India After Gandhi - pg. 115

In Governance are realised all forms of renunciation; in Governance are united all sacraments; in Governance are combined all knowledge; in Governance are centred all the Worlds.

-- The Mahabharata

Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realize that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a to-dressing on an Indian soil, which is essentially undemocratic.

-- B. R. Ambedkar

India: A Million Mutinies Now - pg. 325

'... You must understand that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata rule the everyday religious code of the Hindus, just as the Koran does for the Muslims, and these are books which extol killing for a greater purpose. I should think that, like any other other Indian, I had no sense of ethical outrage in advocating killing for a cause.'

Sacred Games - pg. 298

The yoga was supposed to soothe the criminals, to make them better citizens. But K.D. always wondered why they believed this, the teachers. Why wouldn't yoga just produce better criminals, more centred, calmer thugs who were more efficient in criminality? That master of villains, Duryodhana, was surely a yogi. They all were, those evil warriors. Gaitonde had looked quite calm, sunlit in his prison whites, in the superintendent's room. He was a bad man. Was Duryodhana a bad man? He had been killed through trickery and had risen to a warrior's heaven. Is there a soldier's paradise, waiting for K.D. Yadav?

The Mahabharata - pg. 398

Duryodhana, who was stretched on the ground in intense agony, when he heard Krishna say this, went into a paroxysm of rage. He half raised himself on his arms in spite of the excruciating pain, and exclaimed: "Wretch! Son of a slave! Was not your father Vasudeva Kamsa;s slave? You have no business to sit or move with princes. You speak like a shameless wretch. I saw you instigate Bhima to aim his blow at my thigh! Do you think I did not see you, making as though casually talking to Arjuna pointing to your thigh, but really indicating to Bhima that he should strike me on the thighs, disregarding the laws of single combat? Till then, it had been equal battle. You have neither pity nor shame. Did you not contrive the death of the grandsire Bhishma through stratagem? You advised Shikandin to be placed in front when attacking Bhishma, knwoing that the grandsire would scorn to fight a woman, and would let himself be mortally wounded without resistance. You brought about the end of Dronacharya through making Dharmaputra utter a falsehood. You were the father of that deadly lie that issued from Yudhishthira's mouth, and made Dronacharya throw his bow away. Did you not look on without protest, and rejoice, when that wretch Dhrishtadyumna attacked and killed the acharya who had stopped fighting, throwing away his weapons, and settled down in yoga posture for meditation on the Supreme? Was it not you who wickedly contrived to make Karna hurl the fatal spear at Ghatotkacha instead of reserving it for Arjuna as he had all along resolved to do? O great sinner, surely it was you who instigated Satyaki to butcher Bhurisravas when his right arm had been foully cut off and he stopped fighting and spread his arrows for a seat for holy meditation. It was you who brought about the death of Karna by indicating Arjuna to attack him in a cowardly manner when he was engaged in lifting his chariot wheel which had sunk and stuck in the mud in the field of battle. Oh worthless man, sole cause of our destruction, made it appear as if the sun had set, and made Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, believe that the day was over and he was past danger, and thus he was slain when he was off his guard."

The Mahabharata - pg. 383

"You brahmanas, abandoning the legitimate functions of your varna and taking to the kshatirya profession of arms, have brought ruin to the princes. If you brahmana had not gone astray from the duties belonging to you by birth, the princes would not have been led to this destruction. You teach that non-killing is the highest dharma and that the brahmana is supporter and the nourisher of that dharma. Yet, you have rejected that wisdom which is yours by birth, and shamelessly undertaken the profession of killing. It was our misfortune that you descended to this sinful life."
Bhima taunting Drona

The Mahabharata - pg. 351

When Dhritarashtra heard Sanjaya relate the success of Arjuna,he exclaimed: "Oh Sanjaya! When Janardana came to Hastinapura seeking a settlement, I told Duryodhana that it was a great opportunity and he must not lose it. I told him to make peace with his cousins. 'Kesava has come to do us a good turn. Do not disregard his advice,' I said. But Duryodhana heeded not. What Karna and Duhsasana said seemed to him better advice than mine. The Destroyer entered his mind and he sought his own ruin. Drona deprecated war, so also did Bhishma, Bhurisravas, Kripa and others. But my obstinate son would not listen. Impelled by inordinate ambition, he got entangled in anger and hatred, and invited this ruinous war."

