A new bug has bitten me of late!! I wouldn't call it a "bug" though. Its just that i have been spiritually enlightened!!
I started watching one of the greatest Hindu epic ever written "Mahabharatha" on Youtube and i am almost done wih it. Just a couple of episodes more and that would leave me atleast 90% enlightened on a spiritual scale. I had watched it as a kid on TV, had heard stories of Mahabharatha-but all that wouldn't have meant anything more than just stories to an age where fairytale stories,magic and the conception of God as the one who punishes "bad people" held the utmost charm than the idea of being morally and ethically acceptable or spirituality as a whole or even relevance of those stories in modern times!!!
We already know the story of Mahabharatha-its the basis of our Hindu religion. We knew Pandavas were good and Kauravas were bad, and that in the end how good always triumphs over bad. We knew the battle that changed the course of history forever-the battle of Kurukshetra. There's hardly a hindu who would be ignorant of it!
It is highly overwhelming to me to realise something at the end of watching Mahabharatha! Its just this- To come to realise that Mahabharatha is not just a "story that was.." but on a broader scale, the penultimate relevance of it to a world in which i live today!!
To me, Mahabharatha is pure philosophy-and philosophies do not have a shelf life. They are true for all generations!It's discussion of human goals (artha or purpose, kāma or pleasure, dharma or duty, and moksha or liberation) takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world and the workings of karma.
I strongly believe in the concept of "Karma" and in turn it openly means how strongly embedded my faith in my own religion is! The whole idea of being a Hindu or Hinduism is the basic understanding of the concept of "Karma" To believe in the 4 Purusharthas of life viz. dharma,artha,kama and moksha is the basic understanding of Hinduism. My own basic interpretation of these concepts in a proper or appropriate sense would be limited by the fact that i am neither a scholar in the field of Sanskrit nor would I claim that i have attained the "salavation" of life! My perspection of it is just a dot in the vastness of this Universe. With age comes maturity of actions and thoughts and hence the spiritual outlook. We base our thoughts and actions on the experience of our past (good/bad)and to declare that I have been successful in understanding the concept of Hinduism (at this age) would be a highly ambitious or a haughty statement!! Life is all about learning and exploring the mysteries of life. In that way, none of us (mortals) can ever decipher the real concept of "Life", leave alone, the Religion!!
So I prefer to remain focussed and discuss on what my beliefs are, rather than trying to preach the "philosophies that are...or that should be as per a school of thought"..
Well, coming back to Mahabaharatha, my favourite characters are Bhishma,Vidura,and Karna. I like Bhishma for his strongness of character,Vidura for his righteousness and unprejudiced disposition, and Karna for his principles!
Hoping to come out with a write-up soon on each of my favourite characters!
