Monday, December 14, 2015

Of Gita and intolerance.



In the very first line of Gita, Dhritrashtra asks,
'Sanjaya, after MY sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?'
His usage of the word 'my' represents his ignorance. And the reason for the downfall of the Kauravas.
And what are we fighting for?
'Our cow' (Aka 'our' holy animal)
The cow is not yours. Nor theirs. Its an animal. In ancient times, it provided milk for home. It's dung provided fuel and purified the home. It's urine was used for it's antiseptic property.
In short, life was impossible without the cow. Hence, it was revered as holy.
Its not the same today.
Have you ever read Ramcharitmanas? It's poetry. It's a ballad of love.
Tulsidas transformed his unadulterated love into words.
And, some years ago, people upheld the same words to bathe a holy city with blood. That piece of land was neither yours. Nor theirs. It was (and still is) just a piece of land.
Wake up.

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