Lord Brahma has this bad habit. And he does not learn either. Somehow, he tends to lose his head, all four heads rather, when tapped for boons by a devious demon. Armed thus, the demon then goes about thrashing, torturing and tormenting the devas, sages, common folk and occasionally Brahma himself, mostly in that order. And when tipping point arrives, there appears Lord Vishnu or Lord Shiva, depending on who is appealed to.
Of course, Lords V & S themselves have delivered such boomerang boons, but Lord B beats them by a big margin in godly naivette. Anyway, to cut a long purana short, the evil demon is eventually vanquished through divine valour and also courtesy some embedded loopholes in the boon itself and then good reigns till Brahma’s next goof-up surfaces to haunt earth. This eternal roulette has rolled on for eons, giving this ancient land haloed its cultural flavour as well as a huge cache of festivals.
Brahma’s familiar folly has achieved full force in Bharath today. Only that, instead of obliging one demon at a time, he seems to have given away boons in bulk, thus unleashing an army of potent asuras in our midst. And this being Deepavali season, it is apt to say that the nation is now swarming with Narakasuras, politicos primarily. The Constitution, in all innocence like the Creator, is clueless about who it has empowered. Its three pillars, plus the unofficial fourth, namely media, like Brahma’s faces, have all been rendered impotent spectators, as these vile villains plunder our motherland just as the original N’asura snatched Mother Aditi’s ear-rings. (please google the lore for more enlightenment).
Good and evil are not an easy black or white binary option. They are mere corners of a tapestry of human characters of several grey shades in between. Also, while true evil does exist, true good is a mirage. So, even in the those vintage times when Gods supposedly straddled the earth in person, we are only talking of the seemingly good triumphing over the proven bad. For, the devas too had their unseemly indulgences while the righteous also frequently faltered, but still God chose their side in the interest of ‘larger dharma’. At least, that’s what we believe. But in the current era whence the bleak grey is pervasive, even the politically savvy Lord with all his discriminatory wisdom would be stumped while sifting the good from bad. Reason probably why he is held up in the heavens for so long.
But let us forget divine lag and get back to Earth and Bharath. In these scam-ridden times the political choices of the day suddenly pose a veritable challenge to the voters. More so in conditions wherein it takes an evil to fell another and one has to willy nilly wink at the lesser evil to get rid of the visible bigger one. For instance, you have imported evils and resident evils. There are dynastic demons in full potency as against democratic duds. And there are extended evils in the form of sons, sons-in-law etc all hunting in family packs. There are past devils awaiting resurrection and current devils warranting annihilation. There are the clinically efficient corrupt and the squeaky clean inept. There are chips off the old sleazy blocks with their known ways and there are new activist kids on the block promising a fresh path.
Indeed, Lord Krishna would realise that his Narakasura was easy game with the villain mark shining like a neon sign. Whereas with a surfeit of neo-Narakasuras dotting every nook and cranny of the country now, the Lord would be spoilt for choice. Really, what we the people should seek for this Deepavali is not destruction of the evil ones but just a reduction in their numbers. And the gift of good sense to choose wisely from the remaining. In the meantime, we can also ask for a restraining order on Lord Brahma!
Happy Deepavali!
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