Historical      Slaps  

 

                     We go  back to Mahabharat  times, when, Draupadi  wife of his younger brother Yudhishtheer  was dragged   ignominiously into  the darbar of Duryodhan, she was humiliated , disgraced and an obscene gesture was made by Duryodhan   to her to sit on his lap.  , she was about to be undressed in the full view of the courtesans and Bhisma his grand father was present in the darbar, but he did not do any thing  to save the grace of his daughter-in-law, he simply went on seeing the tragedy  like a coward. It was Sri Krishna who saved the grace of Draupadi , and that is why  Krishna  is known as grace-saver.

      Ultimately  war  took place, Bhisma was badly injured and was  put on a pyre of nails and was awaiting call of the death.

      Bhisma delivered some lessons on morality,dharma, justice. These lessons are famous as “  Shanti Parva “ in Mahabharat. After listening to such a discourse , Draupadi lapsed in to the events when she was humiliated in the darbar of Duryodhan in the presence of the ailing strong man ,saw to Bhasma and some satirical expressions rushed  on her face and  she laughed with contempt .Bhisma saw this,  and asked her the reason for laughing and acting with ridicule before the elders.

     Draupadi replied, “  I can not disobey your orders to show cause , more over if I do not state the  true reasons for  this conduct, I will be accused of  discourtesy . To-day you are teaching us  dharma, justice and  morality, but when I was humiliated in the darbar of Duryodhan  and Dushasan was undressing me in full view of yours , where all this knowledge  on dharma, morality and culture had gone ? I feel you might have acquired this knowledge after that incident , alas, it was this thought which has prompted me to laugh “

      This was such a historical slap on the face of Bhisma, that even after lapse of thousands of  years, the markings of the slap are still visible on the face of Bhisma  whenever  one reads that chapter of Mahabharat.

     History some times gives one and many some opportunity to act  like brave and reserve a place of dignity and honour, but if one misses that opportunity and fails to call up enough courage , repents for the life time his failure to grab the opportunity. What Bhisma should have done ? He was after all grand-father of Duryodhan and were some options before him  1. He could have  rushed  to Draupadi and  escorted  her to safety,  2. He could have  raised his voice against the inhuman and unjust behavior of Duryodhan drawn him into arguments and could have  persuaded him not to call Draupadi in the darbar,3. He could have thrashed Dushasan who started undressing Draupadi  4. He could have straight gone to Duryodhan and could have slapped him in full view of the courtesans. 5.He did not even boycott the darbar  in protest against the wrong treatment to Draupadi. Bhisma did not chose any such options but remained seated in his chair and went on seeing the  unseeable,  This would have been a sign of cowardice again but a slight action  would have earned  him some relief in the eyes of  the world.  

         When events occur, man should try to mould those events in accordance with  his personality, culture and image. He should never remain a silent spectator to any tragic event occurring before his eyes or at a distant place. Those who are leaders should take stand on the issues whenever they crop up. That is the test  of sound and honest leadership.

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        Slap on the face of President of United States of America    

      This is truly a historical  incident.

 USA’s President Mr.  Grant was a very religious man and attended the Church every Sunday. Once he went to the church along with his family and the Ministers.The one year old son of the President  was playing  with some one during the speech of the priest and the priest was disturbed. This caused annoyance to the President  and he slapped his son angrily for this . As a result  the child started weeping loudly.

      The aged mother of the President was sitting next to the President , got up from her seat and slapped the President in full view of all the present in the church.

    President Grant simply remained seated and could not do any thing  !

      When the prayer was over , some Ministers  told the mother, “ Madam , you did not do a correct thing in slapping the President in our presence. “

     She replied,  “ He slapped his  so little son on a superfluous fault in the presence of God,  and it was a big crime committed in the church in the presence of God. So , why should not slap my son for such a big crime  ?”

            The mother of President Grant deserves a position much more higher than Bhisma who  remained seated with folded hands when Draupadi ( his daughter-in-law ) was disgraced in open darbar.