About the Book
Mahabharata is believed to be the longest epic describing a war between two branches of the same family. The basic idea is to show how the good and bad fight each other. But the victory is pyrrhic because, in the process of destruction, the poet reveals how the human mind oscillates between two extremes of human nature. The story of the epic involves two branches of the family at loggerheads, the fierce war between two adversaries: the Kauravas, the children of Dhritarashtra, and those of Pandu. Dhritarashtra, i.e., the blind king, Pandu dwells in a forest because he suffers from a skin disease. Kauravas are depicted as the mischief-makers in comparison to Pandavas. Kauravas set fire to the residence of Pandavas, who miraculously escape. At this time, the swayamvar of Draupadi (where the bride selects the husbands) takes place. In this context, Arjuna wins the prize, and Draupadi becomes the bride of all five Pandavas. What ensued was a fierce war between Pandavas and Kauravas. The Kauravas lost everything. Seeing the mighty armies, Arjuna experiences his first rupay (neutral enemy). Arjuna tells Krishna that fear overwhelmed him and that he is willing to quit. He also asks Krishna about the aftermath of such a terrible war. However, Krishna dissuades him from quitting the war. He uses the philosophy of Sankhya Yoga (Atman and the body are not the enemy).
Preface
A ripu means a mental enemy. This book shows how the enemies of the human mind can be traced. Indian sages have mentioned shadripus (six mental enemies) kama, krodha, moha, lobha, mada, matsarya. In fact, there are many inner enemies which influence us. This book tries to identify those enemies which prevailed in the society contemporaneous with Mahabharata especially Lord Krishna's advice to Arjuna. Some of these enemies appeared minor adversaries but later proved to be the causes of devastating consequences. A major problem involving in this search is the difference between the societies separated by one thousand years during which the standards of morality and culpability have undergone changes which makes similar events that occurred during the Mahabharata are almost incomparable with those ostensibly similar events that to take place today.
Introduction
Indian sages identified six enemies of the human mind long ago. They were called shadripus (shad for six and ripus for enemies). They are also called arishadvarga. These foes are kama (desire, passion), Krodha (anger), lobha (greed), mada (Prick, vanity), moha (attachment) and matsarya (jealousy, envy) to which alasya was (laziness) added. Mahabharata is believed to be the longest epic poem in the world. It was composed in Sanskrit about 300 BCE. It is the story of two branches of the same family. One branch is headed by Dhritarashtra, the blind king who had no less than 100 sons. The other branch is headed by Pandu who on account of skin disease prefers to be a recluse. His children are called Pandavas while Dhritarashtra's children are Kauravas. Kauravas are portrayed as evil minded and are enemies of Pandavas who are generally good natured with some weaknesses.
Vedas (1266)
Upanishads (528)
Puranas (644)
Ramayana (787)
Mahabharata (390)
Dharmasastras (177)
Goddess (551)
Bhakti (253)
Saints (1973)
Gods (1327)
Shiva (423)
Journal (181)
Fiction (72)
Vedanta (399)
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