Learnings from Mahabharath - 6 : Ethics & Morals

Jai Guru Deva,

I am completely cognizant of the fact that we are living in an era where ethics and morals are just mere literature and they dont have any significance in the practical world. Nonetheless, I keep harping about them because I value any person only based on their ethical base. I dont care anything else. Real character is not about money or hard work or intelligence its the commitment to ethics in trying situations, its the capacity of self restraint in vulnerable situations. I know day by day all these things becoming meager in the society and I have my own experience someone blamed me that I have expectations in the name of trust. I spectacularly failed to understand that logic. 

Coming back to Mahabharath, there are several instances where different characters stood for highest level of ethical behavior which stands as an inspiration for me. In this post I am trying to recall as many of such cases as I remember:

1. Grandsire Bhishma: nobody more than Grandsire deserves a first mention when there is a discussion about ethics. All his life he had faced so much of trouble only because he was binding to the highest level of ethics. Finally his death is also a result of what he had believed in and he chose death instead of being unethical. Grandsire! you are inspirational!

2. Karna: Next I want to mention about Karna because for no fault of his he got punished. Being the rightful owner of throne of Hastinapur he never craved for it. He had always maintained that he is indebted to Duryodhan and he will stand by Durodhan irrespective of what he had done. Ofcourse though his commitment to Duryodhan is not a correct trait of a friend but the way kept himself away from the throne of Hastinapur is something worth  a praise.

3. Kunti: Generally I hear a lot of criticism about Kunti regarding the issue of Karna but i will not comment as its against my principles to talk about woman. However, when the Pandavas are in Ekachakra nagari and their Brahmin host thinks about sacrificing one of their family members for Bakasura Kunti offers to send one of her son to Bakasur and chooses Bhim for that task. When Yudhishtir asks her why she had not selected him for going to Bakasura Kunti replies that Yudhisthir is the crown prince of Hastinapur and Hastinapur has more right over Yudhishtir. That shows how much she is committed to her role as the queen of Hastinapur.

4. Yudhishtir: He is a man who stood for very high level of ethics. Despite being the eldest brother of perhaps the greatest warrior of this country in the last 5000 years he did not crave for war. He told Krishna that he will be happy if Duryodhan gives him five villages. What else do we need to talk about this man! His warrior brothers would have won all of planet earth and he had no necessity to ask the permission of Grandsire to start the war.

Sarvejana Sukhinobhavantu,

-Karthik