The Mahabharata: Reading Notes (Part A)
I was really delighted to come across something familiar in this week's reading when I read about Drona's Test. Drona is the guru for all the Pandavas and Kauravas, as well as his own son, and he trains them all, putting them through various tests. One day, Drona tasks the boys with shooting a fake eagle he has placed in the trees. All of them miss, with the exception of Arjuna who is able to focus only on the center of the eagle's head.
 |
| Arjuna Taking Aim (Web Source) |
Although the version I heard was a little different, this story still resonated strongly with me because it was a lesson I really took to heart over the past year as I have prepared for the MCAT and applying to medical school while working full time. The story as I have heard it involves a similar series of questions and answers between Arjuna and Drona (although at the time I heard the story, I was not familiar with these names), but the final answer Arjuna gives is that he can only see the "eye of the parrot". This story represents the immense focus that is required to accomplish a task and highlights the lesson that in order to accomplish a task, you must be able to find one point to focus on and then work towards that specific goal. Trying to define goals too broadly will end in misfires, but if you focus on a small piece of the goal at a time, you can sometimes find that you will not only accomplish one small thing, but potentially the entire thing if your aim is focused.
Another story I really liked from this reading was the story of Draupadi. This story interested me because its another story that ties together the concept of past lives with current circumstances, which is a big theme for my storybook. During Draupadi's swayamwara, Arjuna wins her hand and is then told he must share his new wife with his four other brothers. In a past life, Draupadi had been married to five men and had hoped to meet them again in another life. I also noticed that Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, was at the swayamwara, and I am interested to see what role he plays in this story.
Bibliography:
Narayan's Mahabharata
Online Reading Guide Part A: Narayan's Mahabharata (Web Source)
No comments:
Post a Comment