In the previous episode, we witnessed a very important conversation between Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna. After coronation, Yudishtra somehow lost interest in ruling the Hastinapura kingdom as the successor of King Dhritarashtra. So he goes to Bhagawan Krishna and expresses his displeasure of continuing as the king of Hastinapura for a longer time, and he wants to resign from the responsibility. Yudishtra feels extremely lonely as all important people of the kingdom have died in the recently-concluded Kurukshetra war. As Yudishtra expresses his feelings, Bhagawan Krishna is not letting him go anywhere. He convinces Yudishtra to continue further, however, He wants Yudishtra to go to Bhishmachaarya to learn all important aspects of “Dharma” from him before he passes away during the “Uttarayana” time period. As Bhishmachaarya is an epitome of all knowledge, Bhagawan Krishna puts him in the status of a great “Aachaarya” (Guru) for Yudishtra to learn “Dharma” in more detail. Of course, Yudishtra himself is an epitome of “Dharma”, however, Bhagawan Krishna wants Yudishtra to learn further, thus strengthening his hold on “Dharma” further.
Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna and Yudishtra go to the Kurukshetra battlefield to meet Bhishmachaarya, who is still in the arrow bed, struggling with his last breath. As all of them pay their respects towards Bhishmachaarya, Yudishtra comes forward and expresses his concerns and displeasure to rule the Hastinapura kingdom, at a time when nobody was there to support him in anything. Yudishtra breaks down upon expressing himself about his loneliness sitting at the top. As Yudishtra says thus, Bhishmachaarya gives a very important reply – “Oh my dear Yudishtra! You deserve to be the king of Hastinapura, without any second thought. You are a king who has successfully performed the “Raaja-Suya Yaagam” and has proved to the world that you are a righteous person. You have the biggest responsibility to perform the “Dharma-Paripaalanam” (Righteous administration) of the kingdom. You should not shy away from your responsibility. If you have any confusion in your mind with regards to “Dharma”, you can always turn to Bhagawan Krishna for advice. Who on earth can be better than Bhagawan Krishna to render you advice pertaining to “Dharma”?”
As Bhishmachaarya says thus, Bhagawan Krishna immediately intervenes here. He says thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya! It is for this important advice on various aspects of “Dharma”, I’ve brought Yudishtra to you! You are the right person to advise him on various fronts. You are the “Aachaarya” for the entire family, aren’t you? Oh Bhishmachaarya! Yudishtra came to me first. He expressed his opinion to me a while back. I wanted him to come to you for advice. Rather than me telling everything to everyone, it would be better if the words of “Dharma” comes from an “Aachaarya”. I always see you as the perfect “Aachaarya” who can render these pieces of advice to the world. If I tell everything, nobody takes me seriously anymore! 🙂 Hence, please render some important pieces of advice to Yudishtra, so that he can take a leaf out of your words to perform the “Raajya-Paripaalanam” in the path of “Dharma”.
These words of Bhagawan Krishna makes Bhishmachaarya laugh! He knows that Bhagawan Krishna is giving him a great responsibility in his hands by praising and motivating him. On a normal given day, Bhishmachaarya would have been more than ready to accept Bhagawan Krishna’s request, but now he is heavily injured and is battling for his life! How will he be able to render such important pieces of advice effectively? With this concern, Bhishmachaarya talks to Bhagawan Krishna slowly thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Yudishtra is my grandson! I would be more than happy to resolve all his confusion and doubts that he has in mind pertaining to “Dharma”. However, given my health condition presently, I do not know if I’ll be able to do a great job! I’m struggling to talk five words at a stretch. My lungs are panting for breath. I’m unable to talk coherently at the moment! How do I ensure that I make Yudishtra understand my talking clearly? Oh Bhagawan Krishna! Given my physical limitations at the moment, why don’t you take this responsibility to talk with Yudishtra on behalf of me?”
As Bhishmachaarya requests thus, Bhagawan Krishna understands his condition. However, He is not willing to let Bhishmachaarya go away just like that. Bhishmachaarya’s knowledge has to be disseminated somehow to Yudishtra – It is not only to Yudishtra, but also for the entire world! Subsequent generations of people after Yudishtra should benefit from Bhishmachaarya’s vast and expansive knowledge of “Dharma”. So what does Bhagawan Krishna do now? How is He going to ensure that Bhishmachaarya is able to disseminate his knowledge to the world? We shall wait till the next episode to witness! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 