In the previous episode, we had witnessed Guru Dhronachaarya’s gross “Adharmic” act of killing around 20,000 foot soldiers of the Paanchaala Desha, which invited the ire of several great Maharishis. We’ve seen all of them assembling as a team in front of Guru Dhronachaarya amidst the battlefield. Guru Dhronachaarya, being a Brahmana, is not supposed to enter a battlefield at all to fight. Fighting is the duty of the Kshatryas, and this itself is a gross “Adharma”. Secondly, killing foot soldiers with an “Asthra” is even more a gross “Adharma” because the right way to take them on is only through simple arrows. This is as per the “Raaja-Dharma” and the “Yuddha-Dharma”. Of course Guru Dhronachaarya knows all of these, but because of the news that he has lost his son, Guru Dhronachaarya loses his mind and calmness! Out of sheer anger and grief, Guru Dhronachaarya commits such a heinous crime and because of this, the Maharishi team has demanded Guru Dhronachaarya to put down his weapons immediately then and there, as he is deemed unfit to fight the war further!
Now as the Maharishi team demands thus, Guru Dhronachaarya is clearly caught into a “Catch-22” situation. On one hand, he cannot disobey the words of Maharishis, which might invoke severe repercussions into the future. On the other hand, Guru Dhronachaarya’s mind is bubbling with grief as he seeks to avenge the death of his son. Now which path should he choose? Should he continue fighting or should he put down his weapons, obeying the Maharishis? Now, recouping himself, Guru Dhronachaarya wants to first confirm whether this news (from Bheemasena0 that his son has been killed is true or not. For this, he decides to ask Yudishtra for a confirmation. Guru Dhronachaarya wants to confirm this with Yudishtra because he knows that Yudishtra will always stand by “Dharma” and will not tell a lie. Whereas, others may not be trustable because they might be opportunistic in their answer. Guru Dhronachaarya did not even want to trust his own Kaurava army for which he fought. Even though Yudishtra is in the enemy camp, he wanted to go to Yudishtra for confirmation. This shows how much trust Guru Dhronachaarya has over Yudishtra as a person.
Thinking thus, Guru Dhronachaarya starts his chariot and slowly makes a move towards Yudishtra. Meanwhile, Bhagawan Krishna hurries towards Yudishtra and asks him thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Guru Dhronachaarya is coming towards you to ask about his son Ashwathhama. What are you going to tell him?” For this, Yudishtra replies back – “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! You know what I will reply – I’ll always tell the truth! I’ll always stand by “Dharma”!” As Bhagawan hears this, He gives a funny reply to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! You keep telling the truth! I’ll see how you’ll win this war! :)” These words of Bhagawan Krishna have a huge in-depth meaning! Now saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna is going to explain a beautiful “Dharma” here. He continues to tell Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! You’re not understanding a fact here – If Guru Dhronachaarya is going to continue his rampage for another half a day, he is going to destroy you and your entire army! If he succeeds in doing that, all the efforts that we’ve taken till now will go in vain! You know very well – Guru Dhronachaarya can single-handedly change the entire course of the war in Duryodhana’s favour, which Duryodhana also wants him to do. Now, this is a test for you – Is “Sathyam” (Being truthful) greater, or governance / protection of your people as a righteous king is greater? Oh Yudishtra! You have the duty to protect the lives of “Dhaarmikas” (People who follow the path of “Dharma”. For this, telling a lie is not an “Adharma”. It is very much permitted. Hence, in this situation, if you tell a lie to Guru Dhronachaarya, it will not be counted as an act of “Adharma”. You are telling this lie to a person who is grossly “Adharmic” in nature and also stands with the camp of “Adharma”! Hence, Oh Yudishtra! Do as I say – When Guru Dhronachaarya asks you about his son, tell him that his son is dead!”
Now this is a very important point which Bhagawan Krishna is talking about. Even in our everyday routine life, we would have heard this – If a person’s life has to be saved, it is fine to tell a lie or mar the truth from him / her. For instance, if there’s a heart patient and has undergone a huge open-heart surgery recently, can we go and convey a bad news of someone’s demise to him at this point? It might be the truth, but if we utter this to him, his life will also come to an end, isn’t it? Hence, “Dharma” is not just telling the truth alone – We need to understand to whom and where we are conveying the truth. Even if we’ve to utter a lie for the sake of protection of “Dharma”, it is accepted. But of course, we shouldn’t misinterpret this and think that we can manipulate things every time! 🙂
So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness whether Yudishtra accepts Bhagawan Krishna’s proposal or not! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 