The Subtlety of Subtales: Subaltern Voices of Sūkṣma Dharma in the Mahābhārata

Abstract

AbstractMany scholars have identifiedsūkṣma dharma(subtledharma) as a central theme of theMahābhārata.However, beyond recognizing it as an understanding ofdharmathat is elusive and ambiguous, there has been relatively little investigation into the meaning and implications ofsūkṣma dharma. As this article shows, even if the central episodes of the main story leavesūkṣma dharmaundefined or unclear, theMahābhārata’s embedded narratives (upākhyānas) offer more explicit descriptions and demonstrations that can shed light on this otherwise elusive understanding ofdharma.By focusing on three substories, the article argues thatsūkṣma dharmais presented as a coherent and communicable teaching about how to act in morally ambiguous situations. This understanding ofsūkṣma dharma, as the article shows, is often associated with subaltern characters who demonstrate their knowledge through—what the article characterizes as—intuition and spontaneity in everyday situations.