Re: Shades of Gray in the Mahabharata
namaste Eric.
My prima facie thought on the incongruous aspects in the characters you find in MahAbhArata, with the PANDavas and the Kauravas both, is that they are all kShatriyas, possess kShatriya guNas and follow the kShatriya dharma. Although the celestial counterparts of the PANDavas can be traced, none of them are an avatar of BhagavAn, who is himself present as shrI KRShNa in MahAbhArata.
I have read only Rajaji's abridged version of the ItihAsa, but you would also find as you read on, shrI KRShNa doing many things siding with the PANDavas that seem adharmic. In this case you have to know that shrI KRShNa is a pUrNAvatar of MahAViShNu, descended to establish dharma when things were in a mess at the end of DvApara Yuga, and understand whatever he does in that context.
Incidentally, KM Ganguli's unabridged version is over 5800 pages, whose download link is: http://www.scribd.com/doc/14126117/M...-Mohan-Ganguli
MahAbhArata is not about a simple fight between good and evil. The characters are not Asuras or RAkShasas, only human beings with a varied mixture of guNas. The ItihAsa celebrates the victory of the overall dharmic side against the adharmic, under the personal guidance of BhagavAn KRShNa. It is in one sense like the modern war fought on the battlefield, between people with a mixture of both good and bad in them, the difference being that unlike a modern war, the dharma yuddha of MahAbhArata did not affect the civilians.
रत्नाकरधौतपदां हिमालयकिरीटिनीम् ।
ब्रह्मराजर्षिररत्नाढ्यां वन्दे भारतमातरम् ॥
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
--viShNu purANam
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