Are you sure what you call “Love” is really love?
The conversation between Lord Krishna and Guru Drona on the battlefield of Kurukshetra
The epic of Mahabharata has the power to teach us infinitely many things. Each and every excerpt, each and every scene from Mahabharata teaches us something new about life, and that’s the beauty of this epic.
Furthermore, we all know that there are thousands of stories, epics, sagas, and legacies passed down from generation to generation in India, but particularly, we find Mahabharata closely related to modern day problems, societal problems, and their solutions, and that’s the beauty of this timeless saga!
This blog is about a beautiful conversation where Lord Krishna (during the war), explains the difference between the feeling of love and feelings like attraction, ego, and attachment when he thinks that the Pandavas have killed his son Ashwatthama.
The Backstory
On the 15th day of the Kurukshetra war, Guru Drona fought the battle furiously, he could be seen as a personification of what we call as “The Mass Killing Machine”, Lord Krishna found that it would be impossible to kill him if he is armed, and hence they devised a plan to unarm him.
One person whom Dronacharya loved the most was his son, “Ashwatthama”. Krishna knew if somehow Ashwatthama is killed, Drona would automatically drop all his weapons and go into a state of distress, but killing Ashwatthama was not easy, he was guarded by the whole Kaurava army. So they devised the plan to kill an elephant with the same name, “Ashwatthama”, and spread the news that Ashwatthama was killed.
The eldest Pandava brother “Yudhisthira” was known for his truthfulness, Dronacharya knew that he would gladly accept defeat rather than committing a sin such as speaking a lie or hiding the truth, or saying partial truth. As soon as Drona heard the news that his son was killed, he rushed to Yudhisthira and asked whether the news is true. Yudhisthira being truthful as always, said that “Yes, Ashwatthama is dead, but the elephant named Ashwatthama, not your son”, Krishna knew that he would say the complete truth, so he instructed other warriors to start making noise as soon as he completes saying “Ashwatthama is dead” so that Drona would be able to hear only this much.
After this, Drona, in great grief, descended from his chariot, laid down his arms and sat in meditation, ready to accept his death. Then Lord Krishna had a conversation with him where they discussed about things like differences between right and wrong, differences between love and attachment, and the differences between a guru and a teacher.
Love vs Ego/Attachment
Here’s a small excerpt where Lord Krishna tells him about the true nature of love.
Krishna —
Listen to me O great sage Drona, true Love gives prosperity. True love helps the subject differentiate between right and wrong. True love and Adharma cannot reside together. Had there been true love, then neither you nor your son would have been on this side of the battlefield, fighting on behalf of adharma. What you think as “Love” is not Love but “Moh”, it is simply an attachment to worldy things and relations. Do you know what is true love? The love you have for Arjuna is true love. Do you know what is “Moh?” The love you have for your own son Aswathama is “Moh”. The love Dhritarashtra has for his son Duryodhana is Moh, the love Bheesma had for his father Shantunu was Moh.
Moh and Love cannot reside together, just as Dharma and Adharma cannot reside together, light and darkness cannot reside together, water and fire cannot reside together.
Dronacharya —
Vasudev, can you explain to me the differences between Love and Moh?
Krishna —
Love comes from compassion, While Moh comes from Ego. Love says — May my children get all the success, glory, pleasures of the world. Moh (Ego) says — I will give my children all the success, glory and pleasures of the world.
Love says — I am proud of my children, no matter if he is successful or not, I wish him all the very best in life. Moh (Ego) says — The world should be proud of my children and his accomplishments and he is the best son/daughter the world has ever seen.
Love gives liberation Gurudev, Moh gives attachment. Love is Dharma while Moh is Adharma.
Further, Lord Krishna reminds him of the time when Ashwatthama’s friends made him drink a mixture of wheat flour with water, making it seem as if he had drank milk, and then teasing him and his state of poverty, and what Guru Drona did after that vs. what he should have done.
Krishna —
When you were not able to provide your son cow’s milk, you broke your sadhana and went on a journey to seek revenge from your old friend, King Drupad. This is a big mistake, O gurudev. You are a Brahmin, the objective of your life is knowledge consumption and educating others thus liberating them from ignorance. However, you strayed from Dharma and went on a different path. Had you been a real brahmin, you would have forgiven Drupad. Had you been a real Brahmin, you would have taught your son how to be grateful with whatever he had and be satisfied and content without cow’s milk which your son wanted so badly. To secure the future of your child and provide for material pleasures, you forgot to secure his character. You forgot to teach him morality, you forgot to teach him Dharma — the foundational knowledge every father should teach his son so that he can lead a life worth living.
It is because of your ego, your vengeance against Drupad, your craving for material objectives, your imagined definition of success — you destroyed the Dharma of your child. You taught him Greed, avarice, wrath, fear and insecurity. You never became a “Guru”, you were always a “Father” to your son.
With so little words, Lord Krishna taught the actual meaning of love, and that’s one of the reasons why I love Mahabharata!
Each and everything that happened in Mahabharata, each and every action took by anyone who is a part of this great epic, teach us something about life.
I would like to conclude this blog with the lines which I loved the most —
Love gives liberation Gurudev, Moh gives attachment. Love is Dharma while Moh is Adharma.
So next time when your heart says you are in love, ask your heart whether it is really love, or is it merely your ego and attachment making you think that it’s love!
P.S. I have not created this conversation myself, I intend to spread this conversation from Mahabharata more and more so that more people can read it. Therefore, I would like to thank this blog for mentioning the complete conversation —
If you want to read the whole conversation, you should definitely read this blog :)
That’s it, I hope you loved the blog and it helps you gain enthusiasm to explore more about life.
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