Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 4.5.21
Ūti· What drives us to actConflict Can End in Peace
“Just as Baladeva knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the King of Kaliṅga, during the gambling match at the marriage ceremony of Aniruddha, Vīrabhadra knocked out the teeth of both Dakṣa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Śiva, and Pūṣā, who by smiling sympathetically had also shown his teeth.”
What the purport teaches
- Vīrabhadra knocked out the teeth of Dakṣa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Śiva, and Pūṣā, who had smiled sympathetically.
- The purport compares this conflict to fighting at marriage ceremonies, where powerful warriors challenged one another and later reached a compromise.
- The fighting at the Dakṣa yajña was not entirely driven by enmity. The parties displayed their strength through Vedic mantra or mystic power, but everything would later come to a peaceful end.
Try this today
Reread the purport and note its assurance that the conflict would come to a peaceful end.
Ask yourself
How does knowing that peace would follow change my understanding of this conflict?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.