The ‘Mahabharat’ has a deep underlying symbolism. Imagine Drupadi as the human body. The Pandavas, the five senses, are wedded to it. Their first cousins, a hundred in number, the Kauravas, are present in the form of the tendencies of the mind.
Yudhishthir thinks that he is a good gambler and so would win over the Kauravas. The senses also think that they can win over the tendencies of the mind. The Pandavas keep gambling till they lose everything, including themselves and their beloved wife, Drupadi. Like wise we loose everything when we gamble with our tendencies, and like the Pandavas, end up in spiritual exile. The body is demeaned, like Drupadi was, and only divine intervention can save it. However our body does not abandon us, even when we lead it into exile.
Kurukshetra is the world in which we live this life, witnessing a war between our senses and our mind’s tendencies.
Dhritarastra symbolizes the mind, which gives birth, in a sense, to our tendencies। He was blind- as the mind is to its tendencies. His wife, Gandhari, was not blind but chose to blindfold herself. Even when we have a choice to see, we choose not to see.
Karna was born of the Sun-god and the Earth mother। He is a symbol of our ego. Like him, our ego is also armored। Only the guru’s intervention could get the armor removed. Similarly, the guru helps the seeker in killing his ego.
Krishna’s form too is symbolic। Deep blue is the color of eternity। It is the color of sky, and of deep blue sea। Yellow is the color of the earth. A deep blue god-image enclosed in yellow clothes symbolizes the spirit clothed in the body. Krishna, then, is a symbol of body and spirit, a symbol of you and me in our enlightenment form. When we become aware of our true self, we realize that there is no difference between us and Krishna, as, indeed are we.