In the previous episode, we had commenced our discussion on the all-important “Udyoga Parva”, wherein we witnessed a glimpse of how the seeds of war between the two rival camps are sown here. We’ve witnessed that peace talks are going to be initiated from both camps, after Duryodhana flatly refuses to give Indraprastha back to Yudishtra after their Vana-Vaasam period is over. From the Kauravas’ side, Sanjaya goes as a messenger to broker peace and this attempt fails. From the Paandavas’ side, Bhagawan Krishna Himself volunteers to broker peace, but His attempt too results in failure. Thus, at the end of this “Udyoga-Parva”, we’re going to witness that both camps are going to ready themselves for the inevitable war after all the peace attempts end up in failure. Throughout this “Parva”, we’re going to witness enormous lessons of leadership and management through the narratives of various people including Sanjaya, Vidura, Bhagawan Krishna, etc. on “Raaja-Dharma”. Thus, this discussion starting today, is going to be an enriching one for all of us, and I request readers to seriously take notes on whatever we discuss from here on.
Moving on further from here, we shall now get into the discussion of the “Udyoga Parva”. We had ended the previous “Viraata Parva” with the note that Bhishmachaarya declares that Yudishtra and Co. had successfully completed the “Vana-Vaasam”, plus the “Agnyaata Vaasam” as well. This prompted to Yudishtra to disclose his true identity to the Viraata king, and move on from there. Thus, as the Sabha (Courtroom) at Viraata Desha assembles, the discussion revolves around how Yudishtra should be staking claim now for his Indraprastha kingdom once more. Bhagawan Krishna initiates the discussion by explaining His stance that Yudishtra has every right to rule Indraprastha and if such a thing doesn’t happen, there is no other option but to use force (war) to obtain the kingdom from Duryodhana.
Bhagawan Krishna continues thus, “Oh people! Let us do this through a strategy – Let us send a credible Brahmin Pandit from Viraata Desha to Hastinapura and explain our stance. This Brahmin Pandit can be selected by the Viraata king himself. This person can go and explain clearly that we are not for war, but Duryodhana should give back the Indraprastha kingdom to Yudishtra. If he doesn’t, we’ve to clearly explain to them that we are not shying away from a war! War can always be an option, but we want to broker peace, so that both Duryodhana and Yudishtra can live prosperously without any disturbance for each other!”
Hearing this, Balarama (Bhagawan Krishna’s brother) stands up and voices his opinion. He is now going to talk exactly the opposite of what Bhagawan Krishna is talking here. Balarama says thus, “Oh Krishna! What are you blabbering? When the gambling game episode happened, who asked Yudishtra to go and play along with Sahuni? Doesn’t Yudishtra know that Sahuni is an expert in the gambling game? Without even an iota of thought, how did he even accept the invitation of Duryodhana to play the gambling game? Doesn’t Yudishtra know that if Sahuni is the opponent, he is certainly going to lose? If we have the fault in our hand, how on earth can we call for a war with Duryodhana? Maybe if Yudishtra would have denied the offer of playing the gambling game and still if Duryodhana resorted to other tricks and abducted the Indraprastha kingdom, then perhaps, war would have been the only solution. But now this is not the case. Yudishtra has blatantly accepted the offer and knowingly lost against Sahuni and Co. Now, according to me, the only way to re-obtain the Indraprastha kingdom is to broker peace. Of course, I’m not saying that Yudishtra shouldn’t stake claim for the kingdom. He should definitely do that! But, war can never be an option because the fundamental mistake is upon our side! Yudishtra should only request and keep requesting Duryodhana for the kingdom and this is my stance!”
As Balarama explains thus, Saatyaki who is sitting next to him is in extreme anger! This explanation from Balarama irritates Saatyaki. He now stands up and speaks in a thunderous voice! He has an exactly opposite view on what Balarama said! Saatyaki says thus, “Oh Balarama! Do you even know what you’re talking? Of course, I agree to the fact that Yudishtra made that mistake of accepting Duryodhana’s offer of playing the gambling game. However, why do you want to corner Yudishtra for just that one bad decision? For this, Yudishtra had accepted the “Vana-Vaasam” and “Agnyaata-Vaasam” gracefully, didn’t he? Did you open your mouth then? Now, after the thirteen years of suffering that Yudishtra had undergone as per the verdict of King Dhritarashtra, you’re still talking about Yudishtra’s fault only. Why don’t you look at how many faults did Duryodhana make?”
As Saatyaki fumes thus, Balarama gets shocked for a few minutes! He did not expect Saatyaki to react so ferociously and such a thing hasn’t happened in the past as well! But the real question here is – Why is Balarama having a soft corner towards Duryodhana everytime? What prompts him to talk in favour of Duryodhana? This is something that we’ve to understand clearly and we shall see the answers in the next episode! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 