Morals of Mahaabhaarat

The book, "The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma" by Gurucharan Das, (Penguin Books, pgs.434, Rs.699) is a fascinating study of Mahaabhaarat and the author looks at Dharm from the point of view of a modern man with modern sensibilities. He analyses every aspect of Dharm. He finds relevance of Dharm in the present era and writes in the concluding chapter: "Modern democracies expand huge amount of energy in debates between the political Left and the Right when the greater divide is between conduct according to Dharm and A-Dharm."

Mahaabhaarat is one of the two oldest epics of India, and the largest one of the world. It shows how Dharm and Karm govern our lives. Dharm is what is the right thing to do at a given time or situation. Dharm is based on wisdom, insight and human values. Dharm has many meanings and many dimensions as well - duty, truth, non-violence (Ahinsaa Paramo Dharm) and others. It is well said that "Dharmo rakshit Rakshat" -
means Dharm protects he who follows Dharm. However, if you do not follow Dharm, you have to reap the consequences of your behavior and that is called Karm - you reap what you sow, sooner or later does not matter.

The Story of Mahaabhaarat and Its Major Characters
The story of Mahaabhaarat is well known to all Indians even if it is not through the books taught in the school, but at least through parents, grand parents, TV serials and Amar Chitra Katha Series. It is a story of two brothers and their sons - Dhritraashtra and his hundred sons, and Paandu and his five sons. The younger brother, Paandu is crowned as the King of Hastinaapur because the elder brother Dhritraashtra is blind. Later, Paandu renounces the throne and appoints his elder brother Dhritraashtra as his representative.

Later Dhritraashtra begets 100 sons and a daughter and Paandu begets 5 sons. Duryodhan, the elder son of Dhritraashtra, fears that Yudhishthir, the eldest son of Paandu and the eldest Kuru son would succeed his father, so he tries to kill all the five Paandav brothers. The Paandav escape all assassination attempts. The Paandav join other kings in the Swayamvar (a contest to win the bride) of Drupad'a daughter Draupadee and Arjun, the third brother wins the contest. When the Paandav tell their mother that they have won a prize, she asks them divide it equally among themselves. Thus they all marry Draupadee.

The King Dhritraashtra divides the kingdom between his sons Kaurav and his brother's sons Paandav. His own sons who are known as Kaurav live in Hastinaapur and Paandav are given Indra Prasth. Indra Prasth is an un-arable land but prosper there with their hard work and wisdom. To usurp their kingdom, Duryodhan invites Yudhishthir for a Dice Game. The game is rigged, and Yudhishthir loses his kingdom, and later, his wife as well. Queen Draupadee is dragged to the assembly by Dushaasan who tries to disrobe her but fails in his attempt, thanks to the miracle by Lord Krishn.

The Paandav go to exile for 13 years - 12 years in the forest and one year in disguise. When they return, Duryodhan refuses to give back not only their kingdom, but even five villages. War becomes inevitable. The Paandav win the war but find it hallow as the cost of war was high - death of near and dear ones. Bheeshm, the elder statesman of the clan, explains the duty of a king to Yudhishthir and he rules for thirty six years with justice and compassion. He, along with his brothers and Draupadee, goes to then Himaalaya after crowning Pareekshit, Arjun's grandson. However, only Yudhishthir reaches heaven while all others fall by the wayside.

Each major character in Mahaabhaarat represents a human quality. Yudhishthir is called Dharm Raaj as he is the most righteous of them all. He is verily the incarnation of Dharm. Duryodhan is an embodiment of envy while Arjun has a weak will like a Hamlet. Bheeshm's silence at the crucial times diminishes his wisdom, sacrifice and selflessness. Draupadee's courage and steadfastness and Krishn's strategy to win the war for the righteous are the redeeming features of the tragic drama.

Dharm Raaj and Dharm
In the third chapter of the book, "Yudhishthir's Duty", the author discuses the many dimensions of Dharm from different perspectives.

After suffering both physically and mentally in exile, Draupadee tells Yudhishthir that Dharm does not protect him, he replies, "I do not act for the sake of fruits of Dharm, I act because I must.... and that is by its nature my mind is beholden to Dharm" And the author adds,: "In a typically modest way, Yudhishthir expresses his instinctive sense of duty: 'I act because I must'. He does not follow Dharm because of any hope of reward that might come. He acts from a sense of what he has to do. Dharm or 'what he has to do' is a standard of conduct, and a society needs standards."

Yudhishthir compares Dharm to a ship that helps human beings to cross the ocean of life, and without it the world would sink into a bottomless pit. Men would live like animals where only law of the jungle prevails - bigger fish eating the smaller ones.

Bheshm tells Draupadee in the assembly where she was disrobed and dishonored that Dharm is subtle as there are dilemmas galore - between intentions and consequences, between ends and means. He tells Yudhishthira it is not easy to decide when there is a conflict between two values of Dharm - Satya ( truth) and Ahinsaa (non-violence) . He cites the story of Kaushik, an ascetic, who reveals to some robbers which way the witness of the robbery has gone. His truth results in violence.

Vidur, the half-brother of Dhritraashtra, has another view of Dharm. He believes that an act is good if it promotes good consequences. An act which promotes the good of many persons is better than one which promotes the good of a few. He was against the game of dice as it would create strife and even harm the people. He says, "To save the family, (one must) abandon an individual. To save the village, abandon a family; tand to save the country, abandon a village."

How then one decides what is right and what is wrong. The author quotes Manu, the great law-giver of ancient India, who says: "The root of Dharm is the entire Ved, the tradition and customs of those who know the Ved, the conduct of virtuous people, and what is satisfactory to oneself." Dharm is also revealed by one's true self when it is unsullied by selfishness, greed and envy.

