Tat Tvam Asi | तत्त्वमसि

A beautiful anecdote narrated in the Mahabharata: There was a queen by name Vidula. She sent her son Sanjay to the war-field but the fellow became nervous and terror-stricken. He turned his back to the enemies and galloped to his capital. When Vidula saw her son in that crestfallen state she closed the entrance to the fort and severely chastised him. That conversation between the mother and the son has become famous as Vidula-Sanjay-Samvad, wherein Vidula instructs her son as to how a brave warrior should conduct himself on the battlefield. She then orders him to go back to war and return as a victorious hero. As the story goes, Sanjay sallied forth into the battlefield, displayed exemplary valour and came back to be received by his mother with honour. The words of Kunti when the five Pandavas came to seek her blessing before proceeding to give battle are remarkable for their heroic tone. She says: The moment has arrived for which Kshatriya mothers give birth to sons. Lion-hea...

How can we eliminate the propensity of evil? We often hear our present-day leaders saying that we have no quarrel with 'evil men' as such, but with only their 'evil mentality'. But, 'evil mentality' is not something, which is tangible, which can be caught hold of and destroyed. The evil propensities invariably manifest themselves in the form of an evil person or group of such persons. And it becomes inevitable that in order to eradicate evil we should do away with its supports, i.e., those evil men. If separation of evil nature from man was possible, Sri Rama would have destroyed only the evil propensity in Ravana - for whose other virtues he had the highest regard - all allowed him to live a good life! And again, there would have been no need for Sri Krishna to kill Kamsa or make the Pandavas slay the Kauravas. But that did not happen. As the story goes, when Rama was cutting off the heads of the ten-headed Ravana and breaking up his bows one after another, ...

There is an interesting story in the Mahabharata. Once, while the Pandavas with their mother Kunti were moving about incognito, they happened to come to a place called Ekachakrapuri. There they came to know that the town was under the control of a terrific demon called Baka. Once, when he was about to destroy the whole of the town, the people had entreated him saying, "Do not kill us all now. In return for this favour, we will send you every day a cart-load of rice and other edibles, two buffaloes yoked to the cart and the driver for your food." These were the terms of the agreement. Now, the next part of the story is very interesting and illuminating. Kunti asked the people not to worry by saying that she would be sending one of her five sons who was capable of destroying that Rakshasa. Accordingly Bhima was sent. He went with a cart-load of food to the place of Baka and shouted aloud, "Hello! Where are you? Baka, come on, I have brought your food." He let l...

On the very first day of the war, Duryodhana went to his mother Gandhari for her blessings. Keeping her palm on his forehead, the words Gandhari uttered were not विजयी भव:  [vijayee bhava] may you win but यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः [yato dharmastato jaya ] may dharma win Despite hearing the stories of her sons being killed one by one, and that of Duryodhana nearing a defeat, her words never changed, not even once during those 18 long days of war. Though his mother never blessed 'him' to win, Duryodhana too never left for battle without her blessings. Such pious mothers who  insist that may dharma win,  despite knowing their blessings would win the world for their sons and the ideal sons who never refuse to bow to such mothers, are the true children of Bharat Mata.  Hari Om!

Following the Kurukshetra war, Tarpan Vidhi (rites of passage) were performed for all the dead heroes. Kunti then requested her remaining five sons to perform the rites for Karna as well. When they protested, saying he was a charioteer, she revealed the truth of his birth. The brothers were shocked to find that they had committed fratricide. Karna’s sons too had been killed by the Pandavas. Yudhishtira, the eldest, born to the Lord of Dharma, in particular, was furious with his mother and laid a curse upon all women that they should never thereafter be able to keep a secret. The great Mahabharata!