{"id":13772,"date":"2021-01-15T22:26:32","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T16:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/?p=13772"},"modified":"2021-01-15T22:26:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T16:56:32","slug":"mysticism-of-symbolism-in-mahabharata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/?p=13772","title":{"rendered":"MYSTICISM OF SYMBOLISM IN MAHABHARATA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MYSTICISM OF SYMBOLISM IN\u00a0MAHABHARATA – Ramakant Tiwari\u00a0\"ramakant-tiwari\"<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Mahabharata<\/b><\/em>\u00a0 begins with following\u00a0<\/b><\/em>Sloka<\/b><\/em>\u00a0–<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Narayanam Namaskritya Naram Caiva Narottamam<\/b><\/em>\u00a0 I<\/b><\/em>
\nDevim Sarasvatim Vyasam Tato Jayamudirayet<\/em>\u00a0 II<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

O\u00a0Nara<\/i>\u00a0 ! Begin with the\u00a0Mahakavya\u00a0Jaya<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>after having bowed to\u00a0Narayana<\/i>, greatest among men and\u00a0Devi Sarasvati<\/i>.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Vyasa<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0herein refers to the\u00a0Vyasapitha \u00a0<\/em>headed by son of\u00a0<\/em>Rsi Parasara<\/em>\u00a0 and 28th<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>Vyasa Bhagavana<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Veda Vyasa<\/em>. The\u00a0<\/em>Vyasapitha<\/em>\u00a0 was founded by\u00a0<\/em>Apantartama Vyasa\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0in\u00a0Satya Yuga<\/i>. Three manifests of\u00a0Mahabharata<\/i>\u00a0 exist today for perusal,\u00a0Jay<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0by\u00a0Bhagvana Veda Vyasa<\/i>\u00a0 with 8800\u00a0Sloka<\/i>-s,\u00a0Bharata<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0by\u00a0Rsi Vaisampayana<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0with 24000\u00a0Sloka<\/i>-s\u00a0and by\u00a0Rsi Sauti<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0with 100,000\u00a0Sloka-s.<\/b><\/p>\n

Not only the epic is a historical reality, it has tremendous value in it’s mysticism, more so the mysticism hidden in its symbolism. We shall examine them one by one –<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Just visualise\u00a0Draupadi<\/i>\u00a0 as a human body, then five\u00a0Pandava<\/i>-s immediately become five senses of perception intrinsic to the body, one hundred siblings known as\u00a0Kaurava<\/i>-s are transformed into unrestricted tendencies of a wayward mind.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Eldest\u00a0Pandava Yudhisthira<\/i>\u00a0 gambles along with his brothers and loses everything finally. While indulging with\u00a0Visaya<\/i>-s, every sense organ powered by mind believes in its victory next time, indulges more, loses more. Then even our honourable existence too, is lost, body is demeaned as happened to\u00a0Draupadi \u00a0<\/i>and all are exiled into forest of severity and deprivation. Then the loser implores for divine\u00a0intervention for support and guidance.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Even good tendencies amidst bad ones have to be destroyed just as a few good\u00a0Pandava<\/i>-s\u00a0too, were slain on directions of\u00a0Vasudeva<\/i>\u00a0Sri Krsna<\/i>. Few good tendencies associated with vices are ones that assure and encourage for more indulgence with\u00a0Visaya<\/i>-s feigning delusional confidence of victory next, its renunciation immediately thereafter !! All these tendencies do not have real existence just as\u00a0Kaurava<\/i>-s were already dead. Only the formality of slaying was accomplished by\u00a0Arjuna<\/i>, inspired by\u00a0Sri Krsna<\/i>. Only when all tendencies are dissolved, path of ultimate liberation is paved with success.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Kuruksetra\u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u00a0is the world\u00a0wherein body dwells and the battle among senses, mind, intellect and indulgences, continue. If one wins, the battle is over for him \/ her, rendered liberated from shackles of the world, but the battle continues for others !! In totality, this is a cosmic battle that is eternal in the cosmic cauldron and\u00a0Atma<\/i>-s keep being ejected out of it incessantly into absolute freedom.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Dhrtarastra\u00a0<\/i><\/b>\u00a0aptly symbolises mind, that too a deluded and blind one. He was blind to all infirmities of mind that could delude and attach him to\u00a0Visaya<\/i>-s. His wife\u00a0Gandhari<\/i>\u00a0 was not blind, yet decided to remain blind intentionally just as even a mind enlightened to some extent, ignores warnings from\u00a0Buddhi<\/i>\u00a0 and allows itself to be subjugated to\u00a0Visaya<\/i>-s on one pretext or the other.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

None of\u00a0Pandava-<\/i>s were born to\u00a0Maharaja Pandu<\/i>.\u00a0Surya Deva<\/i>\u00a0 representing ego, was father of\u00a0Karna<\/i>;\u00a0Dharma<\/i>\u00a0 fathered\u00a0Yudhisthira<\/i>;\u00a0Indra<\/i>\u00a0 fathered\u00a0Arjuna<\/i>;\u00a0Vayu<\/i>\u00a0 symbolising strength, fathered\u00a0Bhima\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Aswini Kumar-<\/i>s\u00a0fathered\u00a0Nakula \u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0Sahadeva<\/i>. Original name of\u00a0Kunti\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0is\u00a0Pritha\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0i.e.\u00a0Prthvi<\/i>\u00a0 meaning earth, then adopted by\u00a0Maharaja Kuntibhoja<\/i>. Thus,\u00a0Pandava<\/i>-s were born through conjoining of Mother Earth and various aspects of divinity.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Karna<\/i><\/b>, an armoured warrior blessed with\u00a0Kavaca-Kundala<\/i>, symbolised our\u00a0Ahamkara<\/i>. That too, is an armoured one. Only a\u00a0Siddha Guru<\/i>‘s intervention can smash this armoured cover to realise our hidden and intrinsic divinity.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Sri Krshna<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 too symbolised too many aspects of eternity and divinity. His deep blue complexion symbolised eternity, also colour of ocean and the sky. He always wore yellow clothes as yellow is the colour of Mother Earth. Thus,\u00a0Sri Krsna \u00a0<\/i>symbolised eternal divinity clothed in Mother Earth i.e. entire universality.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

