The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Dhridiraashtra getting somewhat convinced with Sahuni’s proposal, however, he wanted to refer the matter with Vidura for his opinion before giving the green signal. As King Dhridiraashtra opined thus, Duryodhana burst out with anger immediately! He started ranting badly about Vidura by degrading his knowledge and acumen on “Dharma”. In fact, as all of us know, Vidura is an epitome of “Dharma”, as he’s the son of Yama-Dharma-Raja himself. Any decision that King Dhridiraashtra makes with regards to administration and other affairs of the kingdom, Vidura would play a pivotal role as he knows exactly which is right and which is wrong. Thus, a protocol was created informally that King Dhridiraashtra and Vidura would jointly take decisions at Hastinapura. However, for this matter, Duryodhana was steadfast in his stand that this should not go to Vidura’s ears at all, as he feared that Vidura might stop this from happening. Duryodhana too knew within himself that he was walking the path of “Adharma” with this plan, but his jealousy and anger blinded him completely! 

Moving forward thus, King Dhridiraashtra replies to Duryodhana: “Oh Duryodhana! If your path is correct, why do you want Vidura to stay away? If your approach is right, obviously he would be in favour of you. I do not have any doubt. However, if you’re not interested in Vidura giving his opinion, it’s fine. But, anyway I’ve to send him to invite Yudishtra, isn’t it? Atleast let him come here for a moment and I shall explain to him the plan. Let him go and talk to Yudishtra and call him to Hastinapura!” We’ve to understand an important point here – King Dhridiraashtra plays a smart balancing role here, which is important for all leaders. On one hand, Duryodhana is pressuring him to approve his plan of the gamble game. On the other hand, King Dhridiraashtra has a doubt whether this plan is according to the “Dharma” or not, and he wants to consult with Vidura once before approving. If he does so, Duryodhana is not going to like it. This is a precarious and a tricky situation here, isn’t it? However, King Dhridiraashtra decides to call Vidura on the pretext of sending him to Indraprastha for inviting Yudishtra, and in the meanwhile, he can allow Vidura to have his say, without Duryodhana objecting to it! This seems like a good balancing act by King Dhridiraashtra, but is this going to work? 

However, as Duryodhana hears this plan from his father, he fumes again! King Dhridiraashtra was steadfast in calling Vidura for this, and Duryodhana seems to be losing the plot here. Now there is only one option for Duryodhana which is left – Playing the emotional card! Duryodhana replies thus, “Oh father! If you feel like calling Vidura for this, please go ahead! But remember one thing – Eventually one day you would be seeing your son’s corpse on the floor, thanks to Yudishtra’s aggression. On that day, both you and Vidura sit on my corpse and enjoy the luxuries of the Hastinapura kingdom! I wouldn’t be there to see your enjoyment, but if this is what you want, please go ahead with that Vidura!” 

As Duryodhana says thus, he sheds tears and walks away! Now this is the most critical point here – These words of Duryodhana hurt King Dhridiraashtra’s heart and sank him into sadness! The “father” in him took over immediately! This was the striking point and Duryodhana had played his card to perfection! King Dhridiraashtra is now completely moved by the “Putra-Vaatsalya” and with this, he immediately stops Duryodhana and says thus, “Oh my dear son! I understand your pain point. Let us go with your decision. I’m not consulting Vidura on this. Rather, I shall call him and dictate my order to him – To call Yudishtra and Co. for the gambling game! Are you happy now?” 

With this, Duryodhana was happy and satisfied! His tricks have finally yielded results! King Dhridiraashtra calls for Vidura and dictates the order to him thus, “Oh Vidura! Please go to Indraprastha and invite Yudishtra for a game of gambling at Hastinapura! It would be great for me as a king if Yudishtra participates in the game and the entire kingdom witnesses it!” As King Dhridiraashtra says thus, Vidura was shell-shocked! He couldn’t understand anything for a moment! Several questions were running inside Vidura’s mind – Why is there a sudden change in approach? Why should a gambling game be played amidst the centre of the courtroom? Isn’t it totally against the path of “Raaja-Dharma”? Is this King Dhridiraashtra’s real intent or is this being fuelled by someone in the background? Isn’t it going to result in a huge disaster if this gambling game goes through? 

