Baba's Storytime - A Lesson for the Pandavas

Doubts about God may sometimes arise even among staunch believers. This may be illustrated from an incident in the Mahabharata. 

Once, while the Pandavas were in exile in the forest, Krishna visited them. Krishna was told that the five brothers took turns during the night to keep a vigil over the activities of evil spirits and demons. 

One night, an evil spirit appeared before the Pandava brothers, and they had great difficulty in fighting it. In view of this, Dharmaja, the eldest of the Pandavas, tried to dissuade Krishna from participating in sentry duty. Krishna, however, insisted on taking his share. During that period no evil spirit appeared. Then came Arjuna’s turn, and Krishna watched the scene from a distance. To Arjuna’s surprise, no evil spirit appeared while Krishna was there

 Krishna then explained to Arjuna that evil spirits were only a reflection of one’s hatred and fear, and when one is free from these, no evil spirit would appear or do any harm.

Krishna revealed that the Divine existed even in so-called evil spirits and that if a person gets rid of the evil qualities within him, the evil spirits can do no harm. One’s anger assumes the form of a demon. If you develop love, everything you confront will have the form of love. 

This was the lesson Krishna taught the Pandavas. 

(From the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)