कोई गुरखा कोई मदरासी
सरहद पे मरनेवाला
हर वीर था भारतवासी
जो ख़ून गिरा पर्वत पर
वो ख़ून था हिंदुस्तानी
जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी
ज़रा याद करो क़ुरबानी..." कवि प्रदीप
Stanley Crouch:
…heroes need huge obstacles to teach them what they must know in order to achieve the victories demanded of them.
Dominic Sandbrook:
Despite all the patriotic American nonsense about the "greatest generation", (Antony) Beevor shows that there were remarkably few heroes. There were rarely "more than a handful of men prepared to take risks and attack," he says; most men just wanted to get home in one piece and "somebody else to play the role of hero". Surveys showed that if a few broke ranks and fled, the rest would follow; in most engagements, as many as half never fired a shot.
This could be true of Panipat 1761 too but the important thing is there were "few heroes". And today is the day to remember them one more time. Let us also not forget their mounts- ponies, elephants, camels, bullocks...(read a related post here).
Remembering those who died 250 years ago today on Makar Sankranti day January 14 1761 at Panipat whose great valour was praised in lofty terms by none other than the enemy who vanquished them...
They made the supreme sacrifice NOT in the name of
a Caste,
a Religion,
a Language,
a Region...
but, maybe unwittingly, to preserve the idea of tolerant, pluralistic, multilingual, multiethnic India...
Read a related post that was written to mark the beginning of the anniversary year on January 15 2010 here.
Joseph Campbell: "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ”
Artist: Pablo Picasso
(Ignore the name of the artist for a moment and look at the picture again.
Isn't it still deeply moving?
Don, Sancho, bright sun, high ideals, dreams, castles, princesses, mounts, spear, shield, windmills...Who is to say victory or defeat?
I still remember my confusion reading Mahabharat that when Yudhishthira reaches the heaven he finds Kauravas who were killed in the battle- and not his brothers who died during the journey- having good time.)
4 comments:
आपण व्यक्त केलेल्या शंकेचे निरसन मराठीत देत आहे :-
युधिष्ठिराला स्वर्गात गेल्यावर,कौरवांपैकी, विशेषतः दुर्योधन इंद्रसभेत बसलेला दिसला आणि त्यावर युधिष्ठिराने संताप व्यक्त करून माझे प्रिय भाऊ मग कुठे आहेत,असे विचारले.त्याला आकाशवाणीद्वारे उत्तर मिळाले, की ते नरकात आहेत. युधिष्ठिर नरकात जाण्याची आणि तेथेच राहण्याची इच्छा व्यक्त करतो. त्याला नरकात नेले जाते, तेथे त्याला भयानक दृश्ये दिसतात आणि छळ चाललेल्या अज्ञात नरकवासीयांचे आक्रंदन ऐकू येते. ते त्याला म्हणतात, की युधिष्ठिरा, तुझ्या आगमनामुळे आमची दुःखे काही प्रमाणात कमी झाली आहेत. पण काही क्षणात हे सारे मायावी चमत्कार नाहीसे होतात आणि त्याला सांगण्यात येते, की युधिष्ठिरा, तू युद्धात खोटे बोललास, म्हणून तुला हे सारे पहावे व ऐकावे लागले. तुझे भाऊ नरकात नसून स्वर्गात आहेत. आणि मग सर्व पांडवांची भेट होते.
( प्रसाद मासिकाने हे महाभारत, एका विशेषांकात दिले होते)
मंगेश नाबर
Thanks Mangesh.
I will come back to it little latter.
Aniruddha..first of all let me tell your blogs are superb. I read them every Friday afternoon regularly. Just wanted to perhaps shed light on Yudhistra incident in mythology. When he arrives at the gates of heaven, he sees Duryodhana and his 99 brothers but not the pandavas. In fact he finds Other Pandavas burning in hell. But when he asks ( in not sure whom but I think its Yama ) , Yama smiles and shows him that even heaven/hell that he saw was an illusion and then shows him the real picture were every one from Duryodhana and his brothers and Pandavas are in same place..and the whole concept of heaven and hell was false.
Thanks Rahul.
You and Mangesh have really educated me on Mahabharat.
I really liked your "heaven/hell that he saw was an illusion".
Indeed. Just Maya.
Keep in touch.
best,
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