Swadharma

Selections from Rajaji’s Mahabharata

Anjali — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:48:21 +0000

One of my many purchases on a recent trip to India was a copy of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari’s English translation of the Mahabharata. Rajaji (1878-1972) was an important Indian statesman, but he spent a bit of his active life on literature and religion rather than politics. His Mahabharata is ~450 pages long, which can hardly include everything from Vyasa’s masterpiece, so I am attempting the following: during the next few months, I plan to also read Kamala Subramaniam’s ~750 page version and K.M.Munshi’s 7-volume Krishnavatara. Perhaps I’ll also (finally!) watch the entire dvd series, made by B.R.Chopra and Ravi Chopra. We’ll see how far I get! If anyone has recommendations for any other version that I should take a look at, please let me know.

Many of us Hindus, as children, were told (or read ourselves) the basic story of the Mahabharata over and over. I have taken so much from it, and it has truly affected my perspective on life. That being said, I cannot truly give the epic that responsibility without studying it more thoroughly. Before this, I had never read more than a children’s version! I am sure many of you readers may feel similarly, and so one reason why I have chosen to write about my experiences reading these versions is for you to find one that appeals to you. I hope that all of you will someday (if you haven’t already) pick up a more thorough version of Vyasa’s story.

Having finished Rajaji’s version, I thought I might share with you all a few memorable passages from it. (If you’d like to read it yourself, here is an online version, which is only 217 pages!) What I particularly like about this version (who knows, it may be true with others as well) is Rajaji’s delicate commentary throughout the story. Sometimes it gets to be a bit too much. Here is a passage from when the Pandavas are attempting to make peace with the Kauravas while simultaneously preparing for battle:

In December 1941, the Japanese were carrying on negotiations with the Americans and, immediately on the breakdown of those talks, took them unawares and attacked Pearl Harbour destroying their naval forces there. Drupada’s instructions to the brahmana would show that this was no new technique and that, even in the old days, the same method was followed of carrying on negotiations and even sincerely working for peace, but simultaneously preparing, with unremitting vigour, for outbreak of war and carrying on peace talks with the object of creating dissensions in the enemy’s ranks. There is nothing new under the sun!

A bit much, right? At other times, Rajaji’s words precisely capture the idea of the story. He details a side story of a brahmana and a dutiful wife with the following end remarks:

The moral of this striking story of Dharmavyadha so skilfully woven by Vedavyasa into the Mahabharata, is the same as the teaching of the Gita, that man reaches perfection by the honest pursuit of whatever calling falls to his lot in life, and that this is really worship of God Who created and pervades all (Bhagavad Gita XVIII: 45-46). The occupation may be one he is born to in society or it may have been forced on him by circumstances or he may have taken it up by choice but what really matters is the spirit of sincerity and faithfulness with which he does his life’s work.

There are too many times in the Mahabharata where people clearly make the wrong decision. Rajaji comments thus:

The Puranas wherein right conduct is always preached, sometimes set out stories in which conduct, not in conformity with Dharma, seems condoned. Is it right, one may ask, for religious books thus to seem to justify wrong?

A little reflection will enable one to see the matter in proper light. It is necessary to bring home the fact that even wise, good and great men are liable to fall into error. That is why the Puranas, although ever seeking to instill Dharma, contain narratives to show how in this world even good people sometimes sin against Dharma, as though irresistibly driven to do so. This is to press home the truth that howsoever learned one may be, humility and constant vigilance are absolutely necessary if one wishes to avoid evil.

Why indeed, did the great authors of our epics write about the lapses of Rama in the Ramayana and Yudhisthira in the Mahabharata? Where was the need to make mention of them and then labour arguments to explain them away, thereby disturbing men’s minds? It was not as though other had discovered the lapses and Vyasa and Valmiki had to defend their heroes. The stories are artistic creations in which lapses themselves impress the desired moral. The parts dealing with the lapses deeply distress the reader’s mind and serve as solemn warnings of pitfalls which wait to engulf the careless. They dispose the mind to humility and watchfulness and make it realise the need for divine guidance.

