In the previous episode, we had witnessed Vidura’s detailed accord on who is a “Mooda” (Fool) on this earth! As he lists down the various characteristics of a “Mooda”, King Dhritarashtra thinks that all these exactly fit into him in some way or the other. Again, this is an indirect poke that Vidura is giving King Dhritarashtra as he highlights the various unwanted characteristics that King Dhritarashtra is possessing, which is going to lead him to a huge disaster. Moreover, Vidura also explains how a person’s “Paapa-Karma” (Wrong actions) affects his entire family. We too witness this in our everyday life as well – For instance, if a person is addicted to alcoholic drinks and drugs, we’ve seen how his entire family, including his wife, kids and parents suffer. There are many families undergoing this unfortunate suffering because of this one person’s wrong action, isn’t it? The wife might not have committed any unwanted action, but she also suffers because of the husband’s wrong action. This is exactly what Vidura highlights here.
Moreover, Vidura continues with his accord with four beautiful, but important points: Vidura explains thus, “Oh King! Whenever you get something nice, you should be prepared to share it amongst everyone. For instance, you get a sweet from someone – Rather than consuming it and enjoying it all by yourself, you should have the courtesy to share it amongst your people and with this, you should enjoy the sweet together with all of them. Secondly, if there is a complex decision to be taken, you should never do it all by yourself! You should consult with your people, deliberate, brainstorm and then arrive at a decision! As a king, this is very important for you – Whenever you come across tough situations, you should not arrive at “knee-jerk” reactions. You should always think about the situation, verify with multiple stakeholders, consult with experts, get their opinions, brainstorm and then make a decision. Thirdly, if you’re going somewhere and on the way, you’ve to cross a dense forest, you should never go alone! You should always take someone with you who can guide you with the right path. This is because forest paths might be dangerous and the probability is very high that you might lose your way! Hence, it is always safe to take someone with you who knows the way in and way out of it! Fourthly, when the whole world is sleeping, you should never stay awake! This is also a bad sign of a “Panditha”. You should not disturb anybody’s deep sleep!”
Explaining all these points, Vidura continues further thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! As a king, you should be able to understand the thin line of balance between being cowardly and exhibiting patience! There might be situations wherein you’ve to make a decision instantaneously. At that time, you cannot say that you are a very patient person and keep waiting. The world will brand you as a coward if you exhibit such a lacklustre attitude. On the other hand, there might be instances wherein you shouldn’t be making “knee-jerk” decisions and reactions. You should indeed wait and then make a decision. If you are not exhibiting this behavior, the world will brand you as an “impatient” and “intolerant” king!”
Now this is a very important point here. Whatever King Dhritarashtra has done so far – We can think about it deeply and brand him accordingly! King Dhritarashtra thinks that he is patient in his decision-making when it comes to Duryodhana’s atrocities! When Draupati was insulted in the public on that fateful day, King Dhritarashtra was silent, wasn’t he? Now, is this patience or cowardliness? This is a dire situation wherein King Dhritarashtra should have acted swiftly by stopping Duryodhana from doing all this nonsense, isn’t it? Instead, what did King Dhritarashtra do? He was “patiently waiting” for things to unfold one after the other and then tried to project to the world that he is a very calm and a patient decision-maker! However, what King Dhritarashtra ended up getting from people is the brand of a “coward”, who doesn’t have the guts to act swiftly during critical situations! This is exactly what Vidura is indirectly highlighting here!
Hence for today, let us understand this point clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this interesting accord from Vidura further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 