THE MAHABHARATA EPIC

The Mahabharata Epic

The Mahabharata epic

Introduction

The Mahabharata epic offers a message that discussed; we have spoken this in general terms. Is it possible that America's second revolution, the civil rights movement, might have failed had it not been for Hinduism? One could persuasively argue, of course, (1) that the civil rights movement in America was inevitable, and its success (limited and defined, of course, but clearly a second revolution nonetheless) was merely a matter of time, and (2) that Hinduism was not the source of its defining characteristic. I believe it accurate to say that, at the least, because of Hinduism and particularly that Hinduism as practiced by Mahatma Gandhi, there was far less bloodshed than there otherwise might have been. Had it not been for the influence of Gandhi upon the prophet of the U.S. movement, the streams of the civil rights struggle would have been even bloodier than they were.

Discussion

Consider what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his essay, “A Pilgrimage to Nonviolence” (found in the collection of his sermons titled Strength to Love (Martin, 1981):

Not until I entered the theological seminary, however, did I begin a serious intellectual quest for a method that would eliminate social evil. I immediately influenced by the social gospel. During this period, I had almost despaired of the power of love, to solve social problems. The turn-the-other cheek and love-your-enemies philosophies are valid; I felt; only when individuals are in conflict with other individuals; when racial groups and nations are in conflict, a more practical approach is necessary.

Then I introduced to the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. As I read his works, I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. The whole Gandhian concept of Satyagraha … was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually, diminished, and I came to see for the first time that the Christian doctrine of love, operating through the Gandhian method of non-violence is one of the most potent weapons available to an oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.

In South Africa, Gandhi conceived of and perfected the concept called Satyagraha. As an eighteen-year-old, he had gone to Britain and trained to become a lawyer. Having completed his training, he was unprepared to make a living in his homeland, so he responded to an invitation to become a legal interpreter for an Indian community in South Africa. It was there that Gandhi experienced first-hand the racial prejudice of that land. While traveling on a train from Durban to Pretoria, he evicted from the first-class compartment of the train, refused a seat in stagecoach, and struck by the coach driver. Once in Pretoria he denied room in the hotels. He tempted to return to India but remained in South Africa, working in the area of arbitration and alternative conflict resolution (Bandyopadhyaya, 2008).

The concept of Satyagraha would emerge in 1906 with the draft of the Asiatic Ordinance that required ...