The modern cinema also projects on the screen much that is bad and immoral. Whatever may be the explanation offered by the protagonists of the cinema, evil is presented on the screen in an attractive fashion that grips people’s minds and tempts them into the path of wickedness. Not so in the Puranas. Although they do point out that even great now and again fell into error and committed wrong, the presentation is such as to warn the reader and not to allure him into evil ways. This is the striking difference between our epics and the modern talkies, which arises from the difference in the character of the people who produced them.

Ok, he again goes a little too far in the last paragraph (or sentence). Rajaji is clearly not of our generation! But I find the rest of his discussion illuminating.

Rajaji presents an interest view of choices in a chapter on Balarama’s lack of involvement in battle (Krishna’s elder brother is torn between sides and loses all interest in the world):

This episode of Balarama’s keeping out of the Mahabharata war is illustrative of the perplexing situations in which good and honest men often find themselves. Compelled to choose between two equally justifiable, but contrary, courses of action, the unhappy individual is caught on the horns of a dilemma.

It is only honest men that find themselves in this predicament. The dishonest ones of the earth have no such problems, guided as they are solely by their own attachments and desires, that is, by self-interest. Not so the great men who have renounced all desire. Witness the great trials to which, in the Mahabharata, Bhishma, Vidura, Yudhisthira and Karna were put. We read in that epic how they solved their several difficulties. Their solutions did not conform to a single moral pattern but reflected their several individualities. The conduct of each was the reaction of his personality and character to the impact of circumstances. Modern critics and expositors sometimes forget this underlying basic factor and seek to weigh all in the same scales, which is quite wrong. We may profit by the way in which, in the Ramayana, Dasaratha, Kumbhakarana, Maricha, Bharata, and Lakshmana reacted to the difficulties with which each of them was faced. Likewise, Balarama’s neutrality in the Mahabharata war was a lesson.

Perhaps I include these specific passages because I agree with them, but I cannot avoid that bias. One of the reasons I feel compelled to read the epic in so many different ways is because the story itself appeals to me in so many ways. For me, the Mahabharata is the truth of life: that we humans are all faced with difficult decisions and we navigate these decisions by following our moral compass, our Swadharma. That is all we can do to make peace with, and in, the universe.

Authentic or Apocryphal? Does it even matter? In one of the discussions with Swami Tyagananda during the...
Question of the Week: Are Hindu Epics Literature, History, or Scripture? Ram Navami was this past Friday, and for that reason,...
Question of the Week: Hinduism and Relationships We may all need food, water, and shelter to survive,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Ashramas of Life

Anish — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:50:07 +0000

It is noted that in almost every religion, there are ceremonies that celebrate rites of passage throughout a person’s life. In Judaism, there is the bar/bat mitzvah. In many sects of Christianity, the confirmation is held to declare that the individual is a participating member of the church. In Hinduism, for young individuals around the age of 13, a thread ceremony, known as an Upanayanam, is held to initiate the individual into his Brahmacharya stage — the part of his life where the individual lives as a student.

Interestingly enough, the Upanishads have essentially set 4 stages or ‘ashramas’ of life as a Hindu that we all tend to follow, to an extent. After the Brahmacharya stage, at around the age of 25, the individual will enter the Grihasta stage of life, which is also known as the householder stage. It is here where the individual will marry, build a family and work toward his career. The third and fourth stages of life, known as the Vanaprastha stage and the Sanyaasa stage, require the individual to renounce and retire from social and professional life and be totally devoted to God. The last two ashramas mark the end of life, where the individual will either become one with God or be reborn into the cycle.

I feel that it’s rather interesting how the ancient sages had set these rules with such accuracy that these ashramas can be followed even today to an extent.

A general question to all: do other religions also have set sections of life in which an individual must follow a certain way of life?

