The fascination continues…..with the Mahabharatham , the never ending saga. There is always an unheard story , a new interpretation and always a new lesson !
I have never been too familiar with many incidents of the war , except for the ones we always keep hearing. I remember from our dear Amir Chithra Katha comics how Bhishma in his white dress, was lying on a bed of arrows and how , someone shouted into Dronacharyar’s ears , that ‘Ashwathama , the elephant is dead ‘….keeping the Ashwathama loud and the elephant low, and how Karna was shot by Arjuna ……but I never knew how it all came about...just the pictures playing on my memory.
I have never been too familiar with many incidents of the war , except for the ones we always keep hearing. I remember from our dear Amir Chithra Katha comics how Bhishma in his white dress, was lying on a bed of arrows and how , someone shouted into Dronacharyar’s ears , that ‘Ashwathama , the elephant is dead ‘….keeping the Ashwathama loud and the elephant low, and how Karna was shot by Arjuna ……but I never knew how it all came about...just the pictures playing on my memory.
Duruyodhana’s
bloated ego and vanity , were compounded many times by the presence of three
stalwarts , Bhishma , Dorna and his cherished friend Karna. Their courage,
skills , heavenly weapons and boons they had, were towering sky high. Duruyodhana,
knowing that all these were bound to
him, by Bhishma’s oath and Karna’s friendship and Dhrona’s blinded love for his
son , ….did not look beyond that and thought victory would be his.
They were ready to use the divine weapons , ( always paralled to the nuclear weapons of today ) like Brahmaastrams. In-spite of being so blessed to have been enlightened with the Gita by Krishna, Arjun was still very reluctant to attack either Bhishma or Dronacharyar, one being his mentor and other his Guru. With Bhishma , Dronacharyar and Karna could have easily swayed victory towards the Guravas...but did they ?
He ripped off layer by layer of the beliefs. And After he
spoke, all three of them were ready to be killed – the greatest ever known
warriors of the one the worlds’s greatest battle, were ready to be killed in
single stroke without raising their weapon….. !!!!!!
And what a conversation
!!!...what Krishna points out to them keeps running in my mind…and were they
incidents targeted to win the war or to break down all the Bhishmas,
Dronacharyas and Karnas living in us ???
Bhishma’s sense of
Dharma and his perception of right and wrong are world renown. He prided himself
on it… and it was all directed towards his promise that he would stand by the
king of Hastinapur. During the course
of the war, when his integrity was challenged by Duruyodhana, he turned out in
full fury. Neither were the Pandava's army
able to stand a day of his onslaught nor were the Pandavas themselves ready to
kill Bhishma, whose lap they grew up on...so can Duroyadhana be allowed to win the war ?
It was at this point that Krishna was ready to break his vow of not raising a weapon during the war and was about to attach Bhishma with a wheel . He refrained from attacking Bhishma only after Arjuna promised he would raise his weapon ..but would he actually attack him ? Moreover Bhishma can choose his time of Death.
Krishna now makes time stand still and enlightens Bhishma ' Your Sense of Dharma is no Dharma at all. It is a false ego to stand by your oath to protect the throne of Hastinapur ... and the conviction to protect the king was bloated to such an extent , that you allowed the Guravas to start disrobing Draupadi - that silence you held is most reprehensible. Your defense of the throne , allowed to pamper his son's atrocities . Your stand for the oath, is making you fight for adharma... and protecting your oath is more important to you than doing what is right ......
and how many Bhishmas reside among us ?
How many times have our self imposed definitions prevented us from doing what is right ?
How many times our financial status , lifestyles, caste barriers , so called ' family honour' prevented us from reaching out to others ?
How many times the will to uphold religion,caste, culture has caused harm to others and even taken lives ?
Now , can we kill the Bhishma in us ?
The next threat looming large in front of the Pandavas was their Guru , Dronacharyar -
The threat was large, not only because of his immense strength and war weapons, but also because of the reluctance of the Pandavas to attack their own Guru. Drona, for the master warrior he was, was driven in life by the love for his son, Aswathama - he even become the Guru of the Pandavas for the only reason that he can take revenge on King Daurpadan for failing to provide food for his son's hunger when they were reeling in poverty.
