Mahabharatha is a famous epic by the great saint Ved Vyaasa. The Holy book of Hindus - Bhagawad Gita is derived from this epic. The story was written thousands of years ago and it has several interesting characters and events. Let us quickly see the outline of the story.
STORY
The big famous battle called "Kurukshetra" commences between the "Good" and the "Evil". The five brothers called Panch Pandavas (Good) and 100 brothers called Kauravas (Evil) are cousins. Pandavas are skilful, intelligent and sharp compared to Kauravas which always brings envy to the eldest Kaurava - Dhuryodhana. The Kauravas try to kill Pandavas by plotting several plans but none of them click. So they decide to win them over by inviting them for a game of dice. Yudhishtra - the eldest of Pandavas, looses his kingdom, wealth, his brothers and his wife Panchali in the game and the Pandavas are condemned to twelve years of exile into forest and one year of incognito. Even after successfully completing the thirteen years of exile, the Pandavas are denied their ancestral kingdom. That is when they decide to go for a battle against Kauravas which is called the famous "Battle of Kurukshetra". Krishna who is said to be the incarnation of lord "Vishnu" is the cousin of both Pandavas and Kauravas. He gives his army powers (Narayana Sena) to the Kauravas for the battle and he agrees to be the charioteer of Arjuna and promises that he would not use any of his powers other than being a charioteer to Arjuna.
BHAGAWAD GITA
In the battle field on the first day, Arjuna the most skilful archer of the Pandavas, refuses to fight against his own brothers, Gurus and family elders and drops his Gandiva (Arjuna's special bow) down. Arjuna argues to Krishna that he would not kill his near and dear ones for the sake of kingdom and wealth. He would not be happy with the kingdom that he gets after killing his brothers and elders. At that point, lord Krishna his Charioteer talks to him about life, death and a set of advises on how it is important to carry out ones duty without bothering about the fruit of it. He proceeds to say that "soul" can never be destroyed and it is merely the body that can be killed. Soul is immortal and it keeps travelling from one body to another. He therefore concludes that Arjuna's hesitation to kill his dear ones is senseless. He explains that there had never been a time when we had never existed and there will never be a time when we (soul) will not exist. Arjuna gets convinced and agrees to fight with his fullest strength. In the end as always, the Good wins over the evil and the battle comes to an end.
ARJUNA'S HESITATION - PAVING WAY FOR THE BHAGAWAD GITA
The Pandavas decide to wage war against the Kauravas as a last mean after all their peace talks were declined by the Kauravas. Arjuna was not confused during the initial talks. He did not think about his brothers or elders when they started talks about the war. Why was he confused a few hours before the battle was about to begin? Arjuna being an Archer as skilful as Rama Himself was definitely not scared of Kauravas. It was just that he was bothered about the fruit of performing his duty (either loosing or gaining a kingdom after loosing all his well wishers) rather than the duty itself. Arjuna's withdrawal from war is a crucial part in Mahabharata as it gives space for the author (Vyasa) to let Krishna the lord pass on a lot of lessons to Arjuna and the World through this big famous epic.
LESSONS FOR US
All of us in this world withdraw to perform our duties at some point of our life. Why does a student refuse to go to school on the day of his exam complaining of some illness? Why do children hate to go to school on the reopening day? Why do we feel like withdrawing from an oratorical competition a few minutes before it commences when we feel butterflies in our stomach. Why do we hesitate to accept the fact and the whole world becomes hallucinatory when our near and dear ones leave us? Krishna's speech comes as an answer and ultimate solution to all our questions. This is the reason why even great American philosophers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson celebrate the Bhagawad Gita!
STORY
The big famous battle called "Kurukshetra" commences between the "Good" and the "Evil". The five brothers called Panch Pandavas (Good) and 100 brothers called Kauravas (Evil) are cousins. Pandavas are skilful, intelligent and sharp compared to Kauravas which always brings envy to the eldest Kaurava - Dhuryodhana. The Kauravas try to kill Pandavas by plotting several plans but none of them click. So they decide to win them over by inviting them for a game of dice. Yudhishtra - the eldest of Pandavas, looses his kingdom, wealth, his brothers and his wife Panchali in the game and the Pandavas are condemned to twelve years of exile into forest and one year of incognito. Even after successfully completing the thirteen years of exile, the Pandavas are denied their ancestral kingdom. That is when they decide to go for a battle against Kauravas which is called the famous "Battle of Kurukshetra". Krishna who is said to be the incarnation of lord "Vishnu" is the cousin of both Pandavas and Kauravas. He gives his army powers (Narayana Sena) to the Kauravas for the battle and he agrees to be the charioteer of Arjuna and promises that he would not use any of his powers other than being a charioteer to Arjuna.
BHAGAWAD GITA
In the battle field on the first day, Arjuna the most skilful archer of the Pandavas, refuses to fight against his own brothers, Gurus and family elders and drops his Gandiva (Arjuna's special bow) down. Arjuna argues to Krishna that he would not kill his near and dear ones for the sake of kingdom and wealth. He would not be happy with the kingdom that he gets after killing his brothers and elders. At that point, lord Krishna his Charioteer talks to him about life, death and a set of advises on how it is important to carry out ones duty without bothering about the fruit of it. He proceeds to say that "soul" can never be destroyed and it is merely the body that can be killed. Soul is immortal and it keeps travelling from one body to another. He therefore concludes that Arjuna's hesitation to kill his dear ones is senseless. He explains that there had never been a time when we had never existed and there will never be a time when we (soul) will not exist. Arjuna gets convinced and agrees to fight with his fullest strength. In the end as always, the Good wins over the evil and the battle comes to an end.
ARJUNA'S HESITATION - PAVING WAY FOR THE BHAGAWAD GITA
The Pandavas decide to wage war against the Kauravas as a last mean after all their peace talks were declined by the Kauravas. Arjuna was not confused during the initial talks. He did not think about his brothers or elders when they started talks about the war. Why was he confused a few hours before the battle was about to begin? Arjuna being an Archer as skilful as Rama Himself was definitely not scared of Kauravas. It was just that he was bothered about the fruit of performing his duty (either loosing or gaining a kingdom after loosing all his well wishers) rather than the duty itself. Arjuna's withdrawal from war is a crucial part in Mahabharata as it gives space for the author (Vyasa) to let Krishna the lord pass on a lot of lessons to Arjuna and the World through this big famous epic.
LESSONS FOR US
All of us in this world withdraw to perform our duties at some point of our life. Why does a student refuse to go to school on the day of his exam complaining of some illness? Why do children hate to go to school on the reopening day? Why do we feel like withdrawing from an oratorical competition a few minutes before it commences when we feel butterflies in our stomach. Why do we hesitate to accept the fact and the whole world becomes hallucinatory when our near and dear ones leave us? Krishna's speech comes as an answer and ultimate solution to all our questions. This is the reason why even great American philosophers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson celebrate the Bhagawad Gita!
No comments:
Post a Comment