WHO DOES not know that the eighth avatar of God, Lord Krishna was very naughty as a child and who incessantly troubled His mother and all the neighbouring households in Gokul.

Inevitably, there were many complaints against Him. One day, upset with His mother for not attending to Him as desired by Him, Krishna wilfully broke the churning pot.

Mother Yashoda, normally very tolerant of His mischief got angry this once and decided to punish her son. She picked up a stick and went after Him. However, the Lord was too fast for her.

Soon Yashoda began to tire. So Krishna intentionally slowed down and allowed Himself to be caught. Seeing this, Yashoda threw away the stick and decided to tie Him up instead. Though no rope was long enough for the limitless Lord, still, Krishna meekly allowed Himself to be bound.

The message in this childhoold prank is that sometimes it is far better to lose than to win. There are many advantages in accepting defeat gracefully since we are bound to be wrong from time to time. Let us remember that we are not and cannot ever be all-powerful and all-knowing, therefore it is impossible for anyone to be always right. We make judgements on the basis of what we know, which may not be all there is to know. Despite our best efforts, many failures will inevitably occur, no matter how intelligent one thinks one is.

Being open-minded helps in cutting ones losses. And arguments don’t drag on if the contending parties concede the points in which they are wrong. It softens society if you accept your mistakes.

It also helps to teach others, especially children, by example that by accepting defeat gracefully, endears one to others. It helps us in becoming peaceful and enables us to rid ourselves of faults.

When I was young, I found that accepting my mistakes readily was disappointing to my friends who could no longer push me around. It is next to impossible to be always right. So a smart person always learns from his mistakes rather than by denying them.