As Vidura thinks thus, he is confused! Should he ask these questions to King Dhridiraashtra and clarify? Or, should he go ahead and invite Yudishtra for the game? What is Vidura going to do? Let us wait till the next episode to find out Vidura’s approach! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sahuni proposing the idea of conducting the Yudishtra vs. Duryodhana “Dyutam” (Gamble) game at Hastinapura to King Dhridiraashtra. He does that in an emotionally attacking manner, wherein King Dhridiraashtra too is slowly getting carried away due to his excessive affection towards his son Duryodhana. Duryodhana too plays his part by playing the sentimental victim card wherein he repeatedly highlights Yudishtra’s meteoric rise and because of this, Duryodhana’s downfall was “imminent”. This, coupled with Sahuni’s agenda proved decisive for King Dhridiraashtra to fall by Duryodhana’s side to approve of the illegal gambling game. Thus the plan was very clear – Without even a single drop of blood shed in the battlefield, all the wealth and kingdom of Yudishtra would come into Duryodhana’s fold with the help of the gambling game. Sahuni would roll the dice on behalf of Duryodhana and would yield all the success to him. 

Upon listening to this plan, King Dhridiraashtra was somehow convinced, but still he wanted to do something before approval. King Dhridiraashtra says to Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! The plan seems to be good. However, let us ask the opinion of Vidura once before we proceed. Vidura is a learned scholar and he would give the right approach and thought process for us to make the final decision. Somehow I feel that Vidura should be the right person to guide us through this pursuit!” As King Dhridiraashtra said thus, Duryodhana immediately burst out in immense anger! This is the thing that Duryodhana feared the most and it is about to happen! Duryodhana was damn sure that if this goes to the ears of Vidura, this plan is never going to move forward. Hence, Duryodhana fumes to King Dhridiraashtra thus, “Oh father! This is the biggest problem with you! You do not have the guts to make a decision on your own. Why are you consulting that stupid Vidura every time? Who is the king here? You or him? I’ve given you a proposal and you’re making the decision. Who is Vidura in the middle of all this? Moreover, what does he know about administration? Does he have prior experience? Does he even know what the nuances are in administration? Most importantly, does he know even an iota of the imminent downfall that I’m staring at? Why on earth are you wanting to have his ideas? It is only because you go and fall on his feet every time that Vidura is thinking too much about himself! He projects himself as an epitome of “Dharma”! Who wants all his so-called “Dharma” advice? He’s only proving to be a stumbling block for everything that I propose! This was the same Vidura who pressed upon you that the kingdom should be split, isn’t it? If you take this proposal to Vidura, he is only going to reject it, because he’s always in favour of Yudishtra and Co. Not even for a single day till now, Vidura has spoken for me!” 

Fuming thus, Duryodhana continues further: “Oh father! It is only now you’re in a good frame of mind. If you let Vidura inside this, I’m sure that he’s going to brainwash you within no time! Hence, atleast for this proposal, please do not go to him. You may consider his decisions for other administrative affairs of the kingdom, but not for this!” We can see here how Duryodhana had totally misunderstood who Vidura really is! We had seen how Duryodhana is lashing out at Vidura as someone who doesn’t know anything of “Dharma”, but the actual truth is something on the contrary. As we’ve witnessed earlier, Vidura is the son of Yama-Dharma-Raja and is the epitome of “Dharma”. He knows all the nuances of “Dharma”, and King Dhridiraashtra had complete trust in Vidura’s capabilities. It is only because Vidura doesn’t mince his words and doesn’t favour even an iota of “Adharma”, Duryodhana never found support in him. Thus, even though Duryodhana was in close proximity to Vidura, he never realized Vidura’s importance, whereas Yudishtra had full confidence in Vidura. We’ve seen at various instances in the past wherein Yudishtra took Vidura’s advice very seriously and executed his actions accordingly. Even when Yudishtra and Co. were sent to the “Laaksha Griham” (Wax palace), we’ve witnessed how Vidura had advised Yudishtra in the “Mlecha-Bhaasha” (Secretive coded language) and how Yudishtra followed it meticulously and was able to escape the wrath of Duryodhana! 