These are representative in extent and require one to contemplate over it deeply. On the other hand, the legend of\u00a0Mahabharata<\/i>\u00a0 does extend quite a few lessons of mortal life too, adherence of which raises an insurmountable boundary wall around us against a plethora of miseries, agonies and vicissitudes that frequent our lives. First and foremost lesson is excessive indulgence with progenies is highly regressive. Profligacy of sons of\u00a0Dhrtarastra<\/i>\u00a0 is entirely attributed to his excessive indulgence with them and his wife\u00a0Gandhari<\/i>\u2019s completely blind-folding herself towards them, ultimately ruined them all. Venalities and infirmities driven to the extreme led to disrobing of\u00a0Draupadi\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>in the assembly before all which prodded\u00a0Vasudeva Sri Krsna<\/i>\u00a0 to declare, \u2018Society that disrobes their women in public, must be completely destroyed.\u2019 They forgot the cardinal principle of sacrosanct inviolability of dignity of women. Two instances of friendship,\u00a0Arjuna\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0Vasudeva Sri Krsna<\/i>\u00a0 on one hand and on the other, of\u00a0Duryodhana<\/i>\u00a0 and\u00a0Karna<\/i>\u00a0 conveyed intense lessons to all. One friendship was guided and based on\u00a0Dharma<\/i>\u00a0 while the other, on\u00a0Adharma<\/i>. Friendship or any relationship for that matter, must be strictly guided by sacred principles of\u00a0Dharma \u00a0<\/i>alone. Every relationship, every vow whatsoever, is secondary to cardinal principles of\u00a0Dharma<\/i>. It is conveyed most eloquently and vehemently by\u00a0Vasudeva Sri Krsna<\/i>\u00a0 to\u00a0Arjuna<\/i>\u00a0 in the battlefield when\u00a0Arjuna<\/i>\u00a0 is mandated by Him to pursue his\u00a0Dharma<\/i>\u00a0 of the moment most dispassionately. Similarly,\u00a0Yudhisthira\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0followed his\u00a0Dharma<\/i>\u00a0 when he beseeched\u00a0Yaksa<\/i>\u00a0 to revive\u00a0Sahdeva<\/i>, son of his step-mother in the spirit of being fair and just to her. The grand epic also teaches us that half-baked knowledge is hazardous as in the case of\u00a0Abhimanyu\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0who paid with his life for being too adventurous. All these lessons are eternally relevant and inevitable.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Deadly weapons used in\u00a0Mahabharata<\/i>\u00a0 too carried enormous mysticism within them. Sacred\u00a0Mantra<\/i>-s had to be intoned to invoke weapons like\u00a0Agneyastra<\/i>,\u00a0Varunastra<\/i>,\u00a0Brahmastra<\/i>,\u00a0Nagapasa\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0etc. 63-Folio manuscript in palm leaves, believed to be re-written some 120 years ago, elucidates how to applicate those weapons mentioned in\u00a0Mahabharata<\/i>\u00a0 in about 48\u00a0Mantra<\/i>-s. Expertise to invite and use those weapons used to be imparted in\u00a0Gurukula<\/i>-s along with correct invocation of\u00a0Mantra<\/i>-s by\u00a0Guru<\/i>-s. Weapons being activated only on intonation of\u00a0Mantra<\/i>-s amply affirmed, those weapons were meant solely for asserting righteousness and protecting\u00a0Dharma<\/i>\u00a0 as performed by\u00a0Pandava<\/i>-s. Use of those\u00a0Mantra\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0activated weapons asserting\u00a0Adharma<\/i>\u00a0 by\u00a0Kaurava<\/i>-s ultimately destroyed them completely. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Mahabharata<\/i>\u00a0 revolves around attrition\u00a0Ahamkara \u00a0<\/i>vs.\u00a0canons of\u00a0Dharma\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0directed towards Universal Absolute.\u00a0It was lucidly summarised by\u00a0Sanjaya<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0to\u00a0Dhrtarastra \u00a0<\/i>as under –<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Dharmeca Artheca Kameca Mokseca Bharatarsabha<\/b><\/em>\u00a0 I<\/b><\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

Yadihasti Tadanyatra Yannehasti Na Tat Kvacit<\/b><\/em>\u00a0 II<\/b><\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

With issues of\u00a0Purusartha<\/em><\/i>-s i.e.\u00a0<\/em>Dharma<\/i>,\u00a0Artha<\/i>,\u00a0Kama<\/i>\u00a0 and\u00a0Moksa<\/i>, all that is expounded here is all that exists and what does not exist here, does not exist at all.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It is not merely an epic but a historical reality too. Had it been merely mythical, it would have been impossible for the epic to impact so far and wide, for so many thousands of years till date.<\/b><\/p>\n

By Ramakant Tiwari<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MYSTICISM OF SYMBOLISM IN\u00a0MAHABHARATA – Ramakant Tiwari\u00a0 Mahabharata\u00a0 begins with following\u00a0Sloka\u00a0– \u00a0 Narayanam Namaskritya Naram… more »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-2","category-dharm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13773,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13772\/revisions\/13773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patriotsforumindia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}