The Thin Red Line

I found an interesting quote from The Thin Red Line that reminded me of Karna/Arjuna dynamic from The Mahabharata.

[last lines]
Private Edward P. Train: [voice over] Where is it that we were together? Who were you that I lived with? The brother. The friend. Darkness, light. Strife and love. Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh, my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining.

The Mahabharata - pg. 324

Drupada's forces suffered heavy punishment at Drona's and blood flowed in streams on the battlefield. Drona, then, again turned his attention to Yudhishthira. The Pandavas stood and answered Drona's attacks with showers of arrows. Satyajit made a charge on Drona's car and there was a fierce combat in which Drona's figure assumed grimness of the Destroyer. Many a warrior was slain by him in succession. Vrika, a prince of Panchala, as well as Satyajit, fell dead.

The Mahabharata - pg. 311

"Princes," said Bhishma addressing the assembled chiefs, "Arjuna's arrows were indeed my head required to be supported on. This pillow gives me satisfaction. Now, I must lie thus until the sun turns north. My soul will not depart till then. When I pass away, those of you who may be alive then, may come and see me."

The Mahabharata - pg. 309

"You are not fighting, Arjuna, as you should!" exclaimed Krishna, and jumped down in a rage from the chariot and, taking up his discus, he advanced towards the grandsire.
Bhishma saw Vasudeva approaching.
"Hail, O Lotus-eyed One!" he cried. "Blessed am I to be separated from the body by you! Come, come!"
Arjuna jumped down from the chariot and, rushing forward overtook and held Krishna, casting both his arms round him. "Stop, Krishna," he cried. "Do not break your pledge. You have promised not to use weapons in this battle. This is my work. I shall not fail. I shall send my arrows and kill the beloved grandsire myself. Pray, mount the car and take the reins."

The Mahabharata - pg. 302

At that moment, the other Pandavas also joined Arjuna, but the grandsire was able to hold his own against all five until the sunset and the battle was suspended for the day, and the warriors of both sides, weary and wounded, retired to their tents for rest and for having their injuries attended to. After this, for an hour, soft music was played, soothing the warriors to their rest. That hour was spent, says the poet, without a word about war or hatred and was an hour of heavenly bliss, and it was a glad sight to see. One can see herein what the great lesson of the Mahabharata is.

The Mahabharata - pg. 257 - (Karna speaks)

"What you have said, dear mother, is contrary to dharma. If I swerve from the path of duty, I shall have done myself much more hurt than any that an enemy might inflict on me in the battle-field. You deprived me of all that was my birthright as a khshatriya when you threw me, a helpless babe, into the river; and now, you talk to me of my duties as a kshatriya. You denied me the motherly love which blesses all life and now, thinking of your other children's good, you tell me this story. If I now join the Pandavas, will not the world proclaim that I have done so out of fear? I have eaten the salt of Dhritashhtra's sons, won their confidence as their champion and enjoyed all the consideration and kindness they showed me; and now you want me - when the battle is about to be joined - to be untrue to my salt and go over to the Pandavas. The sons of the Dhritarashtra look on me as the ark which will enable them to cross the deluge of war. I have myself urged them into this war. How can I desert them? Could there be blacker treachery and baser ingratitude? What in life, or beyond it, would be worth a price like that? Mother dear, I must discharge my debt - aye, with life, if necessary: otherwise. I shall be no better than a common thief purloining my food all these years. I shall surely use all my powers against your sons in this coming war. I cannot deceive you. Please forgive me."
"But yet," continued he, "I cannot have my mother plead completely in vain. Part Arjuna to me. Either he or myself must die in this war. I will not kill your other sons, whatever they may do unto me. Mother of warrior sons, you will still have five sons. Either I or Arjuna will survive this war, and with the other four sons, you will still have five."
When Kunti heard her first-born speak this firmly adhering to the kshatriya code, her heart was full of tumultuous and contrary feelings and, without trusting herself to speak, she embraced him and departed in silence.
"Who can go against what has been ordained?" she thought. "He has, at least, offered not to harm four of my sons. That is enough. May God bless him", and she returned home.

The Mahabharata - pg. 226

"Dhananjaya, why did you choose thus unwisely, preferring me alone and unarmed to my full equipped and heroic forces?" asked Krishna to Arjuna with a smile, when they were alone. Arjuna answered: "My ambition is to achieve glory even like yours. You have the power and prowess to all the princes of the land and their hordes in battle single-handed. I too feel I can do it. So, I desire that I should win the battle with you driving my chariot unarmed. I have desired this for long and you have today fulfilled my wish."
Vasudeva smiled again and pronounced this benediction: "Are you trying to compete with me? May you succeed," for he was pleased with Arjuna's decision.
This is the sacred story of how Krishna became Partha's charioteer.

