We started with the Yaksha Prashna Kahoot quiz based on what we covered last week. We also did some Yaksha prashna before and after the class. This week we talked about some important people in the Kaurava camp.
Bheeshma is one of the most important people on that side. He had taken a terrible oath and to fulfill that he stayed faithful to Hastinapur. Even though he is knowledgeable about Dharma there were instances where he deviated from Dharma. It is said that these adharmas were the arrows that poked him as he lay on the bed of arrows. Swami Chinmayananda says he is the real Hero of Mahabharata, as the story starts with him and ends with him. He is one of few people who really understands the divinity of Shri Krishna. We talked about his relationship to Arjuna. We talked about how it is difficult to identify great people and what it means when great people are themselves calling other people great.
Dhritarashtra means "holding on" to "nation". He became a ruler after Pandu left for the forest and died. He has an excessive "blind" attachment with Duryodhana. He knows what is right or wrong but still does not choose right. He keeps bad company with people like KaNik - gets attached to bad advice and follows it blindly. He has a choice in following Vidura's advice but does not follow that. He could have stopped the great Mahabharata war but due to his own weaknesses he does not.
Gandhari is married to the blind king Dhritarashtra, and decides to tie a blindfold herself to follow his fate too. She asks for 100 children. We talked about the choice we should make between choosing quality over quantity. Being able to follow the right path is all that is important since everything is temporary. She attempts to give advice to her sons but they ignore her advice. After the Mahabharata war, when all the Kauravas are dead, she and Dhritarashtra retire to the forest where they are killed in a forest fire.
Shakuni is the brother of Gandhari. He is instrumental in making Kauravas behave worse. He helps them in cheating in a game of Dice. It is said that Shaukini vows to seek revenge because his sister got married to the blind king and she lives the life without sight.
Duryodhana and Dusshasana are the oldest of Kaurava brothers. Duryodhana is a bad influence. His jealousy and greed affects his brothers too. They follow Duryodhana loyally and get affected negatively. Dusshasana incurs destruction on the entire Kauravas when he pulls Draupadi's saree.
We talked about how we should focus on following Dharma over other aspects like blind Loyalty. In this case, loyally following a bad influence destroyed all Kauravas.
Dronacharya is the great guru of the Kuru princes. He was humiliated by Drupada, who was his friend at Gurukula. We talked about how and why a brahmin became a warrior and a tutor for money for the Kuru princes. He became a slave of money because of his attachment to his son. His attachment got him working for the king and the same attachment becomes the reason he died.
Kauravas in general are the negative traits and Pandavas in general are the positive traits. The battle between these traits is the Mahabharata. These traits are all around us in the society we live in. In fact, we can think of this happening inside us all the time. We need to introspect, identify the right path and follow that intently. If we follow this Dharma, Krishna is with us and victory will follow. Even though there were great leaders in Kauravas, even though they knew the truth in their conscience, they could not rise above their weaknesses, attachments and ambitions. They then got destroyed.
Kauravas were in constant conflict with each other because of these weaknesses.
The lesson for us to be aware of this and follow the path of Dharma unflinchingly.
In the next class, we plan to do an activity for sequencing the Mahabharata events.
Pranams,
