HPI 13 - Grand Illusion - Dharma and Deception in the Mahabharata

Summary

The episode delves into the themes of dharma and deception within the epic Mahabharata, showing how it reflects complex moral dilemmas. The Mahabharata, recognized not just as an epic but also a significant ethical work, explores whether deception can be justified and highlights the ambiguity in moral rightness. The narrative employs numerous tales within tales, showing how truth is elusive and often manipulated by both heroes and gods, making it a grand illusion. With detailed analysis of characters like Yudhishthira and Krishna, the discussion underscores the epic's depiction of various layers of dharma and the tragic conflicts it leads to, offering a profound exploration of ethical themes that remain relevant today.

Highlights

• The Mahabharata is eight times longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined, with intricate narratives. 📖
• It challenges moral absolutes by presenting scenarios where deception may serve a higher purpose. 🎭
• Krishna’s role as a divine strategist justifies unusual tactics in pursuit of a just cause. 💪
• Yudhishthira's truthful persona is tested when deception becomes necessary for victory. ⚔️
• The epic blends divine intervention with human actions to explore the complexities of dharma. 🌌

Key Takeaways

• The Mahabharata is a massive epic that intertwines storytelling with profound ethical discussions. 📚
• Dharma in the Mahabharata isn't just about moral conduct; it's a narrative of duties that evolve with time and context. 🎭
• The text uses deception as a thematic element to question moral absolutes and highlight narrative complexity. 🤔
• Yudhishthira's moral struggle exemplifies the tension between personal values and societal duties. ⚖️
• Despite ethical transgressions, the epic suggests that divine endorsement can reframe moral dilemmas. 🌟

Overview

The Mahabharata is not just an old tale from ancient India; it's a monumental text that holds a mirror to moral complexities through its vast narrative. It's eight times the size of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, illustrating its vast scope and diverse storytelling which encompasses layers of human and divine interactions. As readers traverse its expansive pages, they're led through a labyrinth of ethical dilemmas and moral questions that transcend time, inviting reflections that feel as contemporary now as they were then.

Central to the Mahabharata is the exploration of dharma, a concept that stretches beyond simple morality into the realms of duty and righteousness deeply embedded in the Indian ethos. The epic cleverly uses deception and manipulation, showing how dharma is not always black and white but varies in shades depending on contexts and characters involved, like in Yudhishthira’s moral journey where honesty clashes with pragmatic necessities and Krishna’s divine justifications.

