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    View: Mahabharata mocks and celebrates foundational beliefs of society

    Synopsis

    The story delineates the tension between society and individual, often rooting for the individual, even if the quest is doomed.

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    The Mahabharata has no beginning or end.
    By Anshuman Gaur

    India, that is Bharat, is a land of stories. Among the stories, the Mahabharata, both literally and figuratively, is the ‘Great Indian Story’. Ostensibly, the tale of struggle between factions of the Kuru clan from the mythical Bharat tribe, it is a story that encompasses a vast canvas of human experience. The characters are human — imperfect in their conception and actions. As a literary bridge between the earlier Vedic works and later Puranic traditions, the Mahabharata refers to the mythical pantheon of Gods, who appear almost equal to humans.

    The characters are amoral — reacting to the circumstances with all human failings and strengths. The initial spark is often a moral quest, before human nature takes over to shape the outcomes. The same character, at times, rises to heroic heights and at times, falls on villainous act. This conflict is allegorical perhaps of the inherent struggle in every individual — the compulsion to do the more demanding ‘right’ or the easier ‘wrong’ or to seeking satisfaction in greater good or finding easy gratification in the immediate.

    Krishna is human, of exceptional intelligence and foresight, but prone to human failings. He leads a diplomatic mission, not to avert war but merely to gain public approval. He rises to the rescue of a lady (when other powerful men refused) but is not averse to beheading of Barbarik, the warrior with a potent weapon that could have brought the war to a speedy end. He performs no miracles, or at least his miracles can be reasoned such as an eclipse accounting for an early sun set, and the subsequent reappearance of the sun.

    Bhishma, for all his chivalry, is not above kidnapping princesses for the rather unfit princes of the realm. As commander of the Kaurava forces, he fights a stalemated battle to dissuade the two sides from further conflict by demonstrating, in the meaningless death of thousands, the folly of war. The compassionate Arjun, who questions the impending battle against his own kin, has no compunctions in burning down the Khandava forest with all its inhabitants. Respected teacher Drona cunningly asks the brilliant Ekalavya for his thumb to advantage his favourite protégée. The tragic Karna, desperately seeking glory in war, donates his impenetrable armour on the eve of the battle to keep a promise.

    The battle does end in the victory of the side claiming the moral high ground, but as Yudhishthira, the titular head of the Pandava effort, acknowledges, the victory in Kurukshetra is also a defeat. In Mahabharata, the joys and pleasures are ephemeral and come at great costs while the grief and guilt are enduring. Death provides the only viable escape.

    It is a tale that mocks the core beliefs that formed, and still form, the foundations of the society. The struggle, essentially to establish the patriarchal claim on the throne, flowing from the ‘rightful’ descent and lineage, is futile given that Dushyanta’s ‘legitimate’ line ended with Bhishma. Kunti conceiving children out of wedlock, and still being ordained a place of respect; Draupadi engaging in polyandry with no major stigma; the acceptance of Shikhandi and Arjun exploring his feminine side as Brihannala are themes that can rile many even in the 21st Century. Karna chafing at the limitations placed by his birth on his abilities and the mutilation of Ekalavya show the bigotry in principles that inform society. The literary device of Vyas, the credited creator of the story and himself an ‘illegitimate’, siring both Dhritarashtra and Pandu, cannot be lost on any student of Mahabharata. The story delineates the tension between society and individual, often rooting for the individual, even if the quest is doomed. The moral question is discussed many times but is never settled, providing ample material for argumentative Indians to interpret and build on the original story.

    The Mahabharata is stark, and so replete with the failings and futility of human life that the early Indian mind would have cried out for some sort of an explanation — for a reason behind the carnage and struggle. The only way the failings and futility could be explained was by resorting to the Cycle of Karma, which was elucidated in the Bhagavad Gita, the celestial song that was appended to the story. It provided a meaning for the tribulations of human life, which was otherwise portrayed as selfish, nasty, brutish and short. It is not surprising that this philosophic appendage is held dear by most Indians as a divine injunction, the closest thing the Sanatan Dharam has to a holy code.

    The Mahabharata has no beginning or end. All actions, incidents and outcomes in the Mahabharata present an opportunity to create further stories. Entire epilogues and prologues were appended, fattening the text, enlarging the scope and giving the story its breadth of scope and its multi-dimensional presence. It is quite possible that in some Indian literary traditions, a story, to be accepted as a story, had to necessarily link to the Mahabharata.

    It is a story of stories. It has been, and will continue to be, told, retold, interpreted and transmuted in an infinite number of ways. As the primate literature, it has been plundered for all creative efforts — drama, dance, poetry, prose, sculpture and even architecture — and continues to be a fountainhead for examinations in sociology, politics, strategy, logic and philosophy. The Mahabharata can perhaps stand on its own without its Karmic crutches. Shorn of its sentimental embellishments, it celebrates the fickleness of human existence and marvels at the human capacity to cause harm, or do good.

    (The writer belongs to the Indian Foreign Service. The views expressed are personal)


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