Thus, it is not important if a resource person is just by our side. The point is whether we utilize that person in the proper manner or not. We’re seeing exactly this point being highlighted by Sage Vyaasa beautifully here – Even though Duryodhana had Vidura right by his side, he never knew even an iota about who Vidura really was. Therefore, Duryodhana completely lost the opportunity to learn important lessons of “Dharma” from him, even though he was in Duryodhana’s close proximity. So for today, let us understand how Duryodhana insulted Vidura left right and centre without knowing his significance and King Dhridiraashtra too is stunned upon Duryodhana’s outburst! We shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode as well to witness how Duryodhana continued his outburst and emotional ranting and whether King Dhridiraashtra paid heed to Duryodhana’s words or not! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sahuni and Duryodhana trying to convince King Dhridiraashtra to conduct the grand gambling event at Hastinapura. The plan was to create an emotional drama in front of King Dhridiraashtra so that he would be blown away by the “Putra-Vaatsalya”, which was one of his great weaknesses. Duryodhana and Sahuni planned an excellent use of this weakness to drive their agenda. Thus, Sahuni starts proceedings wherein he explains how Duryodhana was sad and upset ever since he returned from Yudishtra’s “Raaja-Suya-Yaaga” at Indraprastha. Upon interrogating Duryodhana, King Dhridiraashtra found that his son was really upset with Yudishtra’s meteoric rise as a “Chakravarthy” (A great king) within no time! Duryodhana’s point was very simple – We should destroy an enemy at the budding stage itself, and shouldn’t let him grow at all. However, Yudishtra wasn’t at the budding stage anymore. Given the fact that he cannot be won over by a war, Duryodhana’s contention was that he should try and defeat Yudishtra through some other means. This is exactly the idea that he’s trying to hard-sell to his father. Now we shall continue with what Duryodhana said. 

Duryodhana continues thus, “Oh father! If this continues further, and if you let Yudishtra grow like this, your sons including this Duryodhana would have to become beggars in no time! Also, there is a threat to my life from the likes of Bheemasena and Arjuna. Please remember – Bhagawan Krishna is by their side and they can go to any extent to destroy all of us!” These words struck King Dhridiraashtra’s mind very hard. He is now slowly entering into the “Putra-Vaatsalya” stage. Of course, King Dhridiraashtra understands slowly that these two have already planned this conversation with him. But the moment Duryodhana touched the sensitive part, King Dhridiraashtra’s heart slowly started to melt. However, he doesn’t want the Paandava brothers to be killed or hurt in any way. He has a soft corner to Yudishtra as well, similar to the likes of Duryodhana, since after all Yudishtra and Co. are his own brother’s sons. Thus, King Dhridiraashtra gets to a confused state of mind and several thoughts are running within him – “Have I made a mistake of splitting the kingdom into two? Have I sidelined my son Duryodhana on the pretext of “Dharma”? What would happen if tomorrow Yudishtra tries to take advantage and dominate over my son?” King Dhridiraashtra doesn’t know what to reply to the Sahuni-Duryodhana duo. Their argument seems to be quite valid, but at the same time, he knows that Yudishtra is not that kind of a person who would destroy anyone for his personal mileage. This is a clear confusion isn’t it? 

