Finding Nemo

 ऊर्ध्वबाहुर विरौम्य एष न च कश चिच छृणॊति मे      धर्माद अर्थश च कामश च स किमर्थं न सेव्यते  न जातु कामान न भयान न लॊभाद; धर्मं तयजेज जीवितस्यापि हेतॊः      नित्यॊ धर्मः सुखदुःखे तव अनित्ये; जीवॊ नित्यॊ हेतुर अस्य तव अनित्यः These are the verses from original text of Mahabharata from the chapter 18. These are verses 49-50. In these verses Ved Vyasa, who is deemed as the author of the epic and possibly the great grandfather of the entire event, cries out loud throwing his arms up in the sky. He says - "With uplifted arms I am crying aloud but nobody hears me. From Righteousness is Wealth as also Pleasure. Why should not Righteousness, therefore, be courted? For the sake neither of pleasure, nor of fear, nor of cupidity should any one cast off Righteousness. Indeed, for the sake of even life one should not cast off Righteousness. Righteousness is eternal. Pleasure and Pain are not eternal. Jiva is eternal. The cause, however, of Jiva’s being invested with a body is not so.&quo

Long time back I wrote a small article on the topic of Ashwathama’s death – “Ashwathama is dead”.  Ashwathama was the son of Dronacharya – the teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas. Dronacharya could only be defeated when Yudhishthira confirmed the death of Ashwathama. It is said the Yudhishthira was embodiment of the Dharmaraja himself and was known for his principles. It is said that his compliance to principles and rules was so impeccable that his chariot would always be levitated above the ground by about 4 inches. This was an extraordinary feat, only available to gods themselves. However, the moment Yudhishthira replied to Drona affirming the death of Ashwathama, his chariot dipped by 2 inches. Though Yudhisthira’s affirmation was truthful, it was not complete truth for Drona. Yudhishthira’s character was forever marred by this affirmation. Dronacharya in his young days was a good friend with a young prince who later became a great king – Drupada of Panchal.