Title THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR Some lessons from the Mahabharata For the use of Hindu students of the schools of India By Annie Besant Bird Publisher, 2015 »The Story of the Great War – Some Lessons from the Mahabharata« by Annie Besant About this eBook "The story of the Great War: some lessons from the Mahabharata for the use of Hindu students in the schools of India" by Annie Besant From Notes of Lectures Originally Delivered at the Central Hindu College, Benares. © Annie Besant, 1899 © Bird Publisher S. A., 2015 BISBN 978-999-2727-01-21 (pdf) BISBN 978-999-2727-02-21 (mobi) BISBN 978-999-2727-03-21 (ePub) BISBN 978-999-2727-08-21 (azw3) Published in electronic format, June, 2015 by Bird Publisher S. A. Available electronically at: Bird Publisher. Important notes about the content of this eBook Because the original printed edition of this book (1899) had missing pages (134 & 135 and 138 & 139), this eBook is also WITHOUT this content. 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Contents Title 2 About this eBook 3 Important notes about the content of this eBook 3 Copyright and license 3 Contents 3 THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR 4 I Introduction 4 II The Youth of the Heroes - Adi Parva 9 III The Perils and Triumphs of the Pandavas - Adi Parva 17 IV The Gathering of the Storm-Clouds - Sabha Parva 23 V. The Thirteen Years' Exile – Vana and Virata Parvas 33 VI. Peace or War? - Udyoga and Bhishma Parvas 44 VII. The Sin of Yudhishthira - Drona, Karna, Shalya, Sauptika, Stri, and Shanti Parvas 55 VIII. The Great Exhortation – Shanti and Anushasana Parvas 66 IX. The Closing Scenes – Ashvamedha, Ashramavasika, Mausala, Mahaprasthanika and Svargarohanika Parvas 75 ______________________________________________________________________ Bird Publisher 3 »The Story of the Great War – Some Lessons from the Mahabharata« by Annie Besant THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR Some lessons from the Mahabharata I Introduction We are going to study the book called the "Mahabharata", one of the greatest books in the world. To do this usefully, we must begin by seeing what sort of book it is that we are going to study, and what sort of mind we are to bring to the reading of it. For the mind of the student has a great deal to do with understanding the book. If his mind be properly prepared he will understand more easily the book he is going to read, than if he comes to it with his mind in a wrong attitude. If you want to see a thing, you must look at it with your eyes open, not shut. You must turn your face to it, not your back. And so with the mind; its eyes must be opened and its face turned to the book. We must know how to read it, and what principles are taken for granted in it. So we will begin by getting our minds ready, and putting them into the right attitude. We must find out how to read our book. Then we shall take up Parva after Parva (volume after volume), picking out the most important parts and stringing them into an orderly story. We shall try to get a clear idea of the whole book - what it is meant to teach, the kind of people whose story is told in it, what they were doing and trying to do, how the Gods helped or hindered them, and the working of the Gods in the events that took place. When you go out into the world you will meet people who do not believe that Gods are shaping events, and guiding the worlds. Those who do not believe in the Hindu religion will also attack your Scriptures, your sacred books. It is therefore part of the duty of a Hindu boy to understand a little about the sacred books of his religion, so that he may not be shaken by what ignorant or foolish people may say against them. The "Mahabharata" has a high value as literature, that is, when judged from a literary standpoint. Every nation has a literature - books - and some stand high and some low in this respect. They have poems, histories, stories, philosophic and religious books. The place that a nation holds in the mind of the world depends very largely on its books. If a nation produces great books, that nation is looked on as great by other nations. If it has no great books, it is despised. There is no nation which has greater books than the Indian. You read about die Greeks, with their poet Homer who told -the story of a ten-years war, and with many splendid writers of philosophy and history. People now read their books and say, what a great country Greece was to produce such writers. People in the West are beginning to read your books written in Sanskrit, and to say what a great nation the Indians must have been in the old days to write such books. The "Mahabharata" is the greatest poem in the whole world. There is no other poem so splendid as this, so full of what we want to know, and of what it is good for us to study. It is so beautiful in its language and tells so interesting a story, that every Hindu boy should know something about it. It is not good to grow up without knowing a little of this greatest poem in the world, written by and for your own fore-fathers. So we are going to begin its study. There are three things In which its greatness chiefly consists: (a) Its Ethics; (b) Its Philosophy; (c) Its History. (a) Ethics means morality dealt with systematically - good conduct, and the rules of good conduct. When you learn arithmetic you are given certain rules, and if you follow the rules and apply them properly, the sum comes out right. So it is with ethics, the science of morality. It deals with rip-ht and wrong. What it is good to do and what it is bad to do. There are definite rules. Ethics does not say: "You ought to be good," or "You ought not to be bad;" but it gives rules, showing what is good and what is bad, what you should do and what you should ______________________________________________________________________ Bird Publisher 4 »The Story of the Great War – Some Lessons from the Mahabharata« by Annie Besant avoid. All these rules and the principles underlying them are called Ethics, The "Mahabharata" is great as a teacher of Ethics, showing us how to behave ourselves. It teaches everybody. It teaches children, boys and girls, men and women, and it teaches them what to do at each part of life. It teaches Brahmanas, Kshattriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and people without caste' as well, so that all may learn how to behave themselves in everyday life. It teaches how to live in business, in the family, as husband, father and son, wife, mother and daughter. It teaches the common things of everyday life, and does this in a very interesting way by means of stories. Instead of saying: "You ought to tell the truth", it tells us a number of stories about people who told the truth and what happened to them. Instead of saying: ''You ought not to tell a lie," it tells us a number of stories about people who told lies and what happened to them. In this way we learn how to apply the rules of conduct, and thus to understand them much better. When one of your professors teaches you a rule in arithmetic, he gives you a number of sums to be worked out by that rule, and that helps you to understand it much better than if you had only the rule and no examples. Good behaviour is a more important thing than some people think; success, happiness and prosperity depend on it. There is a story about Prahlada, who, by the merit of his good conduct, took from Indra the sovereignty of the three worlds; then Indra, disguising himself as a Brahmana, went and served Prahlada as his disciple, until Prahlada, pleased with him, offered to grant any boon he desired. Then Indra asked that Prahlada would give him his behaviour; and, though filled with fear as to the consequences, Prahlada gave it, bound by his word. As Prahlada sat, brooding over what had occurred, a flame with a shadowy form issued from his body, and when the king asked, " Who art thou? " the form answered: "I am the embodiment of thy Behaviour, cast off by thee. I am going away to dwell with thy devoted disciple the Brahmana." And another form left the king's body, and, when asked, said: "I am Righteousness; I live where Behaviour dwells." And in the same way went forth Truth, Good Deeds, Might and Prosperity; and the last named said: "O Prahlada, it was by thy Behaviour that thou hadst reduced the three worlds to subjection.