Mahabharata: A fight for re-establishment of dharma

"When adharma takeover dharma and several qualified people lack to take right actions, then some people step up and take responsibility to re-establish dharma."

Mahabharata isn't just "the longest poem ever written" but also written to inspire us to strict on the right path. According to me, Mahabharata is a result of misleading acts of 3 qualified people:

Devavrata (Bhishma)
Drona
Karna

In the blindness of love, they forget their real duty. They ignored all wrong happenings and indulge in their self benefits. After seeing the failure of these rightful people, lord Krishna himself participated with Pandavas and re-established dharma.

Dharma: "the right way of living"

Dharma is something that might consider as the right way of living. However, no one exactly knows who decided criteria of dharma, but it is believed to maintain the balance between life and the universe. It's like some set of rules which need to be followed to maintain equality, ethic, justice, law, order, and peace between human and other. It can't be biased by any kind of power. And importantly there is nothing bigger than dharma and dharma can never be anyone's weakness.

__ Devavrata: a blind oath keeper

Devavrata, son of the King Shantanu and goddess Ganga was a rightful crown prince of the Hastinapura. He is a powerful warrior of that time and also a great follower of dharma. But in deep love towards the father, he sacrificed the throne of Hastinapur. He took the "bhishma pratigya" to serve his whole life in "Brahmcharya" and for the king of Hastinapur estate, and from there he got the name "Gangaputra Bhishma". And this way he bounded himself in vow and allowed Dhritarashtra to do adharma. A mistake with knowledge is considered as a sin. After having knowledge of dharma, he witnessed injustice and didn't stop it from happening.

__ Drona: a blind father

Drona was known as the princes' teacher of the Hastinapur. He was skilled like Bhishma. However, his son was a prime weakness for him. From becoming a princes' teacher to standing in Kurukshetra fight, it was his love for his son Aswathama who influenced him to do adharma. Other than this his unethical action towards the Eklavya was also a part of the question. If he gave knowledge to his son about dharma and voluntarily raised voice against adharma then the war of Kurukshetra could be stopped.

__ Karna: a blind friend

Karna, royal blood raised by Suta parent. He was blessed with the superpower of lord Surya and immortal from birth. However, society never accepted his talent cause he was a Suta. Throughout life, he faced inequality of caste. Still, he was known to be a follower of dharma. After recognization by Duryodhana, he had a chance to restore caste-based equality. But his blind faith towards Duryodhana and hate for Pandavas led him to a series of adharma including participating in the Kurukshetra war from Duryodhana's side.

All three were well responsible and capable. But they consider their belief as dharma and allowed adharma to overrule dharma. Yes, Mahabharta was the battle of the establishment of dharma. And according to me, these three were equally culprit to stand by side of the Duryodhana. They had a chance to stop Duryodhana, Shakuni, and Dushasana from crossing all limits during the match of Chausar. But no. Bhisma was tied in his vows. Drona was helpless due to love for his son. And Karna was influenced by his friendship.

If anyone among them understands their power and accepts their actual responsibility then the battle of Kurukshetra can be avoided. The consequences of battle were painful for both sides. On one side Kaurva was without a dynasty and on the other side, Pandava witnessed the funeral of their child. Also, the demolishment of armies of both sides couldn't be ignored. In the end, due to the pain of losing 100 children in battle, Gandhari cursed lord Krishana and his Yaduvanshi dynasty ended.

We should always remember, with great power there comes great responsibilities. It's my opinion that this destructive war can be stopped. Or maybe it was meant to have. The thing which matters is not to consider your karma as dharma, but in actual our karma defines the side of dharma.

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥४-७॥

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥४-८॥

For related articles on Wikipedia:

Gaurav Purwar