The Mahabharata - pg. 205

But, Arjuna was no ordinary man but a great soul and a true hero who felt that his duty as a strong, brave man was to help others to rise above their weakness. Knowing that nature had endowed him with courage and bravery at birth, and that he owed them to no special exertions on his part, he had the true humility of the really great and he did what he could to put courage into Uttara and make him worthy of his lineage.
This was Arjuna's characteristic nobility. He never abused his strength and power. One of his many names Bibhatsu, which means one who shrank from doing an unworthy act, and he lived up to it.

The Mahabharata - pg. 165

The moral of this striking story of Dharmavyadha so skilfully woven by Vedavyasa into the Mahabharata, is the same as the teaching of Gita, that man reaches perfection by the honest pursuit of whatever calling falls to his lot in life, and that this is really worship of God Who created and pervades all. The occupation may be one he is born to in society or it may have been forced on him by circumstances or he may have taken it up by choice but what really matters is the spirit of sincerity and faithfulness with which he does his life's work. Vedavyasa emphasises this great truth by making a scholarly brahmana, who did not know it, learn it from a butcher, who lived it in his humble and despised life.

The Mahabharata - pg. 152

Arvavasu and Parvavasu were both sons of a great scholar. Both of them learnt at his feet and became eminent scholars themselves. But learning is one thing and virtue is quite another. It is true that one should know the difference between good and evil, if one is to seek good and shun evil, but this knowledge should soak into every thought and influence every act in one's life. Then indeed knowledge becomes virtue. The knowledge, that is merely so much undigested information crammed into the mind, cannot instill virtue. It is just an outward show like our clothes and is no real part of us.

The Mahabharata - pg. 122

Krishna was deeply moved and he consoled the weeping Daupadi. He said: "Those who tormented you will be stricken to death in the bloody quagmire of a lost battle. Wipe your eyes. I solemnly promise that your grievous wrongs shall be amply avenged. I shall help the Pandavas in every way. You will become an empress. The heavens may fall, the Himalayas may split in twain, the earth may crumble or the boundless sea may dry up - but, I tell you verily, my words shall stand. I swear this," and Krishna took a solemn vow before Draupadi.
This vow, it will be seen, was in perfect accord with the purpose of the Lord's avatars, as declared in scriptures: "For protecting the righteous, for destroying the wicked and for firmly upholding the law, I am born on earth age after age."

The Mahabharata - pg. 97

The main cause was his fixed resolve to be on amicable terms with his cousins by not opposing their wishes and a friendly invitation to dice could not be summarily turned down, since the etiquette of those days made it a point of honor to accept a game of equal hazard. Out of his very anxiety to foster goodwill, he laid open the field for the poisonous seed of hatred and death. Here is an illustration of the futility of human plans, however well-meant or wise, without divine aid. Our best wisdom is vain against fate, and if destiny is kind, our very follies turn to our advantage.

The Mahabharata - pg. 87

Krishna was delighted to hear these words and said: "What else can Arjuna, born of Kunti in the Bharata race, advise? Death comes to all, the hero as well as the sluggard; but the noblest duty of a kshatriya is to be true to his race and faith, and overcoming his foes in righteous battle, to win glory."
Finally Yudhishthira assented to the unanimous opinion that their duty lay in slaying Jarasandha.
This conversation has a curiously modern ring about it and shows that powerful men in ancient days used very much the same specious reasoning as now.

The Mahabharata - pg. 34

Mandavya was not angry with the king. He went straight to Dharma, the divine dispenser of justice, who was seated on his throne, and asked him, "What crime have I committed to deserve this torture?"
Lord Dharma who knew the great power of the sage, replied in all humility "O sage you have tortured birds and bees. Are you not aware that all deeds, good or bad, however small, inevitably produce their results sooner or later?"
Mandavya was surprised at this reply of Lord Dharma and asked, "When did I commit this offense?"
Lord Dharma replied, "When you were a child"
Mandvya then pronounced a curse on Dharma: "This punishment you have decreed is far in excess of the deserts of a mistake committed by a child in ignorance. Be born, therefore, as a mortal in the world."