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Traditions Ripen Like Mangoes
“Old traditions will break, old empires will fall, a new Dharma will be established, and a new age will begin.”
About this teaching
Traditions are like the fruit of the mango tree. At the time of their birth they taste bitter to everyone; a little later they turn sour, and one to whom sourness is dear accepts them; and after some more time they begin to taste sweet and become dear to all. But once a certain time has passed, the fruit rots; a foul smell begins to rise from it, Mahamahim, and whoever draws near is struck with disease; and in the end only the dry stone of the fruit remains, of no use to anyone.
Chapter 28 — Traditions Ripen Like Mangoes
Chapter 28 of 35 — a single teaching, 4 min in total.
Tags
Where this sits in the Mahabharata.
The Mahabharata is less a story with a moral than a very long argument about how to act. Its characters are given impossible situations and are judged not on the outcome but on the quality of their reasoning and the honesty of their motives.
Krishna's role throughout is the counsellor who refuses easy answers. He does not remove the difficulty; he changes what the person is able to bring to it.
