In the previous episode, we had witnessed Vidura continuing with his important advice to King Dhridiraashtra and the other seniors seated at Hastinapura courtroom to rise up to the occasion and stop the nonsensical Dyutam game that was happening right in front of their eyes. As we’ve witnessed, Sahuni is the mastermind behind this entire event that was conspiring, and Duryodhana is seemingly the “beneficiary” here. Yudishtra on the other hand, is losing one thing after the other and finally he’s now left only with his four brothers to stake and play. It is at this time, Vidura raises his voice amidst the courtroom in public for the first time. He advises King Dhridiraashtra to somehow put an end to this nonsense, even as all the others including Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya were silent and mum. Vidura had the guts to stand by the “Dharma”, even though the wicked Duryodhana was right under his nose. Vidura knows that Duryodhana would give a backlash but he doesn’t care about all that. This is the major difference between Vidura and the others – While Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarysa feared Duryodhana’s backlash, Vidura is carefree and still stands by the “Dharma”, even while Duryodhana is looking on! A long accord of advice followed and King Dhridiraashtra has the ball in his court now! He has to make a crucial decision whether to continue with this nonsense, or put an end to it! What is King Dhridiraashtra going to do now, is what all of us are eagerly awaiting to witness!
As Vidura was talking thus for a long time, Duryodhana loses patience at one point! He bursts out with anger and replies to Vidura thus, “Oh Vidura! Please can you stop this? I’ve been observing you right from my childhood days! You have a soft corner for the Paandavas always! You never care about my welfare at all! Even now, at this crucial juncture you’re trying to snatch away my victory and give it to Yudishtra! How unfair this can be?” As Duryodhana replies angrily thus, Vidura replies back to him: “Oh Duryodhana! From all what I’ve said till now, don’t you understand that I’m only talking for your welfare and safety? I’m not concerned about the Paandavas’ welfare! Neither you nor me need to care for them. Bhagawan Krishna is there for them and He would ensure their welfare. All I’m saying here is that you’re moving towards disaster. I’m sending warning signals to you. Please stop this, and please mend your ways. Do not have this jealousy towards Yudishtra for no reason. This is going to push you towards the brink!” For this, Duryodhana now has a smart reply! He says thus, “Oh Vidura! Fine! As per your argument, you’re saying that Bhagawan Krishna would take care of everything in the world including the Paandavas, isn’t it? Let it be! If Bhagawan is protecting Yudishtra and Co., He would protect me too, irrespective of whatever I do! Just like how Yudishtra’s actions are determined by Bhagawan Krishna, my actions and my words are also determined by Him only! Hence, whatever I do and whatever decisions I make, come from Bhagawan Krishna only, and not from myself!”
How smart can one be? On one hand, Vidura is trying to make Duryodhana understand his folly, whereas, on the other hand, Duryodhana is only interested in arguing with Vidura, and is not prepared to learn from Vidura’s advice! Here, we’ve to understand an important point from what Duryodhana is saying – This is quite a common argument that many of us make too. For instance, if a person is walking on the road and let us assume that he is tripping and falling down on the road. When we ask him as to why he fell down, he says, “Oh! Bhagawan Krishna pushed me down! I did not fall on my own! Whatever has to happen, is according to fate, isn’t it? Hence, Bhagawan wanted me to fall down today and hurt myself, and He pushed me down today!” Now how could this be fair? Is it the job of Bhagawan to push people down just like that? We should understand here that Bhagawan neither pushes us down, nor lifts us up! He only shows the way for us to walk properly! If we’re falling down, it is our problem, and not Bhagawan’s! It simply means that we’ve not followed the guidance given by Bhagawan to walk properly!
For instance, there is a fast-flowing river and besides it, there is an announcement board saying that swimming in this river is dangerous for life because of the heavy water current! Now, if we dive into the river on purpose to swim, will the announcement board come and save us if we’re drowning? No, isn’t it? Bhagawan is like this announcement board. He would only render advice at the right time. It is we who’ve to capture the right advice and follow it in the proper way. If we deviate from the path, Bhagawan wouldn’t come and push us down or lift us up! It is we who have to bear all the pain of falling down and getting up! This is one important point that all of us should understand. This is exactly the same mistake that Duryodhana is doing – He doesn’t want to take any responsibility for all the bad things that he’s doing. Instead, he’s trying to take Vidura’s advice selectively for his own benefit and “pass the buck” on to Bhagawan Krishna for all that he’s trying to do! Now, how fair could this be? Readers should ponder over this important point.
So for today, let us understand this, and we shall wait for the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 