Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
In Ramayana we find that Ravana inorder to establish his supremacy over the universe goes and attacks the Yamadutas in Yamaloka. When he harassed the Yamadutas, Yamaraj became very angry and there is a terrible fight between Yamaraj and Ravana. During the war, there was an instance when Ravana fell unconscious. Yamaraja, observing the rules of fair combat, did not further attack his overpowered enemy. He resumed the fight only after Ravana came back to his senses.
Since Ravana had got a boon from Lord Brahma that neither demigod, rshi or demon can kill him, he was very proud that Yamaraj will surely lose and he insulted Yamaraj. He did not know that Yamaraj being a great devotee of the Lord, is indeed very powerful. Not withstanding the atrocities of Ravana, Yamaraja decided to personally kill the demon and lifted his mace which delivered a halo of blazing fire. Just as he was about to release the mace to destroy Ravana, Brahma appeared before him. He was seen and heard only by Yamaraja as he spoke to the angry Yamaraja. "O immeasurably powerful one, this Rakshasa is not to be killed by you at this time. Indeed I have conferred upon him a boon that he cannot be slain except by a human. This cannot be falsified, lest the order of the universe be cast into chaos. Therefore hold back your mace. Ravana is not yet destined to die. If you release your infallible mace upon this demon, it will result in the death of all other created beings."
The way how Yamaraj reacted to Lord Brahma's instructions is a very good lesson for us. Hearing that command of Brahma, the chief of the demigods, Yamaraja lowered his mace. Realising that nothing could be accomplished by him in that battle, he then and there disappeared from Ravana's sight. When he saw Yamaraja depart, the Ravana considered himself victorious and roared in joy. But Yamaraj just left the place and went on with his service in Yamaloka along with his Yamadutas. He respected the authority of Brahma and when he understood that it was not his service to kill the demon, he just left the place. He did not bother or get agitated about Ravana's victory. For him, obeying the authority and abiding by the will of Supreme Lord was more important, than to earn glory and fame by attempting to kill Ravana. That is why Yamaraja is in the list of 12 Mahajanas. For us it will be very difficult to accept blame or defeat, that too with an enemy, when there is no fault on our part. But in devotional service it is nothing about proving who is right or wrong. If Krishna wants us to lose, we shall accept defeat. If Krishna wants us to be victorious, then so be it. So devotional service is all about doing service which Guru and Krishna wants and not for our personal wants.
In his wonderful purport to verse 3.17.1 His Divine Grace very nicely mentions in the purport to the above verse, "The difference between the demigods and ordinary human beings is that the demigods approach authority, whereas the inhabitants of this earth defy authority. If people would only approach the authority, then every adverse condition in this universe could be rectified. Arjuna was also disturbed on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, but he approached the authority, Krishna, and his problem was solved. The conclusive instruction of this incident is that we may be disturbed by some material condition, but if we approach the authority who can actually explain the matter, then our problem is solved."
We pray at the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva and Srila Prabhupada and seek their blessings, so that we always abide by the authorities and accept the will of the Lord.
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