As a kid, I read a lot of books but nothing came close to the popular stories aired on television. Mahabharata, Ramayana and later Arabian nights, potli baba and Sinbad ki kahaniyan were some of the memorable ones.
But Mahabharata used to be ‘The Sunday treat’! I still remember the excitement in the room when our TV used to croon, “Maahaaabhaaratamm”. For the next half an hour every Indian with a TV set in his house used to sit transfixed…pin-drop silence was mandatory. Even now parents feel that their kids should know Mahabharata and Ramayana stories.
But I wonder what kind of moral values do these stories provide. The epics have crossed the lines of mythology and assumed the status of history. But are these stories worthy of our adulation? I am not an iconoclast but I do disagree with many of the important events described in these stories. Some of them are out rightly illogical.
Mahabharata’s main cause was Draupadi's insult…She was a trained warrior princess not a naïve lady. To humiliate the princess, Dushasana ordered his guards to strip off all her clothes. She ould have protected her dignity by fighting him but she chose to call Krishna for help. Why? Gandhari, the ever-faithful wife of the blind king Dhritrashtra, chose to bandage her eyes. Instead she could have helped him see the world through her eyes. Rather that negating her husband’s weakness, she chose to aggravate them!
Krishna guiltlessly flirted with women even with married ones? If Radha knew that she was the twin soul of Krishna, why did she get married in the first place?
In Ramayana, Sita is forced to give agnipariksha and Ram is not even doubted? The saddest part is even today there are people who think Ram was right and follow his footsteps. Ridiculous! What kind of moral values do these epics teach our kids? I believe it’s high time that we modify these stories suitably rather than provide them with fake justification! What do you think?
But Mahabharata used to be ‘The Sunday treat’! I still remember the excitement in the room when our TV used to croon, “Maahaaabhaaratamm”. For the next half an hour every Indian with a TV set in his house used to sit transfixed…pin-drop silence was mandatory. Even now parents feel that their kids should know Mahabharata and Ramayana stories.
But I wonder what kind of moral values do these stories provide. The epics have crossed the lines of mythology and assumed the status of history. But are these stories worthy of our adulation? I am not an iconoclast but I do disagree with many of the important events described in these stories. Some of them are out rightly illogical.
Mahabharata’s main cause was Draupadi's insult…She was a trained warrior princess not a naïve lady. To humiliate the princess, Dushasana ordered his guards to strip off all her clothes. She ould have protected her dignity by fighting him but she chose to call Krishna for help. Why? Gandhari, the ever-faithful wife of the blind king Dhritrashtra, chose to bandage her eyes. Instead she could have helped him see the world through her eyes. Rather that negating her husband’s weakness, she chose to aggravate them!
Krishna guiltlessly flirted with women even with married ones? If Radha knew that she was the twin soul of Krishna, why did she get married in the first place?
In Ramayana, Sita is forced to give agnipariksha and Ram is not even doubted? The saddest part is even today there are people who think Ram was right and follow his footsteps. Ridiculous! What kind of moral values do these epics teach our kids? I believe it’s high time that we modify these stories suitably rather than provide them with fake justification! What do you think?
10 comments:
I dont know much about mythology, but coincidentally, just today, me and my friend were talking about mahabharatha and some other Indian mythological stories and characters.
One thing Mahabharath teaches is Politics. All the characters, all the events have a specific purpose in the entire epic. So isolating every situation and analyzing it independently may not help us ask the right questions.
Say wt?
Agreed that Draupadi was a warrior lady, but then how could have a warrior lady fought against a gang of another 100 warriors totally on her own? I do think that she very badly needed divine intervention. Hence logical :)
And your perspective on the Dhritrashtra-Gaandhaari episode is just one way of looking at it - logical or not.
Why only Krishna. Even today people go about flirting with married wommen :p
Btw, nice to see you blogging once again.
Well well....nice article....something which i can read and understand....after a long time....otherwise u have the habit of writing only for highly sofisticated ppl...Anyways...lemme give my comments...Need to clear your idea about this "Agnipariksha episode"..Ram is said to be Maryaada Purshottam...He was the king of Ayodhya...He had to obey the rules set by forefathers ...saying that... Raja wohi jo praja chaahe...So the story is actually...When sita was won back by Ram and bought to Ayodhya...People of ayodhya (as u knw how old fashioned people were) questioned her integrity and asked Ram to test her Loyalty...Now Ram...being the King had to first fulfil his duty of being a King first and then a husband..Even though he knew Sita was as pure as she was when he had married her...he had to follow the law of the land since he was the Maaryada Purshottam....Hope u understand...nd don try to kick up a controversy....again...
@Abhi: I know this part of the story. I am not trying to create any controversy but I don't agree that just because people questioned her intergrity, Ram asked Sita to give agnipariksha.
Loyalty and trust are integral part of marital relationship and I believe only Ram should be bothered about Sita's loyality. People of his empire cannot force him to question his wife's loyality.THE HEART OF MARRIAGE is the taking of another person in that person's entirety, with the good times and the bad times, the sad moments, the happy ones and the taking of that person as a friend and companion for life.
As a husband he broke his promise.
My second point very simple...If the so called people questioned Sita's loyality, why din't they question Ram's loyality?
My problem is not with the story if it was considered as just another story. Ram is someone we all have always looked up as a model. Recently, an article on how a husband asked his wife to give agnipariksha to prove her loyality was published...Why? Because she went to Vaishno Devi without his permission? When there are people who blindly believe in these stories, I think we should rather modify the stories suitably.
Well u still din get it....i had mentioned old fashioned ppl...seems like writing HI-FI articles..have put u off...on some commonly used phrases...OLD FASHIONED means...during those times ...we all know how women were treated .....and haan...talking about people questioning her integrity...simple...she was wife of RAM...so being a wife of a KING....she will become the QUEEN..
And...those days ppl din approve a QUEEN whose integrity is doubtful(This again OLD FASHIONed)....and he broke the promise he made as a husband in lieu of the promise he made while becoming a KING... Hope u get it...but u can divert my topic...to u r so called larger picture(like Y RAM wasnt asked about his integrity..blah blah).....to get brownie points....I hope u stick to my points...better be tht ways...[:P]
@Abhi: I am neither trying to divert from the topic nor trying to prove that it was Ram and not the people who questioned her integrity. All I want to say is, Ram(or his subjects) were wrong to question Sita's loyality and we should not follow the story blindly.I would also like to add that those people were not just old fashioned but also gender-biased!
@ Shamanth: I do agree that the entire story is weaved around the central theme of politics.I love the story for it's high drama, action-packed events.But we as Indians, follow the epics as something to guide our lives.The entire story is never replicated in our lives.But come across situations similar to ones in the story.That's when situations get isolated.
If you check my post,all three illustrations depict injustice against women's(sel-imposed/forced).Though Dushasana's act was never appreciated, Ram was never critisized!My problem is not with the story but with the people who blindly follow them as guides to lead their life.
Thank you so much for your comments!Keep visiting!!
@ Arunabh: Thnks Arunabh :)
What's the other way of looking at the episode..I am curious to know!
Keep visiting!
Hii aneesha...i agree wid u tht the system followed in the olden times was gender biased..and we definitely need to make ppl understand that it just a story and should not be followed blindly rather we should garner the good points from them like the Gita Updesh etc...and learn from them.
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