Book Review - The Difficulty of Being Good - By Gurcharan Das

At the centre of the book is Das’s quest to understand the elusive term dharma, a word which means at once duty and religion, justice and righteousness, law and goodness. Dharma lies at the heart of the ethical questions explored in The Mahabharata, and as Das puts it: “The conceptual difficulty is part of the point. Indeed The Mahabharata is in many ways an extended attempt to clarify what dharma is – that is, what exactly should we do, when we are trying to be good in the world.”

Both the strength and weakness of The Difficulty of Being Good lies in the sheer complexity of looking for clear moral teachings in the profoundly ambiguous teachings of an epic that is “about our incomplete lives, about good people acting badly, about how difficult it is to be good in this world”. It is true that the Pandavas’ gentle leader, King Yudhishthira, is admired for his unbreakable commitment to satya (truth), ahimsa(non-violence) and anrishamsya (compassion).

Yet much of the richness of The Mahabharata lies exactly in its Shakespearian refusal to give clear answers or to deal out simplistic rights and wrongs. Characters are constantly faced with competing claims on their sense of duty. The “heroes” of the epic, the five Pandava brothers, are profoundly flawed and fallible: Yudhishthira loses all his kingdoms and even his wife through his feckless addiction to gambling; and the Man-God Krishna, who guides the brothers in the war, brings them to victory through teaching them trickery, deception and the art of guile. Meanwhile the “villains”, the many Kaurava brothers, intermittently display great virtues: bravery, perseverance, generosity and loyalty.

There are, in short, few moral or spiritual certainties advanced in The Mahabharata that are not later profoundly modified and questioned. Most importantly, during the philosophical climax of the epic, The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna persuades the Pandava hero Arjun that it is his duty to wage war on his cousins, arguing that the world is an illusion, and all that one can do is to act with the right motives, according to yourdharma. Yet Arjun’s profound doubts about waging war on this basis are amply borne out by the results of Krishna’s advice: the almost complete destruction of the world and a genocide of 18m that leaves the Kauravas extinct and the Pandavas drifting childless and joyless through a charred landscape of death.

Trying to elicit clear moral guidance for modern politicians, civil servants and businessmen from such a spectacularly complex and ambiguous text, and one that is itself so very full of self-questioning, is a very difficult task, and the result is only a mixed success in terms of Sanskrit self-help. Yet Das’s deeply informed and learned musings on The Mahabharata and its moral dilemmas are invariably so penetrating and full of insight, and the questions he raises so important, that it barely matters. Above all, he draws us back to the text of The Mahabharata itself, one of the greatest of man’s literary achievements and one that, astonishingly, has yet to be translated into English in its entirety: a measure of the degree to which the west still continues to ignore the riches of ancient Indian classical culture.

Thanks to Das, however, I am now deep in the nearest thing we have to a complete English Mahabharata: the nine extant volumes so far translated by the Clay Sanskrit Library, a remarkable American project that aims to give access to the neglected riches of the Sanskrit classics, most of which, shockingly, still remain untranslated into any language. The project is the brainchild of Das’s old Chicago teacher Sheldon Pollock, and there is something appropriately and satisfyingly Indian in the work of the pupil leading readers back to the study of his guru.

The author relies excessively on western sources for translations and for interpretations. This is perhaps because he studied the Mahabharata at Harvard and naturally, more western sources would have been available to him than Indian ones. Apart from that, what struck me most is the critical look that Gurcharan Das takes at Krishna's role in the whole epic, without looking at him as God always. The concept of 'Nishkama Karma' (doing one's duty without thinking of the fruits of it) baffles the author and he concludes that very few people are actually capable of such an existence. Draupadi, Krishna and Yudhishtira are three principal characters that Das analyses in detail, principally because they are the prime movers in the epic and it is refreshing to have an author write about Yudhishtira in a non-simplistic way - that he was a king first and foremost and that he took decisions keeping in mind his 'dharma' to his subjects. 

