“Until the lions have their own historians,
the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”
- An old proverb
This
world belongs to those that have won and not those that have lost. A history
teacher I once knew had pointed out a very relevant fact to me which was
basically that history had been written by those that had won, therefore it was
not a definite that history was not going to be skewed towards them. The winner
would rewrite history in order to make them seem favourable and the better lot.
I’ve thought about this quite often and wondered what if Hitler had won the
world war? Would we be still condemning the holocaust? Or had the Kauravas won
the battle of Kurukshetra, would the Bhagwad Gita still be our holy text? What
if the Mahabharata had been written from the point of view of the Kauravas? Maybe
the Pandavas would have been portrayed as the evil cousins who came again and
again to snatch away the kingdom that rightfully belonged to the Kauravas till
they were finally defeated in the battle of Kurukshetra? Would Karma have still
meant what it does today or what it was intended to ?
The
philosophy of Karma yoga states that we carry forward all our Karma through all
our lifetimes and reap the results of what we sow from our past and present
lives. The Bhagwad Gita says that we must fulfill our moral duty towards God
through action and not inaction. Karma should renounce desire of the fruit of
one’s actions and be free of all attachments.
I
don’t wish to contest what the Bhagwad Gita says as I don’t proclaim myself to
be an expert on this magnificent piece of intellect. But somewhere when I
consider Karma I am forced to think. In my very small and microscopic view of
life as I have seen it as I have not seen a previous life and am not aware of
what happened in which life. Those that believe in Karma from previous lives as
well might have seen their previous incarnations and that is what has convinced
them into believing that their present condition in life is not due to what
they have done in this life but what they might have done in another life.
While
I vehemently believe in the theory of Karma and that you reap what you sow, I
also believe and hope that you do so in this life and not carry forward or
bring forth balance from others. The Bhagwad Gita is a way of life that lays
down moral guidelines to help us charter our own paths. With many different
interpretations of the Gita that exist today I like to think that there should
be some personal involvement while interpreting it as well as that will help us
apply the principles better to our individual situations. Duality is the life
sustaining force in our existence. Action or inaction, dharma or adharma, good
or evil, action and reaction, male and female, life and death, sun and moon,
hot and cold, yin and yang and so on are all defining aspects of this duality.
Their very existence is inter-dependent and as they cease to exist without each
other this duality becomes a single interaction. Therefore as every action has
an equal and opposite reaction every Karma has a reaction attached to it.
Practice
what you preach. Many things are easier said than done and while reading the
Bhagwad Gita I realized that the way to the eternal truth is also paved in
being sinless. In the world that we live in today, sin has reached different
meanings altogether and many things that are morally and ethically wrong are
being accepted as part of life. In short, they are not seen as sin any longer.
The standards for wrongdoing have become higher and people actually work hard
to achieve those. Honesty and integrity are seen as faults that simpletons are
supposed to possess as opposed to the righteous lot. With the sort of
corruption and evil that exists around our very center of being in this world
where being human or moral is seen as a fault, how does one exist without committing
some sin or the other? Sometimes I feel it is impossible. I haven’t seen an
after or before life and in my very limited view and experience of this life
petty crimes, lying cheating and being unethical are seen as practical ways to
live and move up the ladder.
While
I struggle to explore these many thoughts and truths the one thing that stays
untouched and stands forth is that the whole is greater than the individual
manifestations. The Bhagwad Gita along with the existence of duality somewhere
puts back faith in Karma and that even if the Kauravas had won the battle of
Kurukshetra, and history been written with a different perspective, the balance
that duality seeks to establish naturally would have remained and the Bhagwad
Gita have survived as the eternal truth. There for the taking and understanding
for those that wish to. Shadow will not exist without light and that which is
false will not exist without the truth.
As
individuals and young people it is our moral and ethical responsibility to use
our capacity for thought and judgment in order to decide what we want in our
lives and what we don’t want. Accepting anything on a platter whether right or
wrong without applying one’s own judgment may be the deciding factor in what
paths we choose to travel to what end. History could be written to glorify the
hunter but if we start to question and apply our moral and ethical compass to
chart our roadmaps, somewhere the eternal truth shall prevail.
About
the author: Neha Parmar is a wildlife photographer and a conservationist
with some tolerable talent for writing. If you liked, connected or have a
contrary perspective with anything that you read please feel to share your
feedback.
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see more work by Neha Parmar
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