“If you interpret Mahabharata as just a story, you will never know its true meaning! ”
“I understand you’ve come to learn about the Kurukshetra war, but you can’t learn about that battle unless you understand what the actual fight is all about.”
“What are you referring to? ”
The Mahabharata is an epic, a tale, a possible reality, and most emphatically a philosophy.
“Let us understand the Mahabharata and its spiritual meaning? ”
The Pandavas are actually your five senses which control the world within you and outside you.
- Sight,
- Smell,
- Taste,
- Touch
- and sound…
and “Are you aware of the Kauravas?” ”
The Kauravas are the one hundred vices that constantly assault your senses, yet you can resist them… and do you know how?
“When Krishna takes up his position in his chariot! ”
Krishna is your inner voice, your soul, and your guiding light, and if you entrust your life to him, you will be at ease.
“However, if Dronacharya and Bhishma are vices, why are they fighting for the Kauravas? ”
This simply implies that as you mature, your perspective on your elders changes. Elders that you believed were flawless throughout your formative years are not so perfect. They do have flaws.
And you will eventually have to determine if they are for your benefit or detriment. Then you may understand that you’re going to have to battle them for the greater good. It is the most difficult phase of growing up, which is why the Geeta is so significant.
“And Karna? ”
“You saved the finest till the last. Karna is your senses’ brother; he represents desire; he is a part of you but is associated with vices. He feels mistreated and constantly finds reasons for being with the vices, just like your desire does.
“Does your desire not provide you with justifications to indulge in vices? ”
The Kauravas are the exterior forces, or the objective forces, that operate in the world. Subjective forces, such as the Pandavas, may be compared to the Kauravas. In this way, the Mahabharata is a battle between the subject and the object of the story. What this thing is, on the other hand, is very difficult to describe.
It may be a pencil, or it could be a wristwatch, or it could be any single thing in this universe that we can refer to as an “object.” It’s possible that a single human person is in the position of a physical item.
Whether it’s a complete family, an entire town, or the whole human setup, including the entire humanity or the entire physical universe, there’s a thing in front of us that we need to pay attention to. The incompatibility of awareness’ subjective attitude with its objective structure serves as a prelude to the Mahabharata battle’s preparation.
As a result, in the early phases, the ambitious spiritual aspirant is like a spark, and the whole world is like a hundred quintals of sticks that have been poured over it, and it is impossible to confront it front on. Individual seekers are unable to deal with the world in the early phases because it is too overwhelming for them.
‘It’s just too much, it’s just too much, I can’t take it any longer,’ we exclaim. Hunger on one side, thirst on the other, disease on both sides, and unhappiness of many kinds all around us are some of the things we must deal with. Every situation is irreconcilable, and everything is a six or a seven on the Richter scale. There is nothing we can claim is OK at this point.
When this point is reached by powerful objective forces in retaliation to the various suppressive attitudes that we have adopted through the rejection of life by so-called vairagya, sannyasa, renunciation, or whatever name you want to give it; when retaliation is set up by the forces of nature, we find ourselves in the same situation as the Pandavas.
Now, quality is crucial, and quantity is not irrelevant in today’s environment. Even when we evaluate the worth of anything from the perspective of quality, we are doing the correct thing, there is no reason to believe that quantity has no value at all in today’s world. It has a monetary worth.
The little spark that is inside each of us is considerably more powerful than the whole physical cosmos. But, and this is a very significant “but,” we must remember that it is just a spark, and it cannot, in its babyhood of innocence and belief, confront these awful asuras of things in their full force.
The Mahabharata conveys a message that is centered on truth and righteousness throughout its narrative. The great epic brings about a spiritual reawakening in its readers and encourages them to follow the path of dharma and truth in their daily lives.
It motivates people in a very powerful way to do good actions, to practice the Dharma, to grow dispassion by realizing the illusory nature of this existence and all of its vainglories and sensuous pleasures, and to ultimately achieve eternal bliss and immortality.
It encourages individuals to act in the manner Yudhishthira did and to renounce the manner in which Duryodhana acted. Be unwavering in your commitment to the Dharma. You will achieve Moksha, the ultimate state of bliss, which is the culmination of your life’s work. The Mahabharata concludes with this purport, which may also be translated as its core precepts.
This is the MAHABHARATA its meaning and Philosophy of life!