In India, as I understand, the villain is not the baddie or the scoundrel and an epitome of the disgust...Ravana was a vedavit, a pandit, a mahaarakrama sali and a mahatapasvi etc. Bali chakravarthi was another towering personality.. Sharp intelligence - yukti (not bhdhi or viveka) is another virtue ascribed to them..
They were not pictured as exclusive rascals and rogues... One Glaring outstanding 'difference' was that they always were on the wrong side of the Dharma and were needed to be quarantined or deactivated as in the case of Bali or to be eliminated as in the case of others. Attitude towards Dharma was the clinching factor - not virtues, heroism er se. Sugriva was not as heroic as Vaali...same with Vibhishana vs Ravana. It was disposition towards Sri Hari that mattered..the dharma compliance that decided their fate. Bhishma was great personality that would attract praise from any Dharma- independent appraisal. But, in spite of the great knowledge of Sastras, the vast erudition, deep knowledge of the Dharma, he ended up fighting for the side that was opposed by the Lord, the side that stood armed against Him!!! So was Karna he fought the side of the Adharma. In India, as I understand, there were no villains in the western sense - we have only those who complied with the Dharma and those who did not. courtsey Dr. D. Bharadwaj * * <http://sig.graphicsfactory.com/>* நல்லதுசெய் நல்லதே நடக்கும் *जन सेवा ईश्वर सेवा * *cnu.pne* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
