What led to Mahabharat?

Was it the love for power?

Or the craze for revenge?

Or plain jealousy?

Or injustice had to be put to an end!?

Whatever the reason, the battle of Mahabharat went on for 18 days and it is considered to be the deadliest war ever fought in the world.

Why deadly? Because innumerable astras were shot from both sides that shook the world many a times and also led to massive destruction of lives.

It was a war between brothers, between uncles and nephews, between friends and foes etc. But who won and who lost? The simple answer is: Pandavas won and Kauravas lost. But did the Pandavas actually win or they lost their entire vansh in the war. Did their win really bring them happiness?

After the war, when Dhritrashtra asked Yudhishthir of reckoning he said – “1660032000 were killed, 14000 are unknown and disappeared, and10165 are lost.”

Too much destruction and even the Pandavas left their mortal bodies bearing the huge burden of the war in their hearts.

The entire clan of Lord Krishna was wiped, due to the curse of Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas.

Isn’t the same situation now?

The world has already fought two World Wars and now with the recent Russia Ukraine clash, isn’t the world anxious about the third World War happening!

Lust for power, more land and supremacy is driving the world again towards war. And this time, its not between families, but countries.

However, now lets draw a parallel and understand if war is actually what people in the Dwapar Yug wanted and people in Kalyug want through Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed, the strategy revealed by Shri Hari in Matsya Puran.

Saam: Giving right advice to the opposite parties and make them see reason is what is Saam.

Before the Mahabharat war, King Dhritrashtra sent Sanjay to Upaplavya, where the Pandavas were camped. He told Yudhisthira that Dhritarashtra welcomed peace. And also that any victory that the Pandavas may obtain after beating their kin will be a hollow victory.

Also, Shri Krishna went as a messenger of peace to make the Kaurav army understand the impact of war.

An unknown story is that even Shakuni didn’t want the war, and he also made Duryodhan understand that it isn’t right to go for war.

Similarly, even in today’s time, the United Nations and all the countries are advicing Russia to deescalate the military operations in Ukrains, since it would lead to a massive war for the world.

Daam: Giving right price to the opposite parties to appease is what is Daam.

When Shri Krishna went to Hastinapur as a Shantidoot, he requested Duryodhana to reconsider his decision of not returning Indraprastha to Pandavas. When the elder Kaurava prince did not agree to it, Krishna asked the Pandavas be given five villages. When Duryodhana declined, Shri Krishna asked for a single village for the Pandavas. However, Duryodhana told Sri Krishna that he would not give land equal to a point of a needle to Pandavas. This led to another break down to avoid war.

Even now, in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Russia wants Ukraine to accept Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognise that Donetsk and Lugansk are independent states. But Ukraine doesn’t accept it and hence, the war continues.

Bhed: Using someone’s secret to their advantage in order to resolve a situation is Bhed.

In Mahabharat, Kunti confessed to Karna the secret that he is her firstborn son and asked him to not pursue the fight, which again he refused.

In the current circumstances, the Bhed is unfortunately not revealed.

Dand: Using Punishment as a tool to solve a situation is Dand.

Duryodhan banished the Pandavas for 13 long years and took their Indraprastha, their residence. However, that still didn’t stop him from pursuing the war because of his ego. But inspite of making all efforts to avoid war, it finally happened and that was the biggest dand for both the parties.

Similarly, Russia, due to its continuous military operations against Ukraine have lost a huge sum of their foreign exports since Germany, has halted Russian gas exports and is developing alternative energy sources in the Middle East, Norway, and the United States, mainly for the supply of liquefied natural gas. However, situations escalated and Russia and Ukraine went to war.

From these references, we can observe, just like in the Dwapar Yug, efforts were made in the Kalyug too to avoid war, but with no success in stopping the war. We don’t have the power to stop what the world leaders think, but the Mahabharat can be a reference point for the world leaders to introspect: WILL WAR HELP ANYONE?

 Author

Madhur Banka

Madhur is a writer, interested in mythology and world affairs.