I watched the Netflix series Kurukshetra today. It's a wonderfully made series and, in fact, made me recall my childhood series of the Mahabharata that used to be telecast on DD. Mahabharata is magical. The most magical thing about the Mahabharata is that it has no straitjacket definition of Dharma. The entire battle of Kurukshetra is for Dharma, and everybody feels that he is fighting the battle for Dharma.
When Bhishma realises that Vichitravirya needs to be married, he goes to the Swamvara of Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika and forcefully brings them to Hastinapur. Ambika and Ambalika are married to Vichitravirya, while Amba carries out penance to take revenge on Bhishma. Why did Bhishma bring these three girls against their wishes to Hastinapur? If Vichitravirya wanted to marry, he should have shown courage and participated in the Swamvara. After all, Swamvara meant that the girls wanted to marry the most courageous person. Bhishma deprived them of their rights for his attachment to Hastinapur. The grandchildren of these two ladies fought among themselves and became the cause of so much destruction at Kurukshetra. We also invite the cause of our own sufferings due to our attachments.
When Ambika met VedVyasa, she could not tolerate the energy of Vyasa and closed her eyes, and her son Dhritrastra was born blind. This happens with us too. When we meet the people who are free souls and challenge every bondage, we are not able to withstand their truthfulness. We close our eyes to their words and become blind. In that state of blindness, we live our lives with ignorance and make life decisions in that state of ignorance. We do not dare to resist our own greed and desires. These greed and desires, like Duryodhana and Dushashan, lay down the foundation of the battle of Kurukshetra. We keep sitting silently and do not dare to resist because we are full of ignorance. Our own desires and greed cheat the goodness inside us, the way the Kauravas cheated the Pandavas. We keep justifying our own greed and desires, the way Dhritrastra justified the actions of Duryodhana.
When Ambalika met VedVyasa, she turned pale. That's why Pandu was weak and died soon. We too become full of fears when it comes to following the truth. We choose comforts and do not dare to take the path of truth. That's why we are not able to take care of our own kingdom. Because we get afraid to take the path of truth, that's why ignorance takes over. We can't choose the path of truth till we are fear to lose the comforts. That's why whenever we have to make that choice, we choose the path that lacks integrity. We become weak with every such choice we make.
Dronacharya and Karna both sought revenge. Dronacharya was such an accomplished teacher and got such a high position in the courtyard of Hastinapur, and yet he could not forget his insult by Drupada. He participated on the side of the Kauravas to take revenge. Karna also sought revenge against Arjuna. Where does this feeling of revenge come from? It is because of a very strong identification with our social image. Both of them felt insulted and, to take revenge, joined the Kauravas. We also make many such decisions in life to protect the social image we want for ourselves. We join the fad and cult. We do not want to appear to be taking a stand that's not acceptable to others. In the process, we become party to the decisions that damage the organisation where we work. We become party to bad decisions in our family just to please some of the family members and repent.
Panchali was insulted and insulted very badly. But she too made fun of Duryodhana when the Kauravas were invited to attend the Rajsuya Yajna organised by the Pandavas at Indraprastha. When we are self-obsessed, we lose control over our words and invite trouble for ourselves. It so happens to us on many occasions. When we are intoxicated by success or some other achievement, we make remarks on our colleagues, who in turn develop animosity.
Kunti gets the powers of Mantra, whereby she can get a son from any of the Gods. She is curious and, out of curiosity, invites the God Sun and gets a son. Today's world is full of such people. When an incompetent person gets a seat of power, he makes many decisions that destroy the whole organisation, for which he will have to repent for the rest of his life. The Mahabharata teaches us that powers without awareness can make our lives hell. Ashwathama is declared the head of the Kauravas' army, and out of his stupidity, he kills the sons of the Pandavas and also uses Brahmastra without knowing how to take it back. That becomes the cause of his suffering the whole of his life. In fact, he is cursed not to die and keep suffering for an infinite period. Ashwathama was not only stupid but also arrogant. The deadly combo of stupidity, powers, and arrogance makes people suffer like Ashwathama.
The five Pandavas are like the five senses that God has given to us. If they carry out their work under the guidance of Krishna, they can make this world heaven, even despite the presence of so many negative forces inside us. We are fighting the battle of Kurukshetra in almost every moment. On the one hand, we have childhood conditioning to protect our own "individual self" like the vow of Bhishma to protect Hastinapur, blind beliefs which we do not want to examine and be aware of and turn blind like Ambika, fears that do not allow us to confront reality like Ambalika turning pale, strong fixation to our social image making us full of inferiority complex like Karna and revnge like Dronacharya, self-obsession making us create difficulties for ourselves like the laughter of Panchali, inability to handle the powers and strength that we have like Kunti, and stupidity cum arrogance like Aswathama that makes us stuck and fixated to a limited frame. While making any decision, we have to fight against all this conditioning. The choice we have to make is to choose Krishna or his army. Once we choose Krishna, all five senses are under the guidance of "awareness" can fight the army of Kauravas, and we can live a fulfilling life. To the best of my mind, Dharma, as per the Mahabharata, is to live with awareness. An awareness that is not limited to a frame of awareness, rather that cuts across the frames and is guided by truth alone.
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