Physical Vs Intellectual Blindness

 

Dhritrāshtra was born blind, but he also chose to be blind mentally & intellectually. His physical blindness was compounded by the blindness of his attachment to Duryodhana. Despite so many advice & suggestions by Vidura & other Kuru elders and even his wife, the effect was contrary & all of it went unheard due to his steadfast adamancy to prefer his blind attachment over reason. Because of this he & the entire Kuru dynasty suffered, and all his sons were killed

 

When Duryodhana was born, bad omens predicted the inauspiciousness of his birth & Dhritrāshtra was asked to forsake his son else he will be the one who will bring disgrace to the dynasty but still the attachment prevailed. Some can say that it is natural for a father to be attached & how can he abandon the son in any circumstances. This is true, it’s natural & necessary as well to be affectionate to take care of the offspring and nourish them

 

But in human society, we also have a higher intelligence of Dharmic enquiry. We all have responsibility in human form to know what are Dharmic principles & then to follow and implement it for larger good. Chānakaya, Vidura & many other sages propound this, and they imply that there is higher principle & lower principle & in circumstances the lower principle can be sacrificed for higher principle. For the sake of family, one member can be sacrificed, for the sake of village, one family can be sacrificed, for the sake of a kingdom, one village can be sacrificed & for the sake of the world one kingdom can be sacrificed

 

As Dhritrāshtra was a king & a father of not only Duryodhana but also other 99 sons, he had to consider bigger interest & his responsibilities. He was to consider wellbeing of the royal order, larger society but all was subordinated to the wishes of his elder son Duryodhana, who was pampered to arrogance & fake pride

 

All the way Dhritrāshtra knew about supremacy of his brother Pandu’s sons. He knew about piety, righteousness & virtuousness of Pāndavās but still was weak to put intellect above his material attachments. Infact he was guardian of the Pāndavās, having overall responsibility of their well-being after passing away of Pāndu. Yet, he was emotionally inclined to favor only his son & forsake all liabilities entrusted upon him

 

Bhisma, Vidura, Drona, Krpā & others always advised Dhritrāshtra not to get manipulated by the cunning machinations of Duryodhana, but he allowed himself to be exploited beyond reason. Based on false perceptions, Duryodhana instilled fear in Dhritrāshtra about Pāndavas overtaking of the Kuru Kingdom & it was never cross-checked for truth. His weakness was hence fanned & fueled by insecurity. Evil schemes were hatched and every Dharmic principles were forgotten on the way

 

Duryodhana assumed & appropriated his weak father’s powers to become the de facto king & plotted numerous schemes to get rid of Pāndavās but as Krsna-the Supreme Personality of Godhead was with them, none of the schemes materialized. It in fact strengthened the Pāndavās & ultimately Dharma prevailed on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the great Mahabharata war

 

This has huge parallels in out lives too. Even if we physical shortcomings, we need to have intellectual acumen to know the subtle principles of Dharma and have the will to implement it, despite of any sway our attachments to material may influence. Krsna says in Bhagvad Gita,

 

sva-dharmam api cāvekṣya, na vikampitum arhasi
dharmyād dhi yuddhāc chreyo ’nyat kṣatriyasya na vidyate

 

Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation

 

We all have responsibilities in our respective roles. Let’s not be blind but deliver them with elan as per higher principles & not be deviant per lower attachments

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife