About the Book
Arjuna's despondency on the battlefield of Kurukşetra, Yudhisthira's false declaration regarding Aśvatthāmā, andKunti's hesitation in ack-nowledging Karņa as her son reveal a common thread: the profound moral turmoil experienced by individuals when faced with difficult choices. These episodes highlight the complexity, subtlety, and multi-faceted nature of dharma. The central aim of this work is to explore the dilemmas, conflicts, and uncertainties that arise in the Mahābhārata owing to the intricate character of dharma, and to examine how the epic's protagonists seek to navigate and resolve them. The book investigates a diverse range of values and characters, including the courage of Duryodhana, the integrity of Śakuni, and the endurance of Amba, while offering a critical and nuanced understanding of their actions and ethical significance.
About the Author
DR. ANMOLPREET KAUR is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Hansraj College, University of Delhi. She earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi. Her research interests include stories and narratives, with a particular focus on how they can be employed to deepen our understanding of ethical issues and moral dilemmas. She has published research articles in several national and inter-national journals, including the Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research (JICPR) and International Philosophical Quarterly (IPQ). She has also contributed to the SPARC (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration) funded project, "Yoga Consciousness in the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita: The Ethical Value for Societal and Political Well-being." In addition, she is a PPAI-APPA Certified Philosophy Counsellor.
Foreword
There is a moment, which I shall not pretend to have not inhabited, especially when one discovers that two perfectly legitimate obligations are pulling with equal force in opposite directions. It is certainly not the mere temptation of appetite against principle; that is a simpler affair, and the moralists have addressed it sufficiently. What I mean is the collision of duties themselves, each with an impeccable credential, each refusing to yield the ground to the other. Whatever you do, something of genuine moral weight is forfeited, and the grief of that forfeiture is what philosophy calls moral residue. The grand Indian epic, Mahābhārata, deals with copious such moments like this with comprehensiveness that modern ethical theory has only lately begun to approximate. The epic offers no master-principle that, with sufficient philosophical ingenuity, dissolves every conflict it stages. It offers dharma which is irreducibly contextual, subtler than the wisest of those who profess it, and capable of standing in genuine tension with itself across the very situations it is meant to resolve. Yudhisthira, son of Dharma, finds his chariot descend to common ground the moment he speaks the necessary lie to Droņa; the seer accomplishes in that single image what three volumes of moral philosophy might labour to express. Karņa surrenders the armour that is his life because the virtue of dana is, to him, more real than the value of survival. Arjuna at Kurukşetra cannot reconcile the duty owed to kin with the duty owed to dharma, and the paralysis that results inaugurates the most philosophically charged conversation in the Sanskrit tradition. These are not antique dilemmas. They belong to every person who has honestly faced the fact that moral values are plural, that they sometimes conflict, and that no amount of clear reasoning makes the conflict disappear. The Mahābhārata does not resolve this fact; it inhabits it with a moral courage that is, even now, not easily matched.
Preface
Stories hold an important place in our lives and shape our understanding of the wider world. I have long been interested in stories, particularly those involving ethical conflicts and dilemmas. So, when I had to choose what I was going to research for my PhD thesis, the epic of the Mahabharata felt like a natural choice. Initially, I discussed this with Prof. H. S. Prasad, who recommended that I read the work of Nicholas Sutton on the Mahabharata. I then had detailed discussions with Prof. Balaganapathi Devarakonda, my PhD supervisor, regarding my approach to the text, how to balance my emphasis on characters vis-à-vis stories, and which values to foreground in building a discourse around ethical dilemmas. The final form that you are holding now is a product of these intense deliberations. In fact, it was Prof. Bala who encouraged me to read the entire Mahābhārata. Through this, one begins to feel the emotions of the characters, their psychological and moral evolution, and the ethical conflicts that torment them, revealing just how incredibly complex life is. During my PhD, I was part of the SPARC Project (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration, an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India). Under its aegis, the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi, and Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, organised a webinar series titled "Yoga Consciousness in the Mahabharata and Bhagavadgītā: The Ethical Value for Societal/Political Well-Being.
Introduction
In the performance of actions, moral agents are confronted with conflicts of values. There is a plethora of values in the sense of moral duties, such as truth, non-injury, forgiveness, mercy, and selflessness. It seems that these values ought to be compatible. But given the specific contexts and circumstances, these values can clash with each other. The broad objective of the book is to understand the reasons and justifications for actions when a conflict of values occurs. The above objective will be fulfilled by engaging with the epic of the Mahābhārata (Mbh) by studying its narratives, characters, and value system. That is, the book aims to understand the moral conflicts in the Mbh. In pursuing the aim, the thesis investigates what values the characters upheld or violated while undertaking an action. Accordingly, one of the objectives is to locate values at stake in the Mbh and create a framework to evaluate those values.
Vedas (1266)
Upanishads (528)
Puranas (644)
Ramayana (785)
Mahabharata (390)
Dharmasastras (177)
Goddess (551)
Bhakti (253)
Saints (1935)
Gods (1327)
Shiva (423)
Journal (181)
Fiction (72)
Vedanta (399)
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