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.
Very interesting post, but before I comment any further I should say, 'Welcome Back to the Blogging world!'..
ReplyDeleteThe depth of your understanding the book is very clear in this very post. Quite thought provoking and keeps me mulling over the day, why should I be any good !
Thanks for sharing !
---x--x---
However, when I read the headline, almost instantly I remembered a conversation between
Sam and Frodo (LOTR-2)
~*~
Sam: It's like in the great stories Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for..
~*~
@ $ - Thanks for your comment ! Yes, as i read the book, the lines from the Dark Knight flashed in my mind - Harvey Dent the brave hero reduced to a psychopathic killer berating the fact that " You thought we can be decent men in this indecent world, but you was wrong, the world is cruel and there is no morality in an indecent world. The only morality is chance"
ReplyDeleteBut however if we all abandon morality, we will degenerate to worse than animals, that is the burden or duty we have bear... Faith is the compass which can guide us to be good.
A thought-provoking one. This is one question which i keep asking myself whenever i see bad or evil flourishing unchecked. Its tough being good in present times but its worth it.
ReplyDelete@ Shas - thanks for your comment, yes as they say a clear conscience is the softest pillow, being good is better for self !
ReplyDeletehow many times do I have to tell u Ganesh...u always keep me thinking :-)
ReplyDeleteWay to go bro 0oo0
@ Maverick - thanks buddy your encouraging comments help a lot !
ReplyDelete