Various shades of grey?

I recently heard a podcast in which a speaker, formally trained in Hindu spirituality, alleging that we are giving Karna more credit than he deserves. True, fate had not been kind to him. Being a product of an unceremonious, society-unsanctioned union, his mother, Kunti, decided that the best course of action was to abandon him in a vessel by the river, to be taken away by the waves, armed only with grand ornaments on his body.

Karna had so much to offer, but was denied on account of his adopted status. He wanted to achieve many things in his life and yearned for validation. All the disappointments made him an angry man. His attempt at learning sorcery and archery was thwarted by his unknown familial background. For that, he had to lie to be Parasuraman's disciple, and when his bluff was discovered, he paid dearly. Parasuraman then cursed him that he would forget his skills at the most crucial moment of his life. 

Karna was also denied entry into competitions due to his background as a charioteer's son. Only royalties could partake in specific grand competitions. He was humiliated in public when he attended Drupadi's svayaṃvara.

It was only Duryodhana of the Kaurava clan who gave him dignity by providing him with land to rule, thereby elevating his status to that of a kshatriya (ruling class). For that, Karna was eternally grateful.

That incident made Karna forever indebted to the Kaurava clan. He became privy to all their malfeasance. He showed blind, unwavering support to Duryodhana. He not only failed to raise an alarm when Draupadi was disrobed, but also encouraged the Kauravas to do so. He remained on the Kauravas' side, even though he knew their actions were clearly wrong and their tactics were well below the belt. Karna was also the mastermind in tricking and trapping Ahimanyu, Arjuna's teenage son and killing him unceremoniously and not following the rules of engagement. realising their below-the-belt tactics. Even after knowing that the Pandava brothers are his blood brothers, Karna chose not to value that but was still hellbent on killing them.

So was Karna a good or a negative character? Is he a hero, villain or anti-hero?

That is precisely the point. The Mahabharata is not a book that tells stories. Its characters are not one-dimensional; they are complex. Unlike the actors that we encounter on the silver screen, who are either good or bad, people in real life are not. In real life, everyone is inherently good. Life circumstances shape the way they act. I think the Hindu scriptures are not meant to give us direct answers like a mathematical formula. As complicated as life can be, these references only make us put on our thinking caps to individually or as a group argue the merits and demerits of an action and perhaps come up with alternatives. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Another Kannadasan composition...

Movie: Avandhaan Manidhan
Poet: Kannadasan
Music Director: MS Viswanathan
Singer: TM  Sounderajan

This is another song written by Kannadasan for the movie ‘Avanthaan Manithan’ (அவன்தான் மனிதன், Only He is Human). The film tells the story of an industrialist with a tragic past. His wife died in childbirth, and his child drowned as a toddler. Despite his sorrows, he puts on a happy face and carries on his earthly duties, manning his matchstick plant and helping his employees.

Tragedy strikes again when the cargo ship transporting his merchandise goes down. Due to some technical issues, he does not get any compensation. He soon turns a pauper. His mansion is auctioned off.

His philanthropy elevated his favourite worker, who bought over his house and offered it to his boss. Unfortunately, the industrialist is too proud to take handouts. He downgrades himself to live with his faithful butler. The charity bug never left the industrialist. Despite being in dire straits, his addiction to giving charity never waned.

The above song appeared when the industrialist was sitting down, reflecting on the life he had lived.

Kannadasan thought his life, giving and giving even at times of trouble, was comparable to that of Karna’s in the Mahabharata. Hence the composition.

(1)ஆட்டுவித்தால் யாரொருவர் ஆடாதாரே கண்ணா
 ஆசையெனும் தொட்டினிலே ஆடாதாரே கண்ணா

Somebody is initiating the dance; no one is exempt, Kanna?
Nobody escapes the trap of desires. 

Interpretation: In the dance called life, God starts the ball rolling. Everyone has no choice but to partake in the reverie. But beware, we are entwined in it by the lure of pleasures. We are kept trapped in these chains of interpersonal bonds and worldly materials.

(2)நீ நடத்தும் நாடகத்தில் நானும் உண்டு
 (3)என் நிழலில் கூட அனுபவத்தில் சோகம் உண்டு

In the dance that you organise, I am also in it, 
My shadows, too, feel the experience of melancholy.

Interpretation: The emotions that life brings affect every part of our body. Our mannerisms, the way we move, and our general appearance are testimony to the fact. 

