What do you see?

Once Dronacharya sent Yudhisthira and Duryodhana to go in the city of Hastinapura and bring to him the most corrupt of all citizens. Yudhisthira returned empty handed, while Duryodhana returned with so many prisoners that it needed him almost an army to control.

Dronacharya was the teacher of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He had a difficult job! He had two competing factions of students – Pandavas, who were trying to gain their excellence and kingdom that they lost upon the demise of Pandu; and Kauravas, who were hell bent on roving themselves worthy of the throne that their father Dhritrashtra sat upon since Pandu’s demise. Dronacharya’s task was to impart the education impartially and then choose the better successor for the throne of Hastinapur.

So who should he choose – Yudhishthra, who found to corruptipn or Duryodhana, who basically ransacked the entire kingdom for the corrupt people?

The question is much deeper than the visible statements.

Yudhishthira found no evil as he had no evil in his heart. He looked every one with the same purity and empathy that he had held in himself. On the other hand, Duryodhana went by the laid out rules and captivated everyone who was not in compliance with even a miniscule rule. What does this show?

There is a saying in hindi – “Jaaki rahi bhaavna jaisi, Prabhu murat dekhi tin taisi”. Which means that you see the god in the same way as you hold his image in your heart.

The same spirit is reverberated when Arjuna is asked to aim at the eye of the wooden bird in a class or at the eye of moving fish by looking at the image in boiling oil. A clear vision leads you to the goal. 

The images in heart, are a reflection of one’s thoughts and the working of the mind. After all, the mind thinks, while the heart helps to live. Yudhishthira, though Dharmaputra, abides by the principles all through his life, is sympathetic to the needs of humans. Duryodhana, on the other hand complies by the rules and cares nothing for the empathies of others. He is a rule follower but does not believes in them. What does this tells us?

Rules or laws or principles are created with a purpose. The purpose is explained given the scenario. Once the scenario changes, they tend to lose their meaning. But what doesn’t changes is the principle or the philosophy behind them. While Yudhishthira is said to be a believer in principles, Duryodhana is a firm believer in rules.

Rules have a constrictive mindset as compared to principles that allow one to be creative. Rules bind while principles allow innovation. Who wins? I am not in a position to say so! Mahabharata was a war between the rules and the principles. And it was named as Jaya – Victory, without saying over whom? Cleverly, Veda Vyasa never named his epic – “Vijaya” – victory over others.

Have we understood the meanings on rules and principles well? What do we follow today? If principles then why do we uphold rituals? What are best practices? Do we understand them? Why do we say what once was correct, will always be so? Wasn’t Bhishma the cause of Mahabharata?

Too many questions, and not a clear answer. This is the meaning of Mahabharata or Jaya – the epic by Veda Vyasa. It means victory but over oneself!