We were discussing about Krishna’s stories from Bhagavata. Now all of a sudden, I seem to shift from Bhagavata to another Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. It is not without reason though.
The authors of both Bhagavata as well as Mahabharata were the same. It was the same Vyasa who is believed to have written both. So, naturally, these two Epics were closely linked. Not only that, Krishna who is the central figure of Bhagavata also happens to be the central figure of Mahabharata as well. Obviously, there is lot of overlap between these two epics.
Probably you remember the beginning episodes. The reason why God agreed to descend on earth as Krishna was to liquidate many evil persons who were wreaking havoc on earth. As Krishna, God no doubt directly put an end to some of them, Kamsa being the most prominent. But there were many more to be dealt with.
When does someone become a threat to the society? Obviously, when someone torments helpless people, when someone creates a situation that leads to degradation of society, someone who adds to the miseries of the world. Such a person deserves to be treated with a firm hand. More so when such a person happens to be a King or is in a powerful position.
Since Kings used to be all powerful, a wicked King could always be a nightmare to the society. A wicked King always has his own wicked accomplices. Over a period of time, this mental makeup percolates down and breeds more such people, poisoning the entire society. That is when a wicked King needs to be eliminated to put an end to such degradation.
But is it only the King? Many a times, even good and well-meaning people, though capable, remain silent spectators to whatever ills done by the King. They do so either because of fear, or because of self-interests or even owing to misplaced idea of morality and duty!
Such people are equally responsible for whatever wrongs done by the King. They may not be direct participants in the crime but they act as aiders and abettors in the crime. Even they need to be made to pay for their deeds. Well, one needs to give a chance to such people to mend their ways or bring them out of their misguided notions of morality and duty. But if they don’t relent and mend their ways, even they have to be treated as offenders.
The story of Mahabharata is all about this fine line between out and out wicked people and these in-between guys, who are good but willingly or unwillingly aid and abet the crime. So, it is not always clear how one should deal with such people. But someone who is interested in larger interest of the society has to understand this fine difference and deal with both types of people with a firm hand. This in nut shell is what Krishna tries to do in Mahabharata.
So, I will take a brief detour into Mahabharata, and focus on the role of Krishna in this great Epic and discuss how Krishna meets the purpose of his coming down to earth. But Mahabharata - as the name itself indicates – is a great Epic and I don’t intend to delve into it completely and restrict myself to parts in which Krishna had a key role. Just to put the pieces together, I may also touch upon related topics as we go. Krishna’s story without Mahabharata is totally incomplete. So, let us get into it.
Let me start with a quick introduction to some of the prominent characters of this complex drama and their background.
At the heart of it all is the grandsire Bhishma who should have been the King of the Kuru dynasty that ruled over Hastinapur. But he refused to ascend the throne due to the promise he had made to his step mother Satyavati. He had also declared that he would always be loyal to the throne. Bhishma was a scholarly person, very pious and deep in the matters of righteousness. It is an irony how even such a person got into the wrong camp.
Another person who owed allegiance to the throne was Drona – the head of the royal school. He was indebted to the throne since it was the King that recognized and provided him a shelter when he very much needed it. He could never go against the throne.
Then there was Dhritarastra – a born blind nephew of Bhishma who could never become a king owing to his handicap. He had to forego the throne and hand it over to his younger brother Pandu. Albeit he was a person well versed in finer aspects of righteousness, he was always misguided by his over attachment to his son Duryodhana.
Duryodhana along with his brothers such as Dhushasana were clearly the villains in this drama for whom self-interest was the most prominent. They never bothered about right or wrong. They were perpetrators of unrighteousness.
Sakuni, Duryodhana’s maternal uncle was an accomplice to Duryodhana in all his misdeeds. In a way, he was the mastermind behind the greatest massacre that took place in the Mahabharata war. He was the prince of Gandhara – present day Afghanistan, whose only aim in life was to ruin the entire Kuru dynasty. It was because of Bhishma that his sister Gandhari had to marry a blind man Dhritarastra. Sakuni could never pardon the wrong done to his sister.
Then there was Karna, though a very righteous person, was so indebted to his friend Duryodhana that he sided with him in all his wrong doings.
Now comes Vidhura, step brother of Dhritarastra, who was righteousness personified. Though a very upright person, was totally helpless since his mother was a servant maid. He was never treated on par with his other step brothers born in the royal family.
On the other side we had Yudhishthira or Dharmaraja, the eldest of the five Pandava brothers – sons of King Pandu and cousins of Duryodhana. Dharmaraja true to his name was a personification of righteousness – Dharma meaning righteousness, Raja meaning King – King of righteousness. He should have been the King after his father Pandu who died an untimely death. But Dhritarastra, owing to his over attachment to his son Duryodhana kept denying Yudhishthira his rightful place. Finally, the kingdom had to be divided and Yudhishthira had to be content with Indraprastha, a new kingdom carved out of barren land.
Bhima and Arjuna were two brothers of Yudhishthira. I have mentioned about them earlier during the Jarasandha story. Kunti, the paternal aunt of Krishna, and wife of King Pandu was their mother. Nakula and Sahadeva were the other two brothers, born to second wife of King Pandu, but brought up by Kunti as her own children.
If at all someone can be called the heroine of this great Epic of Mahabharata, that someone was Draupadi. Though her actual name was Krishnaa, she was called Draupadi after her father Drupada. She was the wife of all five Pandava brothers! Yes, you read it right. Due to some circumstances, she married all the five brothers and became their common wife.
A few episodes ago, we discussed about the special fire ritual called Rajasuya conducted by Yudhishthira. Krishna had attended that ritual. That ritual was conducted in Indraprastha – the capital of Yudhishthira.
Duryodhana along with his brothers had attended that ritual. He was quite uncomfortable with the rise of the Pandavas and the circumstances that forced him to share the Kingdom with them. He was also jealous of their prosperity and their popularity. Added to this, Duryodhana was humiliated on some occasions when he visited Indraprastha.
Duryodhana could bear it no longer. So, along with his other brothers and his uncle Sakuni, Duryodhana was scheming somehow to snatch that kingdom from Yudhishthira. Did Duryodhana succeed in his plans? Let us see that in the next episode.
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