Yudhisthir - I do because I must.

Warning: This is a long post.

The other day, a friend of mine told me how her mother responded when she discussed with her that Mahabharata ends with Yudhishthir achieving Swarga. (It was a surprise for my friend too unless I revealed it to her). The response of her mother was typical - What for? Gambling away his wife and kingdom?

This response that came as a question crossed my ears, stirred my mind and made me seek answers, recalling all that Yudhishthir did throughout his life; from attempting to balance the brotherhood of Kauravs and Pandavs during childhood to transforming the forest of Khandavaprastha to the heavenly city of Indraprastha, from controlling the reigns of an almost devastated Hastinapur to finally climbing the Himalayas leaving everything behind. After reading the epic and leaning about its characters, we usually come to the common conclusion that Yudhishthir was a mighty, truthful, righteous, kind king who gambled away his wife. Sure enough, it's a pity that Alanis Morissette forgot to include our Dharmaraj in "Ironic".

Yudhishir is that character of Mahabharata whose complexity lies in the utter simplicity and predictability of his conduct. Even the thought that somebody could be so compliant with his dharma that not a word left his mouth without righteous self-brainstorming seems fantastically impractical. Yet, that is what we know Yudhishthir for. The one who lived his life in adherence to the rule-books of the society, always saying and doing what the learned preached (except when he gambled away his wife). His brothers who, at times, disagreed with him, also followed him religiously in every step of his life. Collectively, the five Pandavs were considered to be the upholders of Dharma in the Dwapar Yug.

Then what went wrong? Why did he suffer so much throughout his life when he was trying to live his life the ideal way setting examples in righteousness for future generations? And why even after all this righteousness we still recall him as the king who gambled away his wife?

Throughout the epic, Yudhishthir has been referred to as an epitome of Dharma since he was born to Kunti by Dharma deva. His behaviour was expected to be a man of rectitude in all situations, whatever the cost maybe. At various points, when different characters are in dilemmas, he comes into the frame, quotes some scriptures and gets away after convincing people to do the right thing. That's a different thing what they did and what they didn't!

Some situations where the wisdom of Yudhishthir was noticed by all:

1. At the school of the Pandavas and the palace of Hastinapur, Yudhishthir was always the young boy who was more mature than any of his brothers (and at times his elders too). His being the eldest grandson of Vichitraveerya had almost enrooted in the minds of Bheeshma, Kripa and Vidhur that he should be the rightful heir.
2. When Dhritarashtra was faced with the dilemma of choosing his heir and was suggested by Vidhur to take the decision based on the prince's capabilities and not his parents, he proved his mettle by the sagacious decision-making that was approved by all the wise in the court.
3. Only the rat escapes the forest fire - The riddle by Vidhur to warn Pandavas about the house of lac was solved only by Yudhishthir and only after this the Pandavas could save themselves and their mother.
4. When Kunti ordered Arjun to share what he had won with his five brothers, the entire family went into the dharma-sankat of sharing the wife or obeying the mother. It was at this point when Yudhishthir quoted from the scriptures stories of the past where women had married multiple brothers in a family while upholding the traditions of the society. This ensured that the word of the mother was not broken and that Draupadi's chastity would not be questioned even if she married five brothers.
5. When Dhritarashtra offered him the barren half of Hastinapur (Khandavaprastha), he accepted it with free will, much to the chagrin of his younger brothers, but for the peace of the family at large. Even though he deserved the full kingdom, he did not yearn for anything more than what was offered.
6. After reuniting the small kingdoms of the Indian mainland, Yudhishthir's rajsuya yagya was conducted that established him as an independent monarch (or emperor, whichever word suits you more). 
7. After the gambling episode, while in exile the four younger Pandavas and their wife were infuriated and craving for revenge, it was only Yudhishthir who realized that the calamity had fallen upon them due to his own love for gambling and that he will not go for a massively destructing war just in order to avenge their humiliation. When the younger Pandavas suggested that after thirteen days they were technically allowed to go back to their kingdom according to the scriptures, Yudhishthir affirmed that he would not interpret the scriptures to his convenience. He would keep his word that he accepted at the time of gambling, howsoever long the suffering may be.
8. During the exile, when the gandharavas captured Duryodhan, Yudhishthir sent Bheema and Arjun to rescue him, keeping all the humiliation aside and considering Duryodhan to be their brother, whose protection he felt was the duty of the Pandavas.
9. When the four over-confident Pandavas did not answer Yaksha's questions and died as a result, only Yudhishthir displayed complete patience and wisdom by answering his questions. When asked to resurrect one of his brothers, he chose Nakul and not the powerful Arjun, in order to be fair to Nakul's mother, Madri. Yaksha (Dharma in disguise), finally resurrected the four Pandavas. The family was thus saved once again only for the wisdom of Yudhishthir.
10. After the exile, Yudhishthir came to terms that if Duryodhan kept his word and returned Indraprastha, no blood would flow. He would not wage a war only to avenge his humiliation. He kept the welfare of the family and people above the throne any day. It was only after Duryodhan's dogmatism left no option, that he went for the battle in Kurukshetra.
11. To the last day of the war, Yudhishthir was considerate towards the Kauravs and continued to propose that if Duryodhan kept his word even at the last moment, he would stop the war.
12. Yudhishthir followed the part of righterousness throughout his life which took him to the top of the Himalayas to the door of Swarga before he was confronted by the devas.