The author, in my opinion wrongly calls Chanakya as the Indian 'Machiavelli'. Chanakya's Arthashastra was the Indian counterpart of Machiavelli's 'The Prince', but the objectives of the two works are worlds apart in nature. Chanakya says that the Sovereign must become powerful for the welfare of his subjects whereas Machiavelli recommends a king to the pursuit of power for power alone.

Another bone that I have to pick with Das is his lack of familiarity with Indian languages other than those of North India. He says outright in the preface that 'modern' Indian languages do not say Arjuna, but Arjun and that Dharma is pronounced as 'Dharam'. Frankly, I find it appalling that someone who has read so much about Indian epics hasn't made the effort to know more about India itself.

This book, as it is faithful to the epic, raises more questions than answer them, leaving the reader like me to conclude that this epic is essentially a clash between two mafia groups (Pandavas and Kauravas) over land, while including deep concerns (expressed by the characters) for the pursuit of an absolute universal dharma.

As we gradually realize that the epic is far from the simplistic good vs evil story that we had learnt in our childhood, it leads us into the realms of moral philosophy, discussing the merits of consequential-ist ethics (Utilitarianism) and the contradictions between the different moral duties laid down in the earlier moral texts like Vedas, Manusmriti etc; all of which come into conversations between its characters.

This book throws light on many uncomfortable truths that had been hitherto censored out during Television/Cinema adaptations.The author discusses prominent characters of the Indian Epic and the moral dilemmas, behaviours that they exhibit as the story of mahabharata progresses. The tone of the narrative is neutral. The author does not favour any one side or any particular character of the epic. In every chapter, the author compares the mahabharata situations with current day scenarios. He provides a thorough analysis of what can be argued as righteous and why is it so difficult to be righteous. As per hindu philosophy a human life(purushartha) consists of four phases – Dharma(righteousness), Arth(career,goals,commercial activities), Kama(pleasures), Moksha(renunciation). Without experiencing all four a person remains incomplete. Out of the four this book stresses on Dharma and why is it difficult to follow Dharma. The book is deeply introspective. A person who connects with mahabharata and is looking to derive the meaning of life hidden in the story will enjoy reading this excellent narrative/debate on Mahabharata. The author is fascinated(not biased towards) with Yudhishtira’s character and hence the title – “The subtle art of DHARMA” (Yudhishtira being the son of Dharma). The central theme of the book is Dharma.

What I liked about it -

1. The author has done good research of the epic. If you don’t give the prologue a miss, you will see how much the author has put in on this subject. His detailed analysis of the Indian epic is commendable.

2. Some of the chapters got me hooked to the book. Like Duryodhana’s envy, where the author discusses the emotion of envy – its merits and demerits (good envy vs bad envy) and how it affects the moral conduct of a person. Bhishma’s selflessness addresses the famous “Do your deeds without expecting the results” doctrine. This chapter argues if it’s really possible for a person to act without thinking of the results. In Karna’s status anxiety, the author debates the present day issue of reservations in Indian society.

3. The tone of the narrative – This book isn’t preachy at all. I like reading something wherein the author leaves it to the reader to come to a conclusion. When describing his point of view, the author uses “I think…” which keeps the tone open to argument.

4. “The difficulty of being good” – the title summarizes the essence so beautifully. When introspective on life and moral/ethical issues, this book will provide a whole new perspective to a reader.

5. The modern-day examples that the author discusses – Ambani brothers (Duryodhana’s envy), Ramalinga Raju (Dhritarshtra’s bias for his son), etc are engaging.

What I didn’t like -

1. The chapters sometimes become lengthy. For a reader, the topics that he is less interested in, those chapters will prove to lengthy and you start getting restless reading the same subtle argument again and again through different examples.

2. Every Mahabharata fan, who has known the story and admired his/her favourite character, would disagree at one point or the other with the author’s view. For me, the chapter on Karna and Arjuna were a let down. But when you complete the book you understand that the purpose is to discuss Dharma and hence whatever the author has written about these characters is in relation to moral righteousness.

3. The bibliography – it’s so huge that you cannot follow it throughout the book. I gave up after the first chapter. It is a result of the author’s excellent research so can’t blame him for it. It’s just that it was too heavy for a reader like me to go back and forth at every reference.

