It occurred a long time ago. The debate continued for sixteen consecutive days between the great philosopher Adi Shankaracharya and the scholar Mandan Mishra. This debate was not only a test of knowledge but also of patience, discretion and self-control. The judge of this scholarly debate was Vidushi Devi Bharti, the wife of Mandan Mishra herself, whose intelligence and impartiality were well known. The discussion was at its crucial point, when due to some urgent reason Devi Bharati had to go out for some time. Before leaving he took a unique solution. Putting a garland around the neck of both the scholars, he said, “In my absence, these garlands will decide your victory or defeat.”
Saying this she left from there. Even after his departure, the debate continued as before. After some time Devi Bharti returned. He looked at both the scholars carefully and without asking any questions gave his decision – Adi Shankaracharya was victorious and Mandan Mishra was defeated. Hearing this, everyone present in the meeting was surprised. Many scholars found this decision uncomfortable, because Devi Bharati had left in the middle of the debate. A scholar politely asked – “Devi, how did you take this decision in your absence?”
Devi Bharti smiled and replied – “Whenever a scholar starts losing in a debate and starts seeing a glimpse of defeat, because of this he gets angry and the garland around my husband’s neck has dried up due to the heat of his anger, whereas the flowers of Shankaracharya’s garland are still as fresh as before. This shows that Shankaracharya has won.”
The entire gathering was stunned to hear this answer. Everyone praised Devi Bharti’s astute vision, prudence and decision-making ability openly. The essence of this story is that anger is a state which opens the door to defeat even after coming very close to victory. Anger not only causes defeat, but is also the root cause of rift in relationships and breakdown of conscience. Therefore, no matter what the circumstances are in life, do not let anger overpower you – this is true victory.
