15 May 2014 - QA 5

Gurudev, what is the meaning of 'dhriti'? What dhriti did Dhritarashtra (father of the Kauravas in the Mahabharata) have?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Dhrita means To Uphold.
Dhritarashtra means one who holds the nation. If the one who upholds the nation is blind, then war is inevitable.
If one who upholds the nation, he and his wife, both are blind (Dhritarashtra who was naturally blind and his wife Gandhari who was willfully blind) then what can happen to the nation? Nothing but war.
See, in those days, even the names had so much meaning; it is so beautiful.
Dhriti means something which supports, and Dharma also means the same thing. Dharma is that which supports life. Dharma upholds life, preventing it from falling down.