Now this is the right opportunity that Sahuni wanted to capture. He now continues from where Duryodhana left. Sahuni says thus, “Oh king! I understand your confusion. I’m also of the opinion that we should not wage a war and try to destroy Yudishtra and Co. The Paandavas should be safe and secure without even a single injury on their bodies. However, we can strategize ways and means to snatch away their kingdom without shedding a drop of blood, isn’t it? We shall ensure that all the wealth and kingdom comes back to Duryodhana’s fold, but without a single arrow fired! Is this fine with you?” This cunning answer from Sahuni leaves King Dhridiraashtra even more confused! He understands that things are going in a wrong way, but by this time, his “Putra-Vaatsalya” has taken over him! He slowly accedes to what Sahuni is trying to propose. King Dhridiraashtra replies thus, “Oh Sahuni! Your proposal seems to be good. I think in the pretext of saving Duryodhana’s future, we shall take this method to restore the united Hastinapura kingdom, however, without harming Yudishtra and Co. So how shall we go about this?” 

As King Dhridiraashtra replies thus, Sahuni and Duryodhana are overjoyed! King Dhridiraashtra has fallen into their trap, much sooner and easier than they expected! Sahuni capitalises this golden opportunity and drives his agenda further thus, “Oh great king! This is exactly what I’m also saying – Without harming the Paandavas, there is a way in which we can restore everything back under Duryodhana’s fold! The only way to accomplish this mission is through the game of gambling! This is what I’ve found out! There is nobody in this world who is equivalent to me in the art of rolling the dice. Whatever number I think in my mind, the dice would exactly show the same number. Over the years I’ve mastered the art of rolling the dice. I know the nuances and tricks of this trade very well. Thus, all you’ve to do is to call Yudishtra for the game. We shall start playing the gamble and I shall roll the dice on behalf of Duryodhana. Yudishtra would be very interested in playing the gamble, but he doesn’t have that smartness and intelligence to win it. I shall capitalize on Yudishtra’s weakness and gradually grab all the wealth and kingdom that he possesses. In this way, Yudishtra would be defeated without shedding a single drop of blood in the battlefield. Thus, without any harm caused, the kingdom would be Duryodhana’s!”

Saying thus, Sahuni throws his agenda on King Dhridiraashtra’s table! It is now up to King Dhridiraashtra to make a decision – The decision is very simple here – Should he go ahead in approving Sahuni’s plan, or should he stick to his “Raaja-Dharma” and strike Sahuni down on the pretext that this gambling game is against the norms of the “Raaja-Dharma”? We shall wait till the next episode to find out what King Dhridiraashtra’s decision is going to be! Stay tuned for an interesting and important accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the Sahuni-Duryodhana duo creating a huge vicious plan to somehow outsmart Yudishtra through the game of gambling (Dyutam). The plan was that, Yudishtra and Co. would be called for the gambling game, for which, Yudishtra wouldn’t object. He would come with all his interest and take part in the game. However, Sahuni would play on behalf of Duryodhana by rolling the dice and would ensure that Yudishtra would not be able to win even once. It should be noted here that Sahuni has the unique expertise of rolling the dice which not many people had. Whatever number Sahuni wants the dice to show up, would come. Yudishtra does not know this masterclass of Sahuni as he is going to accept the game offer. We shall discuss this in detail later. However, now the stumbling block was King Dhridiraashtra and the question here is how to convince him to accept for the game to be played, as it is an illegal affair. Sahuni had ideas for that as well. He wanted Duryodhana to go and “emotionally appeal” to King Dhridiraashtra to grant permission for the game to be played. We shall now witness how this emotional appeal takes place and how Duryodhana secures permission for the same. 

Moving on thus, Sahuni and Duryodhana approach King Dhridiraashtra. Sahuni initiates the conversation here thus: “Oh King Dhridiraashtra! I came here to clear the air on an important issue. Ever since Duryodhana went for Yudishtra’s Raaja-Suya Yaaga, he seems to be extremely upset. For the past few days, I’ve been observing his behaviour and he seems to be completely out of sorts. Hence, please enquire with him as to what’s happening!” As Sahuni lights the matchstick thus, King Dhridiraashtra was concerned. What would have happened to his son? He asks thus, “Oh Duryodhana! What happened to you? Why are you sad? In what ways have I not made you happy? You have your own Hastinapura territory to rule. You have all the luxuries of the kingdom, don’t you? Hence, what is the reason that you’re completely upset? Everybody does whatever you like isn’t it? You have a beautiful wife. You have all the possible wealth in the world. Yet, what is making you sad?” 

