Bits of life

S-12 Words-2000

brother Dushasana to disrobe Draupadi. Even then no one talked against him. Rishis like Drona and Kripacharya, grandsire Bhishma, the blind king Dhritarashtra did not utter a single word. It was the fate of Pandavas to suffer and bear with unbearable insults at the hands of an inferior person like Duryodhana. Perhaps this was what people refer to as fate worse than death. Bhima alone once again vowed that he would kill Dushasana with his bare hands and drink his blood.

Despite the argument and pleading by Draupadi, Dushasana proceeded to pull the sari off her. As her words fell on deaf years of the Kuru royals, wise men and elderly men, Draupadi lifted her hands and joined them in supplication to Krishna and prayed to him to save her prestige. The merciful lord did not disappoint her. Her faith was such that the sari that Dushasana held and pulled was endless. He was getting tired but the sari she wore went on to unfurl for yard and yards. Finally, the evil minded Dushasana fell on the ground unconscious and the other knaves like Karna, Duryodhana and Shakuni went on watching the scene in open mouthed wonder. Govinda had listened to prayer and rescued her. The culprits would find their befitting punishment too, but a little later.

After the insulting episode of Draupadi being threatened by the sons of Dhritarashtra, everyone started searching their conscience and found they were at fault for not talking against the evil minded Shakuni and Duryodhana. Except v-Vidura none raised the voice of opposition in the court. Duryodhan shouted at Vidura to leave the court and insulted saying that he was the son of a maid and had nothing to do with the events in the court of the Kurus.

Much later, the blind king Dhritarashtra felt repentant at the whole unspeakable events in the court. He called the Pandavas and said that he was sorry that such a thing had happened to Draupadi on that day. He also said that he would return their kingdom and freedom unconditionally.

When Duryodhan heard this he was very angry and helpless. He felt that his father should not have returned the kingdom that the Pandavas lost in the gambling bout. So once again he and shakuni put their heads together and hatched another scheme for the downfall of the sons of Pandu.
He requested and beseeched with his father to let him play just one more turn of dice with the Pandava princes. He accused his father for returning the kingdom of Indraprastha back to the Pandavas. He felt that his father had done all the hard work that he and Shakuni did to defeat the Pandavas in gambling. Duryodhana argued with his father that he and the Pandavas could never live together in peace. Just like two knives never fit into one sheath, the Kurus and the Pandavas did not go with each other.

He also said with belligerence that now he was left with two alternatives. Number one is that he would attack Indraprastha and engage the Pandavas in war and win Indraprastha. Or he would die the death of a warrior on the battlefield. The third choice he was left with was committing suicide. Dhritarashtra was frightened and moved by his voice of dissent and utter desperation he heard in his son’s voice. Out of extreme weakness for his son, king Dhritarashtra had agreed for one more game of the dice. As fate would have it, even the Pandavas, in particular Dharmaraja said yes to Duryodhana’s invitation to play dice. A day was set for the fateful gambling. Dharmaraja once again lost the dice and Shakuni won it. Once again the Pandavas and their wife stood defeated before the Kauravas.

This time the conditions were differently spoken. The defeated party would spend twelve years in exile and one more year should be spent incognito. If anyone recognized them during this one year of incognito, the whole punishment would repeat itself. Obviously, Pandavas were destined to suffer.

In a few days, the Pandavas were completed their preparation to undertake the biggest journey of their lives. Kunti, the queen mother entered the Hastinapur court with her children and their wife Draupadi to take leave of Dhritarashtra the blind king of the country. When she said she too would be leaving with the Pandavas, Dhritarashtra asked her to stay back because at the old age that she was passing through would not be suitable for her to live in the forest. She rejected his suggestion to live in the royal palace of Hastinapur. she said she could never do so because this was the palace where the Kurus live and those Kurus had insulted her children.
Then Vidur
a came forward and pleaded with Kunti to stay in his palace if she so wished. She should not undertake this journey for which her state of physical health did not permit. Then he requested Yudhishtar to convince his mother to stay back with him and his wife in his house. Yudhishtar convinced his mother and Kunti had to stay back although her mind and soul remained with her sons.

On the thirteenth day after the Pandavas left for exile, Bhishma asked vidura to tell the old king Dhritarashtra to call the exiled princes back to Hastinapur. The ancient principles allowed that on the thirteenth day things could be set right and be back to normalcy. Vidura went to Dhritarashtra and told him what Bhishma had suggested. But Dhritarashtra was not prepared to listen to the wise counseling of Bhishma. He said the Pandavas would never agree to come back. They would definitely insist on completing the exile of twelve years and a year of exile and only then they would return. Vidura understood that the old king himself was not in favor sending a messenger to the Pandavas and invite them back to their kingdom.

