In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Dhridiraashtra taking the extreme step of “chasing” Vidura away from Hastinapura, as Vidura was not speaking in favour of his son Duryodhana! Deeply wounded by this harsh treatment meted out to him by King Dhridiraashtra, Vidura with a heavy heart decides that from now onwards he is not going to live at Hastinapura anymore. He packs his stuff quickly and swiftly makes a move to the “Kaamyaka Vanam” area, which is precisely the place where Yudishtra and Co. are also moving to! As the Paandava brothers are in the forest, they keep moving from one place to the other, and incidentally when Vidura arrives there, Yudishtra and Co. also make their way to the same place. Upon seeing Vidura, Yudishtra is surprised and greets him. However, upon seeing Vidura’s face wearing a worried look, Yudishtra is puzzled. He enquires about everyone in the kingdom and about his mother Kunthi Devi. Yudishtra enquires with Vidura as to why he is sporting this worried look, which is quite abnormal for his stature.
As Yudishtra asks thus, Vidura explains in detail – “Oh Yudishtra! You’ve asked a very important question to me. Now let me give you a straightforward answer! Your mother Kunthi Devi and the others are doing fine. There are no problems with that. However, the problem is with King Dhridiraashtra and Duryodhana. Although both of them are physically fit, their mental health has completely taken a backseat towards the path of “Adharma”! Even though I tried explaining to King Dhridiraashtra multiple times, he is not in a position to understand my words. You might have seen during the day of the gambling game – I tried my best to stop it, but it wasn’t possible! However, after you had left Hastinapura, I had tried many times to convince him to stop this “Adharma” from happening. However, instead of paying heed to my words atleast a little bit, King Dhridiraashtra got upset and angrily asked me to leave if I’m not going to favour his son Duryodhana! Annoyed and pained by his stance, I decided that I would leave Hastinapura once and forever. If I’m there, not even for a single day I’m going to encourage Duryodhana to do all what he is doing currently! If I’m there, every day we would keep having a war of words, and eventually King Dhridiraashtra and Duryodhana are not going to pay heed to my words even for a moment! So what is the use of being in a place where your words aren’t heard? What is the use of being in a place where “Adharma” is blatantly happening right in front of your eyes? Of course, it was a tough decision for me, but I had no other option but to make up my mind and leave that place! Personally, I too do not want to live in a place where there is no respect for “Dharma”!”
As Vidura says thus, he continues further: “Oh Yudishtra! Do you know which kingdom would flourish with all the prosperity? The leader of that kingdom should be in a position to exhibit neutrality, without taking sides for personal reasons! Such a kingdom would be the one that would constantly keep flourishing! If for instance, the king has to serve food to his people – The king should not differentiate between his own family members, sons, etc. as against the others. He should serve the food equally to everyone in the kingdom. If a king fails to do so, and starts to selfishly serve only his sons and close family members, it is going to spell doom to his kingdom very soon! King Dhridiraashtra is doing exactly this! He doesn’t realize that by supporting and favouring his son Duryodhana for all the “Adharma” he does, the entire kingdom is going to see doom very soon! It is unfortunately the sad truth and a hard pill to chew! I’ve tried to educate him multiple times that if a king thinks selfishly that only his sons should live and the others should be destroyed, such a kingdom is never going to prosper! Thus, for me, I do not have a life with such a king anymore! You are a person who receives and treats everyone fairly and equally aren’t you? Hence, I decided that I would come in search of you, rather than being with those crooks all through my life! Henceforth, I do not have a place there at Hastinapura!”
As Vidura explains thus to Yudishta, Yudishtra gets pained at heart! He did not expect that Vidura would be deserted like this! This was the last thing that Hastinapura wanted. Even though the Paandava brothers weren’t there at Hastinapura to guide people there on the path of “Dharma”, Vidura was the only person who was doing this. But now, with Vidura also coming out, Hastinapura had lost all the people who favoured “Dharma”! This is a real bad sign isn’t it? So for today, let us also stand by Vidura and understand the pain that he is going through! We shall witness in the next episode what happens next! Is King Dhridiraashtra happy after sending Vidura out? Or is he shaking with fear and insecurity? Let us witness what happened back at Hastinapura in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 