The Great Princess Uttara

Uttara was in the Pandava camp with her mother-in-law Draupadi. Brought to the battlefield after Abhimanyu's death, she was hovered over and shielded by her elders.

Uttara Abhimanyu had always told how his uncle Krishna protected the Pandavas. How Krishna loved and sheltered them. Krishna was the Lord, Abhimanyu had told her. Uncle Krishna was all powerful, Abhimanyu had said.

So how Abhimanyu could be dead? Uttara wondered to herself. It could not be true. It could not be true that she was a widow.

Beside his armor and bow and sword was kept a lamp. Uttara saw Draupadi keep a vigil by that lamp, while her father-in-law of Arjuna went out to fight - for Abhimanyu, he said. Uttara could not understand it.

She waited for her husband to come to her. To take her in his arms and kiss her lips. To feel her belly and whisper loving words to their child. Surely he would come.

Then Uttara woke one morning before the break of dawn. She lifted her ungainly body from the cot. She went to where her husband's armor and weapons that lay before lamp. "Wake up, my lord."

He did not.

"Why will not you wake?" She whispered. She Stood in the early morning quiet, waiting to hear his voice. Then she could not take the wait anymore.

"Wake up!" She screamed. "Wake up! It's time to go to war!"

There was a crash and a muddle as her elders rushed through the camp to where she was screaming. Draupadi reached Uttara first.

"Look, Mother," Uttara said. "Your son will not wake up! I told him to wake but he does not listen. He is stubborn and lazy. Tell him he must wake!"

Draupadi put her arms around Uttara.

"Look, my lord," Uttara softened her voice, "all our elders are here. Father and Mother and Uncle Krishna. Event Elder Father is here," Uttara said, looking at Yudhishthira and then back at the lamp. "Will not you wake now?"

The Pandavas and Draupadi looked at each other with helplessness.

Draupadi clasped Uttara's face in her hands. "Daughter ... He will not wake any more."

"Why? Why will not he wake?"

Draupadi seemed lost for words before she composed herself and spoke in a calming tone. "Because he is tired. He Fought a lot in the war. Let him sleep now."

"No, Mother!" Uttara said, pushing back from Draupadi's embrace. "You have spoiled him with your love. Now he will not listen to anything. But he must! He must go to war. All the other warrior women will laugh at me if their husbands go to war but mine does not."

That was when Krishna came forward. "Uttara Daughter."

She turned to him. "Uncle, you tell him. He always listens to you."

"Uttara," Krishna said. "You must accept that he will not wake." When she merely stared at him in incomprehension he put his hand on her head. "Every life comes to this earth that has a time. Abhimanyu reached the end of his time."

"But you protect him. You protect us all."

"Even I can not protect him from time, my daughter. He has gone on to his destiny."

Uttara blinked at him and blinked some more. "You mean he will not come back to me? He is truly dead?"

Krishna nodded.

She kept blinking. "But how will I live without him? There is no hope without my husband."

"You must never lose hope, Uttara. Hope is the light and without it there is only darkness."

"But he and I are bound together. I want to go with him. If he is dead then I want die with him, Uncle."

"No.. Your husband gave his life for dharma. He Sacrificed everything for truth. It is your duty to uphold that truth. You must be worthy of his sacrifice, Uttara. You carry Abhimanyu's legacy and it is up to you to pass on his strength to your child. That is why you must live. You hold our future's hope. "

"But I do not want to live without him," she was shaking her head. "I do not want to, I do not want to, I do not want to." She leaned into Krishna and wept.

He held her and rocked her and felt her tears. "Daughter, you must."

Bad things happen to good people. We see this over and over again. Sometimes it seems like there is nothing but injustice in this world. Abhimanyu was killed - Murdered - by warriors who broke every rule to kill him. Uttara had to cope with his murder even though she was utterly innocent and did not deserve to have such a cruel fate. This happens in our world again and again and again. It's easy when seeing Things like this for anyone to feel angry and afraid.

However, that is not the end of the story. The Mahabharat Teaches that in fact there is a universal law called the law of karma. This law means that everything that happens is the result of our past actions. Therefore, though bad things may happen that seem like injustice, in fact it is simply the universe maintaining it's own balance. So those who behave with Cruelty and falsehood in this life accept bad reactions in the future, just as those who behave with kindness and truth will face good reactions ahead. Good or bad, we reap the results of our actions. This is the law of karma.

Abhimanyu, though Suffering a terrible death in the mortal world due to past karma, went on to glory in the spiritual realm unsurpassed Because of his noble actions. By his karma he created his fate.

Explained all these truths Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita to comfort him in his moments of grief and fear. Click here to read my blog post on this subject.

At the same time, nothing happens to us that we do not already possess the strength to cope with. The question is Whether we use that strength and carry on or Whether we accept defeat and surrender. Whether we keep hope alive or give in to despair.

When Uttara was at her weakest moment Krishna told her to never lose hope Because without it there was only darkness.

He Explained Uttara's duty: To Ensure that the future was brighter than the past. That the Sacrifices made for the future were not wasted. That she created in her child a better future for the world.

Uttara was the youth of her family and the youth are the hope always.

If only our youth today could be made to understand this teaching - that the world is in their hands. They can make a difference. They can shape the future. They can do this even when it seems that they are surrounded by darkness.

For Krishna Tells us there is always hope. And hope is the light.

Credit and Reblog from : http://jaijoshiz.blogspot.com/2010/05/uttara-hope-for-future-part-ii.html