Symbolic Themes In Mahabharat: Edt july 4

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bheegi

@bheegi

Stunner

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#101

Originally posted by: santhiyaa_J
Great post tfs

You are welcome...feel free to add to this thread😊 MB is full of symbolic themes

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Nandini

@NandiniRaizadaa

Trailblazer

+ 4

Posted: 11 years ago

#102

Originally posted by: bheegi
Interesting perspective from DD Patnaik: In the world of symbols, a queen personifies the kingdom and a king's royal power. Draupadi, like Indraprastha, is the royal power of the Pandavas. Only after marrying Draupadi, daughter of the powerful king of Panchala, are the Pandavas bold enough to come out of hiding and demand from their uncle their half of the inheritance. The kingdom thus carved out, Indraprastha, owes its existence to Draupadi. Indraprastha is Draupadi. What is done to Draupadi is done to Indraprastha. The domestication of the forest to create Indraprastha using fire is the domestication of Draupadi through marriage. When Indraprastha is gambled, Draupadi is gambled. When Draupadi is abused, Indraprastha is abused.

https://devdutt.com/articles/mahabharata/the-clothes-of-draupadi.html

This is so interesting sangeeta

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bheegi

@bheegi

Stunner

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#103

@Nandini...yes, Dev Dutt Patnaik believes that the whole MB is a symbolic tale and I kinda agree with him. I'm sure something like MB did happen in history but over time, poets and writers have added layers with symbolic themes to expand the epic in it's current form

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Surya Sundarraj Sriram

@Surya_krsnbhakt

Dazzler

Posted: 11 years ago

#104

Originally posted by: bheegi
@Nandini...yes, Dev Dutt Patnaik believes that the whole MB is a symbolic tale and I kinda agree with him. I'm sure something like MB did happen in history but over time, poets and writers have added layers with symbolic themes to expand the epic in it's current form

I have a slightly different thinking.

For me, everything happened. Each and every detail which is described.

And the symbolic themes also happened simultaneously.

After all, the whole Mahabharata is nothing but Krishna Leela, isn't it? And every act of Krishna has a thousand different meanings. Thus, with his uncomparable charm, and uncomparable Leelas, he created this whole situation, which gives a physical as well as a very spiritual meaning.

Thus, the Mahabharata was a historical event, crafted to fit spiritual allegory.

So, how's this theory? (And I have tomatoes in my house, so no need to throw.😉 If you wish you can throw chappals, I have very less of them😆).

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luv_sakshi

@luv_sakshi

Rocker

Posted: 11 years ago

#105

Awesome Post yaar!👏...Made for great reading..😃

I believe the Mahabharat actually happened & the epic is best suited to today's day n age👏👏👏..don't we get enough lessons & see enough battles being fought around us for similar reasons day in & day out?👍🏼 Isn't The Gita the best Proof we have about the Mahabharat...n also the best guide to Leading a Fruitful life..😊

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bheegi

@bheegi

Stunner

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#106

Originally posted by: Surya_krsnbhakt

I have a slightly different thinking.
For me, everything happened. Each and every detail which is described.
And the symbolic themes also happened simultaneously.
After all, the whole Mahabharata is nothing but Krishna Leela, isn't it? And every act of Krishna has a thousand different meanings. Thus, with his uncomparable charm, and uncomparable Leelas, he created this whole situation, which gives a physical as well as a very spiritual meaning.
Thus, the Mahabharata was a historical event, crafted to fit spiritual allegory.

So, how's this theory? (And I have tomatoes in my house, so no need to throw.😉 If you wish you can throw chappals, I have very less of them😆).

