We are in the midst of a very sober time as King Dhritarashtra and Gandhari are at Kurukshetra. They are going around to look at all those people who have died in the recently concluded war. Sage Vyaasa, the Pandava brothers, Bhagawan Krishna, etc. are accompanying both of them. Sage Vyaasa had gifted a divine pair of eyes for Gandhari to look around and assess the extent of the disaster. Upon seeing everything, Mother Gandhari cries inconsolably! She is experiencing an untold misery at the moment. As Sage Vyaasa sees this, he tries to console Mother Gandhari, and Yudishtra & Co. also join him to seek unconditional apology to Mother Gandhari. Meanwhile, Sage Vyaasa requests Gandhari not to curse anybody for this debacle that has unfolded.
As this happens, we enter into the “Sthree Vilaapa Parva”, wherein all the wives of the dead warriors are coming in front of Bhagawan Krishna and venting all their grief. As we know, several warriors not only from Hastinapura, but also from several other kingdoms have lost their lives and because of this, all these kingdoms too are struggling without a ruler and successor. Upon seeing this, the wives of Drishtadhyumna, Guru Dhronachaarya, Jayatrada, the Kaurava warriors, etc. come in front of Bhagawan Krishna and cry aloud. Bhagawan Krishna listens patiently to all their cries and He tries to console them one after the other. All of them are heart-broken completely and are unable to hold themselves back. All of them are under the perception that Bhagawan Krishna is the one who is responsible for this entire debacle that has happened. This continues for the entire “Sthree Vilaapa Parva” and towards the end, there is a very important conversation between Bhagawan Krishna and Mother Gandhari.
Moving on further, as all the ladies come and pour out their grief, Mother Gandhari says to Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Krishna! You are Bhagawan Himself and I totally understand that you are the “Paramatman. Having said that, you should have ensured that the entire clan is not wiped out! Of course, there were mistakes that had happened in the past. But that does not mean that you wipe out the entire “Vamsam” like this!” As Mother Gandhari says thus, Bhagawan Krishna patiently replies back – “Oh Mother! I understand your point. But please realize that nothing is going to be reversed now just because you are crying and pouring out your frustration. When the blunders were happening right in front of you in the past, this kind of cry and frustration was not visible in you! When Duryodhana’s ways had to be mended, where did you go? Why didn’t you rough up Duryodhana as a mother and make him mend his ways? If you would have done that, we wouldn’t have been in this situation today!”
As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, an already aggrieved Mother Gandhari looks up at Him with anger. She replies to Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Krishna! I never knew that you would be such stone-hearted with me like this! Let me tell you one thing clearly now – Till now, nobody would have been brave enough to render a curse on you, however today, I’m going to inflict a heavy curse on you! Just like how my hundred sons are lying dead today – Just like how I’m suffering the loss of my children – Just like how the entire Kaurava clan is wiped out – You will also face a similar situation during the start of the thirty-sixth year from now! You will also see your entire Yaadhava clan getting destroyed right under your own eyes! You will also die at the end of this debacle and with this, your incarnation will come to an end in this world! From now, during the thirty-sixth year, you will face this huge debacle and at that time, you will understand the pain of this mourning mother!”
Saying thus, Mother Gandhari inflicts a huge curse on Bhagawan Krishna! So what is Bhagawan Krishna’s reaction to this going to be? Is He going to get angry or is He going to take it calmly as ever? Let us wait and witness this in our next episode! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 