In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana tricking King Shalya to join the Kaurava camp to fight the war. We’ve slowly started seeing here that Duryodhana has no clear-cut agenda of any sort of peace talks, as he has already started going full throttle in his preparation towards an “inevitable” war with the Paandavas. In this way, Duryodhana first made sure that he obtained all of Bhagawan Krishna’s army on his side, and now he has roped in King Shalya as well. All these attempts are clearly towards preparation for the Kurukshetra war and Duryodhana is clear about it. Thus, we’ve witnessed yesterday that as King Shalya passed through the contours of Hastinapura, he felt tired and hungry, only to be helped by Duryodhana’s messengers. As a token of gratitude, King Shalya is forced to accept Duryodhana’s request of joining his Kaurava camp against the Paandavas. Now, as King Shalya accepts to be on Duryodhana’s side, he wants to have a final word with Yudishtra and make him aware of all these developments.
Accordingly, moving on thus, King Shalya makes his way to Viraata Desha to meet Yudishtra. As King Shalya commences his journey, Duryodhana says thus, “Oh King Shalya! Please remember that you’ve given your word to me and you should not go back on your words after seeing Yudishtra! This trip of yours is solely for conveying the message that you are by my side!” As Duryodhana says thus, Shalya replies back – “Oh Duryodhana! If I had given you a word, I’ll never go back on that. First of all, please remember one thing clearly – Do not compare yourself with others. Do not expect others to behave like you do! If I give a word to someone, I abide by it and I never ditch the other person. Hence, be confident that I’m on your side! You’ve offered me critical help and I shall always be loyal to you for saving my life!”
Saying thus, King Shalya commences his journey. As he reaches Viraata Desha, he straightaway goes to meet Yudishtra. As King Shalya arrives, Yudishtra falls on his feet, performs the “Argya”, “Paadhya” and “Aachamaneeya” to him as a token of respect and makes him comfortable. As Yudishtra listens, King Shalya says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’ve come here to convey a very uncomfortable news to you – Unfortunately, on my way to some place, I happened to pass by Hastinapura, wherein I started feeling extremely tired and hungry. I had no other option but to seek help from Duryodhana’s messengers at that time. Because of this, I’m now cornered by Duryodhana to be on his side for the upcoming war, if at all it happens. Hence, I will not be able to be by your side during the war. However, do not worry. Even if I’m not there on your side, you have “Dharma” with you! Your “Dharma”, along with Bhagawan Krishna’s divine “Anugraha” will always protect you at all times and victory will always be yours!”
As King Shalya says thus, he breaks down into tears! As King Shalya cries his heart out, Yudishtra consoles him. Yudishtra says thus, “Oh uncle Shalya! I understand the pain that you are going through. As per the “Raaja-Dharma”, whatever decision you’ve taken is perfectly correct and you should abide by it. In fact, you being on the other side is an advantage for us too!” As Yudishtra says thus, King Shalya did not understand his last statement. He asks Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If I’m on the side of Duryodhana, how is it going to be an advantage for you? I did not understand what you meant! Please, can you elaborate more?” Yudishtra now explains a “Sookshama” here thus, “Oh Uncle Shalya! Just like Bhagawan Krishna has accepted to be a charioteer to Arjuna, there will be a time wherein you will also be called to be a charioteer to Karna. My instincts are strongly pointing towards this situation! Also, there will be a huge war breaking out between Arjuna and Karna. At that time, as you are charioteering Karna, you should make sure that Arjuna is not killed by Karna. I do not know what you will tell Karna at that point in time. However, I give this responsibility to you to protect Arjuna’s life from the other side! Hence, even if you are on Duryodhana’s side, you can still be of help to me in this way!”
As Yudishtra says thus, King Shalya thinks and concludes that this is an excellent idea! Without a question, King Shalya accepts Yudishtra’s proposal and leaves from that place with a heavy heart! As King Shalya leaves, he turns to Yudishtra once again and says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Please do not worry! All your sufferings are going to come to an end in some time now! Just like how Indra had to undergo suffering by losing his wife Indrani, you are currently undergoing some bad times in your life. However, this is going to change for good!” This story of Indra and Indrani comes in the Mahabharata in many contexts! In the past too, we’ve witnessed this story in bits and pieces and now there is a big story about this, given by King Shalya. In the next episode, we shall witness a brief about this story as we move on further! Stay tuned for a detailed accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 