Mahabharata Breakdown #1: The 270 Episodes that changed my perspective on relationships, politics and the very definition of righteousness

Recently, I binge-watched a TV series, I would have normally scrolled past. The 2013 Star Plus TV Series - Mahabharat. I am not a huge fan of the TV or Film industry trying to dramatize Indian Epics (read: Adipurush) and felt these are best left for consumption in paperback format. That’s how I have read Ramayana and only have watched a single TV Series (which I really admired) revolving around it on Star Plus. Coincidently, this one had aired on the same channel which made me think twice.

I am aware that I am (only) ten years late here. The series is a huge hit nationwide as well as worldwide. The music is even more popular and being able to play the theme song on a keyboard was considered a cool factor, among us kids, back in school days. The plethora of characters in Mahabharat had always confused me and made me stick to Ramayana alone for most of my childhood. Nonetheless, I decided to give this series a watch so it could be an introduction to the great epic for me.

The next week, I lost track of time. Averaging 20-30 episodes a day (skipping unnecessary dramatics at times), I finished the entire series in eight days. That’s 270 Episodes. And I feel I have learned so much. There are times I felt I should be writing down some things that were thought-provoking. After completing the series, I thought I would write at least one article for this show. The next morning, after being up at night thinking about the character dynamics and plot, I thought I would write three. When I finally put pen to paper and condensed my thoughts, I felt five would be perfect. And so, there are going to be five breakdowns for this Series alone, this one being the first among them.

I had heard from someone that the reason Mahabharat is so revered is because of its ubiquitousness. You could find every person from your life matching the personality traits of someone in the Mahabharat . This was probably my number one reason to watch the show — to understand how different people reacted to certain events and the very definition of right and wrong they perceived and upheld.

There are so many things to discuss about. As the title of this article goes, let’s focus on each theme individually. Whether you have watched the show or not, I encourage you to read ahead.

Relations: Relationships 101 defined in Mahabharat

The show beautifully portrays every relationship in the epic - that between husband-wife, mother-son, father-son, father-daughter, teacher-student, brothers, sisters, and even friends. Most importantly, it portrays all these relationships with a set of two examples - the good kind and the bad kind. You may ask - how can a relationship between parent and child be negative? Well, it could and it still does. All the negative set of examples of the relationship led to the War of Kurukshetra in one way or another.

Most of the divide between the two sets of relationships happens because of the brothers - Dhritarashtra and Pandu. The innate anger in the heart of the elder brother Dhritarashtra, for being treated unfairly because of being born-blind, leads to problems over time that seep into his own blood - his hundred sons.

Gandhari, the mother of the 101 Kauravas, decides to blindfold herself at the time of marriage. While she exhibits relentless compassion by blinding herself to feel the same darkness as her husband does, she also ends up turning a blind eye to every mistake her husband and son commit over time. On the other hand, Kunti, the mother of the Pandavs, raises her kids with good virtues without even the comfort of the palace that the kids deserve. Thus, Dhritarashtra’s sons carry forward the negative vibe while Pandu’s sons carry forward his goodwill and nature, in their hearts. If children are merely a reflection of their parents, then one wonders how much polishing and cleaning the mirror needs for a clearer reflection.

But parentage is not the only cause of the child’s personality. It is also the experiences that shape them. This is where Karna comes in. Born to a princess, and meant to be a king, however, being raised in a charioteer’s home makes him challenge the very society that condemns him for his unmatched archery skills. But upon receiving the first hand of friendship that offers him solace instead of ridicule, he devotes his entire life to Duryodhan without questioning his virtues. Makes you think about whether all friendships are actually good because of the comfort they provide you.

Another place where personality develops is school or as they said in olden times, Gurukul. Guru Drona is the only teacher here. A common teacher for honing the skills of his students - the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Does he discriminate among his students? Probably not. But a few incidents, make young Arjun question his own skills such as, why his teacher refused to teach Eklavya and Karna. Was it to make Arjun appear mightier than the rest? While Guru Drona does repent his actions, he is unable to break the oath of Hastinapur - to teach anyone but the Princes of Hastinapur kingdom. Made me think again, Should a teacher constrain his knowledge to a few because of personal issues or promises? Or fulfil his duty nonetheless?

Among all these, the best of the relationships is that between Krishna and Arjuna or probably Krishna and Draupadi. To both of them, Krishna is a friend. A friend with the right advice. He prepares Arjun for the unfair time in his future. He makes sure the brothers stay together, no matter what. To Draupadi, he is probably her first-ever friend in the world. He is there for her when she is treated unfairly in the Hastinapur court and offers her solace after Duryodhan and Dushashan’s heinous act of disrobing her in court. In Krishna, I saw not only a friend but also a diplomat beyond contemporaries which we will look into, in the next section.

Politics: Who shall be the next King?

Everything seemed to be going really well after Dhritarashtra was made the interim king to the throne of Hastinapur, so where does the internal politics come in? For that, you need a cunning man, someone like… Shakuni, the King of Gandhar, and brother to Queen Gandhari. Believing his sister to have fallen prey to the Bhishma’s ploy and marrying a blind man, Shakuni decided to avenge his sister by making sure Dhritarashtra and more importantly his heir has the ultimate right to the throne.

Shakuni instills in his nephews (Duryodhan and his brothers), all kinds of unrighteous qualities - harboring anger and jealousy against the Pandavas, who were also an heir to the throne. He plots and plots to see the Pandavas fall yet rise again. He even backtracks and changes his schemes to make Duryodhan seem more favorable to the throne. Dhritarashtra being blinded by vision, only takes the sweet-sounding Shakuni’s words as the truth on many occasions. Shakuni believes there is no wrong in his deeds and makes his nephews believe so too, instructing them to twist the rules to their needs. The only caretakers of the law in the kingdom are Bhishma and Chief Minister Vidhur.

