Verses 1.8–1.12🔗

Duryodhana was a coward by nature. Cowardice is the smell of inauthenticity. Courage is the fragrance of authenticity. He was inauthentic as his mamakāra, what he perceived as himself, was much lower than his ahaṁkāra, what he projected as himself to others. Understand, when one is in denial, suffering is naturally going to be there. His root pattern of self-denial, of deep fear and insecurity had always made him feel threatened by the fact that his Pāṇḍava cousins especially Arjuna and Bhīma were far more superior, physically stronger and skilled than him. Duryodhana felt secure only when surrounded by cronies. His strength and valor arose from the feeling of being supported by his clan and the army around him.

On the positive side, Duryodhana was an Ego Needs Support extremely generous friend who gave his all for the sake of someone he trusted. This quality had attracted strong men like Karṇa to him who swore undying loyalty. Even though Karṇa knew that Arjuna was his own brother, all he could say to his mother Kuntī was that she would finally be left with five sons, implying that one of her sons, either Arjuna or Karṇa, would perish in the war. Such was the loyalty that Duryodhana evoked in his friends. Duryodhana now rightly went on to claim that there were a numberofpeople,whoweregreatwarriors,whowouldwillinglylaydown their lives for him. He then began to boost his own morale by saying that the power of the Kaurava army led by Bhīṣma was immense, whereas the Pāṇḍava army with Bhīma as one of the commanders was limited in power.

Duryodhana’s reference to Bhīma alongside Bhīṣma was due to the fear pattern that he had, of the oath that Bhīma had taken—to break Duryodhana’s thigh and drink his blood to avenge the insult to Draupadī. Duryodhana knew that the only factor that could prevent it would be the protection of Bhīṣma. Duryodhana then addressed the Kaurava army, exhorting them to support their Commander-in-Chief, Bhīṣma. In response, Bhīṣma blew his conch like a lion, making Duryodhana joyful. Bhīṣma was the first Kaurava Commander-in-Chief and Duryodhana wanted to make sure that the entire Kaurava army was committed to his leadership. Bhīṣma, the greatest warrior either side had known, was leading the Kaurava army.

Duryodhana wanted to take no chances that his past hatred towards Bhīṣma would affect his assembled supporters. Though he knew that Bhīṣma and even Droṇa would have gone with the Pāṇḍava princes and Kṛṣṇa, had it not been their strong bonds of duty, he could not afford to antagonize them. The Qualities of Dharma Bhīṣma is the embodiment of dharma, righteousness. He is the Pitāmaḥ, the greatfather of Mahābhārat, the grand sire and patriarch of the Pāṇḍavas and Kaurava clan. Bhīṣma was born to Gaṅgā as Devavṛata. He was the only surviving son of eight sons whom Gaṅgā had given birth to. So, Gaṅgā, the sacred most river energy is the great grandmother of Mahābhārat.

When Bhīṣma’s father king Śāntanu wanted to marry Satyavatī, a daughter of a fisherman, Devavṛata swore to remain as a brahmacāri, never to marry, so that his stepmother Satyavatī’s children could have access to his father’s throne. Satyavatī was the grandmother of both Pāṇḍu and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Bhīṣma was highly respected for his valor and sagacity. It is one of the greatest ironies of Mahābhārat that wise men like Bhīṣma and Droṇa chose to be on Duryodhana’s side, knowing fully well that whatever path Duryodhana wasfollowingwasnotonlymorallyincorrect,butalsoagainstdharma,the cosmic law. In the highest spiritual sense there is no right or wrong morally. Everything is neutral. Bhīṣma and Droṇa were not ordinary people, they were highly matured souls, adept in living the scriptural truths.

Moreover, they were fully aware that Kṛṣṇa is a divine Incarnation, and the very fact that Kṛṣṇa sided with the Pāṇḍavas was a clear indication to them as to how the war would unfold. As great warriors themselves, they had no fears about their own deaths; and more importantly they had no guilt, no incompletions about what they had embarked upon. Great men like Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and Kṛpācārya, trusted their inner space. Duryodhana was their prince and they were committed to him. Not attached to result of the war, they were certain that Duryodhana would perish and they would too, along with him. In fact, at one point in the war when Kṛṣṇa was greatly angered at the rout that Bhīṣma was causing in the Pāṇḍava army, Kṛṣṇa got down from Arjuna’s chariot that He was driving and advanced menacingly towards Bhīṣma.

