In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana conducting the “Vaishnava-Satra Yaaga” and with this. He gained enormous happiness and satisfaction. He was mainly happy that he is finally able to match Yudishtra’s “Raaja-Suya Yaaga” in some way, even though he isn’t able to perform it at this moment. Thus, with this, we come to the end of the “Goshayatra Parva”, and we move on to the next important Parva which is the “Mriga-Svapnotthava Parva”. Here, as Yudishtra goes to bed one night, he has a dream – All the animals in the “Dvaita Vanam” is coming to Yudistra to seek justice. They had been unceremoniously killed in the name of hunting and other activities allied to it. The animals were actually in grief over the loss of their near and dear ones, and also were scared whether their population will become extinct in the “Dvaita Vanam”. Thus, the animals wanted Yudishtra to provide them some sort of justice. Thus, Yudishtra too decides that it is time for him to make a move on. He communicates this to Draupati and the others and the next day, all of them pack their bags and move to the next place – The “Kaamyaka Vanam”.
Readers should recollect here that the mandate given to the Paandava brothers at the end of the gambling game is that, they’ve to reside in the forest for twelve years, and for the thirteenth year, they should be living in secrecy and should not be seen by anybody. This is called “Agnyaata-Vaasam”. If at all someone sees the Paandavas from the Hastinapura kingdom, they should once again go to the forest for the next twelve years and should spend one more year in the “Agnyaata-Vaasam”. Thus, the shift that we’re seeing here from the “Dvaita Vanam” to the “Kaamyaka Vanam” is happening well within the first twelve-year period only and hence, there is no need to worry about being seen by anybody at this point in time. Hence, Yudishtra decides to make a move from the “Dvaita Vanam” to the “Kaamyaka Vanam”, which is also an equally dense forest area. As Yudishtra and Co. reach the “Kaamyaka Vanam”, we come to the end of this small “Mriga-Svapnotthava Parva”. As we move on to the next Parva, we go into the “Vreehi-Draunika Parva”. The phrase “Vreehi” means paddy, and “Drauni” means an instrument that is used to measure the quantity of the paddy.
As we move into this Parva, Sage Vyaasa enters into the scene once again! This is a time when Yudishtra is feeling extremely bad and depressed with all the suffering that he and his family are undergoing at the moment. He feels ashamed of himself as to why he opted to play the gambling game and why didn’t he stop playing that when he started losing everything that was under his possession. Yudishtra starts feeling upset that he had gone to that extent of losing even his beloved wife to the gamble and he feels deeply hurt because of the insult that he had to undergo in the hands of Duryodhana and Co. As Yudishtra keeps brooding over the past incidents, Sage Vyaasa enters in at that very moment. Normally people like us have this tendency – If we undergo some trials and tribulations in our life, we tend to get depressed mentally by thinking about it more often! We keep lamenting about it with many other people as well, and express our anguish. However, in this process, we fail to think of what should be done in the future to combat such suffering. This is where we need the help and guidance of “Mahatmas” and “Spiritual Masters”. They are people who are beyond all these feelings and suffering. They can clearly guide us on the way forward from here on. Their only focus is on “Dharma” and establishing it any cost. Thus, Yudishtra now has the golden opportunity to rejuvenate himself with some fresh inputs from Sage Vyaasa.
So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall wait till the next episode to witness what conspired between Yudishtra and Sage Vyaasa! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 