Mahabharata is an ancient Sanskrit epic and involves a lot of characters and dilemmas. The presentation throws light on 6 characters and their dilemmas

2. GROUP MEMBERS
 RupamJogal
 Rushita Thakkar
 Kashish Shah
 Raj Shah
 Charmi Kalani
 Ishika Agarwal

3. CHARACTERS
 Arjuna
 Bhishma
 Yudhishtira
 Drona
 Karna
 Krishna
 Shakuni

4. MAHABHARATA
 The Mahabharata, Sanskrit epic has answers to all questions.
The epic is obsessed with questions of right and wrong— it
analyses human failures constantly. Unlike the Greek epics,
where the hero does something wrong and gets on with it, the
action stops in the Mahabharata until every character has
weighed in on the moral dilemma from every possible angle.
 In the Indian epic, harmony and happiness come to a society
only through behaviour based on dharma—a complex word that
means variously virtue, duty and law, but is chiefly concerned with
doing the right thing.
 The war of the Mahabharata was needed because demons had
begun to oppress the world.

5. MAHABHARATA
 The Mahabharata is unique in engaging with
the world of politics. India’s philosophical
traditions have tended to devalue the realm
of human action, which is supposed to deal
with the world of ‘appearances’, not of reality
or of the eternal soul. Indeed, a central
episode in the epic dramatizes the choice
between moral purity and human action. King
Yudhishthira feels guilty after the war for
‘having killed those who ought not to be
killed’

6. ARJUNA

7. ARJUNA’S DESPAIR
Oh Krishna , of what values are kingdoms, what value is
living for happiness if they for whom our kingdom, material
pleasure and happiness id desired: preceptors, fatherly
elders, sons; and grandfatherly elders , maternal uncles ,
father in law , grandsons,brothers in law and relatives are all
present o this battle field ready to give up their kingdoms and
very lives.
Oh krishna even if they want to take my life I do not wish to
take their lives. Oh krishna what to speak for the sake of the
earth, when for the rulership of the three worlds ; in
exchange for slaving the sons of Dhritarashtra what
happiness will be derived by us

8. ARJUNA VISHADYOGA
 It is better in this world to beg for scraps of food than to eat meals
smeared with the blood of elders.
 Arjuna is, in many ways, a better model of ethical deliberation
than Krishna, for he takes responsibility for the consequences of
his actions
 Arjuna’s tragic dilemma teaches us that moral choices are not
merely private. When it comes to matters of war and public policy,
they should be deliberated in public. A political leader should
include the moral dimension in making a decision, alongside the
economic, strategic and other dimensions.


9. BHISHMA

10. BHISHMA’S SELFLESSNESS
• Bhishma , the elder son of king Shantanu ,as per his
promise to his step-mom served his duty towards
Hastinapur selflessly and didn’t married and lived his own
life.
• What does one make of this extraordinary figure who
lived his life for the sake of others? He certainly managed
to create a huge problem of succession.
• Is the Mahabharata telling us that even selflessness has
its limitations? Bhishma sacrificed his own happiness for
the father’s sake. He did not marry; he did not become
king; he administered the realm disinterestedly for two
generations. (if he had married , terrible war Mahabharata
would not have been occurred)

11. BHISHMA’S SELFLESSNESS
• It is difficult to understand why this selfless hero did not
get up in the assembly on that fateful day of the dice
game to stop the public humiliation of Draupadi.
• It has been suggested that Bhishma ‘had eaten
Duryodhana’s salt’ and was thus forced to support him.
Patronage does make a claim on one’s loyalty, but the
claim stops before one’s conscience.
• The Mahabharata has presented us with another moral
dilemma—reminding us once again about the difficulty of
being good.
• Even an exalted virtue like selflessness and a
commitment to disinterested performance of duty can get
one into trouble.

12. YUDHISTHIRA

13. YUDHISTHIRA
 Yudhisthira the eldest son of Pandu was the
former king of Hastinapur.He was considered
as the best judge of wrong and right .On the
basis of his knowledge he was awarded the
title of “Dharmaraj”(king of right things).But in
the Mahabharata we see him spun in the
web of dilemmas

14. YUDHISTHIRA
 Yudhisthira had pledged that he wont lie in
his entire life. But during the battle,by
Krishans advice he told Drona that
Ashwathamma died in order to distract
Drona.
 This was necessary as it was impossible to
defeat Kauravas if Drona was commander-in
chief of Kauravas.