Bhīṣma instantly laid down his arms, joined his palms in prayer to the advancing KṛṣṇawhowaswieldingachariotwheelasHissudarśanacakra,thedivine discus weapon on His finger, and greeted Him. ‘Lord, it will be the greatest blessing for me to die at Your hands.’ To these great warriors, dying on the battlefield was the duty of a kṣatriya, a warrior. They weren’t concerned with the righteousness of Duryodhana’s motives. Their integrity transcended the moral rights and wrongs established by society and religion. What is morality? In a given society, in a given era, morality is generally the accepted standards of what is desirable and undesirable, what is considered right or wrong conduct and good or bad behavior of a person, a group or an entity.

Morality is about good and bad, right and wrong. It changes from time to time, era to era. When time changes, all this changes! Please understand, integrity is not morality or ethics of the society. Integrity is a spiritual value. Integrity is you fulfilling the word and thought you give to yourself and others, and experiencing a state of pūrṇatva, completion with yourself and others. Integrity is not ethics. Ethics is different, integrity is different. Morality and ethics vary from time to time. Integrity is absolute. These warriors disapproved of Duryodhana’s insult of the Pāṇḍava princes and Draupadīinthecourtbutdidnotprotest.TheydisapprovedofDuryodhana’s instigation of this war and yet took his side, knowing fully well that what lay ahead was destruction.

Flow with Nature This was not foolishness or resignation from the powerless space. This was surrender to the inevitable, surrender to the Divine. At the level of their consciousness, these great Masters allowed Nature to take its own course. To relax and allow whatever happens to happen is the sure sign of an evolved spirit. Ordinary humans have the freedom to think, choose and act. As a result, they think they are in control of their destinies. In a sense they are; they make their decisions and act upon them. But it is their unconscious root patterns that drive them to all these decisions. A cycle is created as the root thought patterns lead to certain incomplete actions and those incomplete actions in turn mold their mental set-up and lead to more and more incompletions.

Yet, a human has the choice to break out of this cycle of incompletions and live in freedom. This freedom is the space of completion. And the science of completing with this incomplete cycle of root patterns is the science of completion, pūrṇatva. This is the dharma taught in the Gītā scripture. Listen! There are two ways to live life. One is to accept the world and life as it is, as we perceive it without any resistance being complete, to see the reality as IT IS—what in Saṃskṛit is termed Sṛṣṭi Dṛṣṭi. The other way is to try to make circumstances evolve according to our viewpoint, to create the reality as we want to see, called Dṛṣṭi Sṛṣṭi.

The first attitude, one of acceptance out of completion brings happiness; the second, one of resistance, brings suffering. No one can change the world according to his viewpoint. It is an exercise doomed to encounter failure. At best, we can transform ourselves, that’s all. And when we do transform ourselves, we are also empowered with the great inner powers to create the reality as we want, for ourselves and others! No revolution has ever succeeded in bringing about any significant, positive change. Revolutionaries who claim that they are against dictatorship become dictators themselves. That has always been history. Ironically, an Enlightened Master has no such freedom. He is a faithful channel of the universal energy, Parāśakti, the Divine Existence.

Every move, every thought is at the behest of the Divine. An Enlightened Being is beyond choice; He is in complete surrender to the Divine. Bhīṣma was of pure divine origin, the son of Gaṅgā. Gaṅgā is the embodiment of pure inner space. Bhīṣma had the gift of icchā-mṛtyū, self-willed death. His dharma, his integrity and authenticity were the standard for his era. Yet Bhīṣma kept quiet when Draupadī was attempted to be disrobed and insulted. Because he had the wrong association with self-denial, Duryodhana and being in integrity to his huge vow to always protect the kingdom’s royal seat, he did not act when Duryodhana denied the Pāṇḍavas even a patch of land the size of a needle tip.

He chose to fight for Duryodhana. However, when Duryodhana requested him to lead the Kaurava army, Bhīṣma told him that the Pāṇḍava princes were as dear to him as Duryodhana was, and while he would wage war against their army, he could not take their lives. This was the condition under which Bhīṣma agreed to fight against the Pāṇḍava army on Duryodhana’s behalf. Yet, in this instance, Bhīṣma’s compassion for Duryodhana overcame his distaste for his actions and behavior. Bhīṣma understood the desperate fear running through Duryodhana’s mind, and he felt the need to reassure him. In response to these exaggerated claims of Duryodhana, Bhīṣma blew his conch as a sign of resounding affirmation of whatever had been said by Duryodhana.

Sañjaya said that Bhīṣma’s conch sounded like the roar of a lion, coming from the oldest and the bravest of all the warriors assembled on the battlefield. It was also an affirmation of Bhīṣma’s own support to the Kaurava prince and the signal for the war to begin. Bhīṣma’s conch was a celebratory signal, seeking victory.