In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna arriving at the Hastinapura entrance. As Bhagawan Krishna makes His grand entry, hundreds and thousands of people of the city gather on either side of the pathway to receive Him and to have His divine “Darshan” for atleast a second or two. Meanwhile, as per King Dhritarashtra’s direction, Vidura goes along with Duryodhana to receive Bhagawan Krishna, as per the kingdom’s protocol. As Bhagawan Krishna sees both of them coming, His eyes specially fall on Vidura and with a lot of compassion, Bhagawan Krishna allows him to get on to His chariot, whereas, Duryodhana who had also accompanied Vidura was left in the lurch! Fuming thus, Duryodhana gets into another chariot that comes along and the caravan reaches the Hastinapura palace. Bhagawan Krishna, Vidura and Duryodhana get down from their respective chariots and make their way to meet King Dhritarashtra in his chamber. As King Dhritarashtra senses Bhagawan Krishna’s arrival, he offers all his respects and prayers to Bhagawan Krishna, who in turn acknowledges all of it. Now, King Dhritarashtra wants Bhagawan Krishna to stay in his palace for the day and as he expresses this wish, Bhagawan Krishna’s reaction is very important for us to understand. Let us continue from this point onwards in today’s episode.
Moving on thus, as King Dhritarashtra makes this request, Bhagawan Krishna has other plans in mind! He immediately holds Vidura’s hands tightly and says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Many thanks for your wonderful hospitality! I wholeheartedly accept whatever you’ve given me till now. However, when it comes to staying back at Hastinapura, more than residing in the palace, I think I should stay tonight at an ardent “Bhakta’s” place!” Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna looks at Vidura with a lot of compassion and affection! Bhagawan Krishna knows how devoted Vidura is, and how he stands for “Dharma” at all times. Sensing this opportunity, Bhagawan Krishna thinks that this is the right time to give the honours to Vidura and spend some quality time with him. Continuing to reply thus, Bhagawan Krishna says, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! This ardent Bhakta whom I’m talking about is none other than our own Vidura who is standing nearby! I would like to spend some time with him for the remaining part of the day, before I come to the courtroom tomorrow morning!”
As Bhagawan Krishna expresses His divine wish thus, King Dhritarashtra doesn’t know what to tell! His plan has been totally foiled! Initially, as we’ve seen earlier, King Dhritarashtra’s plan was to gift Bhagawan Krishna with many items and also with around 50 villages from Hastinapura, in a bid to bring Bhagawan Krishna into his fold! However, Bhagawan Krishna has beautifully handled this delicate situation by opting to reside with Vidura at his residence, rather than at the palace! By doing this, Bhagawan Krishna also spoils one of Duryodhana’s ploy as well. Apart from the trap that Duryodhana had been planning earlier, Duryodhana had also thought that if he makes Bhagawan Krishna reside in the Hastinapura palace for a night with utmost great hospitality, Bhagawan Krishna would have no other option but to come into his fold. This is exactly what happened to King Shalya earlier, and readers might remember this – Duryodhana offered the best hospitality and food to a tired King Shalya who had been travelling all through the day, and just because King Shalya accepted Duryodhana’s hospitality, he became indebted to Duryodhana! Thus, Duryodhana had planned a similar strategy with Bhagawan Krishna, however, this strategy has also ended up in a failure with Bhagawan Krishna opting smartly to reside at Vidura’s residence!
As Bhagawan Krishna opts for Vidura’s residence, King Dhritarashtra replies thus, “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! It is completely your wish! Please make yourself comfortable wherever you would like to be!” Thus, it is now up to Vidura to extend the best hospitality to Bhagawan Krishna for the day! So what does Vidura do? Let us wait till the next episode to witness a beautiful incident that is going to happen next, between Vidura and Bhagawan Krishna! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 