When one brands a person or a people as a villain, it forces us to look for a hero, a messiah. But it blocks introspection. We never ask: why did he become a villain. Everyone condemns Hitler, for example. What he did was unacceptable. But no one talks about inhuman punishment meted out by America and Britain on Germany after the First World War that created an environment of rage and resentment fertile for the Nazi movement. No one speaks of banking and business practices that stoked anti-Semitic atmosphere. Introspection is not justification. Nothing will justify the Holocaust but to hold Hitler solely responsible for that crime is rather myopic and self- serving. The victors that humiliated Germany and the world that kept and the bankers who squeezed a defeated nation silent are as much responsible. When we introspect, we realise we are the creators of our demons and villains, we realise that Ravana was created because Lakshman cut the nose of Surpankha. Lakshman may justify his action, but the laws of karma are indifferent to right and wrong. Every action has a reaction. Villains are invariably reactions to our allegedly righteous outrage. #DevduttPattnaik on Heroes and Villains
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 03:43:12 +0000
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