Reading Diary B: PDE Mahabharata

65. Death of Drona - At certain points in the battle, each side compromises their honor or moral code in some way to gain an advantage. This is the main case for the Pandavas. They don't strictly lie, but they kill Drona through deceit.  As Drona was almost like a father to the Pandavas, it is sad to see him go in such a manner.

66. Bhima and Duhshasana - This takes the cake for Bhima's most gruesome kill. He's pretty good at killing people in gruesome ways. He completes his vow by slaying and drinking the blood of Dihshasana.

72. The Pandavas and Bhishma - Bhishma's fable gives a lesson that many of the heroes in the Mahabharata need to understand. A seemly evil act might be justified in some circumstances. For instance, when Arjuna is banished for 12 years because he walks into the room where Yudhishthira sits next to Draupadi. It would make sense for him to not go into exile. Bhishma's moral also makes every decision much more theologically difficult. How is someone to know what is right or wrong?

80.  The Afterlife - Yudhishthira's journey to the nether regions reminds me of Dante's Inferno.  Yet, for him, it is only a test. The description of heaven raises a few questions about the afterlife.  When they attain heaven, is it their souls in new celestial bodies that dwell there?  Are the souls the same as they were for previous incarnations and do they remember all previous incarnations of themselves. For instance, Draupadi is there in heaven, but she was another in a previous life.  Krishna says (in a previous chapter) that everything that is has always been and will always be.  So does that mean that Draupadi has existed in many incarnations and is just now attaining heaven, where her soul will now dwell for eternity, now out of the pool of souls that make up life on Earth. That also raises a question about god's avatars. When they become incarnations on Earth, do they share the same soul as their celestial self?  When Krishna ascended to heaven, does he remain a separate entity from Vishnu, or does he rejoin with Vishnu to be one celestial being?

Yudhishthira's Journey to Hell

Image from Images and PDE Epics