“Mahabharata” is one of those quintessential epics which never age regardless of the current time or century. The reasons are multiple: highly fascinating characters, multi-layered stories with intrinsic messages contained within, and of course, a story of how good ultimately prevails over evil. But reading Vyasa’s epic as an adult provides a completely distinct perspective as one can also relate the stories, settings and characters in the epic to real life stories. The debate of whether “Mahabharata” is a true recounting of ancient history, or woven out of the imagination of a bard is best left alone. It offers timeless and enduring lessons regardless.
I’m also an avid reader of history in general and was always fascinated by the entire episode of the “American Civil War” in the United States’ history. From reading about the cause, course and aftermath of the Civil War, I felt there were some similarities to the plot line of the “Mahabharata”:
- Both depicted fights between brethren (Pandavas against Kauravas // Union against the Confederacy)
- Both involved people fighting on the wrong side because they were honor bound (Karna and Salya fighting on the Kaurava’s behalf // Jefferson Davis and Robert Lee fighting for the Confederacy)
- And lastly, both of them ended in victories for a just cause.
What prompted me to write-up my thoughts on the subject was the recent proclamation by Virginia, declaring April as a “Confederate History Month”. Even if one tries to stretch the limits of their imagination, the official argument that the proclamation was to honor the “the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens” of Virginia was woefully deficient in its sincerity and intent due to the lack of any mention of slavery. Wait…was not the whole conflict about SLAVERY to begin with. This is blatant revisionism if not downright racist, and I am not sugar-coating my words.
This brings me to my final piece: After reading the “Mahabharata” I was very sympathetic to characters such as Bheeshma, Drona, Karna and even Duryodhana to a certain degree (a most common feeling shared by many Indians who’ve read the epic), but I was never ever sympathetic to their CAUSE, i.e. the attempt to deny the Pandavas’ rightful claim to their kingdom. In a similar fashion, I have a deep regard for Robert Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson as brilliant military strategists and tacticians for their exploits during the Civil War, but their CAUSE was never just, and hence not worthy of any sympathy.
So, the drafters of the original proclamation of Virginia’s Confederate History Month were:
a) Expressing sympathy for the Confederate cause,
b) Trying to rewrite history by depicting the Civil War as a fight between Confederate South championing states rights Vs. Union North and a repressive federal government,
c) Being blatantly ignorant and insensitive in not mentioning Slavery, or
d) Stupid
It doesn’t matter that the proclamation was revised later (after criticism from inside and outside the state), but a deeply disturbing point has been brought to the fore front: there is a concerted and methodical attempt to sanitize and revise history in the United States to confirm to the ideology championed by a few. The only way to defeat such a pestilence (yes, advocating the spread of ignorance is akin to a plague) is to encourage independent thinking and corroboration.
