The art and ethics of lying

“Ashwathama is dead” replied Yudhishtira.

He also mumbled under his breath “May be a man or an animal”. (अश्वत्थामा हतो नरो व कुंजरो व”)

Drona the Commander in Chief of the Kauravas and also the teacher of both Kauravas and Pandavas who obviously heard only the first part of Yudhishitira’s reply was devastated believing that his son Ashwadhama was no more. He laid down his arms and then he was killed by Draupadi’s brother.

In the story of Mahabharata, Pandava’s are the good guys and Kaurava’s are the bad ones. The war and destruction of Kurukshetra was primarily caused by greed and intransigence of Kauravas.

In this war of good and evil Pandava’s had to use deceit a few times. Although many would sympathise with these strategies, none of the parties who implemented these were proud of this. After Yudhishtira lied (first time in his life) about the death of Ashvathama, his chariot which was always few inches above the ground, settled down to earth. Each of the players was filled with remorse at the deceits that they had to use disguised as strategies.

Their use of these strategies was more and exception to regain what the Pandavas lost to on account of the treachery of Duryodhana and his cohorts.

Today in the jungle of governance (of both corporate and the country) we see the use of treachery as a strategy to achieve one’s end. Shakuni’s deceit is packaged and sold as the strategy of Krishna.

We see many who proudly boast “I bluffed” with a gleam in their eyes that shows how smart they feel. It then becomes a part of their nature to say white lies or to palm out concoctions of facts, suitably laced with lies to suit their convenience. They will use this strategy to get what they want or to destroy whoever comes in their way. They will work on the insecurities of their colleagues and egg them on to make mistakes. They have no shame to take credit of others achievement and will feel no compunction to exploit. They, like the renowned Tuglak, will work towards fomenting discord in their team so that they can promote their agenda without opposition. They will stand in the frontlines of the temples and front benches of churches.

These are not strategies to achieve a larger goal; but a means to further their private agendas. If you have to survive in this modern jungle, the easy way out is to join the gang.

But if you have little scruples left and you are not yet ready for ‘vanaprasta’ (ie; be the monk who sold his Ferrari), then you need to learn to recognises these seekers of self interest to have your own strategies for survival.

It is going to be a difficult task because in this endeavour you are going to be mostly alone, because the ‘good guys’ seldom co-operate or stand-up for their fellow ‘goods’ unlike the ‘bad’ . (Take a look at my earlier posting "To be or not to be (Part 2) – Of Good being Bad" for some thoughts on this)

Otherwise you should be lucky enough to have ‘Krishna’ (the God) as your charioteer and/ or you should be willing to redefine in your heart what you mean by victory.

"Let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me......
Writers and artists can do something more: they can vanquish the lie.......
Once the lie has been dispersed, the nakedness of violence will be revealed in all its repulsiveness, and then violence, become decrepit, will come crashing down" Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsy, Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970