To forgive is divine

Sai R Vaidyanathan

It is said “to err is human, to forgive divine”. While it is easy to forgive near and dear ones for their wrongdoings, the real test of one’s maturity is to forgive one’s adversary.

Chased by a discus

After a three-day fast, King Ambarisha was about to have food when sage Durvasa came by.

The king welcomed him and invited him for a meal. “I will join you after a bath in the Yamuna,” the sage said.

The auspicious hour to break the fast was fast ending, but there was no sign of the sage. So, the priests advised Ambarisha to symbolically break the fast by taking a sip of water.

As soon as the king did so, Durvasa reappeared on the scene. “You have disrespected a guest. Get ready to die,” Durvasa declared and dispatched a discus to kill Ambarisha.

Lord Vishnu was watching all this from the top. He launched his Sudarshan Chakra to break Durvasa’s discus to pieces. After that, the Sudarshan headed towards the sage.

Terrified, Durvasa began running, followed hotly by Lord Vishnu’s discus. He sought help from Lord Brahma but the Creator expressed his helplessness. At Mount Kailash, Lord Shiva too declined to interfere. So he approached Lord Vishnu. “O sage, he who employs his power to injure the virtuous, invites harm upon himself. Ask for Ambarisha’s forgiveness,” Vishnu said.

Durvasa was back where he started. Seeing the pathetic condition that the sage had been reduced to, Ambarisha appealed to Vishnu, “If you are pleased with my devotion, let the Sudarshan not trouble Durvasa anymore.” Immediately, the Sudarshan vanished.

Fall and rise

In Jerusalem, the Pharisees decided to trap Jesus into breaking God’s law. They took a fallen woman to him and said, “The law says that she be stoned to death. What do you say?”

Jesus said nothing. Seeing this, the mob started getting ready to stone the woman to death. Then, Jesus said, “Is there anyone here who has not sinned a single time? Let him be the first to cast a stone at her.”

Hearing this, the mob melted away. Jesus addressed the woman, “No one has condemned you, neither do I. Go in peace and sin no more.”

When Jesus was crucified later, he prayed for all. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

For water, no one is foe

Once, the Mughal army had laid siege to the Sikh forces at Anandpur Sahib. It was reported to Guru Gobind Singh that a Sikh named Bhai Kanhaiya had been offering water to the wounded Mughal soldiers also.

Bhai Kanhaiya was summoned and he pleaded, “I see God in all His children. Amongst the wounded, I fail to distinguish between Hindus and Muslims.”

Pleased, the Guru blessed Bhai Kanhaiya to serve the suffering soldiers irrespective of caste or creed. Ever since, the followers of Bhai Kanhaiya have continued to serve people and are known as Seva-panthis.

The not-so-evolved reply in kind, but the evolved ones answer in kindness.

The author can be contacted at author.sai@gmail.com