Read it if -

1. You like The Mahabharata and are game for a healthy introspective debate on the epic.

2. You have felt while reading the epic that it has more to offer than only the story

Here's an interesting perspective on the moral dilemmas faced by the principle characters of Mahabharata, the great Indian classic. The author explores Duryodhana's envy, Draupadi's courage, Yudhistir's duty, Arjuna's despair, Bhishma's selflessness, Karna's status anxiety, Ashwatthama's revenge and beautifully connects it to the social, political, economic and cultural challenges of current times. Indeed, all these characters exist in us too as we face life's challenges by struggling to answer the question - what is the right thing to do and why (or how to) be good?

This book reads a little bit like Gurucharan Das's freshman Intro to Philosophy essay. There's a lot of I feel and I agree with .. which seems a tad sophomoric. 

All said and done.. I always did think that the Mahabharata was a fun story and I am grateful that Gurucharan introduced me to the more subtler nuances of this epic. I really enjoyed Das' discussions on personal dharma versus societal dharma and unmotivated karma. Das does a great job of explaining why the concept of dharma in the context of the epic is complicated. However, he doesn't do a good job of explaining how subtle dharma can be in the 20th century. There is also the problem of Das' very evident America and free markets solve all problems bias. Case in point - he makes the claim that critics of America are more motivated by jealousy rather than logic. I paraphrase, but that was the argument in essence. 

Book Review - The Yellow Emperor's Cure By Kunal Basu

I bought the book, mainly because the stall keepers at the book fair in Kolkata highly recommended this book. Had I read the synopsis on the book sleeve, I might not have purchased it. That said, I decided to give Kunal Basu a try, for I had heard good reviews about his Japanese wife.

The book is set in late 19^th century. The protagonist is a brilliant, handsome, and flamboyant Portugese doctor, Doctor Antonio Maria, who lives in Lisbon. The book starts with a good depiction of his lifestyle, his deep friendship with Ricardo, and his unfaltering love for his father. Kunal Basu describes the lives and colors of Lisbon quite well and the first few chapters went quite quickly for me.  

Dr. Maria discovers that his dearest father, also a doctor, is afflicted with syphilis and he sees him wasting away in the last stages of the disease. Completely distraught and feeling helpless without a cure, he is dismayed with the lack of cure for this horrible disease. In his anguish, he finds out that this disease is not usually seen in China and hopes that the Chinese must have a cure. He sets off to China, in search of a cure, even if it may not be in time to cure his father.

The novel still sounded promising, as this young bachelor doctor sets sail to China, to start his long and arduous search for the cure. Basu describes well how the doctor adjusts to this entirely foreign world of strange customs, peculiar foods and eating habits, invisible royalty, and eunuchs. In his quest for a cure, the doctor finds himself in the middle of the boxer rebellion, the cultural movement that rose from the ashes of the Opium Wars. The rebels waged a war against foreigners and their assistants as well as Chinese converts (to Christianity). Basu interlaces the story with history, mystery, overt love, and violent culture clashes. He has certainly done his research, for we learn a bit about history of China in late 19^th century, the food, eating styles, ways of the royalty etc.. The style of writing and handling of the language also make for easy reading.

But, somewhere in the last third of the book, the book begins to pall. I felt that the author lost interest and focus and was meandering quite a bit. The protagonist himself seemed to have lost his focus on his mission of finding a cure. (That perhaps could be explained away with the emotional turmoils he was put through.) The author carries until the very last few pages the mystery of the cure, the secrets behind his lovely Nei-Ching teacher Fumi ,who the doctor falls hopelessly in love with, and the truth behind the murder of her first mentor. The reader is made to fully believe that the three are somehow connected. While the reader’s curiosity peaked for there are but a few pages left, the author seemed have to run out of steam, said “meh” and just wanted to end the book regardless of how insipid the ending might be. The ending was certainly a big let-down for me.

All in all, I felt the author’s focus, energy level, even his delving into history were not consistent through the book. His weaving in and out between the doctor’s nightmares and real events were also confusing in some places.

