Kill Vikarna and give your intelligence a break!
Vikarna is one of the 100 Kaurava brothers. But, he is known and revered throughout as a voice of justice in the reign of Duryodhan. He is trained by Bheem, besides Dronacharya and Kripacharya. He is the only Kaurava who opposes humiliation of Draupadi in the court and reiterates the question of Draupadi, which none, even the mighty Bheeshma, could answer. Karna later rebukes Vikarna for his anti Duryodhan stand. To which, he replies that the humiliation of Draupadi will doom the Kaurva clan. Bheem tries to convince him to fight for the Pandavas, but Vikarna says he cannot forsake Duryodhan—supporting Draupadi has been his duty then and fighting for Duryodhan is now. He is killed by Bheem. Bheem is in tears after that.
The Real Import
Vikarna in Sanskrit means the trained logical impulse which is acknowledged by the Kauravas and the Pandavas both, unlike Karna, who was only Duryodhan’s favourite. Unlike Karna, Vikarna gets training under Bheem (the executive will force), Dronacharya (memory) and Kripacharya (genetic duality). But, he is Bheem’s favourite. This means the logic impulse is trained by will, memory and genetic duality together, but he learns most from the will. However, it is pampered by Bheem, who tries till the last moment to make him fight for the Pandavas. The trained impulse of logic is nothing but the logical faculty of the mind. Arjuna is chitta, who represents the memory-perception-reasoning complex. We often take reason and logic as synonyms. But, they are not. Reason is called apohanam, the power of discrimination to understand things —-this is right, that is wrong—not this, not this, this is it. It is based on the verified response system. However, logic is a trained reasoning—it is not for understanding, but for execution of will. It is based on situational analysis towards a selfish end. In short, we can say it is selfish logic.It quickly changes with the change in situational coordinates. It is ruthless, as it operates on dry logic on what’s right in the given situation and not what is principally right! It appears righteous on the spot, but in terms of overall view, it is just a selfish limited reasoning. Therefore, Vikarna is also a habit, because its parametres are limited and it is as repetitive as as is logic.
Vikarna’s stand
Vikarna supports Draupadi in the Kaurava court, because logically, by his own admittance, it is good for the honour of the clan and in that situation Draupadi’s humiliation logically indicates the doom of the clan he belongs to. But, when Bheem asks him to fight for the Pandavas, he refuses pointblank and says he cannot forsake Duryodhan in any case. Why can’t selfish logic forsake Duryodhan? It is because selfish logic centres on lust-anger—it has no purpose but to work for his brother! Will shrinks at this—Bheem feels bad and pities his stand. During the battle, Vikarna tries to stop the advance of Abhimanyu during the chakravyuha trap, but is repulsed by Abhimanyu—the well-directed anger. Selfish logic can only be repulsed by a well-directed anger (the anger to regain throne for spiritual kingdom). But, it cannot be killed.
Vikarna for Draupadi
Selfish logic knows that power cannot be usurped by fluke and humiliating her to submission. He doesn’t speak till power doesn’t raise questions. Selfish logic knows that power is gained by a logical planning and not by subterfuge. The latter option will only take the already-in-question Duryodhan rule into different parameters from where retrieval has zero chances. That is why Mr Logic makes the impact analysis of the present situation may trigger and hence concludes in favour of Draupadi, like a judge takes a decision on the production of evidence—the evidence was Draupadi’s all-silencing question putting the whole gambling against the principles of gamble. Everybody is silent because they have no answer. No answer in logic means no counter to Draupadi’s objection. That simply means acceptance of what she is saying and this means none of those present in the court will support Duryodhan later when it was time. Besides, Vidura’s vocal condemnation of the act only substantiates the logical fears and hence Mr Logic decides to take the logical course out of the situation. Technically speaking, logic always supports the powerful. Draupadi is powerful in the court in the given parameters. However, when it comes to the battle, Mr Logic chooses to support Duryodhan, the power. Otherwise, there is no reason Mr Logic will not support the side where his mentor—will power— is. We can say logic opposes will and keeps us away from understanding the Divine—Krishna.
Vikarna killing
Bheem finally kills Vikarna in the battle of mace. The guru kills the shishya. Will smashes logic in the mace fight ( in the battle of points and counterpoints ). Will is better equipped as it has infinite options, but Mr Logic plays in his parametrical limitations! However, Bheem is in tears after killing his best disciple. Because, logic and reason are two channels through which will works. Bheem loses one and that pains him. Because, logic could then have been a way to reach the Divine. But, from now on it will only remain a hindrance. That is what pains will. Logic is good, but it has a limitation—it decides only in the given parameters. However, reason is that logic which decides on universal principles. Without parametres, logic is nothing and within parameters , it can only reason out for the selfish gain, nothing else!
Karna versus Vikarna
Karna is a disowned habit in the sensory system. He is a great warrior, better than even Arjuna. He is made king of Anga (body) by Duryodhan (lust). This is how lust rules your body-mind system—through habit, which gets powerful on each repetition. Arjuna ( chittashakti, power of mind complex) kills Karna with the help of Krishna—the Lord, not alone. Whereas Vikarna is selfish logic, which too repeats like a habit, owing to limiting parametres. But, he is opposed to Karna and Karna is opposed to Mr Logic. It is because, a habit cannot stand logic! Vikarna, unlike Karna, is owned by all—even the Pandavas. But, Karna is a disowned Pandava, who is owned by lust! Vikarna is killed by will power, whereas Karna is killed by mental power (which is a combination of right memory, right perception and right reasoning). However, there is a hidden player. The mental power alone cannot work—it has to be supported behind the scenes by will power. But, Bheem represents that.
Will has two forms
How can there be two representations of will power? Does it mean Bheem killed Karna indirectly? No. No. It is not that. That will power sits atop Arjuna’s chariot—Hanumanji, who represents the will power who is beyond the dimensions of the Mahabharata! We can say Bheem in his beyond form helps him. For the sake of understanding, we have to acknowledge the presence of two representations of will power. One is executive will power, that is seen all around —Bheem. And the other is divine will—-that is Hanumanji. Why is divine will present in the human system? It is because, Krishna is the charioteer. It is all His will. He grants the body the executive will, which is nothing but the extension of divine will. Wherever there is Lord, divine will is there! I kept this explanation for the Vikarna blog as, otherwise, it would have been difficult to grasp the differential. The two are different modes of the same will. That is why Hanumanji sits atop Arjuna’s rath and never apparently partakes in the battle. He leaves the rath after the battle is over. The divine will disappears from the public vision after the project is over. But, it remains as existent as Hanumanji is—ever present, immortal.
Takeaway: You can realise your creative power only when you do out-of-box thinking. That is only possible when you kill Vikarna by your executive will. Break the conditional logic and then you will have a perfect vision of the situation. It is good to kill your Vikarna now and give your intelligence a full dimension! Sorry! Vikarna cannot take you to God.
Next : Who is Uttamauja?
Vivek Sharma