In spite of this, we do remember him as the king who gambled away his wife. After knowing the characteristics of Yudhishthir so well, let's consider the gambling episode again.

An ever-obedient son of the family is invited to a game of gamble by his elders, which by the Kshatriya code of that time could not be reverted by any king. Doesn't require much thinking as to what he had to do. During the game of gamble, the first rule was broken by Duryodhan to let Shakuni roll the dice, which should have been rolled by him. Yudhishthir had tried to oppose but on seeing the will of the elders did not leave the game in between to save the blind king from disgrace. What followed was a series of stakes in which he continued to lose everything from his personal possessions to his kingdom to his brothers and then himself. Throughout this game, though his personal fondness for gambling was there, he was also obliged to continue the game as there was no order from the blind king to stop it. It was disgraceful for a player to withdraw from the game on his own will while he was losing. And he could not have won under any circumstances as Shakuni's dice was loaded. Was Yudhishthir left with options?

After losing himself in the stake, Yudhishthir followed what his master Duryodhan ordered him to - stake Draupadi. And he did it. And we know what followed. Don't we?

This clearly indicates what happened was totally against Yudhishthir's will but he didn't raise voice as the code of conduct did not allow him to do so, being the Dharmaraaj that he was. Where did the fault actually lie then? Was it in his stick adherence to the code or in the code of conduct itself? Even when all the rules of the conduct were being followed, Draupadi was not saved from humiliation? So does the blame for this entirely fall on only this king who gambled away his wife? Is no one responsible for what happened after that? Was Yudhishthir the creator of the code or only an obsessed follower? Gurcharan das quoted, "Life is a dice game, with rules known to be deceptive; where the least experienced least adequate player is nevertheless pushed to the point of staking everything he has, with the certainty of losing." I somehow believe that it was absolutely true in Yudhishthir's case.

Throughout the epic, Yudhishthir had been trying to follow the path of the idealistic Ram by sticking to code. But while Ram had brothers who were willing to serve him whole-heartedly, Yudhishthir was faced with a set of cousins who had done everything in their capacity to harm him. Where Ram's actions reflect a strict adherence to the code that generates from the deep love in his heart, Yudhishthir's strict adherence is a result of his belief - I do because I must. He clinged to the correctness of the acts, not the consequences. He never let the suffering of his heart reflect in his actions.

However, after the thirteen-year exile, Yudhishthir transformed to a great extent. He realized that the line of total non-violence had been crossed and if the need be, weapons had to be wielded. The point of this would, still, not be his personal interests but the establishment of Dharma, by ensuring that a prince like Duryodhan who never kept his word never becomes the king.

Yudhishthir, who gambled away his life, did transform. What we want to remember him for is our choice.

The Great Indian Epic - Blog

Dear Readers (this refers to the empathetic few who take out time and suffer the pain to read me)

As you must have realized, I haven't posted on this blog much in the past few days. Some of you have been thinking that I have found the love of my life and I am busy spending time with her; some of you thought that I was ill and some of you even thought that I was busy with work. (blah!)

With deep concern towards your feelings and curiosity, I wish to inform you that nothing of that sort happened. I had just shifted my online time to something little different from blogging. That is blogging. After this blog on blogspot, I have also started a new blog on wordpress. It won't surprise you, if you know me even a little, that this blog is entirely dedicated to The Great Indian Epic - Mahabharata and the tales associated with it. The purpose is to gather the wider tales and dimensions of this Epic in a single place that is free for all to access. For more details, please visit the blog here.

