The Difficulty of Being Good: A Discussion with Gurcharan Das
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- For more on this event, visit: bit.ly/MrExtj
For more on the Berkley Center, visit: berkleycenter.georgetown.edu
September 24, 2010 | Why should we be good? What exactly is dharma? On September 24, Author Gurcharan Das spoke about his new book, The Difficulty of Being Good, and how one of the world's great works of moral philosophy and a cornerstone of the Indian mind illuminates the ethical dilemmas that we all face.
Das brought light to the moral state of governance in India. India, as Das noted, is on a course for impressive economic growth; however Das posits that India suffers from a deficit of good governance and moral reasoning that has failed to carry the benefits of India's new prosperity to all her citizens. Das argued that leaders have neglected to apply the concept of dharma to policy and daily life whereby exacerbating this gap. He explained that dhama is a complex word that captures the idea of doing the right thing: it could be duty, law, or virtue, both in the near and/or long-term. Das provided current examples of this governance failure (e.g. in retaining and attracting effective teachers in the education system), while comparing current events with stories and teachings of the Mahabharat, the Sanskrit story at the base of many Indian spiritual and ethical beliefs. Politicians and business leaders today, Das noted, fail to look at the moral dimension of a problem, focusing solely on the economic and political dimensions. The concept of dharma is not static, he said; dharma has evolved over time, is subtle in meaning, and can be adapted to the myriad challenges that face our society today. Das highlighted the idea that, in dharmic tradition, good moral reasoning leads to good moral action, rather than an absolute path. Das asserted that in the wake of India's explosive economic growth, leaders must consider and debate the dharma of their public and private decisions that shape society.
Gurcharan Das is the author of the much-acclaimed India Unbound, which has been translated into many languages and filmed by the BBC. He writes a regular column for six Indian newspapers, including the Times of India, and occasionally for Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Foreign Affairs. His other books include the novel A Fine Family; a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm; and an anthology, Three English Plays, consisting of Larins Sahib, 9 Jakhoo Hill, and Mira. Das graduated with honors from Harvard University in philosophy and was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he took early retirement to become a full time writer.
this is awwwfuuul....the speech appears to be without preparation
Gurcharan Das is an excellent speaker.He is very clear in his ideas .His ability to express his views and thoughts are superb.
Brilliant!
That Krishna thought Pandvas are going loose, is his assertion. And Krishna does not tell him about Draupadi.
I read his book by same name as topic here...all can say is that he did not read Mahabharat of sanskrit version and wrote a lot about about it.....there is only 3 unabridged version of mahabharat in english latest one is by vivek debroy. .....this man wrote a lot of things about mahabharat in his book which is not there....he missed lots of nuances which can only be known if you would read other many supplementary sanskrit text.
The caste system was not lyk this, why don't u tell them that,vedvyas writer of mahabharata was also born a low caste but, became a Brahmin
The twists given by the speaker to fit his narrative like Yudhishtra still searching for answers to dharma after ascending to heaven is very wrong from what Vyasa portrayed. Worse is the case when he concluded Arjuna got scared and concluded on his decision to fight. If true, then did the Bhagavad Gita have 7 more chapters. Of course dealing with an ignorant audience, one is given the latitude to be terse, but one has to be careful about not changing the tone of the original.
After listening to the lecture, I lost the interest to even bother reading his book. No wonder the book seems to be approved by Sheldon Pollock, Wendy Doniger, Martha Nasshbum... Just like one has to read the labels of anything we eat, I guess it is good to see who are giving thumbs up or foreword.
It is very sad that anyone who doesnt listen carefully can miss the nuance introduced.
He's a typical product of an Indian of a bygone era.
Ashoka's example, how triggered he gets to correct the only relevant/technical question of Dharma asked by the Indian when the poor guy mis-pronounces "Conscience".
It's a shame, that these are the soft-power ambassadors of India.
It's also a delight that we have new age proud Indians like Dr Jaishankar who are also using Mahabharat to awaken the Indian narrative in Indians.
chewing gulping should never be mixed with such serious discussions or talks. he could be seen moving tongue while speaking. put me off.
He is talking up the wrong tree. The Notion of Good and Evil is Christian Biblical narrative. It has no place in Dharma traditions. And there is no notion of religion either in Dharma traditions. SO the speaker is seeing Indian traditions from christian point of view. Nevertheless a great narrative
Would have been great if each listener would have got a copy of the Amar Chitra Katha Stories from the Mahabharata......
Completely incorrect explanation of the draupadi incident,first of all at that tym ppl in India didn't wear saris,sari was not a cloth at that tym,and society was not patriarchal,as rig Veda has hymns written by women rishikas, equivalent of prophets in abrahamic religions
lots of nonsense i think i knew better than him about mahabharat....i ask people to read unbridged mahabharat yes it will take time its not 2 mint. noddle kind of thing unfortunately such huge text require a huge amount of time and dedication which today's generation lack. ...this text has been written over a 800-1200 years period so you might get many contradictory incidents as well.....he has formed his views through reading translation and bad translation perhaps...