As we follow the heroes and gods of the Mahabharata, we're prompted to question the rigidity of ethical codes when confronted with the fluidity of life’s challenges. The epic suggests that while truth is a revered virtue, life's complexities sometimes demand actions that twist moral straight lines into loops of grey. This narrative invites readers to ponder deeply on the nature of justice, truth, and duty amid the grand tapestry of human experience.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction The introduction chapter begins with a warm welcome to the series, 'The History of Philosophy in India,' presented by Jardan Ganer and Peter Adamson. The series is supported by the Philosophy Department at King's College London and the LMU in Munich. The online resources can be accessed at their official website.
• 01:00 - 03:00: Moral Dilemma - To Tell the Truth or Not The chapter explores the complex moral dilemma faced by individuals when deciding whether to speak the truth or lie in critical situations. It presents a scenario inspired by the Mahabharata, where an individual encounters a group of strangers fleeing from murderous thieves. This scenario prompts the question of whether one should tell the truth and reveal which way the group fled, potentially endangering their lives, or lie to protect them. The chapter delves into the philosophical nuances of deception and truth, drawing on historical and literary examples to illustrate the ethical challenges involved in such decision-making.
• 03:00 - 05:00: The Mahabharata as an Epic The chapter discusses a moral dilemma inspired by the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic. It presents a situation where one is faced with the decision of whether to tell the truth to murderers who seek information from you or to lie to protect potential victims. This ethical puzzle, which was highlighted by philosopher Emmanuel, challenges the reader to think critically about the consequences of their choices and the inherent conflict between honesty and morality.
• 05:00 - 08:00: The Significance of Ethics in the Mahabharata This chapter explores the theme of ethics in the Mahabharata, particularly focusing on the instance of truthfulness. The story is recounted by Krishna, who is a key character in the Mahabharata, serving as a divine charioteer. In this narrative, a priest faces a moral dilemma; despite his vow to always tell the truth, his adherence to this principle results in him guiding murderers to their intended victims. This illustration raises questions about the complexities of ethical conduct and the consequences of rigidly following such moral vows without considering the broader implications of one's actions.
• 08:00 - 11:00: The Role of Deception and Moral Ambiguity The chapter discusses the theme of deception and moral ambiguity through the narrative of the Mahabarata. The story highlights that even well-intentioned actions can lead to unfavorable outcomes, as exemplified by a priest who, despite his good intentions, ends up in hell due to his decisions. This reflects the complexity of ethics, where the Mahabarata serves as a didactic tool through storytelling, contrasting abstract philosophical approaches like Kant’s. The Mahabarata is portrayed as a grand ethical narrative built over generations.
• 11:00 - 13:00: The Concept of Dharma The chapter titled 'The Concept of Dharma' delves into the significance of the Mahabharata, an epic monument in Indian literature. This work is not only a reflection of a whole culture but also has religious significance for its readers, considering it a 'fifth Veda.' The chapter places the Mahabharata in the context of ancient epics, comparing it to the Ramayana, and drawing parallels between these and the Iliad and Odyssey of Greek Antiquity. Such comparisons are highlighted as both obvious and illuminating for understanding the cultural and historical depth of these narratives.
• 13:00 - 18:00: Truth and Deception in Battle This chapter examines the themes of truth and deception as depicted in epic battles, focusing on superhuman heroes in four prominent epics. These heroes, much like those in Homer's 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey', are often under the manipulation of gods. A significant point of comparison is the 'Mahabharata', credited to the bard Vyasa, which stands out not only for its length—being eight times that of the Homeric epics combined—but also for its direct relevance to the study of philosophy, offering insights more obviously connected to historical philosophy than either the 'Iliad' or 'Odyssey'.
• 18:00 - 22:00: The Complexity of Dharma and Ethics This chapter explores the complex themes of dharma and ethics as depicted in the Mahabharata, focusing on a section known as the Bhagavad Gita. It parallels Homer's Iliad in illustrating a great warrior's inner conflict and reluctance to engage in battle. The Mahabharata is not only a rich narrative but also a source of philosophical discourse, particularly in its examination of moral dilemmas. This section proposes to delve into several scenes from the epic that address moral complexities, particularly the ethical considerations surrounding deception and its justification. This theme of moral ambiguity is just one aspect among many that are woven throughout the epic.
• 22:00 - 25:00: Arjuna's Dilemma and Conclusion The chapter explores the self-proclaimed comprehensive nature of the Mahabharata, as it boasts that what is not contained within its verses does not exist anywhere else. This theme is particularly relevant as the Mahabharata frequently draws attention to its status as a narrative and a myth, engaging readers with its multi-layered storytelling. Throughout the epic, the readers are consistently reminded that it is the work of the bard Vyasa, highlighting the storytelling and myth-making processes involved in its creation.

