Shashi Tharoor - The Great Indian Novel

117

Arjun saw fathers, uncles, cousins

Teachers, preachers, grandsons, friends

Arrayed before him in several dozens

Convinced their means justified their ends.

Pity filled him. He spoke with sadness:

‘Krishna, this is simply madness.

All these foes are our own kinsmen;

Who will wash away their sins, then?

My will fails me. My throat is parched.

I think of it, and feel a shiver.

I’ve always been for life — a liver.

Though I was ready; my bow was arched,

My mind’s in a tumult. I can’t continue.

My resolve trembles in every sinew.

‘I can’t attack them for doing their duty.

Duryodhani is Dhritarashtra’s daughter.

She may not be a thing of beauty

But she’s P M, she’s earned her hauteur.

I admit her rule was not always just –

She betrayed some of us, abused our trust –

But still she is our nation’s Leader:

India’s masses have shown they need her.

If we attack and destroy our queen,

Breaking the traditions of our ancient line,

Won’t it seem acceptable, even fine

To be disloyal to the next one seen?

And then has not the Mahaguru taught us

To hold our peace like the petals of a lotus?’

Krishna took a deep long breath.

‘Why falter now, when we are ready?

Why grieve before a single death?

Why tremble when your grip is steady?

The wise grieve not for the living or dead.

Our selves are more than hands or head.

You, and I, have always been;

Our souls, our spirits, were ever keen;

And we shall never cease to be.

For one soul passes into another.

Death is only rebirth’s brother.

Don’t think too much of what you see.

Transcend; and realize this is meant:

What’s on this earth is transient.

‘Great heat, bitter cold, pleasure and pain,

Victory, defeat; indulgence or fasting;

All come and go like a burst of rain.

None is permanent, none is lasting.

That which is not, shall never please;

That which is, shall never cease.

The Spirit which moves both you and me

Is immortal; it will always be.

The Spirit exists, it does not destroy.

Nor, indeed’, is it ever destroyed.

It was not born, nor made like a toy;

It does not feel, it is never annoyed;

Unborn, enduring, omnipresent,

Only the Spirit is permanent.

‘But the Unchanging Spirit ne’ertheless does change.

Like a cloud that travels amidst great storms,

It spans an enormous physical range,

Altering, discarding its bodies and forms.

The Spirit appears and disappears.

It comes, it goes, it reappears.

The persons and causes it does infuse

(And the Spirit is all-pervasive, diffuse)

Rise and fall, glow and fade, live and die.

But the Spirit goes on, immutably.

Its nature must be treated suitably.

Respect it, Arjun; there’s no cause to cry.

You need not fear knocking your kin to earth:

For birth follows death as death follows birth.

‘In other words, Arjun, don’t waver.

It’s unworthy to neglect your duty.

Duryodhani is the country’s enslaver:

She’s no village belle or city cutie.

You must take a grip on yourself,

Not flap like a maid on the shelf.

Arise, stand, fight like a man;

The police have lifted the ban

On opposing Duryodhani’s government.

So what if you help bring it down?

It’s not the only show in town,

While the Soul of India is permanent.

Others will come and take its place

And they too will soon fall from grace.

‘Of course there will be many fumbles:

Some will run, some will fall, some fail

But that’s the way, lad, the laddoo crumbles.

You don’t have to shudder and wail.

Moral doubts are often an excuse

For those who wish to refuse

To join the fight or the fray;

But I’m telling you, today

You can’t let us down, Arjun.

Victory and defeat don’t matter.

Non-involvement’s just idle chatter.

We need action, and we need it soon.

(Just as a pilot can fly any airbus,

So scripture can be quoted for any purpose.)

‘Put aside gospel, banish all doubts.

Our philosophy holds no attraction

For those who don’t heed the shouts

Of their friends who call them to Action.

Accept good and evil alike;

Acknowledge the real need to strike;

Give up all attachment,

Flow like rain through a catchment

And join the election campaign.

It’s a question of your self-respect.

And Draupadi’s, which you’re sworn to protect:

So don’t let your scruples cause pain.

Think of this as working for peace.

Do right, and your torment will cease.

‘So Arjun, abandon all hesitation.

This is not a cause you can shirk.

You can do just two things for the nation:

Meditate, or take up good work.

In our classics, it is clearly inscribed:

“Arjun, do the duty prescribed.”

Dutiful action, without care of reward

Is the first step you can take toward

Eternal bliss; for what you do

Others will imitate; and thus uplift

Your cause, yourself, and your great gift

For initiating Action in others too.

Look at me; there’s nothing I need to attain,

Yet I act, and inspire this election campaign.

‘It is better to do your own duty, Arjun,

Than another’s. But do it without desire.

The course of Right Action confers a great boon;

But as a womb wraps a babe, as smoke shrouds fire,

The universe is enveloped in sick desire

And the unselfish do-gooder’s often a liar.

To surrender all claim to the result of your deeds

Is the greatness of one who transcends his own needs,

And that’s what we need in a man of right action.

Someone to act in true selflessness,

And restore order to our national mess.

A disinterested sage rising above faction.

Who’ll work, sacrifice, revitalize the nation.

The reward of his action? True realization.

‘No misgivings need beset such an actor

Who acts for the Spirit, not for personal gain;

Who untouched by attachment, or any other factor

Acts for the nation in this election campaign.

He will no more be tainted by the sin of the Daughter

Than the fresh water-lotus is wetted by water.

As for whether Priya is adored by the masses,

Don’t worry — too often, the masses are asses.

He who acts for the Spirit must aim much higher,

Knowing his action will purify the soul;

Content that salvation will come from his role,

As the act of flying fulfils the flyer.

It is not right in this to shirk obligation.

To avoid action through pity is wrong renunciation.

‘So Arjun, stop doubting; rise and serve India.

Serve me, the embodiment of the Spirit of the nation.

I am the hills and the mountains, Himalaya — Vindhya;

I am the worship, the sacrifice, the ritual oblation;

I am the priest, the sloka , the rhythmic chant:

The do and the don’t, the can and the can’t.

I am the ghee poured into the fire, I am indeed the fire;

I am the act of pouring, I am the sacred pyre.

I am the beginning and the end,

The aimer and the goal;

The origin, the part, the whole,

The bender and the bend.

I am lover, husband, father, son, Being and Not-Being;

1 am nation, country, mother, eye, Seeing and All-Seeing

‘Serve me, Arjun, like the warriors of yore.