In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Draupati’s accord to Yudishtra, wherein she slams him for his indifference towards the world. According to Draupati, Yudishtra thinks that he can be good to everyone in this world. Here the word “good” means being kind, compassionate, loving, etc. Draupati explains that a king should have a balance between being kind and inflicting punishments by being harsh. For those who are “Dharma-Atmans”, it is good to be kind and lovable. Whereas for “Dhur-Atmans”, there is no point in being kind. A leader should speak the language that these people understand. Hence, in this case, Draupati justifies whatever Yudishtra has done to Duryodhana and Co. in the war. She says that such people only deserve such kind of belt treatment and there is no point in regretting what happened. We’ve seen the application of this point in our present day context as well – Only wherever there is a struggle, success will come through. For instance, a mother or a father should reprimand their child if there is any wrongdoing on their part. Just because he / she is their dear son or daughter, can the parent allow him / her to do anything and everything and get away? If so, what is the value system that we’re inculcating into our next generation? This clearly highlights the point that one has to exhibit love and compassion when required, and at the same time, one needs to be strict and harsh when required as well.
Moving on further thus, Draupati is continuing with her critical accord. She says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Please understand – A king who gives punishment to offenders, is considered to be a righteous king! Else, there is no point in being a king at all! Similarly, a “Pandita” (Brahmana) who doesn’t go out of his comfort zone to spread the Vedas, is not considered as a true “Pandita”. A king who doesn’t wage wars and fights, has no history of growing and being successful! A “Dhaarmika” in this world is a person who can love and be harsh at the same time. A “Dhaarmika” in this world is a person who can both give and get at the same time. A “Dhaarmika” is a person who should be able to talk kind words to people, as well as being unhesitant to roll on a rampage against people as well! Thus, both ends of the spectrum are important to be achieved. Oh Yudishtra! There is no point in always talking nicely and kindly. If you do so, people will underestimate you and cheat you very easily! “Dharma” is like a coin that has two sides! If we keep doing only “Dharma-Kaarya” like performing “Homams”, “Go-Dhaanam” (Donating a cow to Brahmana Rishis), etc. who will fight and protect the kingdom? Bhagawan will not come on your behalf and do everything. You have to do your duty which is assigned to you – This also includes wars, fights, killing enemies, etc.!”
Saying thus, Draupati makes a bold statement here that a person cannot be good to everyone in this world! Even we try to do that sometimes, don’t we? We try to take a “middle line” or a “neutral line” just because someone would get angry at us and mistake us for taking a stance against them. This cannot happen all the time. If we’re a leader in an organization, or even in a family, if the going is tough, the tough should get going! We cannot thread a neutral line everytime, just to satisfy everyone! We’ve to be courageous enough to step up and take a stance. Of course, this might hurt a few people, but we cannot help that. If our decision pertains to “Dharma”, we’ve to be steadfast in it and move ahead. A hundred people might keep saying and opposing us with a hundred narratives. We should not mind all that and move ahead, if we are confident that whatever we’re doing is as per “Dharma” only and it is for the greater good of the organization / family.
This confidence is important, else we would start stumbling upon each and every thing that comes towards us. King Dhritarashtra did the same thing and all of us know what happened to him. If we’ve to be too good for everyone, how do we be good towards people like Duryodhana? It is not required, isn’t it? If we’ve to be good towards Duryodhana, we should either be like King Dhritarashta or like Karna or the others in the Kaurava camp. Ultimately we know what happened to all of them! King Dhritarashtra, by trying to be too good towards his son, lost all his hundred sons in the battle. Karna was killed by Arjuna / Bhagawan Krishna for being good towards Duryodhana. As a good friend, this is where Karna went wrong – Rather than supporting Duryodhana for all his wrongdoings, Karna for once should have criticised him and should have tried to mend Duryodhana’s ways. Of course, it is understandable that Duryodhana was the one who helped Karna save his face when he was publicly insulted at the “Rangabhoomi” event. Duryodhana was the one who made Karna the king of “Anga Desha”. We’ve also seen all this in our past episodes. However, having said all these, Karna should have balanced between being kind / compassionate towards Duryodhana and criticising and talking harshly with him when he walked the path of “Adharma”! Karna failed to achieve this balance, and thus, when it came to friendship with Duryodhana, Karna got the definition of friendship completely wrong!
So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall wait till the next episode to continue Draupati’s accord further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 