Mistakes Not to Commit

Question: Swami, Krishna made Dharmaja utter the lie: “asvatthama hatah,”—Ashwatthama [Dronacharya’s son] is killed, while muttering under his breath, “kunjarah”—the elephant. This led to the death of Dronacharya. Was it proper on the part of Krishna to make Dharmaja tell a lie like that?

Bhagavan: This is a foolish question. You think in such a manner because you do not know the correct facts. There was no mistake on the part of Krishna and there was no mistake in Dharmaja either. Drona was entirely responsible for his own death. Dharmaja said loudly, “ashvatthama hatah,” and then muttered softly “kunjarah”—an elephant by name Ashwatthama died. Dronacharya did not listen completely to what Dharmaja had said. He heard only the first part “Ashwatthama hatah”—Ashwatthama died.

Out of his attachment to his son, Dronacharya died immediately on hearing the first part of Dharmaja’s statement. He died of shock. His attachment was the only cause of his death. So, the fault finally lies with Dronacharya not hearing patiently and completely what Dharmaja said. How do you accept the fact that Dronacharya, who loved Arjuna [one of the Pandavas] more than his own son, was prepared to fight and kill Arjuna? Being a teacher and a brahmin [the priestly class] for that matter, should he have fought like that? So, the mistake was entirely Dronacharya’s.

Question: Swami! Is it not a help to a person if I point out his mistakes?

Bhagavan: When you think about the mistakes of someone else, you also become defective. To face and resist a bad man, you have to become even worse than him. So, it is a sin to point out the mistakes of others. If you point out the mistakes of others with one finger, three other fingers point towards you. As the saying goes, a street dog is always in search of slippers. A pig spends its time in gutters. You would also look like a pig if you go on looking at the faults of others. In a way, a monkey is much better than a man who finds fault with others. When a monkey finds an orange fruit, what does it do? It will take away the outer rind and then eat the fruit. Will it not? This sort of separating the good from the bad is called vibhaga yoga. You should give up the bad and the undesirable.

In Japan, there is a city named Kyoto. A woman was passing through a particular street, carrying with her a big bundle of clothes wrapped up in a neat piece of white cloth. These clothes were dirty. Someone asked her, “What are those clothes?” She said, “I want to show you the good. I want you to see the good. Therefore, I have wrapped these dirty clothes in a white cloth.” Finding faults in others, making fun of others, and criticizing others, are mistakes that one should not commit.

Source: Sathyopnishad, Vol. 2