This doesn't mean that I will not post any articles here. I will continue to post my random thoughts and useless ideas on this blog, hoping to waste your idle time as much as I can. Even the analysis and observations from the mythology would be continued here. The NEW blog is only a compilation of the stories and tales and its articles will be linked to the posts here off and on. But it will also be complete in its own way if you totally want to follow only that blog.

You can follow it by entering your e-mail address and receive the posts directly into your inbox. Share the link shamelessly with your friends and foes and last but not the least, comment wherever you find appropriate. To save your fingers the excessive strain of scrolling back, I share the link to The Great Indian Epic blog once more.

Happy Reading!
Kushal

MBA Revisited - The BCG Matrix of Kauravs and Pandavs

I have spent 2 precious years of my otherwise random life in a B-school. If I assume that I will live for 70 years in total, these 2 years form a good 2.857% of my lifetime. Then how is this 2.857% different from the remaining twenty-three “2 years” of my life? Well, they are. And in a great way. 

Passing out of a B-school has many advantages. We get an additional qualification, an enormous set of friends and people assume we know a lot. And we, at the same time, never feel like falsifying them. In fact, we go two steps ahead and bolster their belief by saying terms like “paradigm shift” and “brand equity”, and at times, both together in a sentence. Have you seen mere mortals talk like that? I am sure, not.

An MBA degree also means something more. It means that we have the right to say anything, state anything. All we have to do in order to get noticed is to write a research paper based on it, and if fortunate enough, develop our own (management) tools. These tools mater a lot – apart from fetching good scores, these validate our existence in the cruel professional jungle where there is the survival of the nerd(est).

Note: You might call me one by the end of the article.

The History of Management Science has seen many such tools, and one of the most predominantly discussed tools is the BCG Matrix devised by the Boston Consulting Group. It is based on the product life-cycle theory (…and here I am) and helps to determine what priorities should be given to the product portfolio of a business unit for sustained success.

I wonder, had Management Science existed back in Dwapar Yug, would Duryodhan have been able to use it to his advantage? Agreed, he never listened to anything sensible but this is no Bheeshm or Drona talking, this is Boston Consulting Group. But BCG did not exist then and neither did the BCG Matrix. Still, I wondered that if we could formulate the BCG Matrix for the respective Kaurav and Pandav armies, would there be some interesting revelation?

BCG Matrix, as I discussed above, helps to determine the priorities that should be given to the product portfolio of a business unit for a sustained success and it is based on the product-life cycle theory. I will give a very brief introduction here. For more on BCG matrix, please visit this link. 

Placing products in the BCG matrix results in 4 categories of portfolio for a company:

BCG Matrix

1. Stars (High Growth and High Market Share): Stars are business units that have a large market share in a fast growing industry. They may generate huge cash but since investments are huge too, the net cash flow is not quite boastful.
2. Cash Cows (Low Growth and High Market Share): Cash Cows generate good amount of cash (surprisingly, no milk) due to high market share but since the market is mature, the investment required should be less.
3. Question Marks (High Growth and Low Market Share): These are the SBUs with a high rate of market growth but somehow low market share. These require heavy investments to convert into stars or else they get converted into dogs.
4. Dogs (Low Growth and Low Market Share): In short, good for nothing. The earlier you get rid of them, the better it is for you.

One can say, Cash Cows are the most desirable as they give great returns with minimal investments (though they might not last very long). Then come the Stars that bring good returns and promise a positive future but require huge investments. The Question Marks need to be worked upon else one invests heavily and receives nothing in return. Dogs need to be get ridden of. 

From this you can conclude that Stars and Question Marks (High Growth) require high investments. They are similar to our warriors who required huge investments in terms of emotions or resources to sustain them on their respective sides. High Market Share is an advantage of that SBU, similar to the Martial Prowess of the warriors. 

Hence, the Kaurav / Pandav BCG Matrix can have the following dimensions:

X Axis: Martial Power

Y Axis: Resource or Emotion Investment

Of course, the Kaurav and Pandav armies were not on the path of manufacturing and marketing technically. If anything, it was a path of sheer destruction. But the battlefield of Kurukshetra is in many ways like the modern-day corporate battlefields called markets, where weapons represent products and great warriors represent Strategic Business Units (SBUs). Sounds like heavy stuff? Well then this is the power of a B-school.

