Lessons From The Mahabharata

Been reading a fascinating "illustrated retelling" of the Mahabharata, by Devdutt Pattanaik.

The Mahabharat is a compilation of lots of stories by multiple rishis and sages through the centuries, a sort of Wikipedia around the ever-evolving Vedic way of life, although the first version was narrated by Vyas. The more and more you read it, you get a feeling that most of the Mahabharata is a guide on the follies and mistakes of humans, when Vedic laws are misinterpreted or misused. The most striking of this, of course, is Kunti's order to Arjun to share Draupadi among his brothers, but there are many other examples too - tales of extreme and unjust violence, racist attitudes, and scheming and plotting - and unlike popular belief, not just by the Kauravs, but also by the Pandavas. The Gita, as an embedded sermon by Krishna to Arjuna, is almost the soothing balm, the guide on how to live life. It's almost as if the Mahabharat sets the context, explaining to the reader the ills and evils that rule our lives, and then the Gita, at the point at which it is delivered, ensures the lesson hits hard.

As Devdutt puts it,

The Mahabharat is an ancient Hindu epic where,
a daughter is a prize in an Archery contest
a teacher demands half a kingdom as tuition fee
a mother asks his sons to share a wife
a family is divided over inheritance
a king gambles away his kingdom
a queen is forced to serve as a maid
a war is fought where all rules are broken
the victors loe their children
a forest is destroyed for a new city
... (and lots more)
until wisdom prevails

It's fascinating how almost every story points to good people doing bad things. As the Pandavas live their 13 years of exile, they meet gods and sages who teach them the folly of their actions - and through deeds later on, the Pandavas show how they have learnt from their expereinces and become better men.

Another fasctinating aspect of the Mahabharat are the stories of divine intervention and unbelievable acts, but when you think about it, can actually represent truth told as an exaggerated story, pointing to very advanced knowledge of science and techniques, presented in a manner that would be palatable to the not-so-smart common man.

Stories of a king sending his seed to his faraway queen through a parrot, or invoking the gods to give children to his queen, could very well point to knowledge and practice of artificial insemination. Similarly, stories of Kauravas being "incubated" in pots of ghee using pieces of an iron ball that came from their mother, clearly show that these weren't all natural babies! Is it unimaginable that they were incubated in test tubes?

More later...