How to take decisions (Management Sutras Book 5)

by Devdutt Pattanaik

All decisions are contextual Amongst the twenty-five stories that the vetal told Vikramaditya, this is one: a king killed a merchant and laid claim to all his property. The merchant’s widow fled the kingdom swearing revenge. She seduced a priest and was impregnated by him. She abandoned the son thus born at the door of a childless king who adopted the foundling and raised him as his own. “Who is the father of this child: the merchant who was married to his mother, the priest who made his mother pregnant or the king who adopted him?” Vikramaditya replies with the caveat that the answer would depend on the culture to which the king belongs. In some cultures only biological fathers matter, in some, legal fathers matter and in others, foster fathers matter more. There is no objective answer in matters related to humans. In the Mahabharat, Pandu is called the father of the Pandavs even though he is not their biological father. The law of the land states that a man is the father of his wife’s children. The Pandavs demand a share of Pandu’s kingdom on the basis of this law. Is this law the right law? At Kurukshetra, the Pandavs kill Bhisma, the man who raised them as a foster father would, because he fights on the opposing side. Is that ethical? In the Ramayan, Ram is celebrated for being faithful to one wife, yet in the Mahabharat, men have many wives and the Pandavs even share a common wife. What is appropriate conduct? Laws by their very nature are arbitrary and depend on cont...

Have not gone through the explanation of Karma better than this :- )

The desire to qualify an action, and its consequence, as good or bad, right or wrong, is a peculiarly human trait. Nature does not do so.

so true. Nature just run by rules. it doesn't favor or come with any pre-conceived notions. that is the reason.... anyone who follow's rule for a particular objective gets it and at the same time might fail in another one if the rules aint adhered to..... that also explains why and how 'so called' evil used to always get boon from Lord Shiva in Hindu Mythology since its only the act of penance in right way which is rewarded without any prejudice to who does it and to what objective.