Many of us who have undergone humiliation know how difficult it is to forget and forgive. We may be very righteous, endowed with clarity, broad minded. But still, if we are humiliated, that too over and over again, we hardly forgive the person who has humiliated us.
That is exactly what happened to Dhritarastra.
Dhritarastra was the father of the Kauravas engaged in the Mahabharata war we are talking about. Though he was often portrayed as the real villain in the entire Epic, to be fair on him, he was not exactly that. He was a victim of insults that he had gone through all his life.
He was a great scholar. Knower of all scriptures. Well versed in all warfare techniques and had a keen sense of righteousness. He was the elder of the two princes, the heirs to the throne of Hastinapur. He was qualified in all respects to ascend the throne.
But his fate conspired against him and he was disallowed from becoming the King just because he was a born blind! He was bypassed and his younger brother Pandu was made the King.
Was it his fault to be born as blind? Even though he was blind, he was quite capable of ruling the kingdom. But he was not allowed. His only fault was that he cannot see with his eyes, though he was endowed with inner vision.
Well, after the untimely death of his younger brother Pandu who had superseded him, either he or his son Duryodhana should have been made the king. But the claimant to the throne was his younger brother’s son Yudhishthira!
Even when his children were growing up, the teachers and all elders were partial to Pandu’s children and not to his. Ultimately, he had to share the kingdom between his sons and the sons of Pandu as a compromise. A kingdom which should have been all his. But no. Just because he was blind?
Dhritarastra could never forget the insults that he went through. So, when the war became inevitable, he could not stop his sons from going to war. Afterall, they were only claiming what is rightfully theirs!
Just before the war started, the great sage Vyasa made a last-minute bid to avert the bloodshed that would result from the war. He came to Dhritarastra and advised him to somehow stop the war and make peace with the Pandavas, children of his own brother. He suggested that his children and those of the Pandu could share the Kingdom among themselves and live peacefully without any animosity.
Dhritarastra expressed his inability to do that since he felt that it was too late and his son Duryodhana would never agree to that. In reality, he himself had a faint hope that his sons would win and accede the complete kingdom once for all, by killing the Pandavas.
He asked Vyasa about the outcome of the war. “Who would win?”.
Vyasa was noncommittal. He said the victory will be on the side which is righteous!
Though blind, Dhritarastra was curious to know every detail of the war as it progressed. Vyasa offered to give him sight so that he can see the destruction with his own eyes. But Dhritarastra had no courage to do that. He knew in his heart that his sons were not righteous and are ultimately going to be vanquished in the war.
Finally, seeing the futility in convincing the King, Vyasa gave divine vision to Sanjaya, a close associate of Dhritarastra, so that Sanjaya could describe each and everything that happened on the war field to Dhritarastra. It was this Sanjaya, who narrated the entire Bhagavad Gita to Dhritarastra, blessed with the divine sight given to him by Vyasa.
All attempts to evade the war failed. Neither party was prepared to give up. So, all of them assembled face to face in a place called Kurukshetra, a place in the State of Haryana in modern India.
Mahabharata says that there were 11 Akshohini army on Kaurava side and 7 Akshohini on the Pandava side. Can you guess how big a number an Akshohini is?
An Akshohini works out to 21,870 chariots driven by 65,610 horses, 21,870 elephants, and 109,350 foot soldiers. This is in addition to warriors who fought either sitting on these chariots or riding the elephants.
The entire thing works out to more than 393,660 chariots, 393,660 Elephants, 1,180,980 horses, 1,968,300 soldiers engaged in the war! An unbelievable number!
These warriors not only had various weapons – Astra and shastra – but also Mantrastra – divine weapons that get energized by secret Mantras.
Quite a scary sight it should have been! Mahabharata says that hordes of vultures, ravens were hovering around in the skies in anticipation of huge feast of dead bodies. In addition. Ghosts and other blood thirsty evil spirits were also waiting for the kill.
Let us see what happened then, in the next episode.
He was a great scholar. Knower of all scriptures. Well versed in all warfare techniques and had a keen sense of righteousness. He was the elder of the two princes, the heirs to the throne of Hastinapur. He was qualified in all respects to ascend the throne.
But his fate conspired against him and he was disallowed from becoming the King just because he was a born blind! He was bypassed and his younger brother Pandu was made the King.
Was it his fault to be born as blind? Even though he was blind, he was quite capable of ruling the kingdom. But he was not allowed. His only fault was that he cannot see with his eyes, though he was endowed with inner vision.
Well, after the untimely death of his younger brother Pandu who had superseded him, either he or his son Duryodhana should have been made the king. But the claimant to the throne was his younger brother’s son Yudhishthira!
Even when his children were growing up, the teachers and all elders were partial to Pandu’s children and not to his. Ultimately, he had to share the kingdom between his sons and the sons of Pandu as a compromise. A kingdom which should have been all his. But no. Just because he was blind?
Dhritarastra could never forget the insults that he went through. So, when the war became inevitable, he could not stop his sons from going to war. Afterall, they were only claiming what is rightfully theirs!
Dhritarastra expressed his inability to do that since he felt that it was too late and his son Duryodhana would never agree to that. In reality, he himself had a faint hope that his sons would win and accede the complete kingdom once for all, by killing the Pandavas.
He asked Vyasa about the outcome of the war. “Who would win?”.
Vyasa was noncommittal. He said the victory will be on the side which is righteous!
Though blind, Dhritarastra was curious to know every detail of the war as it progressed. Vyasa offered to give him sight so that he can see the destruction with his own eyes. But Dhritarastra had no courage to do that. He knew in his heart that his sons were not righteous and are ultimately going to be vanquished in the war.
Finally, seeing the futility in convincing the King, Vyasa gave divine vision to Sanjaya, a close associate of Dhritarastra, so that Sanjaya could describe each and everything that happened on the war field to Dhritarastra. It was this Sanjaya, who narrated the entire Bhagavad Gita to Dhritarastra, blessed with the divine sight given to him by Vyasa.
All attempts to evade the war failed. Neither party was prepared to give up. So, all of them assembled face to face in a place called Kurukshetra, a place in the State of Haryana in modern India.
Mahabharata says that there were 11 Akshohini army on Kaurava side and 7 Akshohini on the Pandava side. Can you guess how big a number an Akshohini is?
An Akshohini works out to 21,870 chariots driven by 65,610 horses, 21,870 elephants, and 109,350 foot soldiers. This is in addition to warriors who fought either sitting on these chariots or riding the elephants.
The entire thing works out to more than 393,660 chariots, 393,660 Elephants, 1,180,980 horses, 1,968,300 soldiers engaged in the war! An unbelievable number!
These warriors not only had various weapons – Astra and shastra – but also Mantrastra – divine weapons that get energized by secret Mantras.
Quite a scary sight it should have been! Mahabharata says that hordes of vultures, ravens were hovering around in the skies in anticipation of huge feast of dead bodies. In addition. Ghosts and other blood thirsty evil spirits were also waiting for the kill.
Let us see what happened then, in the next episode.
That was Mahabharata episode 03
Based on the 5000 year old Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. © Dr.King 2019.
very interesting potrayal of drithrashtra! ...and very fair too.very curious to know more.very nice!!
ReplyDeleteAmazed by the size of one akshunya!!!
Thank you Anu for your feedback.
DeleteBTW it is Akshohini - a measure of army size in those days.