Week 5 Reading Diary : Feuding

The main themes within the Mahabharata include family feuds and corruption. When the Pandavas are encouraged to leave the city for a relaxing family vacation of sorts, the trip turns out to be a plot by the Kaurava to murder their own family members so that there will be no contest for the throne. With the Pandavas dead the notoriety will remain with the Kaurava princes. We see here how the lust for power coupled with envy of others is able to twist one's mind.

(The Pandavas escaping the burning house.)

Although the Pandavas in all their greatness are often described as being unfair in their treatment of their cousins. The relationship dynamic between the Pandavas and the Kauravas does well to examine the question of morality and what makes up a characteristics of a righteous person. Is it enough to be born into royalty like the Kauratas and Pandavas? Or must one inherit otherworldly skill and prominence? All these seem to indicate some level of greatness and yet none are directly linked to righteousness.