This section featured some battle scenes that were very
heavy on the heart. Since my Storybook focuses on brotherhood, the significance
of kinsmen slaying flesh and blood relatives really blurs the line between
family and foeman. I was especially baffled that Duryodhana and Karna refused
to put their pride and hate aside even as Bhishma pleaded with them to prevent
unnecessary bloodshed. This begs the question of what makes certain ties so
unbreakable? Some parent/child and husband/wife relationships seem inlaid with
a particular loyalty that some siblings and cousins seem to lack. There was
such sorrow in one scene of the war’s aftermath where grieving widows who
couldn’t bear the burden of losing their loved ones decided to descend into the
afterlife with them after a brief moment of being reunited. It is in this
episode, chapter 77, “all strife had ended between kinsmen and old-time rivals;
in death, there was peace and sweet companionship… the past was suddenly
forgotten in the rapture of beholding those who had died.” This whole scene,
along with Yudhisthira’s final test in episode 80 had such a melancholic tone
that drives home the humanity of these characters in these otherwise mystical
and embellished mythical epics. Life and death, family and foe, war and peace,
love and hate—in the grand scheme of things these represent our ultimate moral
test as mortals. As the PDE version of the Mahabharata concludes the story of
war and justice, “So many mortals rise to eternal bliss, casting off their
mortal bodies and entering by the shining door of the celestial city, by doing
kindly deeds, by uttering gentle words, and by enduring all suffering with
patience.” What a turn this took. This story reminds me of so many other things
that have had similar themes of morality, justice, and peace. It is so
reminiscent of this concept of “no light without the dark,” which is a very
“yin-yang” sort of perspective on life. The common theme of complementary
contrasts seems quite apparent in this story more than the last. Yudhishthira,
who has suffered greatly and would even suffer more to assuage the pain of
those he loves the most even if it meant being denied his most deserved place
in the heavenly afterlife proves his virtue all the more. Yudhishthira is a
favorite character I didn’t anticipate having, but he is such a humble
character that isn’t without his share of fatal flaws that makes him remarkably
relatable.
Bibliography:
Author: Various
Title: Mahabharata
Source: PDE Mahabharata, web
(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
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