Leaky boat !
What would you do if you were sitting in a leaky boat ?
A) would you repair the leak
B) would you find another boat
C) swim to safety
D) sit tight and wait for the boat to sink
E) enlarge the hole and hope to reach the shore.
What would you do ?
Lets add a further option to this scenario - there is strong, safe, stout boat
within easy reach, with enough room for all occupants of the leaky boat to get
into.
What would you do now ?
Still go through above option or
F) board the second boat
G) attack the second boat and try to drown it
Any sane person would try each of the first three options A-C or better still
opt for option F.
No intelligent person would sit idly by and do nothing to fill the hole in the
leaky boat.
Even more poignantly, no one with a modicum of common sense would enlarge the
hole and still hope to reach safety as in option E
No one would advocate option G !
Kaurava Boat -
Sadly, leaders of the Kuru court opted for option D, E and G!
Knowing Pandavas to be the better bet, they still clung to the coat tails of the
blind Dhritarastra and pampered Duryodhan’s selfish ego, pandering to his whims,
soothing him during one of his many temper tantrums. Often the elders are
insulted by Duryodhan or interrupted by Karna or ignored by Shakuni and the
elders still support the decisions taken by these men !
It is amazing that some of the most intelligent, powerful, upright, respectable
men of India
allowed the great Bharata war to take place by adopting options D, E and G !
Likes of Shakuni, Dushashan, Karna and Ashwashthama opted for E.
They kept expanding the hole by designing
ever bigger scandals, making them more and more obvious than their previous
plans.
Likes of Dhritarastra, Gandhari, Krupacharya, Drona and Bhishma first tried D
and later they actually adopted G !
What else can you expect when the boat’s captain is blind !
Sadly, even the "sighted" occupants of the Kaurav
boat did not do enough to steer their craft to safety. Instead of guiding the stranded craft
to shore, they procrastinated and later attacked the Pandavas with all they
could. Those highly intelligent
elders preferred to die rather than abandon the ill fated craft of Kauravas.
They could not persuade the captain of
their boat to change direction, they did not have the will to force course
change, nor did they have the courage to abandon the boat that was speeding
towards disaster. Sadly, they all
died one after the other trying to kill the Pandavas and their army.
Pandava boat -
Fortunately, Pandavas knew how to manage their boat better. They
tried having it led by Kunti, Vidur, Yudhisthir and Dhumya before turning to
Krushna.
* Being a woman and a widow, Kunti had limited powers.
* Being born of a maid, Vidur was limited in his reach. After Varnavat and
founding of Indraprastha, he was effectively neutralised by the faction led by
Duryodhan.
* Ydhishthir was too sentimental,
procrastinated and his leadership was seriously compromised by
his catastrophic losses after the dice game in Kuru court.
* Dhaumya was an excellent preceptor, but his field was limited to spiritual,
social and ritual matters.
* Shri Krushna was an all-rounder and he skilfully led the boat of Pandavas
through some of the most treacherous waters possible. Having Krushna as
their captain saved the Pandavas from some terrible disastrous moments – before,
during and after the war.
With Dhritarastra and Duryodhan as their captain, Kauravas floundered and went
down with all hands-on-deck.
With Krushna as their captain and guide, Pandavas prevailed.
© Bhagwat Shah
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