In today’s world, there are many religions of righteous pathway for better spiritual human living. Every religion surfaced in the world to guide the people towards a pathway that would lead to heaven; it says what to do or what not to do. Most of those religions evolved 2,000-3,000 years apart from Hinduism.
To me Hinduism is not a religion. It’s a way of living, a righteous living pathway spelled out by two Indian ancient epic poems. The first one is Ramayana and the other is Mahabharata.
The Ramayana epic story took place around 5,000 BC. The period of Mahabharata is estimated around 3,000 BC. Interestingly, there were great wars between righteous and non-righteous dynasties in both. In addition, a woman was involved as the cause of both wars.
However, according to the mythologist author, Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik, the Ramayana is idealistic, while the Mahabharata is realistic.
Mahabharata is no doubt a realistic great epic poem written by the famous sage Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa based on a great war and characterized by human relationship, family problems, emotion, love and hate, righteous way of living, conspiracy, politics, establishing women’s honor and freedom and destruction of non-righteous way of living that took place in ancient India. There could be controversy over whether Mahabharata should be called a historical event.
Interestingly, Tagore commented on the book of Mahabharata as a natural history of a nation.
Though Sree Krishna (who was regarded as an Avatar, specifically a reincarnation of supreme God in Mahabharata) helped the righteous group in the war of Kurukshetra, he clearly analyzed and spoke to both groups of cousins (Kauravas’s dynasty- the non-righteous group and Pandavas’s dynasty- the righteous group) and provided every reason comparing right or wrong.
The sacred book originated from the conversation of Sree Krishna, the charioteer for Arjuna in the Kurukshetra war and Arjuna – a valiant warrior of Pandavas and the disciple of Krishna is widely known as Bhagavad Gita meaning “Songs of God” in Sanskrit. Gita for Hindus is like the Bible in Christianity. However, Gita’s universality is well recognized around the world.
Aldous Huxley, an English writer and philosopher said, “The Bhagavad Gita is one of the clearest and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.”
In that Kurukshetra war, some of the weapons such as Brahmashirā astra (God gifted bow and arrow) can be compared with today’s nuclear weapons. The founder of the atom bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, realized the destructive power of his creation and said, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” a loose translation from the Bhagavad Gita, which in Sanskrit is, “Kaalo asmi loka kshaya kritpraviddho.”
The Kurukshetra war lasted only 18 days. Total death estimated to be more than combined deaths from both world wars. However, at the end of the war, a new happy and righteous kingdom was built by the Pandavas and lasted for 36 years.
Though Gita was originated during war time, it provides a non-violence pathway, which Mahatma Gandhi understood and practiced in resisting British colonial oppression until his death.
Lord Sree Krishna inspired his most trusted and wise disciple, Arjuna, to fight against his evil cousins to be liberated from the same evil situation. According to Gita, a king’s only objective is to look after the welfare of his people.
How can the principles of Gita be applicable in today’s society or to a country?
If the administration of a country is on the righteous pathway, most people in a society or community are expected to be righteous.
On the contrary, if the country is run by a corrupt or evil administration, most people become materialistic as well as corrupt. Thus, true democracy of modern invention by Abraham Lincon is needed to change the course of action through election towards the righteous pathway.
Jiben Roy, a native of Bangladesh, teaches chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at Mississippi University for Women. He writes the occasional column with the assistance of his daughter. His email address is [email protected].
Roy was inspired to write this column after watching 289 episodes of Mahabharata, a series on YouTube.
Jiben Roy, a native of Bangladesh, teaches chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at Mississippi University for Women. His email address is [email protected].
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