Example sentences: Ramayana: Because Paulastya, the grandson of Pulastya, was so malevolent, he got the name Ravana, one who makes others cry. Mahabharata: How malevolent Duryodhana was toward the Pandavas became evident to the whole Kuru assembly when he gleefully ordered that Draupadi be disrobed. Bhagavad-gita: God is benevolent and so is the soul, being
Example sentences: Ramayana: Ravana dismissed as preposterous the notion that stones would float to form a bridge — till he saw hundreds of monkeys charging into his island. Mahabharata: Bhishma declared that Duryodhana’s plan to arrest Krishna was preposterous; Krishna was the undefeatable supreme descended to the earth. Bhagavad-gita: Some people consider belief in God
Example sentences: Ramayana: Ravana’s most subversive scheme was to build a bridge to heaven, by which even the sinful could enjoy heavenly delights. Mahabharata: Shakuni suggested a subversive scheme to steal the Pandavas’ kingdom through a rigged gambling match. Bhagavad-gita: The mind is supremely subversive; it makes us misidentify with it and then uses our
Example sentences: Ramayana: When Ramayana commentators give several explanations of certain words from the epic, some readers might find such explanations pedantic, but devotees relish those explanations as tools for mining the many levels of insight and delight in this multi-layered epic. Mahabharata: Duryodhana paid little attention to the words of the sages, for he
Example sentences: Ramayana: Though Vibhishana was a devotee at heart, he reasoned with Ravana using not devotional arguments but using diverse arguments based on his eclectic study of various sources that would be more acceptable to Ravana. Mahabharata: Arjuna was single-pointed in his devotion to Krishna, yet he was eclectic in learning various skills so
Example sentences: Ramayana: When Rama heard from Kaikeyi that he had been exiled, he showed no palpable reaction; he wanted to ensure that his response didn’t make a bad situation worse. Mahabharata: Duryodhana had expected his forceful mace attack to at least knock Bhima down, but when it seemed to have no palpable impact on
Example sentences: Ramayana: The sage Vishvamitra was a forest-dwelling hermit; his activities were largely extramural and thus his visit to Ayodhya was a surprise to everyone. Mahabharata: The way Ekalavya learned archery was not entirely extramural; though he was not admitted into Drona’s academy, he secretly observed the lessons taught there and took inspiration from
Example sentences: Ramayana: Indrajita alleged that Vibhishana’s opposition to Ravana was tantamount to betrayal of Ravana. Mahabharata: Duryodhana’s brazen attempt to arrest Krishna who had come as a peace envoy was tantamount to an act of war against the Pandavas. Bhagavad-gita: Temptations are tantamount to attacks on our consciousness by the forces of illusion.
Example sentences: Ramayana: Though Kumbhakarna rebuked Ravana for his reckless abduction of Sita, he stopped short of calling his brother feckless — the king’s face needed to be saved. Mahabharata: Duryodhana’s ill-advised attempt to humiliate the Pandavas, which had backfired badly with his being arrested by the Gandharvas, exposed him to be a feckless fool.
Example sentences: Ramayana: As secrecy was pivotal to Hanuman’s plan for finding Sita in Lanka, he waited till nightfall to have the cover of darkness. Mahabharata: Duryodhana was shattered by Karna’s death because Karna had been pivotal in his plan to defeat the Pandavas. Bhagavad-gita: Bhakti is pivotal to the message of the Gita; those