(4) பகைவர்களை நானும் வெல்வேன் அறிவினாலே
 ஆனால் நண்பனிடம் தோற்று விட்டேன் பாசத்தாலே

I will win over enemies with intelligence,
But I lost to my friend because of affection.

Interpretation: We think we are logical and use our thinking sense to act wisely. The fact of the matter is, we are biased. The bonds that we build cloud our actions.

(5)பாஞ்சாலி உன்னிடத்தில் சேலை கேட்டாள்
 அந்த பார்த்தனவன் உன்னிடத்தில் கீதை கேட்டான்
 நானிருக்கும் நிலையில் உன்னை என்ன கேட்பேன்
 இன்னும் நன்மை செய்து துன்பம் வாங்கும் உள்ளம் கேட்ப்பேன்

Panjali (Draupadi) asked you for saree,
That Partha (Arjuna) asked you for the Gita,
What can I, in this situation, ask from you?
Even now, a heart to do good to be returned with tragedy.

Interpretation: This is easily the most meaningful message in this song. It relates to the story of the Mahabharata. When Yudhishtra, the Pandava king, gambles off his kingdom and property, he also loses his wife, Draupadi (aka Panjali). When the Kaurava thought it was alright for them to disrobe and humiliate a menstruating queen, she pleaded to the Gods for a longer saree to protect her honour. On the eve of the Kurushetra War, Arjuna had cold feet. The idea of combating, mortally wounding or outright killing his uncles and cousins was confusing. For that, Krishna started what can now be termed a counselling session. The conversation was immortalised as the Bhagavad Gita (Gita). In the real world, when someone asks you what you really want, what do you say? First, you would think it is a trick question. What is the catch, and what is it for you? In the verse, the Poet quotes Karna's supposed request, 'the ability to continue helping people in next births'. Apparently, this was not mentioned in Valmiki's original version of the Mahabharata. 

(6)கடலளவு கிடைத்தாலும் மயங்க மாட்டேன்
 அது கையளவே ஆனாலும் கலங்க மாட்டேன்
 உள்ளத்திலே உள்ளது தான் உலகம் கண்ணா
 இதை உணர்ந்து கொண்டால் துன்பமெல்லாம் விலகும் கண்ணா

Even when I get wealth as deep as the ocean, I won't be inebriated,
Even if it's just a handful, I won't be sad,
Only what is in your heart is your world, Kanna,
Only when this is realised does sadness go away, Kanna.

P.S. Krishna is also affectionately called Kanna, amongst many other names. 

Interpretation: This is another life lesson. When endowed with great wealth, one should not be intoxicated by the pleasures it can offer. Even if it is hardly enough to go around, one should not falter. One should contend with what one has. This realisation leads to happiness. Be happy with what one has.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

div style="text-align: center;">

Everyone loses in a war!

Once a war starts, nobody can control its trajectory. The promise of a swift surgical strike with minimal casualties is anything but a fallacy.

We have more than enough examples to tell us this wisdom in our present times, but we just refuse to listen. The Kuwait War and Iraq Wars were just propaganda wars attacking something non-existent. It also proved that there is no such thing as precision bombing with zero casualties. It is no use telling us it is just collateral damage. 

The Vietnam War showed how elections can be lost. When the body count piles up, and the disadvantaged fraction of society bears all the sorrows of seeing their sons returning in body bags while the elite dodges their way from drafting, the public knows they have been taken for a ride. It happens because, like a broken dam, war has a mind of its own that cannot be reined at will.

An episode in the Mahabharata tells us a thing or two about wars. All the war ethics were closely followed until about day 12 of the Kurukshetra War. With the battle heating up, casualties piling, and almost reaching a standstill, the Kaurava side decided to play dirty. Maybe the Pandavas, too. Krishna and Arjuna (of the Pandava clan) were steered away to fight with another faction. At the same time, Arjuna's son, 16-year-old Abhimanyu, was lured into a complex military calyx devised by master strategist Drona. As skilled as Abhimanyu was, he had learned about the military formation. He knew how to get in, but he was not taught how to escape from it. When Abhimanyu was caught in the maze, he was trapped and was unceremoniously killed from the back.

On learning of Abhimanyu's death, Arjuna took revenge the following day.

Legend had it that Jayadratha, who masterminded Abhimanyu's assault, had a special boon. His father, Vriddhakshtra, had learnt about Jayadratha's fall at war by beheading from his birth charts, had done severe penance and subsequently received a boon from Brahma. Whoever drops the son's head on Earth would have his head explode into a thousand pieces. With his unparalleled expertise with his bow and arrow, Arjuna shot Jayadratha's head to land right on the mediating Vriddhakshatra's lap. A shocked father instinctively moved his thigh, causing Jayadratha's head to fall on the floor. Vriddhakshtra's head broke into a thousand pieces as he wished/cursed. Be careful what you wish for; it is one lesson learned from this fiasco. 

Another lesson from this turn of events happened long before this episode when the Pandavas were exiled for losing a game of dice. Jayadratha had acted ungentlemanly with Arjuna's wife, Draupadi. Instead of severely punishing him for his misdeeds, Arjuna and his brothers let him off with a slap on the wrist. If not nipped in the bud, a minor wrongdoing would morph into quite a monster difficult to curtail. Hence, lesson number two is to nip evil in the bud. Do not let it branch out and grow deep roots. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Messiah?

Kalki 2898 AD (Telegu; 2024)

Director: Nag Ashwin

Why is it that every culture predicts a nihilistic future where annihilation is the final outcome? Almost all paint a picture of chaos where morality is down the drain, virtue becomes an alien feature, and pandemonium is king.

According to Hindu culture, time is cyclical in Nature. A time unit, chaturyoga, lasts 8.64 million years. It is divided into four yugas—Satya, Treta, Dwarpa, and Kali. We are in Kaliyuga, which commenced in 3102 BCE and will last for 432,000 years. Each yuga depicts further deterioration of human behaviour. Like the four seasons on Earth will repeat indefinitely. By the end of Kaliyuga, human behaviour will be despicable, with total anarchy and chaos, reaching the point of entropy. Decoiry, emphasis on external beauty, false divinity, fakery, greed, and the list go on about what can be expected by the end of Kaliyuga. Nature would need to reboot and restart the system, returning to Satya, the golden age. Rinse and repeat.

It is believed that the end of the Kurukshetra War marked the commencement of Kaliyuga. With so much disorder (adharma) ongoing, with so much breaking of conventions and ethics, it is said that Vishnu's 8th avatar, Krishna, manifested to set rules for mankind so the effects of Kaliyuga could be minimised. 

It is prophesied that Vishnu's final avatar, the tenth, will appear at the end of Kali-yuga to set order once again and pave the universe into the next yuga, Satya-yuga, the golden age.

In the Hindu scripture, eight icons are booned (cursed) with immortality. Besides Hanuman, Vyasa and Markandeya, Ashwattama was cursed by Krishna to roam the jungles, deformed with wounds festering with blood and pus for 3,000 years. For the context, Ashwattama was Drona's son. Drona was the archery teacher to both Pandavas and Kauravas. Because of politics, Drona and Ashwattama fought for the side of the Kauravas. Krishna was the charioteer for Arjuna, the principal warrior of the Pandavas. 

As dirty as war can be, the Pandavas tricked Drona into believing that his son, Ashwattama, had died in the war. Drona's temporary lapse of concentration cost him dearly. In actual fact, an elephant named Ashwattama was killed. The angry Ashwattama went on a rampage, which eventually led to him attempting to kill Pandava's last heir, Uttara's unborn child, Arjuna's grandchild. Hence, the curse.

This is where the movie starts. Six thousand years into Kali-yuga, 2898 CE, the world is dystopian, with Kashi being the only 'civilised' place left standing. Kashi is ruled by a despot harbouring serum from pregnant mothers for youth rejuvenation. I do not think Shrimad Bhagavadam describes things as these. The storytellers have taken the artistic liberty to draw in viewers. The rebels have gone underground at Shambala. One of the mothers in the incubation pods carries Kalki in her womb. But the extraction of serum proves fatal. Hence, the rush to save the day. We can deduce this from the fact the mother's name is Sumathi. 

Ashwattama springs into action. A bounty hunter who catches anyone and anything for a fee is also on the trail. Unbeknownst to the bounty hunter, Bhairava (a reference to Shiva's incarnate. controller of time) is a reincarnation of Karna. The movie is obviously just a teaser to one of many more sequels. 

Ashwattama was cursed with immortality for aiming 
a celestial weapon at Abhimanyu's pregnant wife to
kill the Pandava lineage. In his defence, he was not
taught how to disarm the weapon.

With all the CGIs, this is undoubtedly a rare attempt of Indian cinema to create science fiction using Indian mythology. With no local templates to follow, it is evident that the makers got the prototypes of their props from Star Wars. 

