Pursuit of Happiness

Truth and subjectivity

Right and wrong is not always obvious and perhaps not even definable

Speaking the truth is not always easy and may not always be the right course of action either. The ambiguous nature of the moral order of the universe is apparent in the story of Krishna’s role in the death of Drona.

Drona is plundering through the Pandava troops and needs to be stopped. But he is a formidable warrior and his only weakness is his affection for his son, Ashwatthama. So, Krishna instructs Yudhisthira to tell Drona that his son is dead. But Yudhisthira, renowned for his truthfulness, is reluctant to do so. Then Bhima kills an elephant named Ashwatthama and roars, “Ashwatthama is dead!” Drona asks Yudhisthira “Is Ashwatthama dead?”

He replies, “Yes, he is dead,” pauses and adds, “But I don’t know if it’s Ashwatthama the man or the elephant (“Ashwatthama hathaha iti, narova kunjarova”). The last part, he says under his breath and so Drona, who knows that Yudhisthira can never tell a lie, believes that his son is dead. He bows his head in grief and his head gets chopped off.

One detail that strikes me as strange, and probably symbolic, is the elaborate nature of the lie. Yudhisthira didn’t lie directly; in order to protect his self-image of being Mr Truthful, an elephant was killed and a ruse contrived, all so that he could justify the action to himself. A psychoanalyst might say that Yudhisthira’s conscience prevented him from acknowledging his voluntary participation in a lie, and his mind accomplished this through various psychological defence mechanisms.

The same psychoanalyst would say that Krishna is emotionally more evolved. From his perspective, the war has to be won.

So, perhaps the moral of the story is that untruths and misdeeds are occasionally necessary, if the ends are justified. And Yudhisthira’s role is the addendum to the moral — lie if you have to, but don’t lie to yourself.