When Wisdom Took the Crown

We pray to Ganesha to remove difficulties from our path. However, on the ground, this means developing our emotional intelligence to get out of difficulties ourselves with minimal damage control.

- RENUKA NARAYANAN

So, let us revisit in greater detail than September 2022, a story of high emotional intelligence.

This tale concerns one of the world's oldest royal houses, which went under the rubble of time. Trigarta was an ancient kingdom in Punjab, traversing the rivers Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. It is mentioned in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Brahmanda Purana. The Trigartas are said to have fought off the Persians and Assyrians and appear in the annals of Alexander's expedition to India in 326 BCE. Raja Parmanand Chandra is believed to be the 'Porus' who fought and lost to Alexander on the banks of the Beas. When 'Porus' was brought captive to him, Alexander, who considered him a worthy foe, asked him how he wished to be treated, and 'Porus' reportedly answered with superb simplicity: "Like a king."

In the Mahabharata, the kings of Trigarta are described as sworn territorial enemies of Matsya, a kingdom allied to the Pandavas. So, they fought against them under their first cousin, Duryodhana, at Kurukshetra. Susharma, the Trigarta raja, led a do-or-die squadron called the Samsaptaka to capture Yudhishtira. He and his entire force were killed by Arjuna.