15. YUDHISTHIRA
 He faced the first dilemma when he was invited by his
younger brother Duryodhan for “dhyut krida”(game of
Gambling). Those days the art of gambling used to
make or break a king's reputation. Any person
refusing to be a part of this game was considered
either a coward or penniless. Yudhishthira as a king
was well aware of the risk associated with the game
yet he went beyond his limits by betting on his wife
and ultimately losing to Duryodhan. Even though in
the midst of the game, he had a clue of his losing out
badly yet to prove he was strong enough to take the
game further, he not only insulted his wife but tarred
his own image.

16. DRONA

17. DRONA
 Arjuna was favourite student of Drona.Drona
knew that Pandavas deserved the throne but
during the war he choose to fight from Kauravas
side as his son was supporter of Duryodhan . To
fight from which side was a dilemma for him.
 Drona was very fond of Arjuna . So when he
saw that Eklavya could be better in Archery than
Arjuna he asked for his Thumb in
GuruDaskshina.

18. KARNA

19. KARNA’S CHOICES
 Beauty of Karna lies in the fact that how he handles all
such situations and the ethical way he acted so as to
preserve his dignity though siding the evil.
 We would like to focus on the choices that Karna makes
when he is asked by both Krishna and Kunti to fight for
the Pandava side. It can be argued that Karna is indeed
facing a deep ethical dilemma .
 To prevent the undesirable occurance Lord Krishna
reveals to Karna shortly before the great war that he
infact is the elder half brother of the pandavas.Both
Krishna and Kunti urge karna renounce his involvement
with Duryodhana and join his brothers . Karna reminds
him that Duryodhana alone extended friendship and
hospitality when everyone else rejected him.

20. KARNA’S CHOICES
 He stated that he would remain faithful to Duryodhana
and hence proceed with the battle.
 Second dilemma was when he had to kill Arjun’s son
Abhimanyu because of his support to his friend
Duryodhana.
 Also using the weapon bestowed by Indra he slays
Ghatotkach the son of Bhima ,the weapon he used could
be used only once and that he had to against his wish
because he wanted to kill Arjuna with the help of it.
 Karna’s loyalty to his family and friends is not a simple
and straightforward clinging but it rises above emotions
and are systematized ethics.
 How beautifully he deals with the moral and ethical
dilemmas is worthy of the praise.

21. KRISHNA

22. KRISHNA
 Lord Krishna had everything planned. He was
ready to take any path for Ultimate Truth.
Pandavas truly deserved the throne of
Hastinapura. There was no chance for
Pandavas to win the battle. He adviced Arjuna
to kill Karna while his chariot was stuck. This is
wrong considering the war Ethics. But he
justifies that at the end (Everything is fair in war)
. He might have used unjust means during war
which is wrong on critic's point of view

23. KRISHNA
 Where Krishna is, there is dharma; where
dharma is there is victory.
 Krishna’s defence is that the only way to
defeat evil is with evil
 It was said that the war of the Mahabharata
was needed because demons had begun to
oppress the world

24. DURYODHANA’S DIALOUGUE TO KRISHNA
 Aren’t you ashamed, O heir of Kamsa’s
servant, for having me struck down so
unfairly! When Bhima and I were fighting with
clubs, you told Arjuna to remind Bhima to
break my thighs. Aren’t you ashamed that
you have had so many kings who were
fighting fairly and valiantly in battle killed by
crooked means? Had you fought fairly with
Karna, Bhishma, Drona and me, you would
certainly not have won.

25. SHAKUNI
 When Gandhari was married to Drishrashtra
and she didn’t knew about his blindness and
to take revenge shakuni decided to destroy
the Kuru family.
 He made it a point to evoke jealousy in
Kauravas towards Pandavas.
 He wanted to take revenge basically from
Bhishma and used unjust means and various
political strtegies.