One of the Many Lessons Learnt from Mythology

“Goddess Lakshmi and Shanidev once fought over the 'superiority' issue. Both considered themselves to be superior than the other. When nobody seemed to be accepting the other’s supremacy, they thought of approaching Lord Vishnu to solve the matter. However, Lord Vishnu disappointed them saying, “Lord Shankar would be the right person to decide this.” So, both the judgement-seekers approached Lord Shankar, but only to hear from Him that Lord Brahma would be the right person for this.

Following Lord Shankar’s advice, when Goddess Lakshmi and Shanidev were on their way to meet Lord Brahma, they saw Naradmuni who asked them where they were going to. After knowing the reason,  Naradmuni told both of them that he could sort out the issue then and there and they did not need to trouble Lord Brahma for this purpose. Both the Lords were very happy to know this. They asked how the issue was going to be sorted out.

Naradmuni pointed at a distance and asked both Goddess Lakshmi and Shanidev to walk till that point and then to come back. Both of them, with a question mark on their faces, followed the instruction. When they came back, Naradmuni said that he came to a conclusion that both the Lords were equal in status – nobody is superior and nobody is inferior. How? He explained, Goddess Lakshmi is great when She comes in and Shanidev is great when He departs.

The issue was solved. Both Goddess Lakshmi and Shanidev were exhilarated to hear the decision. They left for their respective destinations happily after thanking Naradmuni for sorting it out.”

The above story was shown in one of the episodes of a mythological TV show several years ago. I was spellbound to know how a complex issue like this could be solved diplomatically, so easily. Certainly a very big clash could be avoided by Naradmuni who handled it very tactically and smartly. I must say that episode of the TV show inspired me a lot and encouraged me to give a very different approach whenever there is a problem with friends or among friends.

Not only this episode, there are many things we can learn from history and mythology. Many of these teachings are still applicable in today’s world. We just need to refer to the correct parallel situation to get inspiration from.