What can a story thousands of years old possibly teach us about our lives today?
We began with Shantanu, Ganga, Devavrata, Satyavati, and the famous Bhishma Pratijna. One student asked, essentially, “Why would anyone give up a kingdom and marriage?” Exactly! That opened the door to one of the biggest Mahabharata questions: What if? What if Shantanu had made a different choice? What if Devavrata had not taken that vow? What if Dhritarashtra had not been born blind? One decision can create consequences far beyond what we can see.
And then came the realization: the objects change, but the mind doesn’t. The fisherman wanted more fish; today we might want more branded stuff. The setting changes, but greed is still greed. Anger can last for years — just like Amba’s, sometimes even something as small as a grudge carried from elementary school! The Mahabharata suddenly stopped being an ancient story and became a mirror.
We also looked at how wisdom can sometimes choose to blindfold itself—literally, in Gandhari’s case. We explored curiosity through Kunti and the birth of Karna, false ownership through Dhritarashtra’s attachment to the throne, and the importance of discernment when making choices. The recurring message was simple: our choices matter, even when we cannot see the consequences coming.
There were plenty of “wait…what?” moments too. Vyasa and Ganesha’s writing arrangement, the broken tusk, the hundred Kauravas..., and the students’ amused reaction to our description of ancient “test-tube babies”, the Kauravas — kept the class lively. But beneath the humor was a deeper question: Are we getting distracted by how the story happened, or are we learning from what the story is trying to show us?
And we brought the learning home when parents joined at the end of class. Our students became the quiz masters and tested the parents with Mahabharata trivia.
By the end, the Mahabharata felt less like a complicated family tree and more like a user manual for the human mind. We are not studying it because we have figured everything out. We are studying because, as we reminded ourselves, learning is lifelong — “my tombstone is my diploma!”
“The objects change. The mind doesn’t.”
That may be the most exclusive lesson from the Mahabharata: thousands of years later, the names and circumstances have changed — but greed, anger, attachment, jealousy, curiosity, and ego are still very much alive.
The Mahabharata may be noodles. But every strand leads us back to ourselves.
Rashmi and Jacqueline.