I'd love it if everything in MB was actually history...😃 but at the same time I love the symbolic significance of a lot of the themes in the story...oops itihaas😛

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bheegi

@bheegi

Stunner

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#107

Originally posted by: luv_sakshi
Awesome Post yaar!👏...Made for great reading..😃
I believe the Mahabharat actually happened & the epic is best suited to today's day n age👏👏👏..don't we get enough lessons & see enough battles being fought around us for similar reasons day in & day out?👍🏼 Isn't The Gita the best Proof we have about the Mahabharat...n also the best guide to Leading a Fruitful life..😊

Thanks Sakshi...yes, VV was a genius as I've always said. His IQ must have been >250...his epic is still relevant in this day and age. So many of us can learn how to live our lives based on the MB and Gita

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bheegi

@bheegi

Stunner

+ 5

Posted: 11 years ago

#108

After revealing the truth of Karna's origin, the relationship between Kunti and her sons was never the same again. They were angry with her. She had abandoned her own child to save her reputation. She had allowed them to hate him all these years. But for her silence, Karna would not have been treated so unjustly by the world. Through Karna,Vyasa reiterates that our knowledge of the world is imperfect based on perceptions and false information. We are surrounded by Kuntis who hide the truth in fear. We are surrounded by Karnas, villains who are actually brothers.

Pattanaik, Devdutt (2010-08-16). Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata (p. 298). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

In life, a person we trust the most can hide their biggest truth from us and the one who we mistrust the most, can actually be our ally...what an irony but great symbolic representation of real life characters.

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-TomNJerry-

@-TomNJerry-

Voyager

Posted: 11 years ago

#109

came across this interesting set of symbolic interpretation: thought i'd share!

The 'Mahabharata' has a deep underlying symbolism.

Imagine Draupadi as the human body. The Pandavas, the five senses, are wedded to it. Their first cousins, a hundred in number, the Kauravas, are present in the form of the tendencies of the mind.

Yudhishthir thinks that he is a good gambler and so would win over the Kauravas. The senses also think that they can win over the tendencies of the mind. The Pandavas keep gambling till they lose everything, including themselves and their beloved wife, Draupadi. Likewise, we lose everything when we gamble with our tendencies, and, like the Pandavas, end up in spiritual exile. The body is demeaned, like Draupadi was, and only divine intervention can save it. However, our body does not abandon us, even when we lead it into exile.

However, there are some good tendencies also. There are many good people in the Kaurava camp. But, Krishna advises Arjuna to kill all of them, implying that all tendencies, both good and evil should be exterminated. They are already dead, he says. You are only an instrument in making this evident.

If a person has to gain enlightenment he must overcome all the tendencies of the mind, good or bad. These do not have an existence, apart from what we have given them they are already dead. However, we keep them alive by our own acts, and, by our own acts, we can kill them all. Only then will we be free.

Kurukshetra is the world in which we live this life, witnessing a war between our senses and our mind's tendencies.

Dhritarashtra symbolises the mind, which gives birth, in a sense, to our tendencies. He was blind as the mind is to its tendencies. His wife, Gandhari, was not blind but chose to blindfold herself. Even when we have a choice to see, we choose not to see.

None of the Pandavas were born of their mother's husband, Pandu. Their mother, Kunti, had been given a chant, which invoked various gods who fathered the Pandavas. The Sun was the father of Karna. Dharma, the god of duty was the father of Yudhishthir and Indra the king of gods was the father of Arjuna. The god of wind, symbolising strength, was the father of Bhishma and the Ashwini Kumars were the fathers of Nakul and Sahdev.

Our senses are basically part of our divinity, the instruments born to keep us in this form. The original name of their mother was Pritha, signifying Prithvi, the Earth, and she took the name Kunti when Kuntibhoja adopted her. So, the Pandavas were born through the conjoining of the Earth and the divine the body and the spirit.

Karna was born of the Sun-god and the Earth mother. He is a symbol of our ego. Like him, our ego is also armoured. Only the guru's intervention could get the armour removed. Similarly, the guru helps the seeker in killing his ego.

Krishna's form, too, is symbolic. Deep blue is the colour of eternity. It is the colour of the sky, and of the deep ocean. Yellow is the colour of the earth. A deep blue god-image enclosed in yellow clothes symbolises the spirit clothed in the body. Krishna, then, is a symbol of the body and spirit, a symbol of you and me in our enlightened form. When we become aware of our true self, we realise that there is no difference between us and Krishna or Vishnu, of whom he is an incarnation, as, indeed are we.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/Symbolism-in-Mahabharata-has-spiritual-insight/articleshow/3418050.cms?