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Abstract
On the night of the final day of fighting at Kurukßetra, Sañjaya was attacked by AΩvatthåman and begged the enraged warrior to kill
him to free him from the pain of all the killing he has seen. Years later, Yuyutsu has become mute and commits suicide. K®pa professes the view that “This suicide will echo in this entire civilization . . . self-annihilation will become the ultimate aim of man.” Vidura offers the equally disturbing prediction that “In the kingdom of Yudhi߆hira, suicide will flourish.” Yudhi߆hira longs for death by asceticism in the Himålayas. This is not the Sanskrit Mahåbhårata—it is Andhå Yug (Bharati 2005), a drama composed in Hindi some fifty years ago. The drama forcefully uses suicide as an indicator of despair and grief over social and ethical collapse. One of the
points I make in this essay is that various forms of self-willed death are also central to the ideology of the Mahåbhårata (MBh).
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