While growing up, I have always been fascinated by the stories from our Itihasa(इतिहास) – on Gods, tales through time and endless lessons. As a child, these stories were mostly black and white. It was easy to understand the triumph of good over evil, like Ram(राम:) over Ravan(रावण:) or the Pandavas(पाण्डव) winning against the Kauravas(कौरव).
But reality is far more nuanced and you may never fully appreciate that, until you encounter these stories in their raw, unfiltered form. Then, you begin to notice shades of virtue and fallibility in every character in their intentions, actions and even their silences and inaction. You begin to see them not merely as ideals or archetypes, but as human beings navigating extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
Even our most revered figures, Krishna(कृष्ण:) and Ram endured hardship and faced situations where the choices before them were not always simple or morally straightforward. At times, they had to make difficult decisions that may challenge our modern understanding of right and wrong, yet were shaped by the circumstances, responsibilities and values of their time. Perhaps that is what makes these stories so enduring that they don’t always give us easy answers.
I present to you this series, beginning with the Mahabharata(महाभारत). This commentary is based on Late Shri Bibek Debroy’s translation of the Mahabharata, Volume 1. Immensely grateful to him for translating this mammoth epic from Sanskrit.
Context Setting:
The Mahabharata is a huge epic and isn’t a consequence of a single event. There are multiple tiny events through generations that lead to the Dharma Yudha(धर्मयुद्ध) in Kurukshetra(कुरुक्षेत्र). The scripture on its own isn’t a linear piece of chronological epic. There are a lot of back-and-forth events, philosophical discourses, spiritual explanations and understanding of life beyond earthly existence. And that is exactly how this epic has to be read!
Shruti and Smriti:
In Sanatan Sampradhaya, Shruti(श्रुति) is “what is heard and recorded”. There are cosmic truths revealed in deep meditation to certain Maharishis. The four famous Vedas(वेदाः)(Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda & Atharva Veda) fall into this category.
Smriti(स्मृति) is “what is remembered”. Years ago, incidents didn’t have a written record. They were passed down through memory from Guru to Shishya. Through subsequent epochs, this knowledge also started containing personal experiences. That is exactly how the Mahabharata was written. It is like being in a human consciousness, watching life unfold before you, thoughts thrown at you and the revelations that begin!
The Beginning:
Popularly, people only associate the Mahabharata with the five Pandavas, the war at Kurukshetra, Krishna’s Bhagavad Gita discourse, the Kauravas, evil Shakuni(शकुनि) or Duryodhana(दुर्योधन:). But that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mahabharata is a retelling of a series of events that led to the restoration of Dharma. It has been retold multiple times and within the scripture itself, you are in a threefold retelling layer.
After the war of Kurukshetra, a baby named Parikshit(परीक्षित) was born to the late Abhimanyu(अभिमन्यु) and Uttara(उत्तरा). Abhimanyu is the son of Arjuna(अर्जुन:), the third Pandava and his second wife Subhadra(सुभद्रा). Abhimanyu was unfairly killed in the war, in the Chakravyuha(चक्रव्यूह)(war formation). Rest of the Pandava offsprings too die in the war. The only remaining heir to the throne was Parikshit. He was the last ruler of Dwapar Yuga(द्वापर युग). One day, when he went on a hunt, he came across a spot where Rishi Samika(शमीक:) was meditating. He was hungry and thirsty and tried to wake up the Rishi for the same. But when the Rishi didn’t respond, he got angry and disturbed his meditation by placing a dead snake around him.
On learning about his father’s insult, Samika’s son Sringin(शृङ्गिन्) cursed Parikshit that within a week, he would die by a snakebite from the Naga Takshaka(तक्षक). Parikshit accepted the curse and devoted the last week of his life to spiritual growth by listening to a discourse on the Bhagavad Purana(भागवत पुराण) by Rishi Shuka(शुक:). On that seventh day, Takshaka disguised himself as a worm inside a fruit. He then revealed his true form and bit Parikshit with his venom, killing him. Around this time, Parikshit’s son Janamejaya(जनमेजय:) was a young boy.
