Mahabharata Podcast Episode 62 - Kurukshetra, Day 1: Concluded
Jun 22, 2011
00:00
Episode 62 - Let's admit it, we were all impatient for this war to get started. Like the characters in the story, we concluded many episodes back that there was never going to be a peaceful solution, and it would take nothing less than a massive bloodletting to make sure the bad guys were punished and the good guys got their rightful honors.
But now that the war has started, those frustrating days of exile in the forest are looking more attractive. Sure, we all feel that Duryodhana deserves a good kick in the ass, but wars are never that satisfying. Entire nations of warriors will be extinct before Duryodhana gets his first bruise. And then there are the other 98 Kaurava brothers. Sure, they might have collectively done some sneaky things, but how exactly did they earn the fate of preceding their elder brother into the underworld, like some primitive escort?
We might have learned thousands of years ago that war can never have a satisfactory outcome, and by now we should have found better ways of resolving our differences. But here we are today, a bunch of "civilized" readers, looking forward to the battle books and anticipating the final denouement of the evil Kaurava brothers.
There is no such satisfaction on this, the first day of war. Instead, Virata was deprived of both of his sons, and we found out too late that his second son Shveta was a fine Kshatriya and would have made a great ally. But now he's dead; another life wasted.
Brace yourself, however, because there is much more of this yet to come...
But now that the war has started, those frustrating days of exile in the forest are looking more attractive. Sure, we all feel that Duryodhana deserves a good kick in the ass, but wars are never that satisfying. Entire nations of warriors will be extinct before Duryodhana gets his first bruise. And then there are the other 98 Kaurava brothers. Sure, they might have collectively done some sneaky things, but how exactly did they earn the fate of preceding their elder brother into the underworld, like some primitive escort?
We might have learned thousands of years ago that war can never have a satisfactory outcome, and by now we should have found better ways of resolving our differences. But here we are today, a bunch of "civilized" readers, looking forward to the battle books and anticipating the final denouement of the evil Kaurava brothers.
There is no such satisfaction on this, the first day of war. Instead, Virata was deprived of both of his sons, and we found out too late that his second son Shveta was a fine Kshatriya and would have made a great ally. But now he's dead; another life wasted.
Brace yourself, however, because there is much more of this yet to come...