The Mahabharata, like its less illustrious predecessor, the Ramayana, has left a larger than life impact on the Indian psyche. Perhaps the fact that it entails all the possible dimensions of human behaviour is a reason people still identify so intensely with this wonderful piece of literature. The aim of the Ramayana is but to sing the glory of the Maryada Purushottam , and thus put forward a life story that is supposed to be perfectly ideal in all respects. And in a bid to glorify Rama, the Ramayana has done little justice to the other main characters; their personalities have been painted shabbily and casually, most being severly unidimensional.
The Mahabharata, on the other hand, does not have any central character: and though the basic story revolves around the clash among Kuru princes for power, there are stories within stories, and branches coming out of the stem that lead to twigs and leaves. Even the villains have virtues, and the heroes have vices, and it is difficult to single out a spotless character in the entire epic. All the main characters are painted as strong, emotional and determined individuals who are keen to speak their hearts out. They behave in manners that appeal even to the modern man. Even Yudhishthira, the epitome of virtuousness gets criticised by his younger brothers for his folly. Draupadi doesn't weep in sorrow for the abuse she faces, but censures her husbands for her misery. It is here that the Mahabharata by far surpasses the Ramayana. The great warriors no longer remain aliens fighting a space odyssey, but people like us, people who think and feel the way we think and feel. And through this realization, our heart bleeds for Karna's misery; our hatred ignites to see Dusshasan's atrocities and our conscience cries against Bhishma's helplessness.
Traditionalists might argue religiously that the aim of this epic is to spread the lessons of the Bhagavatgeeta, but in fact, the book is much larger and much greater than that inspiring speech attributed to Krishna. The Mahabharata is more than just the history of a family feud. It's a reflection of life itself. And like life, its appeal is eternal.
2 comments:
Well said.. No character looks perfect or ideal..Thtz how human nature is.. It is a very beautiful epic indeed.. Easy to relate to the characters and the situations in the epic!
Your blog is excellent!
Since u have a blog about Mahabarata, I assume u must have visited these sites...jus in case u haven't, check them out when u get time
http://www.mcremo.com/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/mahabharat.asp
Bookmarking and signing off..
By DMAN19
When searching for a book to review for Religion class, I knew what I didn’t want; a generic, statistic fuelled, boring textbook. Instead, I wanted to find something with a deeper underlying meaning. Something that could relate to me. One fine day, when looking for a missing pencil sharpener, I caught sight of a book titled The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurcharan Das. After reading the prologue, I knew this Hinduism associated book would be just right for me.
In summary, the book revolved around Hinduism’s epic battle the Mahabharata, and how it can be used as a Metaphor for everyday life. Explained in the simplest of terms, the Mahabharata was the battle between cousins over control of a kingdom. The Kaurava’s were the power hungry, evil cousins, while the Pandava’s were the good guys, standing for the right values. Moment’s before entering the battlefield, Arjuna, one of the Pandava’s, was befuddled. He was skeptical of the fighting, as he would be killing his cousins. Krishna, a Hindu avatar, had different plans for him. Krishna told Arjuna that he was fighting for the right thing. He was following dharma. No matter what the sacrifice, he was doing the right thing.
In his book, Gurcharan Das used the Mahabharata as a metaphor to help understand oneself. The Pandava’s are the positive forces of our body, and the Kaurava’s are the negative forces. The forces are battling each other for control of the kingdom; our bodies. Das stresses that we have to make a conscience effort to allow the positive forces to win control over our body. Allowing the positive forces to achieve control over our body requires following Dharma, or doing the right thing. Das acknowledges that adhering to the laws of Dharma may consist of sacrifices. For example, if getting the top job at work involves cheating, it is not following Dharma. Getting the job is not the right thing. However, if following Dharma means being honest, and getting a lower paying job, doing the lower paying job is the right thing. There may be sacrifice, but the result is the right one. It was meant to be.
I am very satisfied that I decided to pick up The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurcharan Das. He has led me to realize that following the right values will get the right result, even if that result doesn’t appear to be the “best” at that given moment. The book also connected me back to my Indian roots. I’m happy that I will have something more to talk about with my grandmother on my next trip to the homeland.
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