As we discussed in the previous episode, Sanjaya reaches Upaplavya with a message from the Kauravas. He informs the Pandavas, that Dhritarastra wants peace and not war. The only condition is that the Pandavas should forget whatever had happened and live in peace with Duryodhana. But there was no talk about giving back their kingdom to them which Duryodhana had snatched from them deceitfully.
That was ridiculous. Even Sanjaya knew that. But he was just a messenger and he did what he was asked to do. The Pandavas could not accept that condition. Yudhishthira even made an offer that if Duryodhana was agreeable to give them 5 villages, they were prepared to forget all the past misdeeds of Duryodhana and live peacefully. They were not interested In war. They were prepared to give up their claim for the entire Kingdom which was rightfully theirs. But at the same time, they cannot accept to live as subordinates of Duryodhana. They wanted to live honorably in the five villages which they expected Dhritarastra to give them as a compromise formula.
Sanjaya knew very well that Duryodhana would not accept even this small demand of the Pandavas. Duryodhana was not prepared to share anything with them and was bent on clinging on to whatever he had snatched from them. Sanjaya privately told Yudhishthira that Duryodhana would never agree to this proposal.
With his mission failed, Sanjaya returned back to Hastinapur. He conveyed to Dhritarastra what Yudhishthira wanted. He even narrated to Dhritarastra how a vast army of Kings were already prepared to wage a war on the Kauravas. Sanjaya warned Dhritarastra that such a war would certainly wipe out the entire Kuru dynasty.
Dhritarastra counselled with Vidhura, Bhishma and others. All of them advised him to avoid war at all cost since Pandavas could annihilate his entire clan, both because each of them was so powerful and also because they had Krishna’s support. Dhritarastra was in a fix. He was prepared for accepting the demand of Yudhishthira and making peace with the Pandavas.
But Duryodhana was not. He ridiculed the possibility of Pandavas vanquishing him. He was confidant of his own strength and that of his associates. Even Karna supported Duryodhana and tried to convince Dhritarastra that there was no need to worry as long he was around. He boasted about his own strengths and the powerful weapons he had acquired from his teachers as well as the Gods. He was confident that Pandavas were no match for him and he could slay them with ease.
At that point, Bhishma reminded Karna about his unknown lineage, his cheating his teacher and the curse he got from his teacher as a result. Bhishma advised Duryodhana not to rely on Karna’s boastful words. Karna got furious at the slighting remarks made by Bhishma. He swore that he would never take part in the war as long as Bhishma was around. And that was what exactly Bhishma wanted. He wanted to weaken Duryodhana as far as possible!
On the Pandava side, Yudhishthira had no doubt that the mission of Sanjaya was not going to work. He knew that even if Dhritarastra agreed to their condition, Duryodhana would not. Duryodhana was hell bent on war. But Yudhishthira wanted to avoid war at all cost. Though Bhima and other brothers of Yudhishthira were against accepting the subjugation by the Kauravas, they respected their elder brother Yudhishthira. They supported him in finding some amicable settlement to the problem. They too talked about attaining peace with the wicked Kauravas.
But Draupadi was not for anything but war. She could not forget the insults that she was subjected to by the Kauravas. Duryodhana and his coterie had not only deceitfully snatched their kingdom, but they had forced them to loiter around in the forests for twelve long years. Besides, how could she forget about the way she was dragged into the assembled court by Dhushasana and even disrobed. It was only by the grace of Krishna she was saved.
Draupadi was a brave warrior girl with great warriors as her brothers. She had sons who were also equally capable. She did not really need the help of her husbands who seem to have accepted defeat in the name of peace. She threatened that with the help of her brothers and her sons she would vanquish all the Kauravas. She would not only avenge the wrongs done by the Kauravas, but also snatch back the kingdom usurped by them.
Draupadi cried bitterly and looked at Krishna for justice. She was not for patching up with the Kauravas as wanted by Yudhishthira. She wanted to fight back even if her husbands backed off.
Krishna consoled Draupadi and told her that whatever she wished would happen. Krishna predicted that the war was going to happen and the entire Kaurava clan was going to be wiped out. He said that that was predestined. But like a true statesman, Krishna wanted to follow proper procedure before embarking on all-out war.
What is this proper procedure?
How should someone handle an aggressor? Should he show the ‘other cheek’ when the enemy attacks, or should he passively endure all wrong doings? I am referring to well-known stand of Jesus Christ or Buddha. Both these great men advised that way. But probably, those were different circumstances. That was not the way ancient Indians handled an aggressor. They followed what is called a ‘four-pronged strategy’ to handle an aggressor. It is the so called ‘Chaturopaaya’.
The four steps in this Chaturopaya are Saama, Daana, Bheda, and Danda.
The first step is Saama – a dialogue with the aggressor. Through dialogue one has to try to win the enemy if possible. One should convince him that peace is in his interest. If the enemy does not pay heed to this sane advice, then employ the next strategy namely Daana. Try to win over the enemy by offering him something in return to peace. Lure him to forego aggression for the sake of whatever was offered.
But an enemy could be stubborn and may not fall for the lure and may continue his aggression. In such cases, the next strategy is to bring about division between the supporters of the enemy and make him weak. This is called Bheda. Sort of ‘divide and rule’.
When all these three strategies fail to produce any result, then and only then one has to resort to open retaliation. Not otherwise. That was the last, namely Danda.
This is a very practical approach in real life situations. This is the approach we still follow to resolve most of the conflicts even today – be it menace of terrorists, conflict between countries or any kind of political unrest. Meek surrender to the aggressor is nice but would rarely work. That could be taken as cowardice by the aggressor and may encourage him to intensify his attacks. On the other hand, going to war as the only strategy is also not wise, as we keep seeing in many of the present-day world scenarios. It should be a well thought of and graded strategy.
With this in mind, Krishna set out to Hastinapur as a mediator. A messenger of peace.
When Dhritarastra’s spies informed him about the coming of Krishna as a peace maker, the old King was all for accepting whatever proposal Krishna might have had. But the scheming Duryodhana had other plans. He wanted to capture and imprison Krishna as soon as he landed in Hastinapur. By capturing Krishna, Duryodhana wanted to force the Pandavas to agree to his terms. He thought that the Pandavas would do anything for the sake of Krishna.
Did it really happen that way? Let us see that in the next episode.
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