Later, when Janamejaya was crowned as a King, he organised a snake sacrifice, avenging his father’s death. He was the first King of Kali Yuga(कलियुग). During the sacrifice, a huge population of the Nagas were killed. Kadru(कद्रू), the mother of the Nagas had earlier cursed her own children. Hence, according to prophecy, such a catastrophic event was to take place. But the culprit Takshak continued to hide. The sacrifice continued for days, painfully killing innocent Nagas, until Takshak floated over the sacrificial fire(होम). Rishi Ashtika(आस्तीक:) paused it.
From here, Rishi Vaishampayana(वैशम्पायन:) steps in and starts narrating the great epic of Janamejaya’s ancestors to him. The story then pans into the creation of the world, an explanation of the Sanatan cosmic time(Kalpa, Manvantara) and an explanation of the cyclical nature of the Yugas.
Lessons to be learnt:
Anger:
Mahabharata is the consequence of anger, insecurity and anxiety. But when anger is paused, a cloudy mind clears for clarity to seep in. This is exactly what happens to Janamejaya. He was seething in anger when Rishi Ashtika used his boon to stop the very sacrifice. He then paused at that moment and realized that he didn’t even know the story of his ancestors, the reason for his birth or his position as the King of Bharata(भरत:).
Time:
Sanatan Dharma doesn’t actually think of time as linear or circular. It is a spiral. Patterns return, but in each cycle there are possibly new Avatars, choices, expressions of the same eternal truth.
The Sanskrit term “Sanatan Dharma” means Eternal Truth.
This cyclical understanding of Dharma becomes especially meaningful when Krishna speaks of its restoration in the Bhagavad Gita(Ch 4, Verse 7&8):
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥ ४.७ ॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥ ४.८ ॥“Whenever there is a decline in Dharma, O Bharata, and a rise of Adharma, I manifest Myself. For the protection of the virtuous, the destruction of evil-doers, and the re-establishment of Dharma, I manifest Myself age after age.”
In this sense, Dharma is like a beam balance, the universe’s way of maintaining order. It may tilt sometimes, but it cannot remain so forever. It is restored again and again, through changing circumstances, human choices and, when necessary, divine intervention. That is simply how the universe has worked.
The Yugas:
There are 4 yugas in the Sanatan Sampradaya: Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kali. According to the cosmic order of time mentioned in these scriptures, time resets after Kali and we move to another Epoch. Each of these Yuga is displayed with its characteristic Vishnu Avataar, spiritual and human lessons.
Satya Yuga(सत्य युग): Characterised by clarity of thought and Bhakti(devotion)
Treta Yuga(त्रेता युग): Characterised by ego. Ramayana took place during this Yuga. The tussle with Ravan is a huge indicator of how unchecked ego can blind even the most devoted person. It is a small seed which grows so immensely that it needs Vishnu’s Avatar in the form of Ram to restore the balance.
Dwapar Yuga(द्वापर युग): The era characterised by endless confusion, inaction and the presence of a foggy mind. Mahabharata is set during this yuga and the characteristic confusion is highlighted when Shri Krishna gives the discourse of the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna in the middle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna’s mind is cloudy. Confusion, guilt, anger seizes him all at once, so much so that he wants to escape from his Dharma of a Kshatriya(warrior) and renounce his worldly life. That is when the Bhagavad Gita is revealed to the world!
Kali Yuga(कलियुग): Characterised by anger, anxiety, fear, guilt and finally moving towards Bhakti(surrender). This is shown through Janamejaya.
And perhaps that is where Shri Krishna enters this story not only as a God, but as the One who helps us see through the fog when Dharma becomes difficult to discern.
This is only the beginning. Follow this space for a simplified retelling of the Mahabharata.
On this Janmashtami, I hope we can look beyond the familiar stories of Krishna and the Mahabharata, discover the questions, contradictions and wisdom that lie beneath them.
Hare Krishna!
हरे कृष्ण!
श्री कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी की शुभकामनाएँ! 🙏✨
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