What Did The Re-Telecast of Mahabharata and Ramayana Teach Us?

|By- Yashvi Pandya|

India is known for its variety of cultures, religions and distinguished ways of living. It is rich with the knowledge of such occult sciences that haven’t been discovered by any other parts of the world so far. We have always been on top when it came to values, norms and tenets of following a certain system having detailed proofs and reasons to follow the same in the form of Vedas and inscriptions dating back to 1700BCE. In the present, the world is facing a major challenge from a tiny virus which has brought it to a standstill. PM Narendra Modi has also recalled the epic of Mahabharata and Ramayana to motivate the citizens in such insurgency and has quoted “The battle of Mahabharata was won in 18 days and the country has to win the battle against Covid-19 in 21 days”. The war of Mahabharata and its resemblance to the current situation is still a question to many citizens of our country, the reason being lack of knowledge about our culture which is what India is known for.

Mahabharata, Ramayana, why does one have to know them? What help will these epics serve in one’s life? Such questions cloud a person’s mind often. Mythology doesn’t come across as an interesting subject to many, it is either considered too impractical or non-existent. Though these epics might not have enough evidence for them to have taken place in the past but they do have something in common that is the importance of Dharma. Their teachings, morals and stories signify Dharma at the epitome of all other ethics. The re-telecast of these epics taught us one thing: Know Your Dharma!

What is Dharma?

For most of us it is either Hinduism, Islam, Christianity or any other religion but it manifests a very simple meaning which is duty. The basic duty of every organism specifically humans, being on the top of the hierarchy for the well-being of ourselves, other organisms and most importantly this planet. Every person living on it holds a duty of conserving it, valuing nature and not misusing its presents. This, is our Dharma. The duty which we all have forgotten and have been plundering this planet unabashedly for the last many years, reducing it to ashes, smoke, concrete jungles and devastation. All we have around are tall skyscrapers, huge factories and many more actions that are snatching away the nature’s serenity. All boundaries been crossed, thickets have been wiped out, exotic animals have been consumed, murky water bodies and poisonous atmospheres are all that surround us.

As a human, as a society, as a nation and as residents of this planet, we have got on to one such path which we call as Adharma, Lord Krishna in Mahabharata has said ‘yada yada hi dharmasya…glanir bhavati bharata...abhyuthanamma adharmasya...tad aatmanam srijamyaha” meaning that every time there is Adharma in a large amount on this planet, the almighty shall come and rescue it. As the current situation explains today the almighty is our nature which is healing everything slowly, we rapacious humans locked up in our houses, witnessing the positive changes in our environment from the past 60 days.

It is time for us to take this situation of Covid-19 as a reminder to mend our ways or else the day might not be far when the entire human race would face a situation like the existence of dinosaurs once did.