Epics in Imprints-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKA
background in which the story of
Ramayana was mooted. It was the heartbreaking
cry of one of a pair of birds whose
partner was shot dead by a cruel hunter.
So the Ramayana cannot but be an eternal
tragedy taken from real life. And it is this
tragedy that makes the epic so living and
acceptable to all. Generally speaking,
people love to read stories which in the
end put everything together. But those
stories fail to create a lasting impression
in the minds of people. It is such stories
with tragic ends that arouse us with a jolt
to the realities of life while warning us
beforehand of the vagaries of an easy-going
life.
The Irony of Fate and Spiritual Solution
Once Vidura, one of the wisest men
of his times, was badly insulted by
Duryodhana and left the kingdom of
Hastinapura on a pilgrimage tour. Long
later, he learnt of the ghastly battle of
Kurukshetra and the murder of all the
members of the Kuru dynasty; he also
heard of the demise of the Lord Krishna
along with the whole Yadava clan. This
heart-rending news made Vidura restless
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and evoked certain critical questions in his
mind about life. He opened his heart to a
wise sage who replied to him by saying that
the threefold misery of life has, in fact, no
lasting solution. What we take pride in
solving the problems is only a temporary
solution that is like moving a heavy load
from the head to the shoulder. The only
solution that is lasting is to go beyond this
vicious circle of the world. In other words,
there is only a spiritual solution to all the
problems of life.
At the end of the whole story of the
Mahabharata, its author Vyasa wails: ‘I ask
people repeatedly and with upraised hands
to follow the path of goodness which will
bring them prosperity as well as liberation
in the long run; but nobody pays any heed
to me.’ This is the trouble with the common
man. He reads and knows a lot without
assimilating them. His life is not tuned to
a high culture that comes down from his
ancestors. So he suffers. Man seeks the
good results from his actions but refuses
to do good acts. On the other hand he does
not like to suffer from the results of his
evil deeds but he commits evil acts
willfully. And this is called Maya.