life on Earth?

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Many things which happen in the
world defy direct interpretation

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from our mental preconceptions.
Different cultures hold

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different values.
People grow with vastly

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different viewpoints and
expectations.

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Our religious beliefs, our
educational background, our

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political and social framework,
our familiar circumstances all

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go to shape how we see and
interpret things.

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And based on these factors, we
seem to have a very narrow view

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and understanding, which
sometimes gets things right but

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many times does not.
A disciple inquires, Are there

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not accidents which are almost
inevitable?

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I just read of a case cited by
an American who had the gift of

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clairvoyance.
A child was playing on a railway

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track.
It was in danger.

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Suddenly the witness saw an
apparition beside the child, and

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he breathed a sigh of relief,
thinking the child will be

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saved.
But to his great astonishment,

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the apparition put its hand over
the eyes of the child and threw

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it in some way under the train.
This man was much troubled.

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He could not understand why a
being whom he had taken for a

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higher being would push a child
to its death.

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The mother responds.
Quote.

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Certainly this may be true, but
without having the vision

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oneself, 1 can't explain it.
It may be a question of two

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absolutely different things.
Perhaps, indeed, it was its

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destiny in the sense that it was
the end of the life necessary

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for its psychic being.
It was a death which had been

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predestined for some reason,
because that can happen.

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Or perhaps it could be an
adverse force which he took to

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be an Angel of light.
For generally people make this

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mistake when they see an
apparition.

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They always think it is
something heavenly.

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It is heavenly if you like, but
it depends on what heaven it

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comes from.
It is a strange thing because

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yes, the moment of
unconsciousness, the slackening

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of consciousness may be
translated by this someone

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putting the hand over the eyes.
End Quote.

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Reference Sri Aurobindo and the
Mother, The Hidden Forces of

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Life, Chapter 5, Occult Forces,
pages 111 to 112.