“Whom did you lose first, yourself or me?” Draupadi asked Yudhishthira when the latter lost her as a stake in a gamble. Yudhishthira had lost himself first, in fact. He was not his own master when he staked his (as well as his four brothers’) wife. Even if he had not lost that game and even if he was the sole husband of that woman, was he her owner who could stake her like a material possession? Is the wife a property of the husband? Is a ruler the owner of what he rules over? Most rulers behave as if they are the owners and masters of their territories and people. That is one of the most common delusions of those who wield power over others. All of us nurture some delusions even if we don’t have any power over other people. Perhaps human life is impossible without some delusions. Duryodhana, the man who started the game that eventually led to an epic war, was actually envious of his cousins, the Pandavas. “An enemy, however tiny, whose might grows on is like an anthill that ev
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