Being good - something we all aspire to however rebellious or conformist. Varied conceptions of good, standards of goodness, expectations of others and of oneself. "Good" and "right" are among the most loaded words in any language and the rubric on which any human society has been built. Defining either of these however poses great difficulty and we all settle for meanings of the moment that apply to our restricted contexts.Gurcharan Das in his book explores the larger ideal of being "good" and yet living in the world materialistically, comfortably and happily. He uses the Mahabharat as the text through which he explores the idea of morality, moral values and moral rules. The Mahabharat is perhaps one of the most al encompassing pieces of literature ever written. Running into over 100,000 verses and 13 books, it explores various facets of human lives and raises more questions than it answers.
Through the principal characters of the story and the choices that they make through the plot of the epic, he explores the concept of Dharma, its relativistic and ever evolving nature. He applies lessons learnt through his readings of the Mahabharat to modern day living, the idea of a democratic state, realpolitik, the corporate world and individual questions of conscience that each of us faces everyday.
What I love about the book is that he does not pronounce judgement. Gurcharan Das merely lays bare, with complete simplicity and lucidity, all the moral choices and the human emotions explored by the Mahabharat and their transcendence to the 21st Century. His personal view, he makes clear, is just that. He does not impose it on the reader. His analysis is critical, objective and logical. He takes the reader through his own mental process of questioning and counter questioning the lessons of the epic. At the same time he does not over explain or get lost in verbosity. The pace rivals that of a work of fiction and the chapters are innovatively and curiously titled.
All in all a lovely read. Something I am definitely going to go back to in greater detail bit by bit.
