hi,an interesting article by devdutt patanayak is copied below.
hope you like it.
regards.
Jai Ho!Published in First City, March 2009
Jai
means victory. Vijay also means victory. Why two words? Do they mean
the same thing? Jai Ho, means ‘may you be victorious’. But the phrase
is never interchanged with Vijayi Bhava, which also means ‘may you be
victorious’. Jai Ho is used almost as a greeting in many parts of India
or as an exclamation. But Vijayi Bhava is used very specifically when
one is setting out for a conflict, confrontation, duel or competition.
What exactly is the difference? Like in all things Indian, no clear
answers are given anywhere; meanings have to be derived.
A clue perhaps lies in
the Bhagavata Purana which states that Jai and Vijay were the two
doorkeepers of Vishnu. Once, the four Sanat-Kumars wanted to pay their
respects to God who resides in Vaikuntha in the form of Vishnu. When
they arrived at Vaikuntha the doorkeepers did not let them enter as
Vishnu was sleeping. The sages decided to wait. Some time later they
approached the gates once again. Again the doorkeepers did not let them
enter. “Because the lord is still asleep,” they said. This happened the
third time too. Piqued, the sages cursed the doorkeepers, “Because you
stopped us from meeting God three times may you be born three times.
May you experience death three times. May you know what it is to be
away from the presence of God for three lifetimes.”
When Vishnu woke up and
learnt what had transpired he apologized to the sages. He then promised
to do everything he could to help his door keepers return to Vaikuntha
because they were only doing their duty. The two
doorkeepers were born as two Asura brothers, Hiranayakshaand
Hiranakashipu. Hiranayaksha dragged the earth under the sea, forcing
Vishnu to take the form of a boar, plunge into the waters, gore him to
death, and raise the earth back to the surface. Hiranakashipu tortured
his own son, Prahalada, a devotee of Vishnu, for chanting the name of
God forcing Vishnu to manifest as the man-lion Narasimha and tear him
to shreds.
Hiranayaksha and
Hiranakashipu were then reborn as Ravana and Kumbhakarna, two
Rakshasa-brothers whose believed might is right and threatened all
codes of civilized conduct. Their actions forced Vishnu to take the
form of Rama and destroy them.
Then Ravana and
Kumbhakarna were reborn as Shishupala and Dantavakra, two villainous
humans who valued personal ambition over social order. Their behavior forced
Vishnu
to descend as Krishna and kill them. Death at the hands of God released
Jai and Vijay from the Asura, Rakshasa and Manava forms and ensured
their return to Vaikuntha where they resumed their roles as doorkeepers.
In all three lifetimes,
the doorkeepers are apparently defeated by an avatar of Vishnu. But
this defeat benefits them; they are reborn in a better form (from Asura
to Rakshasa to Manava to Deva). So while they do not win the battle of
the flesh, they win in the battle for the soul. Victory over the flesh
is called Vijay and victory over the soul is called Jai. In the former,
someone is defeated. In the latter no one defeated. In the former there
are winners and losers. In the latter there are only winners.
Another, and perhaps a
clearer, clue about the meanings of the word Jai and Vijay comes from
the Mahabharata, whose original title was Jai. In the final chapter,
the Swarga-Ahronika-Parva (Chapter on Ascent to Heaven), Yudhishtira
steps into heaven, and is horrified to find before him the hundred
Kauravas, Duryodhana and Dusshasana included, standing besides the
Devas looking radiant and blissful. They spread out their arms to
welcome Yudhishtira. Yudhishtira recoils in disgust.
Its an ending that has
intrigued scholars for centuries. Why not just end the epic with the
end of the war and the victory of the Pandavas?
“How did these war-mongers reach the abode of the gods?” Yudhishtira asks
angrily. The
Devas reply, “They were killed on the holy land of Kurukshetra. That
has purified them of all misdeeds and earned the right to enter
heaven.” The explanation did not satisfy Yudhishtira. “And my brothers?
And my wife? What about them? Where are they? Are they are here too?”
he demanded to know. “There are not here,” the Devas said. “Where
then?” asked Yudhishtira.
In response the Devas
lead Yudhishtira out of Swarga, down from the sky, deep under the earth
to a realm that was dark and gloomy and miserable. There, Yudhishtira
heard cries of pain and suffering. It was everything heaven was not. He
realized it was Naraka, the realm of misery. “My brothers are here?”
cried Yudhishtira in disbelief. He heard the moaning of his brothers
and his wife. He could not believe this!
Yudhishtira felt
his legs go weak. Tears welled up in his eyes. How could he return to
Swarga and leave his family here? He took a decision. “No. I will not
leave Naraka. I will stay here with my wife and my brothers. I will
suffer with them. I refuse to enter heaven without them.”
Looking into Yudhishtira’s eyes, the gods asked, “Oh! But we thought you had
renounced everything?”
“What do you mean?” asked Yudhishtira, suddenly uncomfortable.
“Well, you certainly have
given up your kingdom and your worldly wealth. And you apparently gave
up your relationships when you did not turn around to help your wife
and your brothers as they fell to their death as they climbed the
mountains on the way to heaven. But…”
“But?”
“But you have not given
up your anger. Your anger for the Kauravas, despite killing them in
battle and ruling the earth for 36 years. As soon as you saw the
Kauravas in heaven, you demanded the same privilege for your family,
whom you had until then forgotten. . Your display of love for your
brothers at this moment is nothing but a retaliation. You cling to your
hatred, Yudhishtira. You still begrudge the Kauravas. You have not
forgiven them. You refuse to let go and move on. How then do you hope
to truly attain heaven?”
At that moment,
Yudhishtira realized he was not the great man who he thought he was. He
had not really overcome his prejudices. Only when there is undiluted
compassion for everyone, even our worst enemies, is ego truly
conquered. Realization humbled Yudhishtira. He fell to the ground and
began to weep. Finally, bathed in the river Ganga, he rose – his mind
full of wisdom, compassion and peace. Thus, the ascent to heaven
finally achieved.
The epic thus ends not
with the victory of the Pandavas over the Kauravas but with
Yudhishtira’s triumph over himself. Suddenly the original title of the
Mahabharata makes sense. Vyasa called his story Jai, not Vijay. In
Vijay, there are winners and losers. In Jai, there are no losers, no
one is defeated, for one triumphs over oneself.
The Mahabharata is not
about the Vijay of the Pandavas over the Kauravas. It is about the Jai
of Yudhishtira over himself. Only through Jai, will Yudhishtira know
what heaven truly is. Thus, the title of the final chapter and the epic
itself makes sense. Mahabharata becomes a book yearning for peace, not
war. True peace happens when no one is defeated. True peace happens
when one conquers oneself.
The gentle musician’s
speech at the Oscars this year on winning the Best Song resonated this
timeless truth. In life, one can choose hate or love. “I chose love and
here I am,” said AR Rehman. This is a message of hope in times where
hatred is celebrated in everything from politics to television reality
shows. The final answer lies not in defeating the other, but in
conquering the beast within ourselves that seeks to dominate over
others. This is moksha, self-realization.
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