Dharma has various nuanced
meanings. It could mean one’s religion, or occupation, or moral
responsibilities to family and society. It could mean ‘the Path.’ On a deeper
level, it means who we are and our purpose in life and our eternal relationship
with the Divine. All these are addressed
in the Mahabharata.
To maintain the Dharma in
society requires good leadership. The pillars of Dharma are honesty,
compassion, cleanliness and self-sacrifice. In all fields, especially in
spirituality, politics and business, leaders need to understand and practice these
qualities.
To whom much is given, much
is expected. The people who have the most to lose have to make the biggest
sacrifices – not just the regular person
on the street. The spiritual, political and business leaders have to lead the
way. But where is such leadership? This is one of the important generational
concerns before us today: to understand what is real leadership and to train
leaders who can tackle the formidable challenges of the 21st
century. Justice. The environment. The
economy. Moral inspiration. We’re mired
in some serious problems that are not going to go away soon.
My rendition of Mahabharata addresses
these issues. If we don’t know what real leadership is, then it’s a case of the
blind leading the blind. Examples of good leadership are very rare in these
times. Without it, the philosophy of ‘greed is good’ runs rampant. If the leaders can’t be examples of
self-sacrifice, then it becomes OK to give way to our desires, to secure
material wealth and pleasure by any means. When we lose sight of the Dharma, greed
becomes dominant and society begins to unravel. Understanding the dharma is
pivotal to what Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest is all about.
For reviews and more info see: www.Mahabharata-Project.com