Detachment, attachment, and your loved ones In my most recent post, I wrote about the potential...
The social aspect of religion Today at Wellesley, we had our Darshana (our Hindu student’s...
Parents Are the Best During this break, I have been able to spend lots...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The many paths to felicity

Gokul Madhavan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:52:33 +0000

I’m currently taking a class on the 13th century Andalusian Islamic poet-mystic-philosopher-theologian Ibn `Arabī, whose worldview is tremendously fascinating and worth studying in depth (if only we had lifetimes enough!). One of the assigned books for the class, William Chittick’s Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-`Arabī and the Problem of Religious Diversity, closes with two passages from two of Ibn `Arabī’s works; the first is from his Bezels of Wisdom, the second from his magnum opus, the colossal Meccan Revelations:

Beware of becoming delimited by a specific knotting and disbelieving in everything else, lest great good escape you … Be in yourself a matter for the forms of all beliefs, for God is wider and more tremendous than that He should be constricted by one knotting rather than another. (Fuṣūṣ 113)

A “knotting” is a literal translation of the Arabic word Ibn `Arabī uses here, which can be translated more conventionally as “belief system” or “ideology”.

He who counsels his own soul should investigate, during his life in this world, all doctrines concerning God. He should learn from whence each possessor of a doctrine affirms the validity of his doctrine. Once its validity has been affirmed for him in the specific mode in which it is correct for him who holds it, then he should support it in the case of him who believes in it. (II 85.11)

I don’t want to give the impression that these two passages exhaust Ibn `Arabī’s vision of “religious diversity,” or even that this English translation is an accurate representation of his original work, for he is a tremendously complicated thinker and highly verbose writer. Many great, spiritually inclined thinkers from very different backgrounds have spent many, many years over the centuries trying to understand his work, both in its grand design and in its many details. It is always terribly easy to read into someone’s work our own “knotting” (to speak Ibn `Arabī’s language), which is unfair to both them and to us.

However, these passages did speak to me, and for that reason alone I wish to share them (un-analytically!) with everyone.

Yes, we can. So today, the 44th President of the United States was...
Seeing poetry in religion, and vice versa This semester, I’m taking an English class which is basically...
The history of the world As I was reading through some of the lectures...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Aayiram Deivangal

Siddarth — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:42:05 +0000

I came across this poem (rendered as a song, by Maharajapuram Santhanam, for those who’ve heard it) titled “Aayiram deivangal” (A Thousand Gods). It is written by Subramanya Bharathi, a freedom fighter and an outstanding poet from Tamil Nadu, India. To me, Bharathiyar’s poetry is synonymous with fiery ideas, beautiful writing, and a use of Tamil like I’ve never seen elsewhere. It’s startling how perfectly this song embodies the Advaita philosophy. Here’s a very rough translation:

Behold, you fools! You search for a thousand Gods… Will you not listen to the many thousand scriptures that describe consciousness (lit. wisdom) as the real god? Will you not listen to those who say that such consciousness is the real Shiva? Or will your pride be destroyed only after stumbling through frenzied religions? All such states are ones filled with Parasakthi. This state of peace is the state of Vedanta; this has been experienced by the wise. Such consciousness is the soul of everything that exists. Slowly, the number of Gods have grown, but have been reduced to mere stories, and several fake religions have been inspired — how do you not see it?

And the actual text:

ஆயிரந் தெய்வங்கள் உண்டென்று தேடி
    அலையும் அறிவிலிகாள் ! - பல்
லாயிரம் வேதம் அறிவொன்றே தெய்வமுண்
    டாமெனல் கேளீரோ ?

மாடனைக் காடனை வேடனைப் போற்றி
    மயங்கும் மதியிலிகாள் ! - எத
னூடும்நின் றோங்கும் அறிவென்றே தெய்வமென்
    றோதி யறியிரோ ?

சுத்த அறிவே சிவமென்று கூறுஞ்
    சுருதிகள் கேளீரோ ? - பல
பித்த மதங்களி லேதடு மாறிப்
    பெருமை யழிவீரோ ?

