|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Great Golden Sacrifice
of the Mahabharata
Originally, the book was published in three separate volumes. Now, it has been clubbed into one volume. The three parts are: The Battle of Kurukshetra, The Legs of the Tortoise and The Great Golden Sacrifice of the Mahabharata. The first part is introduced from the perspectives of Ashwatthama and Arjuna. The second one refers to the powerful metaphor of the tortoise which explains Indian concept of renunciation (sannayasa), i.e., to be simultaneously in the world and not of the world; one is to lead the life of detachment from the world. The last part is indicative of the golden sacrifice of the empirical self (jiva) and ego (me-ness). With a view to explaining the unending seed of life, philosophers presupposed that in the beginning there was all darkness. This idea we come across in the Mahabharata and other religious traditions as well. These presuppositions were used as tools to resolve existential problems of life-world of the human beings and other creatures of the universe. A legend goes when a fisherman’s fish-eyed daughter Satyavati was carrying across the river Rishi Parashara on the boat, he was enamoured with her fragrance-emitting person that aroused Kamadeva in him. The romance consummated in the conception of Vyasa. Since the event happened on the island between two the flowing rivers, he was named Dopana (island-born). He had mastery over the Vedas, 18 Puranas and the Ramayana. He reduces the past, future and present into the eternal present. He churns out the cosmic vision of human life as an eternal principle for ages to come. He is the true representative of Indian philosophy and culture. The teachings of the epics have gone deep into the marrows of the Indian masses and the world over. Its eternal message is still relevant in the modern times. There was no male heir to the throne oh Hastanapur. On Satyavati’s asking, the sage Vyasa came down from the Himalayas. "Though he had made a vow to have no wives, no children, his mother’s wish came first", and impregnated Ambika, Ambalika and the maid-servant, Urmilla, with mantra-yantra or as a husband. The author Grassi at the age of 17 spent the World War II years in South Africa and came to Paris, the city of her birth. She was influenced by a French translation of Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita. The author was influenced by a confronting dilemma of Arjuna who was awfully paralysed foreseeing destruction of his kin. Krishna’s divine message purges all his fears and horrors. He finds solace in sacrifice from higher plane. Krishna always urges allegiance to a higher truth which synthesises temporal and the eternal realm. The author’s "relation to the Mahabharata was a vividly lived experience". She finds striking parallels between the stories of the Mahabharata and the World War II, "culminating in the battle of Kurukshetra, and events culminating in World War II. The writer enquires whether humanity was "either taking a step forward or sliding back into barbarism that is the theme of the Mahabharata. It seemed to me that this was also the central lesson learned from World War II". The parallels are uncanny. The World War II was fought for power and supremacy in the world, whereas the Mahabharata was fought for higher moral values for restoring peace and justice. It is evident that the writer glossed over undercurrent of the epic. The Vedic idea of sacrifice and surrender is at a higher plane. The surrender of ego and sacrifice of the lower self is the central idea of the epic. Kurukshetra symbolises the quintessence of India philosophy. This is the soil where decisive war of the Mahabharata was fought between the Pandvas and the Kaurvas. Krishna is the guiding principle of Vyasa. He is the mediator between the warring cousins and is at once above good and evil. He does not take sword against either one. He is the adviser to the Pandavas. "When Krishna was returning from his embassy without the five towns, without as much land as could be balanced on the point of needle", he failed in his mission. He tried to resolve the problem with dialogue but was of no avail. Sword is the last resort to cleanse the earth of the evil forces. Krishna’s objective is to restore peace and justice. For this purpose, he reconciles dharma and karma in the doctrine of nishkama karma (disinterested action) which is discharged without any selfish motive and worldly desires. In the words of a Western philosopher, Immanuel Kant, it is categorical imperative. Kant’s doctrine is a theoretical paradigm of moral action. The Mahabharata’s nishkama karma reconciles theory and praxis which is the sine quo non of every religion. Optimum reconciliation of theory and practise is the spirit of the two epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It reflects the dynamic view of life. The book is a rendering into English prose for the lay English-knowing readers. It is good for those who want to read the Mahabharata as a classic religious fiction. However, the book is welcome for introducing a new theme of finding out relevance of the epic in the modern context. It is most important in the modern philosophical circles of hermeneutics—art of interpretation of the sacred scriptures. Vyasa wanted to restore justice and peace, not the present political scenario of scams and corruption.
|
THIS book is a retold
simplified story of the Mahabharata. The epic has been reduced to
many regional languages with variant readings because of it mingling it
with regional traditions and creative interpretations of writers. One
point is clear that the spirit of the epic has been kept true to the
conflict between the good and the evil, and the final victory is of the
good.