Sourab Puri
Mahabharata as we all know is the war fought between the clans of Kaurvas and Pandvas in the battleground of Kurukshetra with the pursuit of establishing Dharma (righteousness) back in society. Many books, serials, and literature have been written on this which reflects the idea of its real author Vyasa. And my intention while writing this article is to extend that idea further and try to make it more relevant for the people in current times and especially the youth.
Today’s society is engulfed with many conventional and some unprecedented problems which we’ve been discussing in this article below, and try to get its solution from the great epic Mahabharata as it guided Arjun in the battlefield for triumph, so it’ll guide us in our daily battle with life.
- Surrender (samarpan)
Any great learning demands complete surrender like Shri Krishna asked Arjun’s surrender towards him in the battleground of Kurukshetra when he delivered the Sankhya Gyan of Karmayog and Bhaktiyog to him. Many times we all restrain from surrendering to anyone because of some predisposition or any other preconceived notions or the belief that we know better. But as Guru Dhronacharya said to his students that in order to learn you need to unlearn. Similarly, in today’s time, people need to unlearn the orthodox ideas of patriarchy to learn egalitarianism, the idea of discrimination to equality, and the idea of nepotism to meritocracy.
Although it’s not always good to show surrender towards others like Arjun asked Shri Krishna that children surrender towards their parents, students towards their teacher, one friend towards another friend. Shri Krishna replied that one should not surrender towards tamasic human like Karna surrendered towards Duryodhna which led to harm Karna himself and to the society as a whole rather one should surrender towards an Uttam (excellent) human being because when we surrender towards someone we gradually tend to adopt the personality traits of that person and eventually become that person. Therefore it is important that we should be in presence of righteous people and surrender to them only. - Anger
With changing lifestyles and dietary preferences, problems like anxiety, stress, and tension become prevalent and culminate into an emotion of anger which many a time causes conflict either at home in the form of spats between husband and wife or outside in the form of road rage.
In Mahabharata when Draupadi got insulted in the royal court of Maharaja Dhritrashtra, she was filled with anger for the twin reasons of Dushasan taking off her saree and silence of the mute spectators in the royal court including Pandavas, Guru Dronacharya, Bhismapitama.
This act of Draupadi cheerharan agitated her to take revenge by destroying the whole clan of Kurus. But that time Shri Krishna guided her to provide a proper channel for her anger and to not waste in a futile exercise of taking revenge but rather use this anger to do welfare of society by ending injustice and to bring dharma back in society.
Similarly, we all should not succumb to our anger, but rather harness this immensely powerful emotion to do betterment of the society and ourselves by employing the values of patience, calmness, and critical thinking. - Pleasure and Pain
Many of us today linger on pleasure and avoid pain, like English philosopher Jeremy Bentham argued in his theory of utilitarianism that one should maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Today with the advent of technology it is very easy to realize the thought of Bentham but there is a shocking phenomenon that coupled with the pleasure pursuit, and that is complacency and dormancy of the human brain due to fewer challenges in life which nudge humans to leave its comfort zone.
Here the character of Karna in Mahabharata becomes relevant as he left his home at a tender age and wandered across the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent to seek archery education but was rejected by many teachers including Guru Dhronacharya because he belonged to the lower varna (Shudra). Nonetheless, he fought all his adversities and manage to get a warrior education from Lord Parshuram and emerged as a capable contender to Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Not only Karna but the character of Bhismapithama can also teach us the virtue of choosing pain over pleasure as he chooses to follow the path of Brahmacharya and protect the kingdom of his father Maharaja Shantanu, this way he manages to increase the sway of his kingdom and provided just rule to his subjects.
All such examples above guide us towards the wisdom shared by Benjamin Franklin i.e “No Pain No Gain” which makes this apparent that in order to grow one needs to overcome challenges that come in life by working beyond one’s comfort zone like can be seen during the Vanvas and Agyatvas of Pandavas where the five brothers faced numerous challenges which ultimately polished their skills and refined their character and helped them become more stronger and capable.
Therefore one should choose the right path in life which might look difficult and full of adversities but the same will lead to success. - Purpose in Life
Many times we face existential crises where our inner self lacks meaning and we tend to question our purpose in life , as can be seen in the suicide case of an IAS officer Mukesh Pandey where he committed suicide by mentioning his indifference towards his life as he found no purpose in his life. Many individuals battles with similar such conflicts in their head on daily basis.
Here Shri Krishna’s Updesh to Karna becomes relevant when Lord Krishna says that instead of fighting against society his whole life for causing discrimination to him because of his lower Varna, he should have become the strength of other Shudras and do their welfare as he has that capability but he misunderstood his purpose of life and channelized his potential and energy in the wrong direction by surrendering to Duryodhana which brought sufferings to both society and Karna himself.
Not only this one can also learn from the Updesh (teachings) given by Shri Krishna to Arjun when he said that the Ultimate purpose of life is to do welfare of others and to establish Dharma (righteousness) in society. Therefore we should try to enrich society by lending our hand to the needy and using our intellect and skills for societal vibrancy. - Becoming Karmayogi
Bhagvat Gita mentioned ‘Nishkam Karma” i.e selfless service which is the fundamental value of a Karmayogi. Arjun asked Shri Krishna that as bondage with deeds is certain then why not one should go for Sansyasa. Shri Krishna replied that because of this notion the yudh of Mahabharata is taking place, if Pandu didn’t go for sanyasa then he would’ve been ruling with dharma. As when people with sattva (rational) mindset think of abandoning their actions then world affairs goes into the hands of people with tammas (animal) mindset. Like abandonment of karma by Bhishampitama leads to the spread of unjust by Duryodhana and Shankuni. Shri Krishna said that one should abandon the desire that is attached to any action and rather focus on just doing the action without carrying about its results, this way S/he can become real karmayogi.
In today’s time, we associate our joy/sorrow with the results of our actions and desires which often causes us grief and disappointment. Therefore one should try to leave the desire for results and just focus on doing their immediate actions in hand. This notion guides us to be in the present moment and not curse the past or worry about the future, this way we can achieve the best version of ourselves. In a similar direction, the present government in India is also focusing on its “mission Karmayogi” which tends to train civil servants through their capacity building and increasing their service excellency and making them a Karmayogi in the true sense. Along with the aforementioned five challenges in our life, many other adversities haunt us daily, for which we can get the most relevant answers from the great text of all time i.e “Bhagvat Gita”. As it helped Arjun triumph over the battle of Mahabharata, so it’ll guide us too towards victory in our life battle.