வேடம்பல் கோடியொர் உண்மைக் குளவென்று
    வேதம் புகன்றிடுமே - ஆங்கோர்
வேடத்தை நீருண்மை யென்றுகொள் வீரென்றவ்
    வேத மறியாதே.

நாமம்பல் கோடியொர் உண்மைக் குளவென்று
    நான்மறை கூறிடுமே - ஆங்கோர்
நாமத்தை நீருண்மை யென்று கொள் வீரென்றந்
    நான்மறை கண்டிலதே.

போந்த நிலைகள் பலவும் பராசக்தி
    பூணு நிலையாமே - உப
சாந்த நிலையே வேதாந்த நிலையென்று
    சான்றவர் கண்டனரே.

கவலை துறந்திங்கு வாழ்வது வீடென்று
    காட்டும் மறைகளெலாம் - நீவிர்
அவலை நினைந்துமி மெல்லுதல் போலிங்கு
    அவங்கள் புரிவீரோ ?

உள்ள தனைத்திலும் உள்ளொளி யாகி
    ஒளிர்ந்திடும் ஆன்மாவே - இங்கு,
கொள்ளற் கரிய பிரமமென் றேமறை
    கூவுதல் கேளீரோ ?

மெள்ளப் பலதெய்வம் கூட்டி வளர்த்து
    வெறுங் கதைகள் சேர்த்துப் - பல
கள்ள மதங்கள் பரப்புதற் கோர்மறை
    காட்டவும் வல்லீரோ ?

ஒன்று பிரம முளதுண்மை யஃதுன்
    உணர்வெனும் வேதமெலாம் - என்றும்
ஒன்ரு பிரம முள துண்மை யஃதுன்
    உணர்வெனக் கொள்வாயே.

Religion versus Spirituality Karl Marx, the famous 19th-century economist, philosopher, and revolutionary, once...
Different approaches to “Overcoming Greed” Today in his lecture at the Vedanta Society, Swami Tyagananda...
Question of the Week: Why tolerate intolerance? As Saketh discussed in a previous post, religious intolerance is...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Garuda Purana

Siddarth — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:57:23 +0000

The Garuda Purana, one of the puranas of Hindu tradition, embodies the Hindu (Vaishnava) understanding of death and afterlife. The Purana is generally perceived as divided into two parts: the first describing death itself, and the second detailing what happens after death. The Purana is often recited during funeral rites in North India, and for this reason, one is generally discouraged from formally reading it. A lot of the Purana is extremely graphic:

30-32. Some go on the way neck, arms, feet and back bound with chains, bearing many loads of iron,
And being beaten with hammers by the awful messengers of Yama; vomiting blood from the mouth, which then they eat again,
Bewailing their own karmas these beings, becoming exhausted, full of very great misery, go on towards the mansion of Yama.

I find the Garuda Purana very interesting, for the simple reason that this Purana is one of the few places where Hinduism formally designates certain actions and thoughts as wrong. For instance:

34. Those who eat, having neglected their wives, children, servants and teachers, and having neglected the offerings to the forefathers and the Shining Ones,–these certainly go to hell.

Or:

52. The very sinful man who sets fire to a house, a village or a wood, is captured by the messengers of Yama and baked in pits of fire.
53. When his limbs are burnt with fire, he begs for a shady place, and then is led by the messengers into the forest of sword-like leaves.
54. When his limbs are cut by its leaves, sharp as swords, then they say, ‘Ah, ha! Sleep comfortably in this cool shade!’
55. When, afflicted with thirst, he begs for water to drink, then the messengers give him boiling oil to drink.
56. Then they say: ‘Drink this liquid and eat this food.’ As soon as he drinks it he falls down, burning inside.
57. Getting up again somehow, he wails piteously. Powerless and breathless he is unable even to speak.