With so many dimensions, verily, Dharm is subtle' (Sookshm) as Bheeshm puts it. Only the wise can comprehend and interpret it.

Duryodhan and Bheeshm
Another major actor in Mahaabhaarat of course is Duryodhan. Envy in his character and character is destiny. Envy consumes him and his clan. He envies Paandu, younger brother of his father Dhritraashtra, when he becomes the king. Later, he envies Yudhishthir for getting half the kingdom and building a grand capital, Indra Prasth. He envies Paandav for winning the hand of Draupadee. He plans to usurp the kingdom of Paandav with the game of Dice. Duryodhan's story is a lesson on futility of envy in life. Envy diminishes man's life.

Bheeshm epitomizes selflessness. He renounces his legitimate right to the throne of Hastinaapur throne for the sake of his father's ( Shaantnu's) wish to marry Satyavatee, the daughter of the chief of fishermen, and fulfill the condition of his father's marriage - kingship to be inherited by Satyavatee's children. When Satyavatee's children die without producing any heirs, he refuses to sire children from her widowed daughters-in-law. He serves the state as an elder statesman. However, his wisdom loses its shine when he does not stop the humiliation of Draupadee in the assembly of the Kaurav. He was also not able to prevent the disastrous war by persuading the Kaurav to concede the legitimate demands of the Paandav.

Draupadee, Arjun and Krishn
Draupadee may have been humiliated by the Kaurav but her courage in confronting all in assembly makes her a role model for all women. Her message is, fight all injustices, and justice will prevail ultimately.

When she was dragged to the assembly, she asks Yudhishthir, "whom did you lose first, yourself or me?" Nobody dares to answer her moral and legal question. After sometime, Bheeshm, the elder statesman, tries to address it. He says a person who has lost his freedom has no right over others. However, a wife belongs to the husband and is expected to obey him. He regrets that the matter is too complex and cannot be resolved and adds, "As Dharm is subtle, my dear, I fail to resolve your question in the proper way."

Arjun, the best warrior of the time, when confronted with his kith and kin who have assembled in the war-field of Kuru Kshetra to fight the Paandav, suddenly doubts whether he and his brothers are right in fighting their near and dear ones as the war would kill thousands of people. He feels that the price of war is too high. At that time he forgets the suffering he and his brothers along with their wife Darupadee had to undergo for 13 long years for the mistake of losing a game of dice where hey were cheated. He also forgets that Duryodhan did not keep his words to give back their kingdom.

At this crucial time Krishn, his charioteer, tells him that Kuru Kshetra is also Dharm Kshetra* - a place of *dharma*, which upholds good social and political order. He tells Arjun that he is fighting against injustice and for maintaining Dharm. The conversation between Krishna and Arjun on the meaning of life and what every man has to do in life is summarized in the Bhagwad Geetaa . It is a guide for a purposeful life - Dharm (duly), Karm (reap what you sow), Nish-Kaam Karm (right deeds without expecting results), Sthit Pragya (maintaining equanimity in the midst of success and failure), immortality of soul and the mortality of body and many other concepts.

Many Aspects of Dharm
Dharm is the key-note of Mahaabhaarat. The author discusses the many aspects of Dharm in the chapter 10 (Mahaabhaarat's Dharm) and chapter 11 (Conclusion). He discusses the ideas in Mahaabhaarat including the concept of Dharm with reference to the Western philosophers. He also dissects various developments in the fields of politics and business in India and the world where greed and envy rule at the cost of human welfare, peace and contentment.

"Compassion is the highest Dharm in the world", Yudhishthira tells Yaksh, the tree spirit, when it questions him at the lake before drinking the water. "One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself. This, in brief, is the law of Dharm - Mahaabhaarat, XVIII.113.8.

"Who has in his heart always the well-being of others, and is wholly given, in acts, thoughts, and in speech, to the good of others, he knows what Dharm is."

The author says that Mahaabhaarat is not a 'how to' book as it offers more questions than answers." It is not Dharm or right conduct that Mahaabhaarat seems to teach, but the "subtle" nature of Dharm - its infinite subtlety, its incalculable calculus of consequences, its endless delicacy," as author's friend A.K.Ramanujan, well-known poet, playwright and scholar, puts it.

Dharm For the Present Era
"The average person, ' states Gurucharan Das, " continues to link morality with religion, and this make the Mahaabhaarat's rational deliberations on Dharma* seem modern and even revolutionary. " He draws attention to the fact that Mahaabhaarat discusses every event and act - "searching attitude of Mahaabhaarat". He writes that even Krishn, after explaining the mysteries of life and the knowledge of the holy, asks Arjun to consider his message carefully and 'to act as he will'. Man has to do according to his free will.

The author tells us about an episode which throws much light on the present apathy, if not hostility, to our heritage in the ruling establishment. When he was asked to speak to the students of one of the best schools in Delhi, he proposed to talk on Dharm. The school principal felt that would create a controversy as it would be about religion. He told her that Mahaabhaarat is a literary epic and Dharm is about right and wrong. There was no religion in it. And the author says if Italian children can proudly read Dante's Divine Comedy in school or English children can read Milton, why 'secularist Indian should be ambivalent about Mahaabhaarat. Why, indeed.

If the state does not teach its children what is right and what is wrong, what sort of society we can expect in India? It will be a society full of greed, envy and scams which we see all around us. Gurucharan Das has done a great service to India by writing this book at this juncture. It is rewarding to read the book.