Now in the battle field, hearing that his son Ashwathama was dead ( while in reality it was an elephant called Ashwathama who had died ), Dronacharya was ready to launch the Brahma Asthiram.
When Krishna froze everything around to get the attention of Dronacharya, the great guru fumed as to what was wrong in loving his son, wanting the best for him and now wanting revenge ? Did Dronacharyar really love his son muses Krishna ?
Then he beautifully explains ' You have never loved your son . You were only obsessed by him. Love would have made grow and evolve into a great human being but your obsession only sought and provided him comforts. Love would have molded him into an independent person but your obsession for being there always for him, has positioned him in the war , where he cannot survive without you defending him
.Love should have taught him dharma , instead your obsession allowed him to be wrapped up in the friendship of Duroyadhana . Now is he fighting a losing battle for Adharma.
You cannot even call your self a Guru because the sole intention of a Guru is to impart knowledge to his disciples but you took Pandavas as disciples to groom them , to revenge Daurpadan and make Ashwathama the king. In fact the obsession lead Ashwathama to even attack an unborn child without qualms.
Dronacharya was now ready to die for Dharma.
As parents, is our love for our children allowing them to evolve as , independent ,confident, righteous human beings or is our love stifling their growth ?
Is our love providing them too much of luxury, cutting their wings in process ?
Is our love providing a cover for their mistakes , not allowing them to judge and there by getting accustomed to doing what might not be right and fair ?
Is our love keeping them in the comfort zone ,where the will to pursue their passion is crushed ?
Now , can we kill the Dronacharya in us ?
Next moving to my favorite Karna. Krishna made Karna chase Arjuna , there by intentionally allowing his chariot wheel to get stuck in the slush and mud. Thus one of India 's greatest warriors was left defenseless and Krishna provoked Arjuna to attack him right then and there. Fuming against the injustice, Karna tries to evoke the divine weapons, which too fail him.
To the completely confused and disillusioned Karna , Krishna then explains.. Krishna whole heartdly agrees that the treatment meted out to him by the society is wrong. Why should not a charioteer's son be skilled enough and why should a birth deter any one from acknowledging his skills ? The question posed by Krishna was whether the reaction of Karna to this was correct ?
The frustration which was brewing within Karna ,drove his life. It was Karna's perception that the entire society was against him and it was only Duruyodhana's hand which was up holding his respect .It was Krishna who pointed it out to him " If Duruyodhana wanted to really uplift you , why did he not uplift the entire charioteer class. Your skill and your commitment towards his friendship is fueling his ego that he can commit any atrocity . Your noble thoughts, noble deeds were all washed away in his friendship. You had no self doubt when Daurpadi was attacked or when your brother's son was unjustly killed . Duruyodhana's wish is your will, not dharma. You should have focused your energy in creating a new social class,, instead you stand in war for Adharma"........and finally so was Karna too willing to die , again for dharma....
Karna died but can we kill the Karna within us ? How many wrong deeds and actions have been justified in the name of ' life dealing an unfair hand '?
How many times has friendship not corrected but actually supported wrong deeds ?
How many times , has the restlessness within our selves not allowed us to grow ?
and finally Duruyodhana's three pillars- Bhishma driven by his vow, Drona driven by son and Karna driven by his friendship gave up their reins to Krishna to up hold Dharma....
When will we uproot the Bhishmas , the Dronacharyars and Karnas in our mind ? Now or after Krishna comes in his next Avatar ?
Happy thinking.. !!!!
.
It was at this point that Krishna was ready to break his vow of not raising a weapon during the war and was about to attach Bhishma with a wheel . He refrained from attacking Bhishma only after Arjuna promised he would raise his weapon ..but would he actually attack him ? Moreover Bhishma can choose his time of Death.
Krishna now makes time stand still and enlightens Bhishma ' Your Sense of Dharma is no Dharma at all. It is a false ego to stand by your oath to protect the throne of Hastinapur ... and the conviction to protect the king was bloated to such an extent , that you allowed the Guravas to start disrobing Draupadi - that silence you held is most reprehensible. Your defense of the throne , allowed to pamper his son's atrocities . Your stand for the oath, is making you fight for adharma... and protecting your oath is more important to you than doing what is right ......
and how many Bhishmas reside among us ?
