Indian epic 'Yasha Prasna vs UN Charter' : V. Muthuswami

Dear friend:

The real gift of RETIRED Life, after having worked over 35 yrs in the UN, is to ruminate on  old Indian epic stories learnt in my school in the 40s and parents, and compare those episodes with the current geopolitics.

The result is one such comparative analysis as remembered and described in the attached article in word format.  The message is universal. 

Maybe you may like to share with colleagues, and help spread awareness and protect us from selfish polorised world leaders of the present time.

Kind regards,

V.Muthuswami, Chennai, South India

UN Retiree

Mobile: 91 98410 26998

Yaksha Prashna & the UN Charter: Two Moral Compasses for Global Order – A Comparative Note

Author: V. Muthuswami

Publication: Shared personal document

Date: December 8, 2025

Click here for the article

Summary

This analytical essay compares the Yaksha Prashna dialogue from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata with the United Nations Charter, exploring how both texts address fundamental questions of ethics, governance, justice, and the restraint of human power. 

The document argues that while separated by over two millennia and vastly different cultural contexts, both works share a common purpose: preventing the collapse of civilization through moral and institutional frameworks. 

The Yaksha Prashna, a dialogue on ethics and duty, operates through internal transformation and character development, while the UN Charter functions through external legal structures and institutional mechanisms. 

The essay identifies eight comparative dimensions including origin and purpose, views on human nature, approaches to justice and equality, concepts of power and restraint, the balance between rights and responsibilities, definitions of happiness and security, and core failure risks identified by each tradition. 

The author concludes that the UN Charter manages crises that arise from moral failure, while the Yaksha Prashna seeks to prevent such failures through ethical training and conscience development. The document suggests that effective global governance requires both external regulation and internal moral discipline, warning that "governance without inner discipline becomes bureaucracy" and "law without conscience becomes negotiation of power." The piece ends with a strategic reflection aimed at UN retirees, emphasizing that the deepest security system lies in human conscience rather than institutional structures alone.

Quotes

"How can human power be restrained by moral wisdom so that civilization may endure?"

"Yaksha Prashna perfects the conscience that the UN Charter seeks to regulate."

"The UN manages the world when humans fail morally; Yaksha Prashna trains humans so the world may not need crisis management."

"Governance without inner discipline becomes bureaucracy. Law without conscience becomes negotiation of power. Reform without self-correction becomes cosmetic. Peace without ethical awakening becomes temporary truce."

"The UN Charter restrains chaos through law. Yaksha Prashna dissolves chaos at its ethical root. The future of global peace may require both."