It is said that Mahabharat and Ramayana have encapsulated the essence of Upanishads, and narrated them in such a way that the commoners can grasp those narratives, and relate to the experience of their day-to-day mortal lives. For millennia, these two Mahakavyas have been unfailingly inspiring billions of lives in Indian subcontinent, generation after generation. The various episodes in them, when read or listened to with right attitude, imbibe a sense of ‘Dharma’ (a combination of ethics, values, righteousness, conscience, morality, lawfulness and many other things that have no direct mapping in English vocabulary) into the mind, intellect and lives of the commoners and make a person, society or country prosperous, just and powerful. One of the reasons that this civilization of sanatana dharma, that we so proudly inherit, is sustaining and flourishing for 5000 years or more (there are varied theories of the possible time line of our civilization), is that, over the years Mahabharat and Ramayana have remained integral part of our lives, enriching us with the powerful life-making knowledge and truth from Upanishads and Vedas.

Now, what are some of those life-making eternal truths that we find in those Mahakavyas? Here I have picked up five such ‘eternal moments’ from Mahabharat (while I intend to delve into Ramayana on some later date). Minute readers, when reach at those junctures while reading Mahabharat, are bound to take pause, reflect, assimilate and find a new, evolved way to look at the journey of life. There are many such golden glimpses spread across the chapters of Mahabharat and I have chosen only a few of those.

Let’s now port ourselves to that era and slip into the forest where Guru Dronacharya is teaching his students the art of archery. There is a wooden bird kept on the tree, and the students are to strike that with arrow. Drona first invites Yudhisthir for the task. As he aims at the bird, Drona asks “So what are you viewing?” Yudhisthir replies “I can see the bird, tree, sky. Can see you all, around.” Drona responds “Leave the bow, since you are not yet skilled to be successful with the task.” He then invites all other students one by one, and all respond just the way Yudhisthir did. Finally Arjun takes the bow and aims at the bird. Being asked the same question by Drona, he responds, “I can see only the eye of the bird, and nothing else”. Guru Drona exclaims “Yes! You can hit the bird’s eye” and that’s what Arjuna does. And with that, the great orator of Mahabharat etches deep into our consciousness the need for single-minded focus to achieve anything worthwhile in life. Lifting the mind out of all distractions and confusions and deeply concentrating on the goal in front, is the ‘success mantra’ for the pursuit of any goal, personal, professional, financial or spiritual.

We now move forward in time and get into the forest where Yudhisthir is searching for his missing brothers. While roaming around, the brothers were thirsty and starting from Sahadev, one by one, all went in search of water but did not return. Finally, Yudhisthir, the only one available, goes out searching for the brothers and finds all of them lying dead beside a pool. The episode goes on describing how a crane, who is actually the Yaksha in disguise and killer of the brothers, challenges Yudhisthir to answer more than 125 intellectual and intriguing questions from varied sources like shastras, law, ethics, philosophy, history etc. and satisfied with getting all right answers, asks Yudhisthir to select one of the brothers whom the Yaksha will restore. Now, here comes the twist. Instead of praying for lives of Bhim or Arjun, who are his own brothers and famous Pandavas, Yudhisthir begs for the life of his lesser known half-brother, Nakul. His logic is that, at least one son of Mata Kunti (himself) is alive, while none of Mata Madri is left to see the day light. Now, is this not one of the highest example of morality, ethics and humanitarianism? As the reader visualizes Yudhisthir in folded hand, begging for life of not Arjun or Bhim, but of Nakul, he realizes what it means by unselfish, impartial love and respect to persons beyond ‘me and myself’.

Now, let us land at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, where Pitamaha Bhishma is fighting a strange battle against Shikhandi-Arjun duo. Getting pierced by arrow after arrow from Arjun, yet unperturbed by the imminent death, Bhishma stuck to his motto and refused to raise his bow against Shikhandi. Remaining uncompromisingly committed to the core belief and value, embraced strongly through the ups and downs of life and not moving away an inch even in face of death, is what Bhishma has shown us through this act on his last day at the battlefield. Was it this same commitment to values and goal, that inspired our freedom fighters to give up their lives with smile?

Years gone since the fierce battle of Kurukshetra got over. After SriKrishna left his mortal body, Arjun has come to Dwaraka to take the people out from the anarchy prevalent there, and lead them to safety. While travelling, the group is attacked by some local unknown robbers. Arjun begins to brace his divine bow, Gandiva. But despite all his efforts, he cannot even tighten it, not to talk about shooting a single arrow at the adversary. The once great warrior Arjun, the once closest friend of Lord SriKrishna Himself, now helplessly stares at the plunder and atrocities by a few ordinary thieves and nothing he could do to protect those who took his refuge. The episode puts us squarely in front of one of the most profound questions: is everything in life, society and universe transitory? Are all power, intellect, wealth amassed over the years only ephemeral and to be gone someday for sure?  What is the merit then in taking pride and boasting on the mortal belongings and achievements? The lesson to follow is that, keep on doing your best to perform duties of life based on resources available with you, and yet remain completely aware that success and failure are both transitory, and hence neither to be overwhelmed by success nor to be balked down by failure.

We now reach at the final act of Mahabharat, where Pandavas and Draupadi have embarked on the journey of “Mahaprasthan” – a voyage in which they renunciate their worldly life and set out on foot for an arduous journey through Himalayas, at the end of which they should physically reach Swarga. The journey is too straining for the kings and the queen and, one by one, Droupadi and Pandav brothers fall and die along the path. Yudhisthir, unfazed, does not glance back at the falling brothers and keeps on walking up and up into the pristine Himalayas, hidden in the mystique clouds.  And, portraying in front of us this picture of Yudhisthir, climbing higher and higher, renouncing all mortal bindings, including even the love for siblings and wife, Mahabharat unveils another eternal truth to us. Ultimate goal of humans is to search for and reach up to the higher self, the deeper consciousness, the ‘Swarga’ within. All mortal bonding are only ephemeral and need to be pierced off at some point in time in life, in order to start the ultimate “journey” towards the “Swarga”. And while on that journey, one should only look and travel up and up, moving away from ego, bondage and possessions, just the way Yudhisthir is moving with calm, confident and determined steps.

To summarize, as we look back into the above snippets, what life lessons appear before us?  Mahabharat is telling us that to have a fulfilling life, perform all your worldly duties with focused attention on the goal in front; remain selfless and just in your dealings with fellow humans; have unshakeable commitment till last breath to the values, belief and core purpose for which you live; not to take pride on worldly success since those are only ephemeral; and finally, have the strength to detach from all earthly possessions and bonding in order to seek and embrace your higher self and deeper consciousness. These are only few of the numerous eternal truth revealed by Mahabharat, which are enlivened and practiced in Hindu lives from time immemorial and which will remain the lifeline and guiding light for Hindus for the millennia to come.

Bow to my Mahabharat. Bow to my country, culture and religion that can provide mankind with such a divine gift in the form of Mahabharat.

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