Originally posted by: sashashyam
Sandhya dear,
Just to please you, I will grant you all that you have said about the assorted Ashoka-ites, even
the Ahimsa ki Devi Dharma. Yes, but with one reservation. You have said:
All our mahaan heroines do that. When Sharifuddin could be forgiven because his wife was pregnant, which was worse, Dharma's general ahimsavaad was more tolerable. Agreed. Hinsa is the last resort and is imperative in certain situations, esp defense if not attack, ahimsavaad has its own merits. Wasn't it an important tool in our independence struggle?
The non-cooperation movement and the various satyagrahas damaged the British more than the various acts of violence.
There is no connection that I can see between Sharifuddin's
gaddari being forgiven and Dharma's
ahimsavaad, (The only connection is that they are all doctrines of our mahaan heroines...)
which is fact goes even beyond Gandhiji, for she wants people to simply not resist violence, even if that meant they had to die in the process. Gandhiji did not oppose the maintenance or the use of the army in the defence of the nation, as in vacating J&K of the invaders in late 1947.
(That is why she is shown never to succeed. Too much of a good thing is bad too. She stretches Ahimsa beyond its scopes...Now if Helena is shown to have a change of heart listening to her bhaashans, like Ruqaiya, then it would be incredible)
Now, it might sound blasphemous, and I agree with your last para, but the non-violence movement worked in India because it was the British who were the opponents, and not Hitler's Nazis. Against a Hitler, ahimsa would have been finished on the first day when they executed Gandhiji. And the nation would have been awash with Bhagat Singhs.
That is the truth. Ahimsa is a very noble doctrine, but it is for the very brave, and it cannot be used when there is a brutal foe whose mind cannot be changed by the Dandi march type spectacle. The Rajmata is one such, and there is no point using ahimsa against her.
Completely agree here aunty. Hitler would have dealt with Satyagraha in a totally different fashion.😆 He would have immolated all the Dandi marchers and dumped them into the sea. The likes of Hitler have to be destroyed only by equal brute force. Kurukshetra is justified when adharma crosses limits. But in day to day affairs himsa can be avoided if possible. And if the opponents have humanism, ahimsa is a better option though it takes extreme courage and perseverance to uphold it.
But Dharma's views were against the death penalty. And against the general ruffians whom Ashoka might be tempted to fight off. Not against the Rajmata. Politics and defense of the nation was beyond her scope. Even against Niharika, she wishes for peace. Which Ashoka tries to achieve by bringing her to talks. No harm in ruling out every other option before declaration of war. Even Krishna did that. It would have been extremely unfair to the Pandavas if Duryodhan had agreed to 5 houses. Yet Krishna made the bargain. (That because he was God, he KNEW that Duryodhan the arrogant fool he is wouldn't agree is another thing...😆)
Dharma is like Jane Bennet who would try to defend Darcy and Wickham at the same time. By nature she is like that only. But who actually heeds to her.😆 When she expresses her ahimsavaad to Bindusaar when she was his doctor in ghoonghat, he brushes her aside saying it cannot fit in his Kshatriya Dharm. Ashoka who tried to be a ahimsaavaadi launched into dishoom dishoom right in front of her eyes. But IF she were recognised and made queen and given the permission to punish Mir, she might still forgive him even if Ashoka will want to slice Mir.
Everywhere that ahimsa has worked post-Gandhiji, in the American South, in apartheid South Africa, in Walesa's Poland, the deciding factor that ensured its victory was the force of public opinion and, in the South African case, the sanctions that were imposed as a result of public and international pressure. Without that, nothing would have worked.
Very true.
I find Dharma intensely irritating, because of her refusal to adjust her beliefs in the light of circumstances.
She is as blinkered as Jodha but I can accept this more as she hardly succeeds, like those who cannot accept reality and are stuck to their views. What irritated me about Jodha was that she came out with flying colours everytime and was hailed and praised and put on a pedestal. Like forgiving Shariffu and Bakshi, supporting Shehnaaz, etc.
Of course, the prevailing doctrine on TV being nari shakti, we will end up with Ashoka's epiphany being moulded not by the Lord Buddha's teachings, but by Dharma's bhashans!😉😉
Shyamala Aunty
Highly possible. But hope Ashoka doesn't fall into the muck. In fact I am dreading 2 things, the choice of Adult Ashoka dn the Entry of the heroines.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