HPI 13 - Grand Illusion - Dharma and Deception in the Mahabharata Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello and welcome to the history of philosophy in India by jardan Ganer and Peter Adamson brought to you with the support of the kinges College London philosophy department and the LMU in Munich online at ww ww. historyof
• 00:30 - 01:00 philosophy. net today's episode Grand Illusion dma and deception in the mahabarata suppose you're minding your own business one day when suddenly a group of strangers rushes up to you you have to help us they gasp we're being pursued by a group of murderous thieves who want to Rob and kill us don't tell them which way we ran sure enough only a minute after they Sprint away a group of cruel looking men arrive and ask which
• 01:00 - 01:30 way the first group has gone you're now in a dilemma you could say nothing in which case the robbers seem likely to torture the information out of you you could lie and send them the wrong way or you could tell the truth and send them murderers after their victims if you've ever been a philosophy student or are open-minded enough that you spend your time hanging out with philosophers you may already have been asked to consider this puzzle it was raised by Emmanuel as a challenge to his own teaching
• 01:30 - 02:00 that no one should ever lie but the example appears earlier than KT in fact much much earlier it features in the eth of the 18 books of the mahabarata in the form of a story told by none other than God himself incarnated as the charioteer Krishna in krishna's version The Dilemma is confronted by a priest who has vowed always to tell the truth he duly informs the murderers which way they should go to find their victims
• 02:00 - 02:30 good though his intentions are the priest is later sent to hell for his decision the mahabarata has plenty to teach us about ethics and it is certainly great as far as we're concerned it can therefore be considered a great work of Ethics not that it pursues the subject abstractly as for instance kant's critique of practical reason does rather this is ethics performed through the telling of Stories the product of generations worth of orally trans narratives it is a
• 02:30 - 03:00 monument in the landscape of Indian literature which holds within it a whole culture and has beginning in Antiquity had religious meaning for its readers indeed the mahabarata refers to itself as a fifth Veda it is one of a pair of ancient epics the other being the ramayana which makes it almost irresistible to draw comparisons to the ilad and odyssey of Greek Antiquity the comparison is not just obvious but to some extent even Illuminating
• 03:00 - 03:30 all four epics feature superhuman Heroes who endure Warfare while being manipulated by the gods and like Homer's ilad and odyssey the mahabarata is ascribed to a single Bard named viasa but when we say that the mahaa is great we include the most literal sense it is enormously long eight times the size of both homeric epics combined it is also of more direct obvious importance for the historian of philosophy than either the ilad or the
• 03:30 - 04:00 Odyssey since embedded within the mahab Bata is a section called the song of the Lord or bad Gita which like The Iliad centers on the reluctance of a great warrior to fight but is a classic philosophical text we'll be looking at the gaita next time in this episode we want to look at a few scenes from the rest of the Epic which have something to tell us about this question of whether deception can ever be morally Justified this is only one of the many themes we
• 04:00 - 04:30 could have picked out of the mahab barata which makes a point of its own comprehensiveness boasting what is not here does not exist anywhere but it is a particularly apt theme given that the mahabarata also makes a point of its own status as a narrative a myth whose making is brought constantly to the reader attention this is highlighted by the multiple frames within which the Epic is presented the entirety is purportedly the work of The Bard Vasa
• 04:30 - 05:00 but we hear it at several removes he recited it first to his son and several disciples one of whom recited it again from memory with this then being repeated by yet another Bard whose recitation is supposedly the basis of the full 18 book version that has come down to us this version is in fact not just full but stuffed to bursting often with material that may seem rather extraneous stories and digressions that have been called sub Tales
• 05:00 - 05:30 these probably show that the Epic narrative was treated as a framework with many generations of storytellers adding new material that would have been relevant to the concerns of their own time the result is a text that is invented and reinvented and makes us constantly aware of that invented viasa Krishna and other figures both act within the narrative and tell various stories this literary device which allows the mythmaker to enter the plot of his own myth reveals what the
• 05:30 - 06:00 mahabarata is about the elusiveness of truth and the ambiguity of moral rightness within the narrative too the heroes engage in all manner of deception with the plot often driven forward by lies tricks and subterfuge this is epic as Grand Illusion featuring characters who are themselves illusionists even a brief summary of the central story will get the point across it tells of two families within the same lineage who Whose Line is known as the
• 06:00 - 06:30 Bata which is also the name of the geographical territory of India hence the title Maha Bata or great tale of the Bata with great again referring to its enormous scope the text itself tells us that the narrative circulates in longer and shorter forms with our text of course being very much the long form a point underscored by a further story which relates how it was literally weighed in Scales against the four Vos and found to be
• 06:30 - 07:00 heavier pitted against each other in the Epic tale are two sets of Brothers the pandavas and the kavas the pandavas are the heroes of the tale LED with some reluctance by their oldest brother yuisa famed always for telling the truth this side also includes the great Archer Arjuna whose reluctance to fight against his kin provokes Krishna to preach the Gita to him in order to persuade him to enter the battle on on the other side the kavas are 100
