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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Plethora of morals stuffed in epics

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 16. Day after day, countless lives quit this world

to enter the domain of death. Everyone is bound to see the

strange spectacle of bodies being carried to the graveyard,

reminding him or her that he or she should also leave this

temporary place of stay. Still, those who survive, presuming

themselves to be permanent and immortal, continue to indulge in

unscrupulous deeds. Can there be anything more wonderful than

this? On the other hand, knowing that he or she will form part of

this ``procession'', steps should be taken to reach the kingdom

of God.

 

A plethora of morals are stuffed in our epics and other

scriptural texts to remind us of the need to take recourse to

spiritual path. A full chapter has been devoted in the

Mahabharata in which questions have been raised concerning our

day-to-day activities and valid replies given to tell us how to

conduct ourselves (This portion is called Yaksha Prasna). At the

fag end of their exile, four of the five brothers who defied the

warning given by an incorporeal voice, got into an enchanted

pool, drank its water and fell dead. It was the turn of the

eldest, Yudhishtira, the symbol of virtue, to submit himself and

answer various doubts thrown before him and satisfy the unseen

person and revive his brothers.

 

Some among the points spelt out during this dialogue on ethics

were explained by Sri K. P. Arivanandam in his lecture which are

as follows: The man to whom the agreeable and detestable, weal

and woe, the past and future, are the same, is considered to

possess every kind of wealth; steady intelligence serves a man as

a helpful companion always; a man, though he breathes, is

presumed to be not alive, if he does not offer what is due to

those to whom it is to be returned; liberality is the highest

virtue; good behaviour is the best asylum of happiness; knowledge

is most valuable among all possessions; the mind if controlled

will never lead to regret; pride, when renounced, makes one

pleasant, desire when given up, results in one being joyous;

simplicity is equanimity of the heart; covetousness is an

incurable disease; he who wants the good of all creations is the

honest; patience is subjugating the senses; wickedness is

speaking ill of others. When one has many friends, one will live

happily; devoted to virtue, one can obtain a happy state here and

hereafter.

 

Pleased with all replies of Yudhistira, the questioner, none else

than the Lord of Death or Justice, made all the brothers survive

and granted the boon that during the last year of their exile

they could disguise themselves and go anywhere. No one would find

out their real identity.

 

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