In the previous episode, we witnessed the context being set in beautifully by Sage Vyaasa, as Bhishmachaarya is readying himself for a long accord on “Dharma”. This is going to be a very important conversation between Bhishmachaarya and Yudishtra, being ably facilitated by Bhagawan Krishna. Thanks to His presence in the middle, Bhishmachaarya is able to overcome his physical limitations and enrich Yudishtra with several important aspects of “Raaja-Dharma”. This advice that Bhishmachaarya is going to render to Yudishtra is not only for the betterment of the Pandava brothers alone, but also for all of us. Here, Bhagawan Krishna’s sole aim is to make Bhishmachaarya disseminate the ocean of knowledge that he possesses, to the entire world, so that subsequent generations of people would be able to benefit from it. Moreover, rather than Bhagawan Krishna Himself talking about “Dharma”, He wants Bhishmachaarya to do that, in order to highlight the important concert of “Guru-Sishya” relationship. As per our “Sanaatana Dharma”, a “Guru” is a person who creates the awareness about the “Paramatma” in the mind of the “Jeevatma”, and with the guidance of the “Guru”, the “Jeevatma” will be able to attain the divine lotus feet of the “Paramatma”. Here too, Yudishtra being the “Jeevatma”, needs the “Guru” in the form of Bhishmachaarya as a guiding light to make him get closer to the “Paramatman”, who is none other than Bhagawan Krishna Himself!
As the conversation is about to begin, the Devas and Sage Narada are also interested in participating from the Kurukshetra battlefield itself. As this is going to be a very important juncture, Sage Vyaasa also hurries to that place and takes his position. Everywhere in the Mahabharata text, we will see Sage Vyaasa’s presence at all crucial times – Both good and bad. Here too, Sage Vyaasa is one of the first persons to rush into Kurukshetra as this important conversation begins. Thus, as Yudishtra is about to start, all the important Maharishis, Sage Naarada and Sage Vyaasa, are all in readiness. With this, we are now moving into the first “Upa-Parva” under the main “Shaanti Parva”, which is known as “Raaja-Dharma Anushaasana Parva”. Here is where Bhishmachaarya is going to detail a great deal about “Raaja Dharma”, which is a very important segment when it comes to modern day Leadership & Management.
Now, as all of them are in readiness, Yudishtra asks the first question to Bhishmachaarya. We’ve already seen that Yudishtra is extremely pained at the moment and is not a happy man. He asks thus, “Oh great grandfather! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to learn from you! As you know, I’m deeply pained first-up due to the loss of my elder brother, Karna. Till this point I don’t even know that Karna was my elder brother. Oh Bhishmachaarya! Please tell me why this unfortunate thing happened? Why did Karna die, even though he was gifted with enormous power? What circumstances led Karna to this sad state of affairs? Inspite of having a lot of positives in terms of his character (Karna was a noble person by heart, and was an epitome of “Dhaanam”, which is one of the highest qualities of “Dharma”), why was he at the receiving end everytime? Why was he feigned and cornered? Why was he not able to respond to Arjuna’s onslaught during the battle at Kurukshetra?”
As Yudishtra asks a series of questions one after the other, Sage Naarada interrupts him a little bit. Before Bhishmachaarya could commence his accord, Sage Naarada intervenes and gives a detailed accord on what happened to Karna and why unfortunately he had to be on the wrong end! Sage Naarada is going to describe how Karna had to entangle himself into two curses – One from his Guru, Parasurama and the other from a Brahmana Rishi. It was because of these two unfortunate curses, Karna was at the receiving end. We’ve already witnessed this in our earlier episodes, but as Sage Naarada is describing it, we shall once again recall what exactly happened to Karna and how he obtained these two curses. We shall understand up to this point in today’s episode and wait till the next, to continue further! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 