• 07:00 - 07:30 Brothers led by the anti-hero DOR Odana who cheats the pandas of their Birthright by duping urista in two games of dice the rest of the story tells of the wanderings of the pandas and their ultimate return and Victorious 18-day war against the kavas at the cost of massive Bloodshed on both sides as in the ilad and honesty there are set pieces detailing the deeds and deaths of central Heroes with some of the most prominent deaths again involving
• 07:30 - 08:00 deception and lies to understand the significance of these scenes we need to think a bit about the nature of the moral code that is potentially being violated in such acts of treachery and that means thinking about dhma we've already encountered this word and its poly equivalent dhama in earlier episodes it was used in earlier Buddhism for the teaching of the Buddha and appears repeatedly in the moralizing inscriptions of the Buddhist King ashuka
• 08:00 - 08:30 you'll see it translated in ways that suggest a disconcertingly wide range of application from law to morality to religion in Modern India it is indeed sometimes used to mean simply religion for instance when the enterprise we call philosophy of religion is rendered Dharma darana but in the ancient context Dharma captures only part of what we might mean by religion roughly the part where religion Bears on moral conduct it was sometimes noted that living in in accordance with Dharma was not
• 08:30 - 09:00 sufficient to secure Liberation from the cycle of reincarnation even if it might be necessary for attaining that highest religious goal in general terms one's dhma consists in all the various sorts of Duties one has as a particular individual as a member of a family and of a society and simply as a human being in our earliest surviving literature though dhama does not really have this meaning of a general moral code or law instead it is used in a way
• 09:00 - 09:30 that is closer to its eological basis in the verb root meaning preserve or support the first vas thus use Dharma to speak of supporting the cosmos or when Indra holds apart the rivers from the plants this same usage is found in ancient Iran zor asrian texts employ a word with the same linguistic origin to talk about God holding the heavens so that they do not fall the word dma does not however play much of a role in subsequent viic
• 09:30 - 10:00 literature when it does appear it is especially in Social and legal contexts where dma has to do with the king's role of upholding order and Justice as contrasted to the so-called law of the fish where in the absence of the protective shelter of Royal law the smaller would be left to the mercy of the bigger this suggests a rather downto Earth answer to the question of which actions Accord with dhma just look at existing social practice
• 10:00 - 10:30 when a certain behavior is accepted as praiseworthy that is dhma while a behavior that earns rebuke is its opposite adma here we might see a parallel between dma and linguistic correctness as envisioned by the Sanskrit grammarians you may remember that patan jali remarked if you want words don't go to a grammarian but to a competent language user likewise if you want ethics don't ask a philosopher but find people who are agreed to be ethical
• 10:30 - 11:00 this does get us closer to the distinctively ethical meaning of dhma and in fact it recalls the socially embedded idea of virtue set out in Aristotle's nican ethics but dama ultimately took on the more ambitious sense of an abstract General set of moral requirements it seems that this happened especially and perhaps specifically with the Advent of Buddhism the Buddha's dhama or teaching was aimed at everyone regardless of their social role or cast and this same universalism is expressed in those
• 11:00 - 11:30 inscriptions of ashuka this sense then becomes pervasive in subsequent Indian literature not least in the Dharma sutras that we contrasted to ca's ATA shastra in episode 11 at this stage Dharma could be articulated as one of the main goals of Life alongside Arta or practical advantage and K or pleasure movements like the Buddhists and janas add a fourth greater goal Moka or liberation of course this more ambitious conception
• 11:30 - 12:00 of dma as an absolute code or law that applies to all alike makes it much harder to know exactly how one might obey its strictures as one of the Dharma sutras puts it Dharma and adarma do not go about saying here we are and this brings us back to the mahab barata passages like the parable of the truth-telling priest and murdering thieves show us that it is no easy matter to say where dhma leads even those who seek to live well may get
• 12:00 - 12:30 things wrong and this is especially clear in the case of moral dilemmas where no choice seems to be the right one it is no accident that krishna's tale focuses specifically on the case of truth-telling since this is a recurrent theme in the Epic the leader of the pandas is the morally upright udisa whose commitment to honesty is symbolized by the fact that his Chariot floats a little above the ground as he rides he comes crashing back to Earth
• 12:30 - 13:00 quite literally when he finally indulges in a falsehood he does so out of desperation since there is no other way for him to slay the kova hero drona rather astonishingly it is the Divine Krishna himself who suggests the base stratagem by which drona may be defeated he cannot in any way be defeated by force in battle casting aside virtue o pandavas resort to a method fit for victory so that drona might not kill everyone in battle I
• 13:00 - 13:30 think that he will not fight if his son were killed let some man say that he has been slain in battle this proposal meets with mixed reactions among the pandavas Arjuna immediately disagrees with the advice whereas his warlike brother beima thinks it's a splendid idea truth telling udisa is torn he absolutely wants to win indeed it's said that he is addicted to Victory but he is reluctant to spoil his spotless moral record in the end the
• 13:30 - 14:00 pandas hit upon the following subterfuge they will kill an elephant whose name just happens to be the same as drona's son then they can tell drona of the death thinking of the elephant but letting Dona assume the sun is meant as Arjuna puts it this covers a lie with a truth as if with armor at first it is beima who with no compunctions tells drona the misleading news but drona is suspicious and ask for
