6 Simple Lessons from the Mahabharata
Have the power to change your life
One of the most important, longest and ancient Hindu epics, Mahabharata, is a rich source of life, wisdom and leadership lessons. Central to this epic is the Kurukshetra war (the 18-day epic war) between the Pandavas and their cousins, the Kauravas, for the throne of Indraprastha and Hastinapur. It is also the origin of the famous ‘Bhagwad Gita’.
Written thousands of years back, the lessons imparted in the Mahabharata are valid and universally relevant even today and probably will stay that way for years and generations to come.
Below are few important lessons that we can learn and integrate into our lives.
Learning is not limited by anything
The question of why Arjuna was considered as the greatest warrior and his teacher Dronacharya’s favorite, has been repeatedly asked by multiple people throughout Mahabharata and beyond.
Dronacharya himself has given a very simple yet factual answer to this — He imparted the exact same knowledge to all his students in school; however, Arjuna was not satisfied by only what was taught to him at school. He took those teachings as a base and while other students spent their time playing, Arjuna used his time to further practice and hone his skills. He did not limit his learning even when they were banished to the forest, nor when he was on the battlefield.
Learning is always an active enterprise. What we do in school is get an education. It arms us with information and various skills and gives us a base, a foundation and a stepping stone to learn further. Books, life events, people, nature all act as teachers. We have abundance of them in our life. Not enough time, too old to learn etc. are not limitations, just excuses. If there exists any limitation to learning, then it’s our own self and our mindset.
We must constantly sharpen our skills
The cousins, Pandavas and Kauravas, both learnt from Guru Dronacharya in the Gurukul (school). However, the Pandavas continued to sharpen their skills even after they returned from the Gurukul.
While they were banished to the forest, Arjuna did penance to evoke the gods, voyaged to Swarga (heaven), where he learnt how to dance and got the gift of divine weaponry. Bheema found new ways to increase his strength and master his chosen weapon and so on. These eventually made them invincible. On the other hand, the Kauravas never bothered to upgrade their skills.
Most of us are guilty of this. We think that whatever we have learnt is enough. But we fail to understand that as time and situations changes, our efficiency and relevance both decreases. Good is not enough when better is expected. Sharpening and enhancing our skills from time to time is the key to success.
Don’t change the goals — adapt the plans and strategies
The main goal of the battle of Kurukshetra was to uphold Dharma (the right way of living). During the war, under the guidance of Krishna (an incarnation of God himself), several rules were adapted, modified or even broken to ensure this goal was achieved.
When we are faced with an unprecedented problem, we stop trying and give up on our goals instead of adapting the plans and strategies and thinking of all possible ways to reach the goal.
What better example than with the covid19 pandemic. A lot of people and businesses adapted to the circumstances without losing sight of their goals and are thriving.
As author and success coach, Tony Robbins states, “Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.”
We should get out of our comfort zones more often
Pandavas were constantly pushed out of their comfort zone right from their childhood. They were born and brought up in the forest. While they were young adults, they returned to a life of royalty. While in the palace, the Kauravas constantly harassed the Pandavas throughout their childhood and hence the Pandavas were always watching their backs.
Later, the kingdom of Hastinapur was divided and Pandavas once again had to leave Hastinapur and establish a new kingdom for themselves from scratch. They did this very successfully. They were again banished to the forest after the infamous ‘game of the dice’ where they lost everything to their cousins. Pandavas adapted and survived in the forest for 13 years and then returned to embark on a battle.
On the other hand, the Kauravas always stayed within the comfortable confines of Hastinapur.
As a result, the Pandavas became fearless and were mentally and physically prepared to face any kind of circumstances they might encounter, while the Kauravas lacked even the basic understanding of life.
Our natural tendency is to avoid change and hence we avoid getting out of our comfort zones. Our survival instincts kick in when change occurs as our brain is afraid of the unknown. We need to rewire our brains and firmly place this understanding in the mind that when we make changes or take calculated risks, either good things will happen, or bad things will surface. Either ways, when all is over it will still be okay.
This practice helps us deal with stress better, increases productivity and creativity. Even a small act of driving a different route to office everyday can boost our brain power tremendously. Someone has rightly stated — Life happens just outside our comfort zones.
Get a mentor — Even the best needs them
Along with being the greatest warrior of the time, Arjuna was also well versed in the fundamentals of life and duty. There was no match for him in any walk of life. Even then, he chose Lord Krishna to accompany and guide him during the war.
Before the war, both Arjuna and Duryodhana (the eldest of the Kauravas) approached Lord Krishna for help. They were given a choice of either choosing Krishna, the lord himself or his huge army. Arjuna made a wise decision and chose Krishna as his mentor. Krishna agreed to this on the condition that he will not fight in the war but only be Arjuna’s charioteer. Duryodhana of course, chose to take Lord Krishna’s army.
In the war that ensued, even though Pandavas had a much smaller army, under the able guidance and mentoring of Lord Krishna, they were able to defeat the Kauravas.
Just like Lord Krishna who gave Arjuna and the Pandavas invaluable advice during the war, good mentors and coaches act like charioteers in our life and steer us to success. They act as facilitators and help us to discover ourselves without hand-holding.
Every action or decision has consequences and most importantly, unintended consequences
Out of the many things that the great epic Mahabharata teaches us, the important one is about “unintentional or unintended consequences” of our actions or decisions.
Kunti, mother of Pandavas, was blessed with a mantra (chant) by the recital of which she could entice any higher soul and could begot a worthy son. When she received this mantra, her curiosity knew no bounds and she tried it out to see if it really works. The result — Karna was born. At the time, she was still unmarried and begetting a child was taboo for unmarried females. Kunti left her new-born baby in a basket and set it afloat in the river so she does not have to face the wrath of the society. Kunti’s curiosity caused serious repercussions for Karna and he suffered lifelong. Ultimately, he fought alongside Kauravas against his own brothers and was martyred in the Kurukshetra war. Kunti’s intentions were not bad, but the unintended consequences were too big to bear.
There are several such examples in the epic — The great grandfather Bheeshma’s oath to remain a bachelor and childless lifelong, the stalwarts of the court of Hastinapur allowed Duryodhana to conduct the ill-reputed Game of dice where the Pandavas lost everything, allowing Shakuni (Duryodhana’s uncle) to stay back in Hastinapur even when he had his own kingdom to take care of, ignoring Dhritarashtra’s (Kauravas father) unreasonable ambitions, all of which led to severe consequences and several more unintended consequences.
Often in our personal & professional lives, we take decisions or actions with shortsightedness or without a forethought. The intentions may not be wrong. But such shortsighted decisions often causes more harm than good. In every decision that we make, we must think and factor in as many possible repercussions and make our intentions clear to all the stakeholders beforehand to minimize unintended consequences and their effect.
As the age old saying goes- “The way to hell is paved with all good intentions!”.