Book Review - The Immortals of Meluah by Amish Tripathi

The Immortals of Meluah is certainly a page-turner. I could hardly put the book down. This first book in the the Shiva trilogy is about Lord Shiva depicted as man. I admire Amish’s confidence in beginning his debut book writing venture with a trilogy!

The novel chronicles the journey of Shiva, an extraordinary man, from his home at Mansarovar to the Meluhan Empire and the transformation in him that the move wrought. Shiva is portrayed as a chillum wielding, foul-mouthed man, with all human vulnerabilities, including fear of the unknown. He is, however, described as a man endowed with many skills, including warriorship, leadership, not to mention dancing.

Meluha, the land of the Suryavanshis, is depicted as Ramrajya, a utopian society that was established by Lord Ram himself. The laws laid down by Ram are sacrosanct in this society and all follow the laws devoutly. One overpowering tenet is that everyone be treated fairly and that all should work for the common good of the people. Simplicity and austerity is emphasized. Even the king’s palace is quite ordinary. The only places that seem magnificent and have striking architecture were the temples and other special common areas. Shiva, who comes from a land surrounded by hostile and greedy people, the Prakatis, is quite taken with the Meluhans for their honesty, their sincerity and their simple and congenial ways of living.

Shiva points out, however, that though it is an admirable society, it is not a perfect one. For instance, he is appalled by their treatment of vikramas. Vikramas were those on whom some terrible misfortune befell, like a dreadful disease or bearing a still born child etc. It was considered a result of their sins from past lives. They were kept secluded like untouchables, for it was believed that their ways decisions would be colored by the adversity that they were facing. Shiva wants to abolish this law, for he felt it was unfair to punish people who were already grief-stricken. That the love of his life, Sati, is also labeled a vikarma, sticks in his craw.

Shiva realizes that the Meluhans had invited him and his tribesmen to their land in their quest for Neelkanth, the savior who would lead them to victory against the Chandravanshis, their evil neighbors. The Meluhans find that Shiva passes all the tests for a savior,  and revere him as God. One of the key tests was that after they administered somras, the elixir of life, his throat had turned a bright blue. Shiva is uncomfortable with people putting him on a pedestal for reason that seemed illogical and is skeptical about his ability to fulfill the task that the Meluhans had assigned to him.

With his alertness, sharp intellect, and his elan, he saves the life of the Meluhan princess Sati a  couple of times, beats a bunch of terrorists for the first time in Meluhan history. Ultimately with his strategy and keen sense of warriorship, he fulfills the hopes of the Meluhans by winning the war against the “evil” Chandravanshis who were equipped with a much larger army.

He soon realizes that the Chandravanshis are not evil at all, just different. They value independent thinking and creativity and hence have a much less restrictive set of laws. They are a passionate about what they say and do and encourage individuals to grow and become free spirited. Though he sees abject poverty and squalor in their land, he is deeply touched by an unexpected show of kindness and humanity by an extremely poor and sick person. He is subsumed with the guilt for killing thousands of Chandravanshis, with the belief that they were evil, just because the Meluhans had told him so. At the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a holy man tells Shiva that everyone makes mistakes unknowingly and he should not wallow in the past. But, it is his duty to rise to be a Mahadev and recognize that which is really evil and lead men against it, before evil raises its ugly head and extinguishes all life. The first of the trilogy ends with this mission assigned to Shiva.

Now, about the author and some nuggets from the book -------------------

Amish Tripathi, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, who worked in the financial industry for fourteen years, seems to have found his ultimate calling. The book reads like it was written by a well versed consummate author. His intelligence and his humor shone all through the book. By making it contemporary, it helped current generation relate to the mythology of yore. Though the book may be perceived as irreverent by some, the underlying story is compelling and is filled with freshness and sparkle.

