51 Lesser Known Tales From the Mahabharata (Mahabharata Companion, #1)

by Sharath Komarraju

The storyteller must tell

the tale without any conscious bending of the facts, and the only way to do that is to trust his subconscious mind and let the words flow. And part of the scribe’s job is to write down the content of the story without losing its coherence and theme as a whole. For this, the scribe must understand what he is writing.

Seen this way, Yudhisthir is guilty of vanity as well, just like his brothers. Just that his vanity is about how virtuous a man he is, and how naturally deserving he is of being a ‘god among men’.

the word ‘vijaya’ signifies victory over external events, while the word ‘jaya’ means victory over self. Vijaya implies a victor and a loser, whereas Jaya implies victory for all.

he's called 'the one who belongs to everyone and yet is attainable by no one'.

do not attach yourself to results and emotions. Perform your duty. Accept the consequences, whatever they may be.

‘Craving for sense pleasures is not removed but aggravated by indulgence, even as ghee poured into fire strengthens it. One who aspires for peace and happiness should instantly renounce craving and seek pleasures of the mind, which neither grow old nor cease as the body ages.’

If it is cruel, it is also more realistic. In life, all of us become unwitting Fausts, assuming that the good things that come our way do so because we deserve them, and when they are taken away – as they always are – we ask why in desperation. We cling to hollow symbols of identity, which help in holding up the edifice of lies we have built for ourselves.

And when our chariots burn and our bows are snatched away, we rant and rage. We ask what we had done to deserve our misfortunes. We wonder why everything is being taken away, forgetting, that it had all been given to us on loan, and that every loan has to be repaid.

In modern language, the phrase, ‘Trishanku’s heaven’, is used to describe a situation where a person is stuck in limbo between two states.

‘What, if renounced, makes one wealthy?’ ‘Desire.’

‘Death is the universal truth of life. Day after day countless beings die. But living things live as though they will live forever. What can be more wondrous than this?’