It has been a while since I blogged, of late I found greater pleasure in reading rather than writing; a book which really impressed me recently was “The Difficulty of being Good” by Gurcharan Das, it explores various themes of morality and right conduct by closely examining the various characters of Mahabharatha. In my view Mahabharatha is a fantastic layered epic which raises uncomfortable questions with no straight forward answers. It addresses the most simple question why be good when we see evil people prospering around us ?
The case of Sage Kaushik
Sage Kaushik was in the forest, when a tired and scared person came running to him. He pleaded to him please don’t reveal my hiding place as some road side robbers are trying to kill him as he witnessed a crime and ran into the woods. The robbers followed soon and asked the revered sage “We know as a sage, you will not lie please tell us where did that man go?” Sage Kaushika was in a dilemma to uphold truth or save the man’s life. He chose to tell the truth, and the man was captured and killed.
The sage was sent to hell, as dharma suggests saving a life (Ahimsa) takes precedence over (Satya) an unpleasant truth.
Reservations Right or Wrong ?
It is so natural for us to speak against any sort of affirmative action as we feel it compromises merit, but it also a fact for centuries the truely backward sections of society were denied basic human rights forget even right to education, which gives a fair chance to life. Eklavya and Karna were 2 heros who were denied their place in the sun thanks to privileges granted to Arjuna as a prince. I agree blanket quotas for eternity is not a solution as two wrongs do not make a right, but just that we need to find a common ground.
How the media feeds on Envy
Seeing the negative publicity our sportsmen and actors get, every small indiscretion gets blown out of proportion, why is that we love to see our heros fall. It may be case of envy, we do earn for a certain lifestyle either money, fame or power, when this aspects elude us we get vicarious pleasure to see some one fail. Envy is a great sin which corrodes your soul slowly. It can be explicit like Duryodhan or hidden like his father Dhritarashtra who secretly enjoyed when the Pandavas lost the gambling game. Why is that when SL, NZ and WI teams have also crashed out, their media has not gone on a witch hunt unlike our media. The media like the modern day Shakuni feeds on our envy for its gain. ( Some what I keep media bashing a lot in my posts more on in later)
Why should I pay taxes ?
Why should I be the nice guy when the whole world profits via wrong means, the rich business men don't pay taxes why should i bear the burden. Why do bad people enjoy when the good suffer and get nothing for their goodness. The question which Drupadi asks Yudhisthira. The simple answer to this is for the world to be sustainable, some one has to lead the change for good. By the moral courage of the few, can go on make a difference in the world.
why treachery will never give us lasting happiness ?
Finally, the Pandavas resort to treachery to win over the Kauravas, that only leds to more sorrow and anguish as Ashwathama kills the sons of Pandavas and other warriors in night breaking all rules of conduct. The epic ends with a pyrrhic victory with much sorrow to the victors.
Conclusion
So Why should we be good in this world, is it fear of God or Karma theory ? Both of which I feel were made up by mankind to ensure a feeling of natural justice and we retain our sanity in unfair circumstances. The epic shows us humanity through various dimensions like a light falling on a prism and encourages us to draw our own conclusions.
My personal take being fair is the only true sustainable way to co-exist with society and nature. Although I don't encourage pacifism but a vendetta driven society will only spiral into further destruction and devastation.
