Lessons Learnt From Kurukshetra

LESSONS LEARNT FROM KURUKSHETRA:

This post has nothing to do with the distortions or details of the Kurukshetra war. Instead, there are numerous lessons that one can learn from this Great War and apply to our daily lives. Whether one is a physician treating cancer or any other serious/terminal illness, a lawyer fighting a tough case in court, an entrepreneur battling to survive in the cut throat world of business, a politician trying to establish a righteous government, an army fighting terrorism or a student trying to master a subject-- the lessons from Kurukshetra are applicable to all of us.

Please feel free to add to this list:

1. Our enemy whether it's cancer, an illness, a criminal, a corrupt government, a difficult subject, a terrorist organization or the world of big bad business is usually bigger and fiercer than us. Kaurav army was larger and more experienced than the Pandav army but that doesn't mean we cower and refuse to fight them.

2. What's more important is being united, organized, planned and having a mission"a common goal"rather than the numbers. Pandavs were better equipped to fight the Kauravs because they were united, had better planning and a common mission. The Kauravs had a lot of infighting, ego battles and personal animosities rather than a common mission.

3. Be prepared to suffer losses and not get disheartened by them. If Pandavs had given up after Abhimanyu's or Ghatodkach's death, they would've never won the war ultimately. This happens a lot with cancer treatment. Powerful cancer drugs kill our good cells also but that doesn't mean we stop the chemotherapy.

4. At times, it's okay to lay low or not retaliate when the enemy uses a powerful weapon like Narayan astra used by Ashwathama in Drona parva. Krishna asked everyone to lay down their weapons and not retaliate the powerful weapon. The Narayan astra lost its potency just because the Pandavs refused to fight. This happens a lot in real life and that doesn't mean we've given up.

5. Sometimes deception is the only way one can conquer the enemy. We've several examples in the Kurukshetra war where Krishna incited deception as a way to defeat the big guns. Again, in medicine this technique is used while making strong medications and vaccines where a virus or bacteria is deceived in order to kill it.

6. Be prepared to change plans at the spur of the moment. Just because we've decided a strategy to fight the enemy, it might need tweaking or a complete change even while engaged in the heat of the battle. Nothing is set in stone while fighting an enemy.

7.Leadership defines the whole army: A good, selfless righteous leader or CEO of a company will ensure success whereas a leader who is greedy, egoistic and just worried about personal gain will always end up on the losing side. Yudhishtra and Duryodhana define these two extreme types of leadership. That's why before joining a group or corporation, or voting for a party, it's very important to know what ideals and philosophies the leader follows.

8. NEVER GIVE UP: That's the ultimate lesson from this war. Success eludes only those who give up or refuse to fight the battle.

Originally posted by: raj_a_p

My one cent😊:

Never stop learning...acquiring knowledge, whatever be your profession. Whichever post -high or low you may be occupying, if you stop acquiring knowledge, you wont be able to move further. And finally the only real competition that you have is yourself.

Originally posted by: Arijit007

nice post, sangeeta, i would like to add one more point, don't let pride enter your mind, it will cloud your mind and it wont let you see your mistake, and you would recive a great defeat just like duryodhan.

Originally posted by: bheegi

absolutely! Arjun, even though a skilled archer learnt a lot during the battle...he never let his ego get the better of him and was willing to absorb all the knowledge he could get😊

Originally posted by: raj_a_p

Yes, the best learning period, many a times is the battle itself😊