Here are some highlights that I specially appreciated:

1.      The first and foremost is the concept of Har har Mahadev. I burst out laughing when I read this piece, for I found the play on words humorous. Shiva, quite unsure of his role as a Mahadev, is all set to lead the war against the Chandravanshis. He decides to take advantage of the appellation “Mahadev” and give a rousing speech  to the warriors, as they set out to fight the war. “A man becomes a Mahadev, only when he fights for good” he says. “A Mahadev is not born from his mother's womb. He is forged in the heat of battle, when he wages a war to destroy evil. Har Har Mahadev - All of us are Mahadev.” It took a few moments for the depth of this speech to strike me. He had asked each one to look for the God within himself! Indeed a clever play on words. I know I will be smiling every time I hear the chant “Har Har Mahadeva”.

2.      Each of Shiva’s meetings with the temple priests was a nugget in itself. They were steeped in philosophy and profundity. For example, the priest asking Shiva to ponder over the color of a leaf from the perspective of the leaf itself. What color does the leaf absorb and which one does it reject? Is its color green? Or is it every single color in the world, except green?’ This illustration underscored that depending on perspectives, perceptions could be diametrically opposite.

In another instance, when Shiva despaired over Sati’s cold shoulder, the priest asked him to drop the supercilious attitude towards Sati. He advised him to understand her better from the way she deals with people around her. He makes Shiva realize that what she expects from people around her, is respect.

In yet another meeting, a priest tells him that the difference of opinion between two dissimilar ways of life get portrayed as a fight between good and evil. Just because the Chandravanshis are different from the Suryavanshis doesn’t mean that they are evil. Though steeped in simplicity, this statement exemplifies a fundamental truth that is so relevant even for the current times.

In another incident, in response to Shiva calling the temple God “your” God, the priest says “All godliness comes from the same source. Just the manifestations are different.” Again, words of wisdom - these.

In one of the meetings, the priest explains the reason for observing vikarma saying that if a maladjusted victim is allowed a position of influence, it may lead to destruction. He quoted the influence that Manthara, who suffered physical deformities, was accorded in the Ramayana and the outcome of her ill-placed advice. This one got me thinking, but I cannot buy this argument.

3.      I found the logical exchanges between Shiva and the chief scientist Brahaspati quite inspiring. In particular, I found the theory behind somras interesting. Brahaspati explains that though oxygen is essential for life, as it converts food into energy, it releases oxidants that cause harm to the body, much like oxygen causes iron to rust. Brahaspati also theorizes that the body is aware of this and that is why it does not store extra amounts of oxygen, while it stores other life essentials like food and water.

To inhibit the oxidation within the body, the Suryavanshis had concocted an elixir called somras. By preventing oxidation, it enabled its consumers to stay younger and free of diseases. We know that mythology talks about somras and its properties. Equating it to an antioxidant was an interesting theory.

Current day article about the oxidation process in humans states that it is an important cause and consequence of many diseases. Hence, the use of antioxidants is intensely studied, to minimize diseases and extend life. Furthermore, somras is often equated to wine in current days. Again, it has been scientifically established that red wine contains antioxidants that may help prevent heart disease by increasing levels of "good" cholesterol and protecting against artery damage, thereby extending life.

4.      The love story of Shiva and Sati is also very well narrated, the palpable reality of which moves the reader to tears in some instances. The unrelenting resolve by Shiva to make Sati his life partner and Sati’s struggle with even considering such a proposition, given her vikrama status, the ultimate victory of love over all adversities, and the union of these two in a happy marriage is a highlight of the novel.

Doubt?? I thought Daksha disliked Shiva and was not in favor of his daughter Sati marrying him at all. He had deliberately not invited Shiva to a great sacrifice that he had planned etc.? Amish’s story talks about Daksha wishing the union of Sati and Shiva from the beginning. I do not understand that aspect.

Epics - Mahabharata - Thoughts on Karna

One of my school friends commented that in all analyses of Mahabharata, Karna always came out the winner.To this, another friend responded thus:

I would like to comment on your take on Karnan - that he comes out a winner as always. I am not so sure about young Karnan being all that pure and good. Look at the basic tenet of his life - "I will support Duryodhana, even if he does openly ugly things like trying to burn the Pandavas live, or disrobing a woman in public - simply because he supported me - not so much out of any special love for me as out of envy and hatred for Arjuna". Some laudable philosophy, this! Covering this wrong basis by being generous to a fault isn't my idea of a good man. He was just another player in the great drama of life., with his own warts and all. Mahabharata merely chronicles the frailities of human behaviour. Even Krishna is not without deceit or flaws as per ordinary mortal assessment. At least he could take refuge in the explanation that what seemingly wrong things he did were to uphold dharma.