Kaurav Army

The major warriors from Kaurav side were (in descending order of prowess):

• Bheeshm: Bheeshm would surely be classified as a cash cow. This has nothing to do with his white clothes, white chariot-flag or even the white beard. This is serious stuff. He is one character of the epic that I respect the most. So no jokes. He is a cash cow because he is the only warrior who was a reliable impeccable commander, was martially invincible and would die only when he would want. So much came with almost no emotional or resourceful investment from Duryodhan’s side. Certainly, a Cash Cow. Sure, he pledged not to harm the Pandavs but the harm he did to their army was no petty stuff. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Drona: He was a Brahmin by birth hence fond of cows but perhaps not fond of becoming one. Was almost equally invincible like Bheeshm but there were huge investments in keeping the teacher into the kingdom. He threatened to leave the Kauravs a couple of times but to the efforts of the elderly. In fact, Duryodhan did not relish the pleasure of Indraprashta during the Pandav exile as it was administered by Dronacharya. Duryodhan and his brothers had to continually boost his ego and keep his son Ashwatthama pleased thereby calling for huge investments. If properly channelized, he could prove to be a disaster to the Pandavs (and he did). Drona is a Star. (High Martial Power – High Investment).
• Kripacharya: He too was a Brahman, maybe had his share of fee for teaching and was supremely powerful. Not much has been said about capriciousness of his mind, but considering he had grown up in Hastinapur and had been with Kauravs throughout, there was lesser chance he would have left them. Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Ashwatthama: Almost as talented as the father, and as evil as Amrish Puri and Gulshan Grover combined, Ashwatthama needed to be pleased constantly by Duryodhan to sustain in the Kaurav camp. Also, his change of mind would affect Drona’s involvement too, Duryodhan left no stone unturned in keeping Ashwatthama to his side. Star. (High Martial Power – High Investment).
• Karna: Keeping Karna on the Kaurav side required one-time investment of Anga and continuous investment of emotions. Castigated by the Kuru elite and faculty heads constantly, the son of the Sun kept on striving constantly to make a mark for himself. Pacifying him required huge emotional investment from Duryodhan. (In fact, Karna's presence in the Kaurav camp displeased many from the older lot - Bheeshma, Kripa and Drona as they saw him as an ambitious son of a mere charioteer.) And all this investment was in expectation of a return, his loyalty and his archery skills. Karna was loyal towards Duryodhan but his weapons were not. Hence, it was false loyalty. Moreover, the burden of curse-couple almost confirmed his failure in advance. He did tackle Ghatotkach, but did nothing as compared to what was expected of him. Karna would be a Question Mark. (Low Martial Power – High Investment).
• Duryodhan: In his own army, Duryodhan was one hell of an interesting element. In past he had showered away huge riches of the Kurus to impress his subjects. Though he was a pro at mace-wielding, it was not of much use on the battlefield as compared to how Bheema used it. Though he yearned for the war the most, he contributed to it the least. Question Mark. (Low Martial Power – High Investment).
• Dushasan: There would be no reason why one would even think keeping Dushasan was an effort. The skills he brought to the battlefield went as unnoticed as went the Abhishek-Aishwarya starrer Umrao Jaan. Dushasan classifies as a Dog. (Did you have a doubt, anyway?). (Low Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Shalya: The extra-ordinary hospitality infrastructure deployed to keep this warrior-charioteer on the Kaurav side required huge investments. And for what? For the martial powers required to kill Uttar and charioteer skills to assist Karna, and we know how ‘well’ he did that. Shalya was a disaster deal. Question Mark. (Low Martial Power - High Investment).
• Jaydrath: This licentious brother-in-law of the Kauravs proved to be of some worth. All thanks to the boons that enabled him to cause Abhimanyu’s death. But certainly, he was nothing in comparison to the Kuru elderly. Investment was certainly huge. Didn’t you read he was the brother-in-law and that too of a licentious kind? Question Mark. (Low Martial Power – High Investment)

Bheeshm	Cash Cow
Drona	Star
Kripacharya	Cash Cow
Ashwatthama	Star
Karna	Question Mark
Duryodhan	Question Mark
Dushasan	Dog
Shalya	Question Mark
Jaydrath	Question Mark

The Kaurav BCG Matrix

Note: Just like you, I too was upset when Jaydrath did not qualify as a Dog.

