Sacred Concord

Mbh 3.166.1

Mahabharata · translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

Vaisampayana continued, “When Sakra had gone to his proper place, Vibhatsu together with his brothers and Krishna, paid homage unto the son of Dharma. Then smelling the crown of the head of that Pandava, who was thus paying homage, (Yudhishthira) in accents faltering on account of you, addressed Arjuna, saying ‘O Arjuna, how didst thou pass this period in heaven? And how has thou obtained the weapons, and how also hast thou gratified the lord of the celestials? And, O Pandava, has thou adequately secured the weapons? Have the lord of the celestials and Rudra gladly granted thee the weapons? And how hast thou beheld the divine Sakra, and the wielder of Pinaka? And how has thou obtained the weapons? And in what manner didst thou worship (them)? And what service hadst thou done unto that repressor of foes, the worshipful one of a hundred sacrifices, that he said unto thee, ‘By thee have I been gratified? All this, O highly effulgent one, I wish to hear in detail. And, O sinless one, the manner in which thou didst please Mahadeva and the king of the celestials and, O repressor of foes, the service thou hadst done to the wielder of the thunder-bolt,--do thou, O Dhananjaya, relate all this in detail.”
Mbh 3.166.1 · Mahabharata · VANA PARVA

Themes in this passage

The DivineServiceChildrenDharmaLeadershipWorship

The Divine in other traditions

The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hellenism address it.

Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee.
Deuteronomy 23:5 · Bible · Deuteronomy
Allah, your Lord and Lord of your forefathers?
Quran 37:126 · Quran · The Rangers
Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.
Dhp 12.160 · Dhammapada · Self
Saturnia lends the lash; the coursers fly; Smooth glides the chariot through the liquid sky. Heaven’s gates spontaneous open to the powers, Heaven’s golden gates, kept by the winged Hours. Commission’d in alternate watch they stand, The sun’s bright portals and the skies command; Close, or unfold, the eternal gates of day Bar heaven with clouds, or roll those clouds away. The sounding hinges ring, the clouds divide. Prone down the steep of heaven their course they guide. But Jove, incensed, from Ida’s top survey’d, And thus enjoin’d the many-colour’d maid.
Iliad 8.29 · Iliad · 8

See what all six traditions say about the divine →

Search every tradition at once

Ask a question in your own words and see how six traditions answer it.