In the previous episode, we had witnessed things taking a drastic “U-turn” at Hastinapura, wherein the entire kingdom was moving towards a great disaster – Thanks to the masterminds of the Sahuni-Duryodhana duo. The “Dyutham” game was planned and King Dhridiraasahtra was forced to give the green signal for it, inspite Vidura’s appealing and emotional advice. Of course, Duryodhana discarded Vidura right at the onset of the entire plan, however, King Dhridiraashtra did not want to do that. He repeatedly tried convincing Duryodhana to shun this vicious plan, explaining to him that tomorrow it is going to be a great insult not for the Paandavas, but for Duryodhana and Co.! However, since King Dhridiraashtra was not assertive enough and his “Putra-Vaatsalya” (Excessive affection towards his son Duryodhana) taking over, Duryodhana started ruling the roost. He made the decision on behalf of his father that the game would go ahead as scheduled, with the help of his emotional victim card every now and then. Thus, we’re at a point wherein Vidura was asked to bring Yudishtra and Co. to Hastinapura and the arrangements were being made for the game to commence.
As Duryodhana leaves the chamber, he again turns to his father and gives him some pointers to think. Duryodhana says thus, “Oh father! Just like how a boat would take along another boat that is tied to it at one end, in the same direction, Vidura has tied you to himself and is trying to drag you wherever he wants to take you along! This is extremely wrong! Do you know where all these issues stemmed up from? It is only because you danced to Vidura’s tunes by splitting the Hastinapura kingdom and giving one portion to the Paandavas. Have you seen any king in history doing such a thing? On what basis did you split the kingdom? There was no locus-standi behind your decision. It was solely driven by Vidura. Even now you’re dancing to the tunes of Vidura, and trust me, your son is going to end up in a great disaster if you’re going to go this way. Hence, come my way. Let me guide you to the path of success. Even now it is not too late. We shall go ahead with the plan and like Sahuni uncle said, we shall re-capture the Indraprastha portion of Hastinapura without shedding a single drop of blood!”
As Duryodhana says thus, King Dhridiraashtra wasn’t very convinced with his argument. King Dhridiraashtra replies to Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! I understand your point. But you’re making a mistake here – Please remember that the original king of Hastinapura was Paandu, who was the father of Yudishtra and Co. Hence, this kingdom should rightfully go to Paandu’s sons, isn’t it? It is only because of Paandu’s untimely demise, I had to sit on the throne and rule the kingdom. Moreover, even if that wasn’t the case, Yudishtra is none other than your brother. He’s not an outsider isn’t he? I had split the kingdom and given it to him only because Paandu was my own brother. This split was rightfully done within our family only isn’t it? So what’s the problem for you in this?” As King Dhridiraashtra replied thus, Duryodhana got angry again. He replies to his father thus, “Oh father! All what you’re talking about are old stories! Who is interested in listening to fairy tales of history? Let’s talk about the present day! Who cares what happened 50 years ago? The present situation here is that, Yudishtra is our threatening enemy and he might unleash his might at any time. If he does so, all of us are doomed. We’ve to somehow stop this from happening, and to achieve this, there’s nothing wrong in going to any extent! If there’s an enemy rising up in front of your eyes, what’s the point in talking about “Dharma” and “Adharma”? The only task for the king is to somehow finish off that enemy then and there!”
We might wonder one thing here – All these arguments that Duryodhana is putting forth, are modern day arguments! 🙂 We keep talking about all these ways and means in today’s scenario, but Duryodhana had spoken all these around 5000 years ago! Of course, we’re talking about the end of the “Dvaapara Yuga” and within the next few years, the present-day “Kali-Yuga” was about to kick in! Hence, these were glimpses of what was going to come in the future! Thus, King Dhridiraashtra completely failed in convincing Duryodhana as a “last-ditch” attempt and with this, Hastinapura started marching towards disaster! Vidura thus reaches Indraprastha to meet Yudishtra and Co. and Yudishtra welcomes him with all the respects. He makes Vidura comfortable and Bheemasena along with the others ensure the best hospitality for Vidura. Within Yudishtra’s mind, so many thoughts were running meanwhile – What is going to happen now? Is there any problem at Hastinapura? Is King Dhridiraashtra fine? What does he want from me now? Is it an attempt to unite the split family once again? Or, is there an imminent danger for which Vidura has come to warn us?” As all these questions run at the back of Yudishtra’s mind, Vidura commences his short straightforward speech.
Vidura talks to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! King Dhridiraashtra and the others at Hastinapura are doing good, and he wanted me to enquire about you and the Paandava brothers. I’ve come here to give an invitation for you – There is going to be a “Dyutham” game at Hastinapura and King Dhridiraashtra would be very happy if you can participate in the game. This is the piece of information that I wanted to convey to you!” Thus, Vidura conveyed the information straight to the point without mincing his words! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to witness Yudishtra’s reaction to this invitation! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 