The Dharma is subtle. This is a famous statement from the Mahabharata. It is attributed to the elder statesman of the Kauravas, Bhishma. You must be aware of the context or background story. Draupadi is being undressed in public by Dushasana after the Pandavas (specifically Yudhisthira) lost her to the Kauravas (Shakuni) in a game […]
Tag Archives: Mahabharata
In Praise of Heroism
A lot of people know this about me. The incident relating to this made the newspapers when it happened more than 20 years ago. I am a coward. I lack physical courage. What happened was that I was kidnapped by some people whom I trusted and made to sign away my Infosys shares that were […]
The Scamp and the Prime Minister
What do I mean when I say that it is better to not have high expectations of ourselves and others? How can that change your outlook on life? I got started on this train of thought when friend of mine messaged me after reading an article I posted in 2019 prior to the Indian General […]
Don’t Pursue your Happiness
You must have heard of the story of Yayati. The following is the story as narrated in Wikipedia. In the words of the story, Yayāti enjoys all the pleasures of the senses ‘for a thousand years’ and, by experiencing passion to the full, comes to realise its utter futility, saying: “Know this for certain… not […]
More on Envy
Why is there so much envy in India? According to Gurcharan Das, the well known author, the cause of envy in India is socialism. According to him in his book, The Difficulty of Being Good, If greed is the sin of capitalism then envy is the vice of socialism. When I was young Indira Gandhi […]
How to guard against Envy
I want to write two maybe three articles on the subject of envy. I have suffered as a result of envy – when I was young I was (definitely because of my genes) something of a potential genius. But I was also a troubled youngster who behaved in eccentric ways. I have every wish to […]
More Comments on the Caste System
The material for this article has been sourced for most part on the book on the Mahabharata by Gurcharan Das – The Difficulty of being Good. I have taken such points as struck me as relevant to our day to day lives and will discuss them here. The first point I would like to make […]
The Difficulty of being Good
One of the principle tenets of the Bible and Christianity is not resisting evil and turning the other cheek if someone strikes you. Yet how many people – including those who call themselves good Christians – even try to live up to this ideal. It is an impossibly high standard in ethics. The difficulty may […]
What the Mahabharata demands of our Rulers
It’s election season now and I happened to read the rhetorical questions the sage Narada asked of Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata stating the requirements of a righteous ruler. Yudhishthira of course met all these requirements but I don’t think too many of our politicians do. But maybe given time we can – as an educated […]