Insult

Yudhisthira inquired: How should one react to people who insult you by their rudeness and arrogance?

Bhisma replied: If one does not become angry when insulted by another, then he takes away all the pious merit that person may have accumulated by good deeds. In addition he transfers to the abuser his own sinful reactions.

After all what is the value of praise or blame when uttered by a vulgar fool? A person who praises some one in his presence but criticizes him behind his back is no better that a dog.
Mahabharata, Bhisma Parva.

Game of Thrones

When Krishna went to meet him with all Pandavas then after offering pranama Bhishma asked him –

“He Madhav, you say that Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana, it means, this Mrityuloka or earth is the land of Karma and this is place where we receive the result or fruits of our past karmas. I know about all my past 17 births, but never I caused any pain to anyone, then why I have received so much pain through this bed of arrows?”,

listening to this question Krishna smiled & asked him -“you do remember all your past 17 births? What about the 18th?”, then Pitamah said -“I don’t remember about my 18th birth”. Then Krishna told him that

“in your 18th birth you were a prince and committed a sin by throwing off a snake with your arrow, when you had thrown it away then it had fallen upon a place which was full of thrones, many thrones got pierced through the body of that snake, it was causing great pain to him, later all family members of that snake tried to help him to get rid of those thrones, but they failed, then before dyeing the snake cursed you “He Rajan, I don’t know your identity, but the way you have caused me pain of thrones similarly one day you too will experience the same, you too will have a huge family, but no one will be able to uproot those thrones from your body and in this way you will die.”, then Krishna added more “as you followed the path of devotion in all your births so it was protecting you till date from the sin you committed, but as now you have fought from the side of Adharma (Duryodhan) so the dormant sin has ripened now.”. After listening to that Pitamah Bhishma was satisfied and he wished to die, then a divyajyoti (soul) came out of his body and found it’s place at the lotus feet of Shri Krishna.