Culture: 50 Insights from Mythology by Devdutt Pattanaik

Author:Devdutt Pattanaik
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2017-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

24

Rules do not make Rama

If there were no rules, would we be corrupt? Do rules make us corrupt? After all, only when there are rules can rules be broken or bent. Only when there are rules do we have need for regulators and courts and auditors to keep watch over society. What would the world be without rules? The world without rules is the jungle – where might is right and only the fit survive. Humans made rules so that the meek can also inherit the earth, so that even the unfit can thrive. That is why rules exist. That is how human society came into being.

Both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are about human society and about rules. In the Ramayana, Rama follows the rules but in the Mahabharata, Krishna breaks the rules. We are told that both are righteous. Both uphold dharma. Both are forms of God. Both fight corruption. How can that be?

In the Ramayana, the villain breaks rules. Neither Surpanakha nor Ravana respect the laws of marriage. Surpanakha uses force to get rid of competition and get herself a desirable mate. Ravana uses cunning to steal another man’s only wife, despite having many of his own. In contrast, in the Mahabharata, the villain does not break a single rule. No one—neither Bhishma nor Drona nor Karna nor the Pandavas—cries foul when a woman is dragged and disrobed in public, as technically, Duryodhana has not broken a single rule in the gambling hall. A rule-following Rama can combat a rule-breaking Ravana. But would he succeed against a rule-following villain like Duryodhana? That is why even God had to change his avatar and become Krishna, who bends the laws of nature and gets cloth to materialize to rescue Draupadi from her shame.

Corruption is not about breaking the rules: corruption is about rejecting our human side, embracing our animal side and reserving resources for the mighty and dominating the meek. Corruption is about becoming the territorial alpha male who excludes competition and includes no one, except those who surrender to him.

In India, every politician follows the rules, and every bureaucrat follows the rules, and every judge follows the rules. There are many rules to follow! Despite this, land is grabbed but no one is arrested or punished. Riots take place, hundreds are killed, but despite inquiry commissions, no one is convicted. Rapes take place but rapists are released on technicalities. There are never enough witnesses and not enough evidence. Even a terrorist who murders people in front of rolling cameras remains an ‘alleged’ criminal, and perhaps a political pawn, for months and years.

So the rage of the common man is understandable. So the outrage when Anna is put in jail is understandable. The government seems to be full of Bhishmas and Dronas and Karnas and the Pandavas—all rules are being followed while India is being disrobed. Expression of outrage gets you to Tihar Jail.

Within Tihar Jail, you find criminals: ‘alleged’ criminals as far as the court is concerned. These

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