What is found in the Mahabharata can be found everywhere. What is not found in the Mahabharata can't be found anywhere.
As children most of us have been exposed to various stories from the Mahabharata. May be as children, certain questions didn't pop in our minds but as we grew up several questions arose about Indian Puranas and Ithihaasa especially the Mahabharata. Thanks to Western Education, we have carefully categorized them as mythology so that whenever we feel ashamed about the narratives in the Mahabharta it is easy to just dismiss them saying "they are just stories, don't bother about them". This usually happens when one reads a small 100 pages version of the Mahabharata or a single story in their English textbook. The contradictions seem so glaring that one can easily come to a conclusion that the entire war was "unethical", didn't care about the "rights of Women" and it's all "sci-fi stuff" that is not relevant in today's context. One must understand that the Mahabharata occurred in the Dwapara Yuga (close to 3100 BC) and we are talking of thousands of years ago. Right from the size and capability of humans to their social structures, things were very different from today's times. As we may observe, what is considered ethical in India may not be so in USA. Similarly what we consider unethical now may have been a common practice in those time. So with a limited perspective, it may not be good to arrive at quick judgement about the Puranas.
A detailed reading of the Mahabharata (I recommend the 2 volumed abridged version by Ramesh Menon) will slowly reveal to the reader the grandeur of the those times(Dwapara Yuga). The narratives in the Mahabharata are not about some flying super natural beings but extremely humane beings like each one of us. Its about grand people, their thoughts and actions, the motives guiding their thoughts, the consequences of their actions and how the war helped resolve those consequences. If one has the eye, one will see that we go through similar emotions and sometimes the same exact situations and the Mahabharata seems to have answers about what to do and what not to do..both! The seeming contradictions in the Mahabharata vanish when one reads the complete story which spans over several generations and births. Hence the killing of Drona may not be exactly unethical and of course! the Mahabharata did not justify pawning of Draupadi. Infact it highlights the dire consequence that the Pandava brothers had to go through just because they agreed to play dice with the wrong people.
Each parva of the Mahabharata has a unique message. Krishna stands out as the super hero of the Mahabharata with his unique style of handling situations. Again one may need thorough reading and reflection to be able to comprehend His greatness.
The Mahabharata gives lot of scope for discussion, reflection, debate and implementation. One must just be willing for a thorough study and its all possible. Game?!?
No comments:
Post a Comment