It also showcases a face of Hinduism that I’ve never encountered elsewhere:

49. Some of the sinful are cut with saws, like firewood, and others thrown flat on the ground, are chopped into pieces with axes.
50. Some, their bodies half-buried in a pit, are pierced in the head with arrows. Others, fixed in the middle of a machine, are squeezed like sugar-cane.
51. Some are surrounded closely with blazing charcoal, enwrapped with torches, and smelted like a lump of ore.
52. Some are plunged into heated butter, and others into heated oil, and like a cake thrown into the frying-pan they are turned about.
53. Some are thrown in the way, in front of huge maddened elephants, and some with hands and feet bound are placed head downwards.

Wikipedia lists punishments with corresponding sins:

Garuda Purana	Wrong doings	Punishment given in Naraka
Thamisra	Stealing other’s property including wife, children and belongings	Thrashing with Gadha
Andhathamisra	Post marital cheating between husband and wife	Unconscious circulation in abyss
Rourava	Destroying, spiliting other’s family and their belongings	Spanking the Life organs with trident by Yama’s kingaras
Maharourava	Brutally destroying other’s property and family for the sake of acquisition	A wild animal, Guru, tortures them in various forms
Kumbipaka	Destroying innocent lives for food	Roasting in hot oil tank by Yama’s kingaras
Kalasuthira	Torturing and putting elders and parents in starvation	Same set of treatment in hell
Asipathira	Abetting God and devolve from Dharma practises	Torture by devils; results in fear
Panrimukha	Punishing innocent people and serving as an accomplice unlawful activiites	Grinding under the sharp teeth of a animal resembling pig
Anthakoopa	Torturing lives and inhumane activities	Biting by wild animals; wild run over by animals
Agnikunda	Snatching other’s property by force, gaining undue advantage and unlawfully making best out of everything in the world	Roasting in agni kunda in an inverted position with hands and legs tied under a stick
Vajrakandaka	Unchaste people in physical contact with unmatching people	Physical hugging with fire spitting idols
Kirumibhojana	Selfish survival; eating other’s work	Insects are left intruding the body
Sanmali	Unchaste relationships by kamukas	Thrashing with gadha
Vaitharani	Using official stature to attain undue advantage, acting against dharma	Submerging in Vaitharini river where water is mixed with blood, urine and feces
Booyoga	Shameless behaviour, mixing with unchaste women & leading the life without any motive	Biting by poisonous insects and animals
Prayanyoga	Torturing lives and killing them	Spanking the vital organs with arrows by Yama kinkaras
Pasusava	All devatas are in cows; torturing those cows	Slashing by canes
Sarameyathana	Gutting houses, torturing lives, poisoning lives, involving in massacre	Torture by unknown wild animals
Aveesi	Giving false evidence	Submerging and torturing in livebodies
Paribathana	Drinking and making others drink alcohol	Drinking lava
Sharakarthama	Involving in bad activities and defaming elders and living with selfish motives	Torture the vital organs by unknown devils
Rakshogana	Performing narametha yaga, eating non vegetarian dishes and torturing soft animals	The same victims torture the hecklers
Soolaproga	Killing innocent people, masterminding people, committing suicide and doing nambike droha	Unknown birds peck and torture with shoola
Susimuga	Not doing any good, amassing wealth by wrong doings and stealing wealth	Stinging with nails and torturing with hunger and thirst
Kunthasootha	Not doing any good and always doing bad to others	Stinging by insects like scorpions
Vadaroga	Severely torturing living beings	Handcuffed and burnt in fire
Piravarthana	Defaming guests and not treating them	Torturing with hunger and thirst
Lalapakshuga	Torturing wife and involving her in unchaste relationships	Same set of treatment in hell

How do we feel about the Garuda Purana? How is it relevant to our every day life? Is it relevant at all? It’s clearly very restrictive, and I’m sure many of us break the “rules” that it lays down. Should this bother us? How does this change our perception of Hinduism?

Hinduism and alcohol? I don’t think drinking alcohol should be a moral problem...
Chapter 14: Discrimination of the Three Gunas In the Chapter Fourteen of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna...
A Brief Lesson from Physics When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.