In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the meeting proceedings at the Viraata Desha, wherein the Viraata King along with Bhagawan Krishna, Balarama, Saatyaki, etc. are contemplating about Yudishtra’s future and which route he should be taking to claim the kingdom of Indraprastha. Should war be an option or should we go with peace talks by sending messengers to broker peace? Bhagawan Krishna and Balarama express their opinions individually. Bhagawan Krishna’s stance is very simple – First option is peace talks, and if it doesn’t work, the second option is war! However, Balarama contradicts Bhagawan Krishna by saying that peace talks are the only option because the fault is also on Yudishtra’s side for accepting the offer to play the gambling game. Saatyaki, upon hearing this, fumes in anger against Balarama by saying that Yudishtra has had enough for the past thirteen years and he has undergone all possible sufferings! Even after all these, why should Yudishtra continue to suffer? Is he a scapegoat under the hands of Duryodhana, just for that one mistake of accepting the offer of playing the gambling game?
As this discussion proceeds further, we should understand one important point here – Why is Balarama having a soft corner towards Duryodhana? This is not the first time he bats for Duryodhana. He has done it in the past, and is going to do the same thing in the future as well! In fact, when the Kurukshetra war is about to begin, Bhagawan Krishna requests Balarama to fight for Yudishtra and help him win the war. However, Balarama objects and instead, goes on a “Tirtha-Yatra” (Spiritual tour) during the 18-day period. However, on the eighteenth day, Balarama comes back and this is the time when Duryodhana is going to wage a lone battle against Bheemasena. Even at this time, Balarama sides with Duryodhana and not with Bheemasena! So why is this happening? Why is Balarama taking sides towards Duryodhana? Doesn’t he know “Dharma”? Doesn’t he stand by “Dharma”? Many questions arise, isn’t it?
There’s an important reason to it – Balarama is the “Guru” for Duryodhana who taught “Gadha-Yuddham” for him, when Duryodhana was a child. This Guru-Sishya relationship is the one that prevents Balarama to think anything against the likes of Duryodhana, even though he knows that Duryodhana is going on an “Adharmic” path. However, in this case, we’ve to compare Balarama and Arjuna here – Arjuna is the disciple of Guru Dhronachaarya, isn’t he? However, when it comes to standing by “Dharma”, Arjuna was prepared to take on his teacher, even though he respects Guru Dhronachaarya a lot! We’ve witnessed in our earlier episode when Arjuna single-handedly defended the Viraata Desha along with Utthara Kumara. When Guru Dhronachaarya came forward to fight, Arjuna bowed down to him and paid his respects first. Subsequently the fight began and Guru Dhronachaarya himself could not stand in front of Arjuna’s prowess with his “Gaandeepa”. Of course, during the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna, upon seeing Guru Dhronachaarya, loses himself and puts down his “Gaandeepa”! However, upon Bhagawan Krishna’s motivation (The Bhagawad Gita section), Arjuna once again regains his composure, picks up the “Gaandeepa” and fights.
Thus, there is a stark difference between Balarama and Arjuna here – Arjuna listens to Bhagawan Krishna’s divine advice everytime and with this, he stands by the side of “Dharma”. However, Balarama is always stark opposite to whatever Bhagawan Krishna says, and ultimately he ended up being on the side of “Adharma” for no big reason! So for today, let us understand this small analysis and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 