In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on giving priority towards our “Atman” rather than our “Deham”. In that way, we witnessed an important point yesterday as to why people today enter into a state of mental depression quite easily. Often we see many people taking anti-depressant tablets and special medications to come out of mental depression. However, what we fail to understand here is that, if we give equal or more importance to our “Atman”, automatically the chances of getting into such unwanted states of mind would drastically be cut down. When we say that we’ve to give importance to “Atman”, it simply means that we’ve to follow the path of “Dharma” as much as possible, along with some routine spiritual practices that would take care of our mental health. This is exactly what Yudishtra did here. We’re going to witness from now, how many intense problems tried thwarting Yudishtra into pieces, but yet, he remained strong and steadfast in his “Dharma”, which ultimately pulled him out of all the hardships that he had to undergo. So let us learn the right lessons from Yudishtra’s life and let us slowly try and implement them in whatever capacity we can in our daily lives.
With this, we shall move on with the Mahabharata storyline as to what happened next. We shall now get back to the scene where Duryodhana along with his brothers and Sahuni are still at Indraprastha after the “Raaja-Suya Yaaga”. Now these people are going around the mighty Indraprastha palace and are awestruck! This is where we’ve left the story in our previous episodes, and in the meanwhile, Yudishtra is taking all these “Shabadhams” as Sage Vyaasa visits him. We’ve already seen how Duryodhana was insulted by the people in the Indraprastha palace, including Draupati for keeping a wrong foot inside a pond of water, wherein it seemed as if there’s no water at all! Moreover, during the “Raaja-Suya Yaaga”, Duryodhana saw in front of his two eyes that Yudishtra had received so many gift items in the form of wealth, gold, cows, etc. Also, we should remember that Duryodhana had earlier reluctantly handed over this piece of land (“Kaandava-Prastham”) to Yudishtra and the Paandavas. All these thoughts triggered Duryodhana and ignited a tsunami of anger and frustration within him.
Looking at his brothers, Duryodhana fumed angrily thus, “Oh Duchhaasana and Co.! Look at the name and fame this Yudishtra has obtained out of the “Raaja-Suya-Yaaga” that he had done! Look at all the gifts that he has obtained! Moreover, look at the way in which this palace has been built! This is not even comparable to what we have at Hastinapura, isn’t it? I never expected Yudishtra to rise to such high levels of name and fame, and if this continues, he would outsmart all of us in no time! If such a thing happens in future, all of us would have to become his slaves at one point. I would never allow this to happen! Afterall who is Yudishtra? What is his background? He is an orphan left alone by his deceased father! How on earth can he gain so much power within such a short time? This is why I repeatedly confronted my father not to listen to Bhishmachaarya’s words and partition the kingdom. Now who will answer my fate in future if this Yudishtra is going level after level upwards? We’ve to somehow make a plan and stop Yudishtra’s multitudinal growth story immediately!”
Fuming angrily thus, Duryodhana storms into his Hastinapura palace and sits down with Sahuni. All of us know that Sahuni is Gaandhaari’s brother, which means that he is Duryodhana’s uncle. Upon seeing Duryodhana fuming with anger, Sahuni asked him what had happened. Duryodhana replies to Sahuni thus, “Oh uncle! I had been to the Raaja-Suya-Yaaga of Yudishtra! It was performed on such a grand scale, which nobody on this earth could even think of! Yudishtra’s fame and name is rising by the moment!” Saying thus, Duryodhana stopped. Shrewd and smart as he was, Sahuni now used this opportunity to ignite Duryodhana more! He replied to Duryodhana in an irritating manner thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Looks like Yudishtra is slowly becoming unstoppable, isn’t it? Looks like you wouldn’t be able to even stand in front of Yudishtra even for a single moment, isn’t it? Looks like you’re never going to do a similar Raaja-Suya Yaaga in your entire life as Yudishtra performed, isn’t it? Moreover, Bhagawan Krishna is on his side, along with all the powerful people like King Drupada and the others. Also, all the sages are in favor of Yudishtra these days! Even our own Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronaachaarya are slowly getting into Yudishtra’s fold as per my observation. Hence, Duryodhana! I suppose things have become too late now! Things have gone out of our hands and we can never reverse the situation in our favor! Thus, I feel that it’s better if we close our mouths and sit in a corner and just clap our hands in appreciation for Yudishtra’s success! Isn’t it?”
These words from Sahuni infuriated Duryodhana even more! Already he was fuming with anger, and with these irritating words from Sahuni, Duryodhana burst out in huge frustration! In fact, Duryodhana became angry on Sahuni and scolded him for his words thus, “Oh uncle! You were the only person whom I had enormous trust upon! Today you’ve also broken my trust! Why are you talking in favor of Yudishtra? If Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya talk in favor of him, I can understand. But what bothers you? I’ve tried all the ways and means to overthrow Yudishtra and Co. I’ve tried pushing them into the “Laaksha Griha”, but they somehow escaped out of it. I’ve waged open wars with them, but in vain! Going and confronting them directly is of no use! I’ve to think of some other ways of destroying them! Please give me some ideas!”
These were the words that Sahuni was waiting to come out of Duryodhana’s mouth! With this outburst, Duryodhana right royally fell into Sahuni’s trap! Now what was that trap into which Duryodhana fell into? Let us wait till the next episode to understand! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 