Is it a coincidence that most civilisations and religions present a world entirely of sin and debauchery, leading to the annihilation of the world? And a saviour always comes on a white horse. What do you know? Kalki is said to ride a white horse, too. Why are there so many overlaps between Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic traditions? The story of a newborn escaping royal capture happened in the cases of Jesus and Krishna. Moses and Karna were placed in a waterproofed basket in the river to be adopted by someone else. 

One possible explanation goes back to the time after Nebuchadnezzar's army destroyed the First Temple of Jerusalem. The Israelites were taken captive and brought to Mesopotamia as slaves. There, intermingling with the local populace before King Cyrus the Great brought them back to Israel, the early Jews added tales common to Hinduism to their pantheon of stories.

(P.S. 2898 CE is long before the end of Kali-yuga if it lasts 432,000. It seems too premature for Kalki to be born.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In defence of Shakuni...

Shakuni, Master of the Game (2019)
Author: Ashutosh Nadkar

That is the essence behind the Mahābhārata. It is not supposed to give a 2-dimensional view of things. It should make us realise that good and evil are a spectrum. One man's good deed can be to another's detriment. One man's version of the truth is another's untruth. I suppose, in the same way, Shakuni, the archetypical villain of the epic saga, could have his version of what actually transpired in his lifetime. He would have his version of what happened between the two noble families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

This book goes on to tell exactly that; Shakuni's actions, reactions and justifications of all the things that he allegedly connived in eventually leading up to one of the bloodiest wars in history amongst brothers, cousins and uncles.

Shakuni gives the lowdowns and dirty secrets of the family his beloved sister was married to. He claimed he was not handicapped as per common misconception. He was an able body who could easily run, walk and scale mountains. It was just that he walked with a slightly abnormal but functional gait. There was no need for military training in the peaceful country of Gandahar, so thought his father, the King. Hence, he need not be trained militarily. The army was not even equipped as well as its neighbours. Due to the extreme weather found in this region, people here spend more time indoors. Hence, Shakuni became a whiz in board games and handling the dice.

So when Bhishma, the feared patriarch from Hastinapur, came his mighty army to its border, the King of Gandahar got scared. Bhisma's soldiers outnumbered even the country's total population. Bhisma came with a marriage proposal for the blind King of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra, to Gandhari, the beautiful princess of Gandahar. Left with Hobson's choice between causing suffering to his people and simply marrying off quietly, the King and the Princess chose the latter. Prince Shakuni was livid but felt helpless. He told himself that he would live to fight another day with his own devices.

Shakuni left his family in Gandahar to live in Hastinapur to choose the opportune time for revenge which did not involve military prowess.

Shakuni's stay in Hastinapur saw the Pandavas and the Kauravas scrambling to produce their first male heir, hoping to usurp the throne. King Pandu of the Pandavas probably had erectile dysfunction and faced fertility issues. King Dhritarasthra of the Kauravas impregnated his wife, but unfortunately, even after two years of gestation, she just delivered a lump of flesh.

Meanwhile, Pandu and his wife Kunti took a retreat to the jungles. Miraculously, Kunti conceived and delivered successively to Yudhistra, Bhima, Arjuna and twins Nakula and Sahadeva. Rumours went around the kingdom that Pandu did not complete the job. Pandu's uncle, his mother's sage son from another husband, Vyasa, the author of Mahābhārata, inseminated with his seeds. Perhaps the Prime Minister also had a hand in conceiving the offspring, the eldest of the Pandava sons, Yudhistra and the Lord of the Wind in Bhima. This practice was totally legitimate under the niyoga system to treat childlessness. 

The blob of flesh from Gandhari was treated ayurvedically by scientist-philosopher-poet Vyasa to 101 live babies. Believe it or not, this is what some fundamentalists refer to as the first in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). The first-born of the Kauravas was Duryodhana and a clear favourite of Shakuni. Shakuni had placed a lot of hope to outrun Bhishma and his clan.

On the Pandavas' side, Kuru's Prime Minister, Vidura, gravitated towards aggrandising the brothers. It became apparent after the military training with Dronacharya. That became the tinder box that eventually led to the Kurukshetra War. 

Kurukshetra War

Shakuni also noticed Drona's dark side. He refused to pupil in Karna because of his caste. When a tribal person, Akhilavya, learned the art of archery through an effigy of him, Drona actually demanded his right thumb as tuition fees, thus rendering him useless as an archer. 

The legendary backgammon game that spurred the Pandavas was played fairly and squarely. There were no special gaff dice made from Shakuni's father's bones. In fact, in the first game, through his marvellous skills, Shakuni made Duryodhana lose badly just to catch the Pandavas unawares later on. The fear of losing in the second game got Yudhistra carried away, betting his brothers, throne, and wife. The 12-year exile and a year of living incognito were agreed upon as fair and square. 

