Have you ever heard of anyone seeking the permission of the enemy before killing him? That sounds ridiculous and insane. But Yudhishthira did exactly that.
Yudhishthira was the eldest of the Pandava brothers. He was an epitome of righteousness. That is the reason why he was also called Dharmaraja – King of righteousness. He would never do any action that was not right, even at the cost of his own life and that of his people.
As I described in the previous episode, both sides of the armies had put themselves in the combat ready position facing each other. The war was almost on the verge. Suddenly, Yudhishthira did a strange move.
He descended from his chariot, totally unarmed, and started moving into the enemy side. His brothers were shocked by this sudden move. They were worried about his safety since he was completely unarmed. There was panic in the Pandava side. The rest of the Pandava brothers started running after Yudhishthira in an attempt to stop him and dissuade from doing such a foolish act.
But Yudhishthira kept moving, ignoring all their attempts. The Pandava brothers ran after him to give him protection. It was only Krishna who stood silently with a mischievous smile, totally unperturbed by whatever foolish act Yudhishthira was doing! He probably knew what Yudhishthira was up to.
Seeing Yudhishthira marching towards them, the warriors on Kaurava side were equally shocked. They thought that the timid Yudhishthira was scared of their vast army and had finally decided to surrender to them. They started ridiculing him and calling him a coward.
Yudhishthira ignored all these people and kept moving. He moved straight to Bhishma, the commander of the Kaurava army and fell on his feet.
Not that Yudhishthira was surrendering, but he was seeking the blessings of Bhishma who was also his grandsire. Bhishma happened to be the grandfather of both Kauravas and Pandavas. But the destiny had it that Bhishma had to take the side of Kauravas, even unwillingly.
When Bhishma lifted Yudhishthira up, and lovingly embraced him, Yudhishthira asked Bhishma whether there was any way the war could be averted even at that juncture.
Bhishma was very much pleased with Yudhishthira’s conduct. He told him that there was no way he could stop the war at that stage. Nor he could retire from the war.
He said that he was bound by his loyalty to the throne. Right or wrong, he was forced to support whoever sat on the throne of Hastinapur. That was the pledge he had taken long ago. And he could not back off from that at any cost.
Bhishma condemned himself to be an impotent person, who could do nothing but obey his master. And unfortunately, at that time, his master was Duryodhana who was on the wrong side! So, he had to fight, willingly or unwillingly.
But he knew that the Pandavas were righteous. So, he told Yudhishthira that he would prey for their victory and also bless them.
Yudhishthira further asked Bhishma whether there was anyway Bhishma could be defeated or killed. Bhishma replied saying that as long as he was armed and war ready, no one could defeat him. As far as killing him was concerned, none could kill him as long as he himself wanted to live on.
Either way, Bhishma left no choice to Yudhishthira but to fight, though he blessed him wholeheartedly.
Why was Bhishma so helpless? Why was he so bound by loyalty to a wrong doer? Why he could not stop the war or at least remain neutral? Why was he saying that he could not be vanquished? Why was it that no one could kill him unless he himself wanted to end his life? That appears to be a mystery.
To unravel that mystery, we need to go back into the background of Bhishma. We will do that in the next episode.
He descended from his chariot, totally unarmed, and started moving into the enemy side. His brothers were shocked by this sudden move. They were worried about his safety since he was completely unarmed. There was panic in the Pandava side. The rest of the Pandava brothers started running after Yudhishthira in an attempt to stop him and dissuade from doing such a foolish act.
But Yudhishthira kept moving, ignoring all their attempts. The Pandava brothers ran after him to give him protection. It was only Krishna who stood silently with a mischievous smile, totally unperturbed by whatever foolish act Yudhishthira was doing! He probably knew what Yudhishthira was up to.
Seeing Yudhishthira marching towards them, the warriors on Kaurava side were equally shocked. They thought that the timid Yudhishthira was scared of their vast army and had finally decided to surrender to them. They started ridiculing him and calling him a coward.
Not that Yudhishthira was surrendering, but he was seeking the blessings of Bhishma who was also his grandsire. Bhishma happened to be the grandfather of both Kauravas and Pandavas. But the destiny had it that Bhishma had to take the side of Kauravas, even unwillingly.
When Bhishma lifted Yudhishthira up, and lovingly embraced him, Yudhishthira asked Bhishma whether there was any way the war could be averted even at that juncture.
Bhishma was very much pleased with Yudhishthira’s conduct. He told him that there was no way he could stop the war at that stage. Nor he could retire from the war.
He said that he was bound by his loyalty to the throne. Right or wrong, he was forced to support whoever sat on the throne of Hastinapur. That was the pledge he had taken long ago. And he could not back off from that at any cost.
Bhishma condemned himself to be an impotent person, who could do nothing but obey his master. And unfortunately, at that time, his master was Duryodhana who was on the wrong side! So, he had to fight, willingly or unwillingly.
But he knew that the Pandavas were righteous. So, he told Yudhishthira that he would prey for their victory and also bless them.
Yudhishthira further asked Bhishma whether there was anyway Bhishma could be defeated or killed. Bhishma replied saying that as long as he was armed and war ready, no one could defeat him. As far as killing him was concerned, none could kill him as long as he himself wanted to live on.
Either way, Bhishma left no choice to Yudhishthira but to fight, though he blessed him wholeheartedly.
Why was Bhishma so helpless? Why was he so bound by loyalty to a wrong doer? Why he could not stop the war or at least remain neutral? Why was he saying that he could not be vanquished? Why was it that no one could kill him unless he himself wanted to end his life? That appears to be a mystery.
To unravel that mystery, we need to go back into the background of Bhishma. We will do that in the next episode.
That was Mahabharata episode 04
Based on the 5000 year old Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. © Dr.King 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment