In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra getting some important guidance and advice from Sage Dhoumya with regards to how he should conduct himself in front of the king of Viraata Desha. Of course, Yudishtra wants to be just a mute spectator and as a servant to the king and watch him play the gambling game whenever it happens, but still, Sage Dhoumya thinks that he should be giving some important pointers to Yudishtra, because he would be directly dealing with the king. In this way, Sage Dhoumya says that Yudishtra should not get into any sort of ego clashes with the king in any way, he shouldn’t sit while the king is sitting, even if the king doesn’t allocate any work to him, he should voluntarily go and ask the king for work, etc. Moreover, Yudishtra is also instructed by Sage Dhoumya to always keep a safe distance from the queen there. Even if there is any conversation that the king wants Yudishtra to have with the queen, Yudishtra should always stick to the point of the conversation and not take it into a level wherein some sort of a relationship might prosper between them. In this way, Sage Dhoumya gives valuable advice to Yudishtra, who in turn, listens with a great deal of “Bhakti” towards the Guru.
Saying all this, Sage Dhoumya makes his final remarks thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’ve told you whatever little I know about Raaja Dharma. Of course, you are an expert in it anyways, and I don’t need to tell you more on this. Do whatever is according to “Dharma” for you. You have the divine “Anugraha” of Bhagawan Krishna, Goddess Durga and Yama-Dharma-Raja himself! Hence, do not worry about anything and spend your time peacefully in the king’s palace. Just do what is required of you and do not get into any sort of hiccups which might lead to people finding out your true identity!” Saying thus, Sage Dhoumya bids farewell to all of them and he leaves the spot. Accepting Sage Dhoumya’s words, Yudishtra and Co. finally enter into the kingdom of the Viraata Nagara. Thus, with this note, we come to the end of the “Nagara-Pravesha Parva” under the main “Viraata Parva”.
As this happens, Yudishtra enters into the King’s Chamber and the king readily accepts him as his aid. Similarly, Bheemasena enters into the kitchen. Arjuna enters inside as “Brihan-Nala” in a transgender form, and the king orders that he be the security guard and a good friend of his daughter, who is very beautiful in appearance. Moreover, since Arjuna expresses his talent in music and dance, the king is impressed and he wants Arjuna to teach these art forms to his daughter. Similarly, Nakula enters inside and goes straight to the horse stable. He expresses his wish to take care of the horses in the kingdom. The king accepts and gives permission for the same. In similar lines, Sahadeva enters the “Gaushala” to take care of the cows.
With this, we also enter into the “Samaya-Paalana Parva”. “Samayam” in Sanskrit has multiple meanings. One meaning is “Responsibility”. Another meaning to it is “Dharma”. Hence, this “Parva” talks about how all the five Paandava brothers spend their time as per their “adopted” “Dharma” for the next one year. As the Paandava brothers spend their time thus, they are excellent in whatever actions that they are performing, and people around them are appreciating them a lot! Even by looking at their appearance, although they are dressed in a very simple manner, all of them look like “Gandharva” living beings with enormous handsomeness! The Viraata King’s son’s name is “Utthara” and the daughter’s name is “Uttharaa”. It is this same Uttharaa, Arjuna is going to marry his son Abhimanyu to, but this is going to happen at a later stage and not now. However, for now, as people cast a look at the Paandava brothers, there is a lot of talk amongst them that these are not ordinary people! However, the Paandava brothers keep playing down that talk and are not letting it grow further, to an extent wherein their personal identities are revealed.
As this is happening, four months pass by! We still have eight more months, isn’t it? So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness how the Paandava brothers spend their remaining eight months of their “Agnyaata-Vaasam” tenure! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 