परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् । धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥
(Whenever there is decay of virtue and prevalence of wickedness, I manifest myself. To establish virtue, to destroy evil, to save the good (people), I come in different ages. )
I vividly remember this shloka. This shloka along with shankh-naad (conch shell sound) reverberated in most homes every Sunday. TV serial Mahabharata was on. This shloka brought soothing comfort to me umpteen number of times; it reassured me that whatever bad I see or hear will be rectified one day, good men will be protected and all shall be right with the world. Eventually.
After all, what reason was there to doubt this prophecy? None. When Lord Krishna heard details of scandalous disrobing from Draupadi herself, he assured her that all one hundred Kauravas would be dead in the battlefield. Krishna’s vow is here. And he kept his vow as Kauravas were annihilated so surely, he would keep his vow to Arjuna?
Fast forward 30 years. Reality has bitten by now. Half a million people get murdered in a year; possibly 1 million suicides in same time span; millions of women raped. Millions die due to poverty, countless countries ravaged by bloodshed.
Is this still not comparable to one disrobing event? Is this not wicked enough? Is this not evil enough?