In response, here was my take on Karna:

Karna got a raw deal from his very birth, when his mother set him afloat in a basket down Ashwa nadhi. While he had all the attributes of a kshatriya prince, he was always denigrated for being a "sutaputra". Draupadi refused to let him participate in the swayamvara saying that she would not consider marrying a sutaputra. The great teacher Dronacharya insulted him and stopped him from competing against Arjun, for the fear that he might defeat his favorite pupil. At this competition, Kunti recognized Karna, as her son from his kavacham and karna kundalam. Still, she just watched him being insulted and shied away from acknowledging him as her son and a prince with as much right as Arjun to be at the tournament.

Lord Parashurama, Karna's teacher whom he adored, laid a curse on him that the great Brahmastra would fail him just when he would need it the most. Parashuram always knew that  Karna was a kshatriya, but cursed him only to enable pandavas to win, so peace may prevail - even if this meant Karna's death.

Later, just before the war in Kurukshetra started, his own mother Kunti asked him not to kill his brothers, which implied that she would rather he be killed. Indra, to save his son, asked Karna for his kavacham and karnakundalam because he knew that Karna would be invincible with those, and will pose a threat to his son Arjun. 

At kurukshetra, when Karna's chariot wheel got caught in the mud and he asked Arjuna to hold fire until he fixed the wheel, Krishna advised Arjuna not to think about war etiquette, but go ahead and shoot an arrow at Karna. Even when he lay dying on the battlefield, Krishna tested Karna by asking him for all the punya that he had earned in his lifetime. This too, Karna gave away willingly. Despite his generosity and self-righteousness, life dealt him a bad hand.

His one BIG mistake was his unfaltering allegiance to Duryodhana, who saved him from shame at Drona's tournament. He vowed his friendship to Duryodhana at that time and never cared to check again if that was misplaced. His word and loyalty became more important to him than dharma. He became so blind to dharma that he assisted Duryodhan in the game of dice and aided and abetted in Draupadi's vastraharan in Hastinapur court. But, of all his wrong doings, the atrocity that stands out most in mind is his firing an arrow from behind Abhimanyu's back to break his bow and to leave him defenseless. Having done that, he reveled, along with others in the kaurava army, in attacking  the young and valiant Abhimanyu mercilessly, blowing to the winds all rules of war.

Why did Karna get a raw deal in his life? It was his karma from his previous birth that was following him. Karna was an asura called Shashtrakavacha in his prior life. He had obtained a boon from Lord Brahma that he would have 1000 kavachas and the person who would break his kavachas would die immediately. After that, he began his atrocities on earth. thus the Gods were worried that he would bring destruction upon them. 

 Hence, first Narayana penanced for 1000 Yrs and Nara fought 1000 Years with ShahasrKavacha and after 1000 Years, Nara was able to break his one Kavacha. The deal was that as Nara broke the Kavacha, he died, but Narayan due his penance of 1000 Yrs could get back life of Nara and Narayan starts fighting and Nara starts penance for the next 1000 years. Nara and Narayana alternatively penance and fight for 1000 years and the cycle continued till both were able to break 999 Kavachas. ShahastraKavacha hides himself behind the Surya with his last Kavacha due to fear that he would be killed by Nara and Narayana then. At this time, there is Pralaya on Earth due to the change of the Yuga. Thus ShashtraKavacha escapes death. In Dwapara Yuga, he was reborn as Karna with Kavacha and Nar and Narayan as Arjun and Krishna respectively. Shashtrakavacha took refuge under the Sun God Surya and was born as Karna to Surya and Kunti with kavacha and kundala.  This was why Indra had to beg for the kavacha from Karna for it was impossible for Indra to defeat him in battle.