Pandav Army

The major warriors from Pandav side were (in descending order of prowess):

• Arjun: This is perhaps the name that was the most used in those eighteen days, before and after. In terms of martial prowess, Arjun was the master-key for the Pandavs, a catastrophic nightmare for the Kauravs. Never losing his target, loaded with potent weapons and the fury to destroy all that came his way, graced by Hanuman on the chariot-flag and Krishna as the charioteer, Arjun’s martial power almost approached to infinity. And since the war was his, there was no investment question in picture. Arjun was a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Bheem: He was to mace, what Arjun was to bow. He was to Kauravs, what CIA is to terrorists. The 1000 elephant-powered Bheem was the Hulk of the Pandav avengers. He killed the 100 sons of Gandhari in the war single-handed and smashed thousands of soldiers and other warriors to death with a blow of his mace. This indignant Pandav was the most desperate to fight and avenge. I guess, investments in his case were tremendous as he probably ate away half the food of his army himself but he was to be the support till the end. Bheem was a Star. (High Martial Power - High Investment).
• Yudhishthir: His martial skills were never extra-ordinary, except for the spear, and so he was not so much of a worry for the Kauravs. In fact, special efforts were put in to safeguard him on the battlefield for he was the king of the Pandav side. But he was the string that held every warrior on the Pandav side together which makes him the most important of all other warriors. Yudhishtir was a Cow too. Oh, I mean Cash Cow (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Abhimanyu: This little 16-year old child who could not complete his Chakravyuh syllabus (exit portion) before entering into the war was otherwise almost equally matched in his archery skills to his father. He fought with complete will and played a crucial role in causing so much terror among the Kauravs that they were compelled to hack him 7-on-1. Abhimanyu too was a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Nakul / Sahadev (of course they can’t be enlisted separately): Except for Sahadev killing Shakuni, the twin sons of the Ashwini twins had no special achievements mentioned in their post-war resume. But that they survived by the end of the war does mean something. Does it not? Maybe they had some invisible factor that makes them a Cash Cow too. (High Martial 'whatever' Power – Low Investment).
• Ghatotkach: If he was anything, one will say he was an unexpected bonus. He participated in the war on his own will, killed millions when alive, made Karan sacrifice his Indra-shakti and again killed millions while dying. He is the largest Cash Cow BCG matrix would ever witness. I doubt if he will even fit in the matrix! (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Drupad: Though Mr. Panchala were fighting to avenge his insult, his daughter's insult and for umpteen other reasons best known to him, he did not leave any noticeable impact in the war. But his Panchala army was a great strength for the Pandav side which in total makes him a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Drishtadyumna: As compared to 4 commander-in-chiefs of Kauravs, Pandavs had only one. And it was this gentleman who was born out of fire to kill the Kaurav super-star. Not only was he sufficiently capable as a warrior he was also an astute general. He too participated in this quest for avenge with exhausting will. Cash Cow again. (High Martial Power – Low Investment).
• Krishna: And here comes the one who pledged not to use his martial prowess at all but whose involvement affected the course of the war from beginning to the end. The charioteer of Arjun enlightened him at the beginning of the war goading him to action, devised the way to defeat Bhishm, tackle Dronacharya, discover and kill Jayadrath, slay Karna and shatter Duryodhan. On many occasions, he intervened and saved Pandavs and their army with his divine protection. This charioteer and consultant of Arjun, is certainly a Cash Cow. (High Martial Power – Low Investment). 

Krishna is worshiped as a cowherd and classified as a Cash Cow in the BCG Matrix. Is BCG Matrix a divine invention or what?

Arjun	Cash Cow
Bheem	Star
Yudhishthir	Cash Cow
Abhimanyu	Cash Cow
Nakul / Sahadev	Cash Cow
Ghatotkach	Cash Cow
Dhrupad	Cash Cow
Drishtadyumna	Cash Cow
Krishna	Cash Cow

The Pandav BCG Matrix

Interesting Revelations:

• The Kaurav Warrior Portfolio is highly scattered over the BCG Matrix with very few reliable Cash Cows. On the contrary, the Pandav Warrior Portfolio has a dense Cash Cow quarter. Warriors on the Pandav side were clearly more aligned towards the organizational vision / mission / goal / objective ...... whatever!!
• The Question Marks need to be identified and transformed into Stars to ensure high growth and high returns later. The Kaurav Warrior Portfolio had four Question Marks that did not get transformed into Stars, let alone the Cash Cows. Huge investment with low return is of course a failed proposition for any business. Pandavs made no such mistake.
• Kauravs did nothing to get rid of the Dog in their portfolio. In fact, a Star had to jump out from another matrix to wipe it out. 

