In the scenario that we discussed in the previous episode, a lone and helpless woman was harassed and insulted in front of many men. In that very court, there were her five husbands, each well known for his bravery and intellect. There was the King who was blind but did not lack the inner vision. One word from him could have put a stop to whatever nonsense that was going on, since the perpetrator was his own son. And then there was this grandsire who was considered to be the bravest among men and an epitome of righteousness.
But none of these men could do anything to help Draupadi who was almost disrobed in front of a fully gathered assembly. All of them exhibited their cowardice – some scared of violating their promises, some unwilling to face their sons and some bound by the respect they had for their elder brother. Though men, none of them could exhibit bravery, nor they used their logical thinking, nor they could condemn the wrong.
In such a scenario, it was a woman who came forward for the rescue of helpless Draupadi.
She was Gandhari – wife of the King Dhritarastra. She had the courage, clarity of thinking and the wherewithal to take on all those men who were a disgrace to whatever they were. Gandhari was a great woman. She was the princess of Gandhara – present day Afghanistan. She was forcibly married to the blind prince Dhritarastra. But she never complained. Instead, she blind folded herself throughout her life. She did not wish to see the world that her husband was not capable of seeing. And it was such a loyal woman who came forward amidst all men assembled there, to rescue Draupadi.
Gandhari, accompanied by Vidhura, protested against all the wrong doings of her sons. She warned Dhritarastra that if he did not intervene and hold back his children, he would be committing a grave mistake. Their action was not just immoral but it could end up in the total destruction of the entire clan. She brought out the blind Dhritarastra from the darkness of overattachment he had to his sons. She forced him to nullify whatever had gone on and avert the inevitable calamity.
Finally, Dhritarastra gathered up courage. He regretted for whatever his sons had done. He freed Draupadi from the bondage He also offered Draupadi to ask for anything to amend whatever wrong that was done to her. But Draupadi was not interested in anything other than freeing of her husbands from the bondage. She did not even ask for the kingdom that they had lost to Duryodhana. She was confident that her husbands were quite capable of earning Kingdoms and wealth on their own strength.
But Dhritarastra generously declared that the entire outcome of the game was null and void. He not only freed the Pandava brothers but also asked them to go back and rule their Kingdom which they had lost in the game of dice. Everything seemed to be a happy ending.
But unfortunately, it was not so. Neither Duryodhana, nor his other wicked brothers, nor the evil Sakuni were prepared to lose the chance they got to usurp the Kingdom of the Pandavas. So, they came up with a vicious plan. They convinced Dhritarastra that if Pandavas were allowed to return, they would always take their revenge. Freeing them would in no way avoid the calamity. It is better to mercilessly kill a poisonous snake than leave it wounded. A wounded snake is always dangerous.
Duryodhana’s plan was to organize another game of dice and invite the Pandavas back to participate. This time, there would be no stakes but only one condition. Whoever lost the game would retire to the forest for twelve years keeping away from the society. In addition, such losers should spend a year in open society but should never be recognized. If they fail, they should go through another round of 12 plus 1 year. Duryodhana explained that this would prevent Pandavas from attacking them or preparing for retaliation, while giving enough time for Duryodhana to buildup enough strength to face any possible retaliation.
Gandhari was quite upset at this ill advice given to her husband. She reminded him how she had advised him to kill infant Duryodhana since she had a premonition of his being danger to the family. The blind King Dhritarastra was so obsessed with his son that in spite of Gandhari’s sane advice, he agreed to Duryodhana’s plans.
Pandavas were called back. They were asked to play the dice game once again. Pandavas did not want to be seen as saved by Dhritarastra ’s generosity. Nor Yudhishthira wanted to disobey his uncle Dhritarastra. So, he played the dice game once again, fully knowing that the wicked Sakuni would once again cheat him.
And as anticipated, Yudhishthira lost once again. This time it was not the Kingdom that he lost, nor his brothers but forceful exile along with his brothers. Vidhura offered to shelter Draupadi in his house till they returned, but loyal Draupadi chose to follow her husbands.
Everyone knew that it was quite unfair. But they could do nothing about it – some due to fear of Duryodhana, some like Dhritarastra blinded by over attachment to his son, some like Bhishma bound by the meaningless oath he had taken, and others like Drona, Vidhura due to their loyalty to the King. They all knew that they were in for some calamity - the complete destruction of the Kuru dynasty.
On the other hand, people like Duryodhana, Dhushasana, Karna and Sakuni rejoiced at their victory. Little did they realize that they had set their death warrant in motion! It was just a matter of time.
But in a way, everything was as expected. The coming of God as Krishna to earth was to wipe out the wicked people. So, destruction was inevitable and predestined. But as they say, when two tuskers fight, many innocent trees pay their life. They get uprooted without their fault. So, any massive war would result in large scale destruction of not only the wicked, but also many innocents. Krishna never wanted that to happen. He wanted to contain the destruction to the minimum.
How the Pandavas spent their 13 years of exile is a long story. I will not get into that. More interesting story starts when they complete their term and come back to stake their claim to whatever they lost. Afterall, the Kingdom was theirs and they had every right to reclaim it. They had successfully met the conditions of the game of dice and in all fairness Duryodhana and his coterie had to relinquish their hold on the Kingdom which rightfully belonged to Yudhishthira.
Is it going to be such a smooth end of the story? For more than one reason, it is unlikely. Let us continue in the next episode.
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