In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Shalya’s concluding remarks with Yudishtra wherein he explains how Indra too had to undergo enormous suffering in the hands of Vridhraasura and subsequently how he had to undergo the “Brahma-Hatthi-Dosha” and eventually lost his leadership position in the “Svarga Lokha”. Moreover, he was at the verge of losing his wife Indraani as well, however, at the right time, the famed group of seven Maharishis ensured that this didn’t happen. Nahusha, who was ruling the “Svarga Lokha” in the absence of Indra, had a desire to marry Indrani, but thanks to Sage Agasthya’s curse, Nahusha had to take birth as a snake in the “Manushya Lokha” amidst the forest for a period of ten thousand years! It is this same Nahusha whom Yudishtra met during the “Vana-Parva” and released him from this curse. Narrating all these incidents, King Shalya explains that Yudishtra’s suffering is short-lived and he is going to see light at the end of the tunnel very soon.
With this, we come to the end of this Upa-Parva called “Sena-Udyoga Parva”. Readers might remember that we have commenced our discussion on the famed “Udyoga Parva” of the Mahabharata text. In this Upa-Parva, we’ve witnessed how Duryodhana and Arjuna commenced their preparations for facing the war. Subsequently, we now move on with the next Upa-Parva called “Sanjaya-Yaana Parva”. This is a very short one and we shall see this quickly. We’ve witnessed a few episodes ago that a Brahmana Rishi was sent from the Viraata Desha to Hastinapura to broker peace between the two camps, isn’t it? We’ve also witnessed Bhagawan Krishna getting involved in this too. Now let us continue that part of the story a bit more. In the middle, I had put a break on this story and we went into how Duryodhana and Arjuna met Bhagawan Krishna at Dwaraka. Now as we come to this side of the story, the Brahmana Rishi goes and talks in the courtroom of Hastinapura, wherein King Dhritarashtra and the others are present. As the Brahmana Rishi completes his accord, none of them in the courtroom are satisfied with the ideas that he proposes. Finally, after several rounds of debates and talks, King Dhritarashtra concludes thus, “Oh Brahmana Rishi! It seems that nobody here is interested in peace-making as you’ve proposed. However, do not worry. I shall send Sanjaya on behalf of Hastinapura to try and do something in this regard. Sanjaya is a learned person and he would be apt to find a way to this feud between the two camps. You may leave now, and I shall send Sanjaya shortly as my messenger to broker peace!”
Taking this news from Hastinapura, the Brahmana Rishi returns back to Viraata Desha. Upon hearing the Brahmana Rishi’s accord of what happened at Hastinapura, Yudishtra is totally upset, and so are the others as well, including the king of Viraata Desha. Of course, all of them are preparing themselves to face the war, but the situation now is that this war is becoming more and more inevitable! So, as per the Brahmana Rishi’s words, Yudishtra decides to wait till Sanjaya comes and pins his hopes on Sanjaya to find a solution to this. Yudishtra knows that Sanjaya is a learned man and he would take a mid-way to the problem. So for today, let us also wait along with Yudishtra for the arrival of Sanjaya from Hastinapura. We shall continue this discussion further in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 