Perspective and Perception

History is riddled with characters labeled as good, bad and ugly! Let us try and get another perspective. 

I. EVIL IS ABSOLUTE! OR IS IT?

Let us revisit the Mahabharata 

Shakuni *¹, the main strategist of the Kauravas. The mastermind of the biggest war that resulted in the loss of over 1 billion 660 million lives, had actually had a very sorry past. 

Shakuni was thrown into prison with his 100 brothers when his homeland was conquered by Hastinapur (ruled by the very same Kauravas). In prison, each of his brothers was given 1 grain of rice each per day. Since Shakuni, was the smartest member of the family, his brothers sacrificed their share of grains and fed him so that he could take their revenge for all the wrong done to them. He witnessed the death of each brother to starvation and in order to not forget this great sacrifice and the purpose of his life, the prince bends his knee, so every time he limps, it would remind him of his purpose in life.

Was Shakuni evil or righteous? 

II. EVERYTHING IS WRITTEN. 

Let us now, revisit the Ramayana

Ravana, the evil Rakshasa who kidnaps Sita and was slain by Rama. Every Dussehra we celebrate this triumph of good over evil. 

Rama, was an incarnation of God Vishnu (the preserver), while Ravana and his brother Kumbhakarna, in their earlier demigod avatar, were great bhaktas (devotees) of God Vishnu. 

One cosmic day, Four Kumaras (children of God Brahma ~ the creator), wanted to visit Vishnu but were stopped by Jaya-Vijaya*² the gatekeepers, as a result, they were cursed to give up their divinity and live as mortals. God Vishnu appeared before them and since he could not reverse the curse, he offered Jaya-Vijaya two options. Option one was to take 7 births so as to devotees of Vishnu or Option two was to take 3 births as an enemy of Vishnu only post that they could be reunited with their beloved God. Since they could not stay away from God Vishnu for seven mortal lives, they chose the latter option. 

Of their 3 lives as enemies of God Vishnu, Jaya-Vijaya in their second life, were called Ravana and Kumbhakarna , who were slain by Rama (the seventh avatar of God Vishnu).

There is no good and evil, its all perception.

III. A VILLAIN TO THE WORLD, BUT HERO TO THE ONE WHO MATTERS

Let us also revisit the betrayal of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was aware that one of his disciples- Judas*³ would betray him, that too with a kiss to his cheek as a warm greeting. But was the greeting really required? 

Think about it for a minute, if someone is openly challenging traditional beliefs held by the society, those in power, I am sure, those who run society will keep a track of his/her movements. Then why did few Roman Soldiers need Judas to identify Jesus with a kiss of death? Some state that Jesus was a shape shifter, he appeared with different features to different people who were part of the same audience who saw him at the same time (complicated isn't it). 

Jesus needed a disciple like Judas to help him leave this mortal world and ascend to his true realm-the heavens. As everything is pre-written ( we can change our fate but not our destiny) Judas' destiny was also pre-written. Sadly, he is still portrayed as the betrayer of Christ! But, come to think of it, isn't he the redeemer of Christ? 

I feel history is re-written by a selected few, and we view history with this limited perspective given to us by those few.

What do you think? 

*¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuni
*² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaya-Vijaya
*³ http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/why-did-judas-identify-jesus-with-a-kiss/