Suppose someone is strong, be it physically, economically, politically. We easily understand that they can be dangerous if they start abusing their strength. However, we may not easily understand that even weak people can be dangerous. Here’s how.
Though the weak may themselves not do anything terrible, they may let others do terrible things, while remaining spectators or even becoming enablers. In the Mahabharata, the blind king Dhritarashtra enabled his wicked son, Duryodhana, to whom he was irrationally attached. While Duryodhana was actively villainous, Dhritarashtra was passively villainous. The Bhagavad-gita’s first verse (01.01) points to Dhritarashtra’s weakness embodied in his destructive partiality toward his progeny.
Was Dhritarashtra dangerous because he was in an influential position? Not entirely. Yes, weak people in influential positions can be hugely dangerous. But weak people in ordinary positions can also be significantly dangerous. During the Nazis’ persecution of Jews, many ordinary Germans became mute consenters or meek colluders, thus paving the way to one of recent history’s worst atrocities.
What applies to people also applies to us. If we are weak internally, we too may cave in to evil people. How can we become internally stronger? By assimilating Gita wisdom. Its relevant insights are fourfold. We are at our core spiritual and indestructible; we are parts of an all-powerful divine, Krishna, who will ultimately redeem us if we act with devotional integrity; by prayerfully connecting with him, we access divine strength to overcome our attachment-born fears; by aspiring to act in a mood of devotional contribution, we access divine guidance to act judiciously for making things better, not worse.
By understanding our capacity to do harm — actively or passively — we can motivate ourselves to become internally stronger.
One-sentence summary:
Strong people are dangerous because of what they do while abusing their strength; weak people are dangerous because of what they don’t do while the strong abuse their strength.
Think it over:
- How can weak people be dangerous?
- How can we become internally stronger?
- How can we motivate ourselves to become internally stronger?
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01.01: Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?
To know more about this verse, please click on the image
Explanation of article:
Podcast:
It appears Sanjay was TV screen and Dhrutrashtra views it on remote control