• 14:00 - 14:30 confirmation from yudist who confirms the Fateful lie though he mutters under his breath that it is only an elephant who has died so that drona will not hear him the Roose Works Dona drops his weapons ready to die in his grief and is killed but the success is short-lived drona's son will wreak great destruction on the pandavas and poor udisa has lost his spotless reputation he is later forced to witness his brother's suffering in Hell a vision
• 14:30 - 15:00 that is then revealed to be an illusion in return for his part in deceiving drona despite the bitter fruits reaped by yudist the mahabarata actually has a rather ambivalent attitude towards such deceptions in another passage Krishna warns the pandavas that the kava leader dorana can only be killed by tricking him and in this case he is given a speech indicating how such conduct can be justified or perhaps the right word would be rationalized he says when
• 15:00 - 15:30 enemies become too numerous and Powerful they should be slain by deceit and stratagems this is the path formerly trotten by the gods to slay the demons and a path trotten by The Virtuous may be trotten by all this advice seems to reverse a slogan found elsewhere where dhama is there is Krishna to put it another way if it's good enough for the gods then it's good enough for us perhaps the idea here is that the end justifies the means
• 15:30 - 16:00 and that if the end is the right one then whatever means are necessary are themselves right in the passages just mentioned Krishna insists that it is only by deception that the pandas can be Victorious and as he himself remarks where Dharma is there is Victory on this reading the tricks played by the pivas are excused because they bring about the correct result namely the defeat of their enemies who are themselves tricksters don't forget that the whole War can be traced to oana's double dealing in the dice game
• 16:00 - 16:30 that deprives the pandas of their Kingdom but if the end justifies the means what accounts for the passages that seem to pass disapproving judgment on the pandas and especially udis for their ignoble tactics a benal answer could be to refer to the protracted and many handed writing of the mahabarata as we suggested with the ATA shastra it is no surprise that a lengthy work composed by numerous authors of
• 16:30 - 17:00 different Generations would contain the occasional self-contradiction but perhaps the mahabarata does not want us to think that things are so simple that the way of dama is either to tell the truth and lose or win by lying and that we just need to figure out which answer is the right one it has been aptly remarked that the mahabarata never wants to resolve itself and so it is here for there are multiple ethical imperatives at work sure it's good to tell the truth but it's also good to defeat Wicked
• 17:00 - 17:30 enemies and secure victory for your clan especially if a God is encouraging you to do so as Bimal matilal has argued the role of Krishna in these passages could be that of a moral innovator who teaches the pandavas to shake off the rigid code of conduct previously cherished by udisa that one should tell the truth in all circumstances it's the same code followed by the priest who led murderers to their victims Matel suggest that Krishna is here a moral agent who gave
• 17:30 - 18:00 up moral Integrity to avoid a total miscarriage of Justice in the end but even if the duty to tell the truth is somehow trumped by other concerns it may remain as a duty nonetheless this is why it makes sense for the mahabarata to show the consequences of yisra's actions with the dramatic devices of the grounded Chariot and vision of hell for him and for all of us from time to time the best thing to do May involve doing something wrong
• 18:00 - 18:30 something against dhma to this we may add that the mahabarata recognizes that the dama of one group or person may differ from that of another truth telling is ud's calling card and it is in the most fundamental sense out of character for him to collude in a lie he thus violates what may be called his sadara the duty or code that is relevant to him specifically for a man like beima whose character rolve solely around the
• 18:30 - 19:00 katria code of Victory The Dilemma we've been discussing would hardly arise or not Arise at all no wonder that udisa tried to have it both ways by muttering under his breath in response to Dona his dma as a truth teller was clashing with his dma as a katria leader in other passages he tries to escape by questioning the very validity of that dma the code of the warrior is actually no better than the law of the fish where the strong prevail better to give up that code even if it means retreating
• 19:00 - 19:30 from the life of the katria and becoming an athetic as udist observes the peaceful man sleeps happily as he has given up both Victory and defeat here we have the central Insight that emerges from the moral dilemmas of the mahab Bata the Epic recognizes that such dilemmas may be genuinely tragic and that not all duties can be satisfied this does not mean that there is no right response at all it seems
• 19:30 - 20:00 clear that in krishna's story of the priest and the murderers the priest should not have told the truth what it means is that data May operate on different levels if only because we as moral agents are complex beings with different sorts of Duty and responsibility yodis is a truth tell by character and inclination a Warrior by circumstance this leads him into a conflict that can only be resolved by betraying himself or his responsibilities the same sort of dilemma is the Catalyst
• 20:00 - 20:30 for the most famous section of the mahabarata it begins when uda's younger brother Arjuna hesitates about whether he should act as a warrior and ride forth to meet his enemy or as a Kinsman of those very enemies who should not slay members of his own family fortunately you face no such conflict and it should be an easy decision for you to join us as we turn to the Bhagavad Gita next time here on the history of philosophy in India
• 20:30 - 21:00 [Music] [Music]