He tried to convince the old king to get the Pandavas back and return their Indraprastha to them. now Dhritarashtra became frustrated facing the bitter truth that he was now capable of bringing the Pandavas back. He hated vidura for speaking truth. He lost his temper with him and asked him to get out of Hastinapur. Aghast with this behavior of Dhritarashtra, vidura left Hastinapur and came to where the Pandavas were spending their exile in the forest.

He was received with love and respect by the Pandavas at their forest shelter. They took him inside their humble dwelling and made him sit. Listening to his words of grief they knew something terrible had happened to him. Gradually, Vidura unveiled the facts and said that the Pandavas must prepare themselves for the battlefield if need be.

There in Hastinapur, Bhishma came to know of Vidura’s departure on the order of Dhritarashtra. He fumed with anger and walked to the chambers of Dhritarashtra and chided him for sending away vidura, a key minister and well wisher of the king. He asked him as to who would advice him if he were to find himself in dilemma, not knowing which was right and which was not. He told him that it would be impossible for him to continue with sanity without the ministerial advice of Vidura. Finally, Bhishma even called him a fool for not having seen the importance of Vidura by his side. Dhritarashtra realized his fault in sending away his stepbrother and a close minister, Vidura. He repented and immediately sent his charioteer Sanjaya along with the royal chariot to fetch Vidura back to Hastinapur.

In Duryodhana’s chambers hot discussion was on whether the Pandavas would take heed and come back to Hastinapur. He and his like minded friend Karna and brother Dushasana and the scheming and cunning uncle on whom he depended for support, Shakuni were of the opinion that the old king had sent Vidura to bring back the Pandavas to Hastinapur. Duryodhana said,

“If the Pandavas come back to Indraprastha, either I am going to war against them and win or lose and die like a hero on the battlefield. Otherwise I am going to commit suicide by drinking poison, or by driving a dagger into my chest.”

Looking at his angry nephew Duryodhana, Shakuni said,

“My dear nephew, just answer my questions. What do you think are the strong weapons of the Pandavas?”
Duryodhana replied,
“Bhīma’s weapon is the mace and Arjuna’s bow and arrow.
“What about Yudhishtar?”
When Duryodhana was thinking about it, Shakuni answered,

“The greatest weapon of Yudhishtar is dharma or righteousness. He always followed the right path. Such a man will not come back to Hastinapur or Indraprastha till he completed the conditions laid down in the game of dice which he lost. So, dear Duryodhana, don’t get worried for nothing. They, your cousins Pandavas will go through the twelve long years of exile and one year of living without being recognized. What we have to do is how to break the time when they will live incognito. If they by any chance are identified then the cycle of exile will restart. But, for now dear nephew, there is nothing to worry about. Thirteen years is a long time to worry about anything.”

Duryodhana was pacified by the wicked imagination of Shakuni.

Once Duryodhan planned to camp near to the habitat of the Pandavas. He wanted to insult them by showing the difference between his life style and that of theirs. So he had put up tents and started having fun. Along with him Karna and Dushasana too made a lot of noise drinking and making merry with the dancing girls. One morning Duryodhana came across a forest girl and wanted have good time with her. She resisted and opposed his vulgar moves. He commanded her to come to his tent on that night. The girl went to her tribal chief and complained to him of her insulting experience with Duryodhana. The community of the tribals got together, held a meeting and decided to teach Duryodhan a lesson in manners and good behavior.

Soon it was night and the royal tents were filled with night time merry making. They were so immersed in the noise and music that they hardly noticed that there was movement outside their luxury camps.
The tribal soldiers with their weapons surrounded the tents and captivated the sentries posted before the camp. Then they went inside and at the point of swords they tied up Duryodhana and his friends. Duryodhana was taken aback and apart from throwing furtive looks he could do nothing in his drunken state.

A royal guard ran to the Pandavas and reported the matter to them. Immediately, at the command of Dharmaraja Bhima and Arjuna went with the guard and requested the clansmen to release the son of king Dhritarashtra. The chief of the clansmen told Duryodhana how a head of state should behave and how he should take care of his countrymen. He even compared the good natured and polite Pandavas with the rude and impolite Kauravas. Then they went back to their forest homes as did the Pandava princes.

Rishi Vyasa paid a visit to Dhritarashtra after a while. Rishis were those individual who did not fear the kings or the deities because they were always spiritually strong and mentally confident. Vyasa knew what was happening in Hastinapur. he knew of the injustice and insult done to the Pandavas and decided to tell the king the bitter truth of the result of his unjust deeds. He went to the chambers of the king Dhritarashtra and told him in no uncertain terms that what he did was wrong. He forgot his duty to be equal and impartial. He should not have behaved in the unjust manner he behaved with the Pandavas, the sons of his own brother Pandu.
Dhritarashtra was silent and regretful. He knew what he did was wrong. But he was a slave of his own attachment to Duryodhana, his son.
He asked Vyasa what