As I undertake this course, I do so with uncertainty. Is the scope way beyond my level? Can I even hope to achieve some higher understanding and/or meaning that I didn't get in REL 105? While I feel the course will be challenging, it with Brooks, and through him all things are possible. With this solice I proceed to engage myself and my mind in what is and what surrounds the Mahabarata.
Reading the epic a second full time and knowing what is going to happen, I find it less comprehensive but still confused by the lineages and multitude of characters. I also notice the extreme hyperboles used as illusrative devices. Some of them bother me, such as Bhisma having something like 75 arrows in him and not dying. That's just ridiculous. Or when Asvatthama was shot with an arrow between the eyes and still fights as if nothing happened. Bhima gets rocked in an earlier episode to the point where he couldn't move and then the next day he fights as if nothing happens. I understand it's because the are all "the foremost of car-warriors," etc. but it the unrealism gets absurd.
It is from these exagerations that I have concluded that the Mahabarata is but an epic Vedic fable. Its purpose is to dictate the mores and norms of the civilization it was written for, just as the Torah and the rest of the Bible does for Judaism and Christianity. Those many volumes were written by sages who had the imposition of values on their children and people in mind. In this way, the originators of the Mahabarata, or perhaps those who added to, included such values as the importance severity of vows, of performing austerities and penance, and of respect due to one's elders.
One thing I noticed while reading through the Mahabarata a second time is that Yudhisthira becomes purifies in Heaven after bathing in the Ganga river. Similarly, in Dante's Paradiso, when Virgil leaves Dante's side occurs when Dante bathes in a divine river, thus purging him of all sins and allowing his passage into the spheres of Heaven. I wonder if there is a relationship between the two–that is, if one of the books (Mahabarata because it is older) led to Dante including such an episode in Paradiso–or if simply the idea of a purifying river is a cliche device adopted for such a purpose. I may explore this point further at a later point in time.
Reading the epic a second full time and knowing what is going to happen, I find it less comprehensive but still confused by the lineages and multitude of characters. I also notice the extreme hyperboles used as illusrative devices. Some of them bother me, such as Bhisma having something like 75 arrows in him and not dying. That's just ridiculous. Or when Asvatthama was shot with an arrow between the eyes and still fights as if nothing happened. Bhima gets rocked in an earlier episode to the point where he couldn't move and then the next day he fights as if nothing happens. I understand it's because the are all "the foremost of car-warriors," etc. but it the unrealism gets absurd.
It is from these exagerations that I have concluded that the Mahabarata is but an epic Vedic fable. Its purpose is to dictate the mores and norms of the civilization it was written for, just as the Torah and the rest of the Bible does for Judaism and Christianity. Those many volumes were written by sages who had the imposition of values on their children and people in mind. In this way, the originators of the Mahabarata, or perhaps those who added to, included such values as the importance severity of vows, of performing austerities and penance, and of respect due to one's elders.
One thing I noticed while reading through the Mahabarata a second time is that Yudhisthira becomes purifies in Heaven after bathing in the Ganga river. Similarly, in Dante's Paradiso, when Virgil leaves Dante's side occurs when Dante bathes in a divine river, thus purging him of all sins and allowing his passage into the spheres of Heaven. I wonder if there is a relationship between the two–that is, if one of the books (Mahabarata because it is older) led to Dante including such an episode in Paradiso–or if simply the idea of a purifying river is a cliche device adopted for such a purpose. I may explore this point further at a later point in time.
posted by Moonshynn at 12:12 PM
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