Mahabharat and Ramayan are two great epics to which almost every child in India or those of Indian origin are introduced at a very early age and I am no exception. I very fondly remember those days when my great grandmother, grand parents and parents used to tell us stories from Mahabharat and Ramayan, stories of all Gods and Goddesses. I have always been fascinated by such stories and I still find them interesting. I remember since a very young age, I used to ask questions pertaining to God and holy texts and scriptures to my parents and the best part was that I was never ignored and always got an encouraging response from them.
One day (when I was in school), I remember asking Babba that why in Gita , Lord Krishna supported the war? I mean how can ‘God’ be in favour of war when we all know that war is a heinous practice?
And he just replied in two sentences. He said, “ Gandhiji, interpreted Mahabharat as the ongoing war inside our minds.” and then he said, “ Beta, Gita is a perennial philosophy…it has a lot of depth…”
His response gave me enough food for thought- something that I found interesting enough to contemplate on, which eventually also helped introduce me to the concept of ‘fighting a good fight’.
And today I concede being a witness to the ongoing Mahabharat inside my mind…the war between good and evil…the waging war between umpteen thoughts…and amidst all this there is always a voice of the conscience acting as a guiding force…
At present, I can best fathom ‘Mahabharat’ as an artistic representation of the happenings inside the MIND-the real battlefield.
And I feel there’s much more to it which I am yet to realize and understand…There’s a long way to go!
Let me end this post with this prayer:-
“O creator of the universe, we meditate upon thy supreme splendor. May thy radiant power illuminate our intellects, destroy our sins and guide us in the right direction.”(Gayatri Mantra) Amen.
P.S: I also feel that games like cricket, tennis, soccer and the likes too portray our ongoing inner struggle. Infact, it is better to say that the physical world is a mirror to the inner world.