This is where Kunti’s nephew steps in. Vasudev Krishna. His personality frightens Shakuni who believes Krishna should not be made an enemy. Why? Unlike the Pandavas headed by Yudhishthira, who always upheld laws and rules, Krishna believed rules could be turned and twisted too if they were done for the greater good (welfare of all and not just one). 

Krishna decided to side with the Pandavas and Shakuni believes he finally met a match. However, believing Krishna to be his match was Shakuni's ultimate mistake.

Many sequences in the show highlight the politics of Hastinapur but the best one I found was the one in which Arjun marries Subhadra (Krishna’s sister) in Dwarka. Before you understand this sequence, there are some things to keep in mind:

• This happens at a point when, Indraprastha, a city established by the Pandavas through their own efforts, is about to soon become independent of the Kingdom of Hastinapur which it originally belonged to. Indraprastha has achieved all the prerequisites required to become independent and for the final sanction, needs only the approval of King Dhritarashtra.
• The Win-Win-Win Shakuni Scheme: Shakuni does not want Indraprastha to become an independent state. If it happened, it would be the first successful step for Pandavs in establishing a kingdom of their own. It would gain the Pandavs immense popularity in the hearts of the commoners. 
• Shakuni is aware of Krishna’s support for the Pandavs and to break this alliance he advices Dhritarashtra to get Dwarka’s support for Hastinapur, before the Pandav brothers, by getting Duryodhan married to the Princess of Dwarka, Subhadra,. 
• This would ensure Krishna would stand with Hastinapur at all times even against the Pandavs, who would then dare not raise their weapon against Krishna.

However, Subhadra innately loves Arjun so Krishna asks her to elope with Arjun before her marriage with Duryodhan happens. Upon hearing the news of the bride eloping, Bhishma and everyone from Hastinapur are shocked and feel betrayed. Arjun’s mother, Kunti, is torn apart in a dilemma whether to offer her blessings to her son or not. Why you may ask? Here’s the thing:

• To offer blessings would be an act of treachery for someone from the court of Hastinapur
• Not offering blessings to Arjun would be an act of declaring Indraprastha an independent state of its own. This would foil Shakuni’s plans all together and give the Pandavs an independent state of their own.

This scene was absolutely brilliant in its portrayal of the state politics present during the times. Many such scenes are present, while both Pandavs and Kauravs are preparing their army for the final war. Lots of ploys and schemes are unrolled to gather support for the war. But why does the war occur in the first place? Why did Krishna, God Himself, allow for such a blood bath to happen? For that, we all have to understand the most important concept discussed in the show - Dharma or Righteousness.

Dharma: What is the Righteousness you are fighting for? Is it worth it?

What is Dharma? What does being right even mean? In Hastinapur alone, everyone had their own preconceived notion of what was right. For Bhishma, it was upholding the oath he had taken and following the traditions set by the older generations. For Guru Drona, it was fighting righteously but being swayed by the love of his son, he forgets to take a stand of his own. For King Dhritarashtra, it was making sure his son was not treated unfairly because of being born to a blind father. For Karna, it was only allegiance to his friend Duryodhan who stood for him when others ridiculed him. For Pandavs, it was following their elder brother Yudhishthira, who was the epitome of good virtues and righteousness. So, were they all correct?

Draupadi questions similarly when she is brought into the court for being disrobed. Shakuni, Duryodhan, and his brothers had absolutely zero knowledge of Dharma. But others around them did. Yudhishthira followed Dharma strictly and still ended up losing his brothers in the game of dice and now his wife. King Dhritarashtra felt no wrong being done during the game of dice as it was just a game. Bhishma intervened but felt constrained by his oath to not give orders like a King. Guru Drona had the audacity to raise his voice against Duryodhan but when his own son refused to leave Duryodhan’s side, Drona gave up and sat in silence too. The Pandavas remained silent in both shame and to uphold the word of their brother, who was being taken advantage of by Shakuni. Yudhishthira, so proud of the Dharma he upheld, could not help his own wife from the harsh treatment she received. Draupadi questions such people who feel they are upholding their own Dharma but care nothing about other’s honor. Was that all right? And somewhere there, I felt was the definition of Dharma.

Being right is not just about speaking the truth and doing correct things for oneself to keep one’s image clean. Rather it is for everyone’s welfare. To uphold the honor of others when attacked by cunning and evil people. To give up one’s own prejudices or traditions to help others achieve a greater good. The greater Dharma is to see others’ Dharma as your own and take a step in that direction.

These are some of the key topics that form the theme of the show. I do agree there is no greater Epic that discusses so many relevant topics and has so many different personalities that we could find in day-to-day life. The more I think about a certain character from Mahabharat, the more my mind tries to map the personality of the character to someone I know in my life. The tunes of the theme song and the shlokas echo in my mind even now as I am writing this. The show does justice to portraying what good and bad relationships look like, how politics and diplomacy are important, and ultimately, what righteousness are you trying to protect and uphold.

But that still does not answer the question… why War? A war that completely wiped out generations of the Kuru dynasty in 18 days. Were those deaths necessary? I felt those questions can be answered much more thoroughly in the next three articles as we dive deeper into the lives of three key figures of the Epic… who were responsible for not stopping the war.

-Aditya