And we all know what the result of this war was. One might wonder, what if BCG had existed before the war, would the results have been any different?!

Disclaimer: In case you are a B-School student, please do not take inspiration from this blog for filling your answer-sheets. You might fail miserably, very much like the Kauravs.

The Legend of Sanjay

This post is about Sanjay. Not Sanjay Dutt. Not Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Not Sanjay Manjrekar either. This post is about (the) Sanjay of Mahabharat, the charioteer/advisor/servant/commentator of Dhritarashtra. In history, Sanjays have never received their due credit. They can expect to get credit only in fiction, like Sanjay Lal Sharma cycled his way to glory for Model High School and finally received his share of credit. But real-life Sanjays? Never! Sanjay of Mahabharat is also one of those unfortunate real-life Sanjays.

Our Sanjay has never been as ‘elaborately’ discussed as the other characters for a variety of reasons:

1. He was not a Kaurav, Pandav, Yadav or Kuru.
2. He was not even a deva, asura, yaksha, rakshas, gandharva or naga. He was a simple human being.
3. When he was born, there was no storm, no rain and no prophecy. His is a rare example in the epic of a completely normal birth.

My interest in writing about him, however, is fueled by the following:

1. He is the first live commentator world has ever seen. He narrated the happenings of multiple matches on one vast ground at once without any help of rolling cameras, repeat telecasts and score-board. He is much older than Geoffrey Boycott, much more effective than Ravi Shastri and much more metaphorical than Navjot Singh Sidhu.
2. He was lucky (/worthy) enough to get the opportunity of seeing the cosmic form of Krishna.
3. Even not being a Kshatriya by birth, he followed their ideals in a better way than any of them did.

He is one person who came into the (photo) frame of Kuru family when Dhritarasthra’s charioteer Adirath applied for an adoption leave to bring up a child he found in the river, swaddled in supreme garments and bedecked with celestial armour and earrings. Once his leave was approved it was required to replace him with someone equally skilled. Bheeshma, Kripacharya and Vidhur conducted a recruitment process and after a round of interviews found Sanjay worthy enough for the post. He had displayed astute understanding of his duties and responsibilities; he also very well realized the grave importance of his decision-making as the king’s charioteer.

Soon enough, Sanjay became the confidant of the blind king, knowing more than anybody what was going on in his mind. He took the king for occasional outings, political meetings and social gatherings driving his chariots effortlessly on the muddy pathways of Hastinapur and adjoining areas. Every time the king would face a dilemma, Sanjay would help him introspect with valid examples from scriptures, nature and philosophy; never forcing the king for a decision but enabling him to take one at his own will. In this context, he was a lot different from the trio of formal uber-qualified advisors.

When it came to the art of balancing, Sanjay had no close competitors. The nearest would be Jeetendra, who quite well managed to balance multiple wives for over a decade during 80s; but even he would fall a mile short of our hero. Sanjay balanced the interests of his king and the kingdom well. (Hastinapur, as we all know, had for long been unfortunate, having kings whose personal interests polar opposites of her interests!).

• When Dhritarashtra shooed away Vidhur following his bitter truths and suggestions (that were in Dhritarashtra’s own interest but he was ‘blind’ to see through), Sanjay was assigned the task to assuage Vidhur and bring him back to the king.
• During the peace negotiations when the king had to send the most critical message to Pandavs, again, Sanjay was the most favoured choice. The king, and everybody else, believed that only Sanjay could articulate to the Pandavs in the politest manner the ruthless message of not giving back Indraprastha.
• When the war finally dawned, Sanjay agreed to view it on behalf of the king and accepted the post of the commentator for what would be the longest match in the history of test-cricket, the one on a much larger ground, with much deadlier stakes, much higher spirits and much brutal examples of rule-breaking (including ball tampering, with due respect to the Sun god). Sanjay continued the commentary till the end, without taking sides, telling nothing but the Truth. Maybe, it was this dedication of his towards his duty that God found him worthy of witnessing His conversation with Arjun and His cosmic form.