Things got out of hand when Shakuni managed to identify the Pandavas during the final year of their punishment. Their cover was blown. Shakuni never meant for the Kurus and Pandavas to go for each other's jugular and turn into maniacal hunters, breaking all rules of a Kshatriya. He felt a tinge of regret.

Shakuni, as a good uncle to the Kauravas, donned military fatigues finally and partook in the Kurukshetra war, only to be slain on the final day. He 

[P.S. Duryodhana was named Suyodhana, meaning good warrior, at birth. Because of his unusual birth, he was cast as bad, evil, or bad omen, hence, the prefix 'dur', meaning evil -Evil Warrior.]

[P.P.S. I remember my history teacher, Mrs Lai, commenting during history class when she was covering the Mahabharata War. In the same as Shakuni commented, she said, "How would you expect a fair war when God take sides?" What she said made much sense then, but I am wiser. There is more to what the eyes see. That, precisely, is the essence of life. Things are neither black nor white. They come in shades of grey.]

[P.P.P.S. In Shakuni's eyes, Bhishma cannot be as noble as he is revered to be if he is to be judged by his actions. Besides arm-twisting a helpless princess from a docile kingdom like Gangadhar to marry his blind nephew, he is reputed to have kidnapped princesses Amba, Ambilika and Ambalika from their swayambara for his weakling half-brother, Vichitravirya, against Kshatriya dharma.]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Not an all-or-none rule!

Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai 

(a.k.a. Bandaa; A Common Man, Hindi; 2023)
Director: Apoorv Singh Karki

It is not about being religious or anti-religious, especially when it comes to a crime committed by a godman. Just because one utters something in favour of the accused does not mean he condones the accused's actions. Conversely, saying something against the victim does not indicate victim-blaming. 

This point becomes very relevant in the present-day context when we discuss the Hamas versus Israeli issue. Many join the increasing bandwagon and assert that if one does not condemn the Israeli retaliation (defence), one does not empathise with the Palestinian course but supports the Israeli killing of civilians and children. Never mind that Hamas is a terrorist group; they drew first blood (this time around) and used civilian human shields to defend themselves. Never mind that Israelites have to protect themselves, too. Life is not straightforward.

The film is based on a true event. A revered holy man is accused of rape by a minor. Whilst the public sentiments are that such a man of high esteem would not stoop so low as to commit such heinous crimes, his supporters are quick to employ scare tactics to threaten and even harm the prosecutor's witnesses.  

Getting the case off the ground proved to be a Herculean task. The parents of the victim soon discover that the assigned prosecutor was trying to sell his case. That is how P.C. Solanki, the effable Jodhpur lawyer, comes to the picture on a pro-bono basis.

The case gets dilly-dallied over five years. The accused attempted and failed repeatedly to get bail and spent the whole duration under custody. Solanki came face-to-face with many famous men of law in the courts of Jodhpur and Delhi. Somewhere along the way, even the flamboyant Dr Subramaniam Swamy had to eat humble pie when his attempts at getting the holy man out on bail failed on technicalities. Before this episode, Swamy had boasted of not losing any bail cases.

While the filmmakers managed to grasp the viewers' attention through creative storytelling and excellent acting, the clincher came when the prosecution made his closing statement. He tries to justify his hounding of the man of God through the Hindu scriptures itself. This is akin to fighting fire with fire. Not that Solanki was a non-believer. He was regular with his salutations to Lord Shiva. 

Solanki invoked Ravana's antic of impersonating a sage to abduct Sita as an unforgivable sin. Preying on helpless people's trust for self-interest is unforgivable. 

In his understanding, in a conversation that happened between Parvathi and Shiva, Parvathi asked why Shiva refused to forgive Ravana. After all, Ravana had been his ardent baktha (worshipper). In defence, Lord Shiva allegedly reiterated, “There are three types of sons. One which is made inadvertently and can be forgiven. Next, there will be atrocities, which, some punishment, things resolve. Then, there is a category of unforgivable sin, where a person assumes a place to trust and the trust is used to wrong the person who trusts him!”

In my opinion, this edict can be exploited in our contemporary living as such. The society puts so much trust in people in certain positions. They go to meet them to solve their problems when society sanctions them to do so. A teacher, a doctor, a leader, and a priest are all people who hold certain esteemed positions in our hearts. When these professionals cross the Rubicon by misusing their position, their punishment must be harsh. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.