In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna consoling Yudishtra and Draupati over the loss of their near and dear ones. It is of course a very difficult loss to handle for Yudishtra, but since he sticks to the path of “Dharma” at all times, he doesn’t get carried away completely by his emotions. However, Draupati, being a woman and a mother of her dead sons, was extremely devastated. Bhagawan Krishna’s “Deiva-Sankalpam” ensured that Draupati’s emotions were calmed down atleast to a certain extent. With this, we come to the end of the “Saankya Parva” and we now move into the “Sthree Parva”. Here, all the women who lost their husbands in the disastrous war are performing the “Jala-Tarpanam” for the departed souls. A lot of trauma unfolds for all the near and dear ones of the dead warriors. Meanwhile, we’re also going to witness an important conversation between Vidura and King Dhritarashtra later in this Parva.
Moving into the “Sthree Parva” thus, there are several “Upa-Parvas” just like the previous ones. The first one is the “Jala-Pradhaanika Parva”. Now, as everything is over at Kurukshetra, the entire set of people (very few of them) including Bhagawan Krishna are commencing their journey back to the kingdom. As the journey starts, Sanjaya understands that everybody are coming back and updates King Dhritarashtra on this. Sanjaya comes into King Dhritarashtra’s chamber once again after a break, and sees King Dhritarashtra lying down on the ground with tears in his eyes! He is unable to digest the fact that all his hundred sons are dead! The entire “Kaurava Vamsam” is destroyed! Upon seeing King Dhritarashtra in this state, Sanjaya says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Please come to terms with practicality! All the eighteen “Akshauhinis” of the army on both sides have been destroyed! This is a disaster beyond explanation. However, all these events unfolded because of one person, and that is none other than you! It is because of your poor administrative and decision-making skills, the entire army of the kingdom is in shambles. Jamadagni’s son, Parashurama came and advised you and you never paid heed to his words. Next, your own seniors in the courtroom – Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya advised you several times to change your course of action, but you never obeyed their words. More than anybody else, Bhagawan Krishna Himself came and spoke to you. He literally begged you to change your stance. Have you seen Bhagawan Krishna going anywhere else and begging in front of anyone? He is Bhagawan Vishnu’s divine incarnation! You conveniently discarded His divine words of wisdom as well! Oh King Dhritarashtra! Draupati is your sacred daughter-in-law and she deems to be respected in the highest order. You allowed your son Duryodhana to publicly insult and molest her. Vidura appealed to you in the courtroom on that fateful day, and yet, you remained silent! Hence, Oh King Dhritarashtra! You are the one who is responsible for all this mess! Once all this has happened, why do you feign upon Bhagawan Krishna or Yudishtra for it? You should introspect within yourself atleast now! You should accept responsibility for whatever happened!”
Saying thus, Sanjaya continues further – “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Just like how Shrinjaya lost his sons due to his “Karma-Phalam” (We’ve seen this story earlier), you’ve lost your sons today due to your own “Karma-Phalam”! You’ve treated the Pandava brothers with a lot of partiality, even after several sages advised you to take care of them like your own sons. This Hastinapura kingdom should rightly be under Yudishtra, as he is the successor of your elder brother, King Paandu. But you’ve abducted the kingdom after your brother’s demise. When the time came to hand over the kingdom to Yudishtra, you never did so. Now whose mistake is it? Oh King Dhritarashtra! If you perform “Dharma-Kaaryam” (Good deeds) all through your life, you will get happiness and satisfaction. Now think for a moment – What “Dharma-Kaaryam” did you or your sons do in this world? All that you’ve done is to abduct someone else’s belongings, trying several times to taunt, abuse and kill them, etc. What “Karma-Phalam” do you expect for all these acts of yours? Hence, Oh King Dhritarashtra! Motivate yourself now. There’s no point in feeling bad! Realize your failure atleast now and pave the way for Yudishtra to succeed you!”
As Sanjaya keeps saying thus, Vidura comes in. Till now, during these eighteen days of the war, Vidura was not in the picture at all! He had become frustrated to the core and had gone on a “Teertha-Yatra”, leaving King Dhritarashtra with Sanjaya. Now, upon seeing King Dhritarashtra’s condition, Vidura’s heart melts. So what is Vidura going to say now? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 