“In other words, just as acceptance is the very gift a relationship offers, is not freedom the very soul of a relationship?”
When two people draw close, they invariably try to build boundaries and limits for one another. What is the true nature of these boundaries? Have we ever considered it?
Chapter 6 of 35 — 3 parts, 5 min in total.
The Mahabharata's relationships are almost all asymmetric: a teacher who cannot be refused, a brother owed obedience, a king owed loyalty even when wrong, a wife staked in a game. Much of the tragedy comes from people honouring the form of a relationship after its substance has failed.
Krishna's own relationships model something different. He is a friend to Arjuna, a cousin to the Pandavas, a charioteer who will not fight — and he is unusually explicit about what he will and will not do. The boundaries are stated, not assumed.