After the war, when years later Dhritarashtra retired to the forest with Gandhari, Vidhur and Kunti, Sanjay accompanied his king and served him till he too finally died in that forest fire that engulfed the senior Kurus. Though Dhritarashtra was nothing like Ram, Sanjay’s dedication towards his master was no less than Hanuman’s.

Sanjay is not just another character, but a lesson for every human being (including a lesson in commentary for the likes of Arun Lal) – Sanjay is a lesson in dedication towards duty, a lesson in the ability to communicate truth, howsoever bitter, with polite effectiveness. He is a lesson in balancing organization goals and departmental goals, interests of the kingdom and that of the king. He is a lesson in doing the right thing and sticking to it even in a world where everything else is going wrong.

Identify your Karma: A Peek into The Shiva Trilogy

Around 2.5 years back when I saw the book 'The Immortals of Meluha' for the first time in a book store in Delhi I didn't have the slightest idea that I would ever find it worth my time. From the first glance of the cover, it appeared like a science fiction whose protagonist was, probably, Bob Marley (showing his back) and talked about some superficial kingdom of Meluha. Later, when I got occasional reviews about the book from its readers, I still didn't bother to read it considering my lack of interest in fiction.

Thanks to the Shiva-based books of Devdutt Pattanaik and the Life-OK super-hit Devon Ke Dev Mahadev that my devotion in Shiva was deepened far more so as to grab fictional novels this time, the much talked-about books of The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi.

My belief in the saying, 'Never judge a book by its cover' strengthened after reading this trilogy and I curse my prejudice towards the book-cover that kept me away from it for so long. The series has been declared a super-hit (or best-seller, whatever one would like to call it), Karan Johar has already announced a movie on the trilogy and the believers of Shiva are growing exponentially all over, and so is their devotion in him. Today, as I write this blog, the trilogy has already touched a sales figure of Rs. 17 crore and any attempt to predict future figures is as good as predicting the rise in number of mobile phones in the hands of Average (above and below average included too) Indians.

The trilogy is a delicate blend of mythology, historical facts and fiction and its protagonist is Shiva - not Shiva The GOD who is traditionally worshiped all over India, but Shiva - a barbarian from Tibet who by the virtue of his karma rises to achieve GOD-like status. Amish's trilogy is rooted in the belief that the deities we worship are not mythical gods but actually ordinary people with extra-ordinary achievements and untainted karma.

In short, the story is about a tribal named Shiva from Tibet who migrates to the (almost) Utopian kingdom of Meluha as a refugee to save his tribe from the constant conflicts with neighbouring enemies. A series of events ends up making the people of Meluha and the entire Indian Mainland believe that he is Lord Neelkanth (literal meaning - one with a blue throat); one who will be their saviour from the Evil, as their popular legend stated. The humble Shiva, though embarrassed by the apotheosizing, out of empathy takes it as his duty to help the people and save them from their misery. The trilogy is essentially about Shiva’s journey of figuring out the root cause of people’s plight and fighting for it, during which there are astounding revelations, enlightening lessons and unimaginable sacrifices and an ultimate realization of his true Karma.

One can say:

Karmayog hi Dharma hai, Dharmayog hi Karma.

The most interesting feature of this trilogy is the author’s attempt to provide scientific justifications for all the events that were traditionally considered magical (...and are presently considered mythical). Readers, with hair-splitting instincts fail to make much sense of mythology, focusing more on facts and less on lessons. Then they come up with strange questions – how could a little boy have an elephant head (like Ganesh) or how could a women give birth to a hundred children (like Gandhari). But this trilogy attempts to answer many of such mythical facts with scientific justifications, if not for the mainstream Indian Mythological stories, then at least for the sections that are limited to the trilogy.

Amish’s penchant for mythology is clearly visible in every plot and his narration is gripping enough to make you miss a couple of meals while you are engrossed in reading the book. The philosophical conversations between Shiva and his friends, the Vasudevs, can be read again and again and again, opening doors for enlightenment through repeated introspection. The war-strategy scenes and hematic action plots run at a pace slow enough to understand the intricacies, yet fast enough to keep your mind racing.

The author left his 14-year long career in Finance to devote his time to praying and writing about Lord Shiva. Just like the Shiva in the trilogy, he too has finally figured out his true karma. You and I still might need to figure it out. The trilogy can probably help us know, HOW.

The Universe bows to Lord Shiva. I bow to Lord Shiva.