Mahabharata
The
Epic of the Mahabharata deals with the feud between cousins, the Pandavas and
the Kauravas. It deals with the eternal feud between Good and Evil. All of the
characters in the Mahabharata have got symbolic value: and all the situations
depicted are true to life. It has been proclaimed centuries ago of the
Mahabharata ‘what is not in it is nowhere.”
Let
us take the character of Draupadi. She is supposed to be married to five brothers.
(The
Pandavas - at the same time.)
This
on the one hand proves that it was acceptable during those days for a man to
take more than one wife. It was also acceptable for a woman to marry more than
one man.
On
the other hand, however, the above could have a symbolic interpretation. The
five husbands represent the five qualities that every woman should possess.
Hence.
Yudishtira
stood for truth
Bhima for strength
Arjuna for fearlessness
Nakul
for Gyan or knowledge
Sahadeva for Bhakti or devotion.
Of
course, throughout the Mahabharata, we see these men displaying the qualities
attributed to them all the time.
One
of the lessons we learn from the Mahabharata is never to be too complacent about
our position, be it material or spiritual.
Draupadi
was a devout women beloved of her husbands, and a true devotee of Lord Krishna
who was their contemporary. After the Pandavas had been cheated by the
Kauravas, the later finally consented to give them a small town which, according
to the Kauravas, would be of no economic use.
However,
the Pandavas, with the help of Lord Krishna prospered and built a palace of
veritable joy and pleasure. The description of which would probably put modern
mansions to shame.
The
Kauravas were invited to the palace where, due to an optical illusion,
Duryodhana mistook the reflection of water for a dry carpet and stepped on it
thereby getting drenched.
Draupadi,
who was watching, could not help laughing and remarking in bad taste “The
sons of the blind are bound to be blind.” For the above remark she was made to
pay dearly. Duryodhana swore revenge and enmity between the Pandavas and
Kauravas grew enormously again. The words uttered by Draupadi in a moment of
weakness had rankled Duryodhana to such an extant that he tried to disrobe, her
in public, and finally the Mahabharata, the greatest of all the wars of ancient
India, was fought.
The
Great War is also symbolic of the constant conflict that goes on within
ourselves between the benign forces and the evil ones.
