The Difficulty of Being Good

This is not a book review, rather a discussion or an elaboration of what I understood from this book. The author, Gurcharan Das starts by claiming that his path to this book was rather unintentional since he was only trying to settle into his "Vanaprastha" life. He discusses the goals of life and how every stage of life connects with many goals at the same time. Head on from chapter 1, we dive into the core of the book, "Dharma" the main goal of a good life well-lived apart from 'Moksha'. The best thing about the book is that the chapters are arranged such that Mahabharata's chronological narration is undisturbed, chapters are character-centric and thus dharma is approached from various points of view and Mr. Das never stops throwing questions at us and subtly answering them. 

This book could not have come to me at a better time, I considered it non-intrusive advice from an elderly vanaprastha. The sub-text gives away the plot, almost, "The subtle art of Dharma". The word Dharma is refined and defined repetitively throughout the book. Dharma, what is it, how to follow the path of Dharma? Can anyone follow the path of Dharma? Is it even possible for anyone to follow Dharma? What is Dharma? Is Dharma ethereal or absolute?

I have decided not to write the post based on my notes, but on what I remember or what impacted me most. The chronological order of the chapters is as follows, and I'll discuss only those that interested me most.

1. Duryodhana's envy - What man of mettle will stand to see his rival prosper and himself decline?
2. Draupadi's courage - Whom did you lose first, yourself or me?
3. Yudhisthira's duty - 'I act because I must'
4. Arjuna's Despair - There are no victors in war
5. Bhishma's selflessness - Be intent on the act, not on its fruit
6. Karna's status anxiety - How could a doe give birth to a tiger?
7. Krishna's Guile - That is the way it is
8. Ashwathama's revenge - Now I feel the whirligig of time
9. Yudhisthira's remorse - This victory feels more like a defeat to me
10. Mahabharata's dharma - Great king, you weep with all creatures
11. Conclusion - The difficulty of being good

Surprising Duryodhana's envy was discussed in a way I never expected if you did not get the gist from the question posted by Duryodhana; according to him he was only following the dharma of Kings and tried to expand his Kingdom by any means so that Pandavas or their clan will never become a threat to Kurus. From his shoes I'll buy his idea, it is very easy to portray him as a Villain, but to dissect his character to identify his reasoning is something that impressed me enormously! This is something even BR productions failed, and never talk to me about the recent version made by Swastik production, it is nothing but a <expitive> show with milk-white Krishna, for god's sake he said to have the complexion on rainy clouds by Veda Vyasa himself!

Arjun's, Karna's, and Krishna's take on dharma, dilemma, or the lack of one is discussed by the masses in India through multiple mediums and so I'm happy to skip them. Draupadi's courage will teach lessons to any feminist for centuries to come, as soon as she learns that Yudhisthira has gambled her away, the first question she throws at the court is straight but complex to answer. Yudhisthira first gambles himself and loses and yet continues to play and loses Draupadi. So how come a slave - who doesn't have any procession by definition can gamble her away? Draupadi being a princess herself adds an additional layer of knots to the severely complicated problem. Her question to the court doesn't go unanswered however, the answer was atomically patriarchal that even a slave has rights to his wife. At this point, she is reduced to a mere object and this my friend will come back to burn the whole of Kuru clan. 

The awesomeness of the book comes from the fact the author can pull stories from real life and quote it to show how dharma really works in real life. The way Ambani's greed disrupted innumerable, how Gandhi held onto his peaceful life and from even his personal life, and also how his father has inspired some of his behavior. And once such story was the answer I was looking for all along, it was there for taking, I never did expect a direct answer, but there it was, Bhishma was a wise man beyond measure.

Oh the question, the reason I picked up this book is featured in the book! Now with utmost confidence I can say, "I have picked up the correct book". pic.twitter.com/nFQC12TuMz

— Shiva Hari Kumar (@shivaharikumar) October 25, 2020

Yudhisthira is the most discussed character, oh yes he is also known as Dharman. His reasoning to not stray away from his path is the simplest and the strongest - "I act because I must". To continue a game despite knowing he is getting cheated, to not fight for his kingdom which was immorally snatched from him, the pop culture in you - he is the Batman who will not kill people using a misplaced sense of righteousness as a reason. Apart from the white lie to take on Drona, Dharman lived a life of Dharma. Thus is granted a place in heaven without having to take a detour via hell, yet Dharman being the man he is insist on taking a dog along with him to heaven, which only further solidified his place in heaven.

The book has something to offer everyone, maybe it is right up there in the Duryodhana's chapter or somewhere below that or even in the prelude section which you should not skip. I usually read from cover to cover and I was so happy that I did the same to this book, the author took care to mention all the references that will lead to further reading, I was a bit disappointed that most "sankrit" scholars are foreigners - this may be a line straight out of Rajiv Malhotra's book by I'd have preferred that real sankrit scholars were also involved, none the less they were referred. I'd like to recommend the book to anyone in search of answers to questions like, why bad things are happening to me? or why good people are hard to come by? or why they are overlooked? But I may not read it again, it is a one-time read; probably because I have the answer now, maybe for a different question that I might face in the future I might very well refer to the book.