How many times have our self imposed definitions prevented us from doing what is right ?
How many times our financial status , lifestyles, caste barriers , so called ' family honour' prevented us from reaching out to others ?
How many times the will to uphold religion,caste, culture has caused harm to others and even taken lives ?
Now , can we kill the Bhishma in us ?
The next threat looming large in front of the Pandavas was their Guru , Dronacharyar -
The threat was large, not only because of his immense strength and war weapons, but also because of the reluctance of the Pandavas to attack their own Guru. Drona, for the master warrior he was, was driven in life by the love for his son, Aswathama - he even become the Guru of the Pandavas for the only reason that he can take revenge on King Daurpadan for failing to provide food for his son's hunger when they were reeling in poverty.
Now in the battle field, hearing that his son Ashwathama was dead ( while in reality it was an elephant called Ashwathama who had died ), Dronacharya was ready to launch the Brahma Asthiram.
When Krishna froze everything around to get the attention of Dronacharya, the great guru fumed as to what was wrong in loving his son, wanting the best for him and now wanting revenge ? Did Dronacharyar really love his son muses Krishna ?
Then he beautifully explains ' You have never loved your son . You were only obsessed by him. Love would have made grow and evolve into a great human being but your obsession only sought and provided him comforts. Love would have molded him into an independent person but your obsession for being there always for him, has positioned him in the war , where he cannot survive without you defending him
.Love should have taught him dharma , instead your obsession allowed him to be wrapped up in the friendship of Duroyadhana . Now is he fighting a losing battle for Adharma.
You cannot even call your self a Guru because the sole intention of a Guru is to impart knowledge to his disciples but you took Pandavas as disciples to groom them , to revenge Daurpadan and make Ashwathama the king. In fact the obsession lead Ashwathama to even attack an unborn child without qualms.
Dronacharya was now ready to die for Dharma.
As parents, is our love for our children allowing them to evolve as , independent ,confident, righteous human beings or is our love stifling their growth ?
Is our love providing them too much of luxury, cutting their wings in process ?
Is our love providing a cover for their mistakes , not allowing them to judge and there by getting accustomed to doing what might not be right and fair ?
Is our love keeping them in the comfort zone ,where the will to pursue their passion is crushed ?
Now , can we kill the Dronacharya in us ?
Next moving to my favorite Karna. Krishna made Karna chase Arjuna , there by intentionally allowing his chariot wheel to get stuck in the slush and mud. Thus one of India 's greatest warriors was left defenseless and Krishna provoked Arjuna to attack him right then and there. Fuming against the injustice, Karna tries to evoke the divine weapons, which too fail him.
To the completely confused and disillusioned Karna , Krishna then explains.. Krishna whole heartdly agrees that the treatment meted out to him by the society is wrong. Why should not a charioteer's son be skilled enough and why should a birth deter any one from acknowledging his skills ? The question posed by Krishna was whether the reaction of Karna to this was correct ?
The frustration which was brewing within Karna ,drove his life. It was Karna's perception that the entire society was against him and it was only Duruyodhana's hand which was up holding his respect .It was Krishna who pointed it out to him " If Duruyodhana wanted to really uplift you , why did he not uplift the entire charioteer class. Your skill and your commitment towards his friendship is fueling his ego that he can commit any atrocity . Your noble thoughts, noble deeds were all washed away in his friendship. You had no self doubt when Daurpadi was attacked or when your brother's son was unjustly killed . Duruyodhana's wish is your will, not dharma. You should have focused your energy in creating a new social class,, instead you stand in war for Adharma"........and finally so was Karna too willing to die , again for dharma....
Karna died but can we kill the Karna within us ? How many wrong deeds and actions have been justified in the name of ' life dealing an unfair hand '?
How many times has friendship not corrected but actually supported wrong deeds ?
How many times , has the restlessness within our selves not allowed us to grow ?
and finally Duruyodhana's three pillars- Bhishma driven by his vow, Drona driven by son and Karna driven by his friendship gave up their reins to Krishna to up hold Dharma....
When will we uproot the Bhishmas , the Dronacharyars and Karnas in our mind ? Now or after Krishna comes in his next Avatar ?
Happy thinking.. !!!!
.
No comments:
Post a Comment