As King Dhridiraashtra asks thus, Duryodhana gives a straightforward answer here. He says thus, “Oh father! I do not have any problems with all what I have. However, there is one enemy who is threatening me all the time! That enemy is the one who makes me upset. As per the “Dharma-Shaastra”, if there is an enemy, he should not be left alive! However in our case, there is a big enemy who is having a meteoric rise over time, and is also ruling one part of our own territory! Rather than destroying the enemy, we are only fanning his growth multifold! Hence, unless and until this enemy is destroyed completely, I would not be able to get proper sleep!” As Duryodhana describes thus, King Dhridiraashtra initially couldn’t understand anything. He replies thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Who is your enemy? Whom are you talking about like this at length? Which enemy has undergone a meteoric rise in recent times? Who is that person threatening you?” Duryodhana answers back thus, “Oh father! You’re talking as if you do not know anything! This is the biggest problem with you! The enemy whom I’m referring to is none other than Yudishtra! He, along with his Paandava brothers are extremely threatening. I had gone to attend the Raaja-Suya Yaaga at Indraprastha. It was such a grand event and for this, he is getting all the appreciations and accolades worldwide. He’s having a meteoric rise and his name and fame are witnessing an exponential growth. This is a huge threat to all of us! At one stage, Yudishtra would gain all the popularity and all of us would have to become his servants if we leave him unchecked like this! My stomach and heart burns upon seeing Yudishtra’s exponential popularity! I do not like him getting all the fame and name! I want to somehow stop him! For this, Sahuni uncle has devised a beautiful methodology! Please listen to him!” 

Saying thus, Duryodhana hands over the mike to Sahuni uncle! Now Sahuni is going to spill the beans to King Dhridiraashtra! How does he do it? What was King Dhridiraashtra’s reaction? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

We’re at a juncture of an important turning point in the entire Mahabharata story wherein Sahuni and Duryodhana are making a huge vicious plan to trap Yudishtra & Co. in an illegal way. After witnessing the grand Raaja-Suya Yaaga and the meteoric rise of Yudishtra as a “Chakravarthy” (A righteous and a great King), Duryodhana fumed with anger and jealousy. With the might of the Paandavas in the battlefield, Duryodhana lost confidence that he would be able to win over them through legitimate war. Hence, Duryodhana and Sahuni sit together to plan a web around Yudishtra and grab all his wealth and kingdom through an illegal way. Duryodhana’s anger and jealousy was the right fuel to Sahuni’s fire of seeking vengeance against King Dhridiraashtra and Hastinapura. Thus, Sahuni used Duryodhana to drive his agenda of destroying the Hastinapura slowly. This is where, Sahuni proposed to utilize his expertise on the “Dyutam” (Game of Gambling). He proposed to Duryodhana that he can call Yudishtra for a gambling game, and he wouldn’t deny. He would definitely come to play the game, but he would lose it, because he doesn’t know how to play it smart. Sahuni thus, made an impeccable analysis of Yudishtra and his interest towards the “Dyutam” game and came up with this “masterstroke”! 

Upon hearing this plan from Sahuni, Duryodhana rejoiced! He was just waiting for such an opportunity and as Sahuni promised to Duryodhana that he would be rolling the dice on behalf of him, Duryodhana literally jumped up and down with joy! However, there was a roadblock to this entire plan – How will Duryodhana convince his father, Bhishmachaarya and the others? Since this is against the “Raaja-Dharma”, how on earth are the seniors going to give approval for the same? This makes Duryodhana think. He replies to Sahuni uncle thus, “Oh Uncle! Till now, you’ve proposed a masterstroke idea very beautifully. In similar lines, why don’t you take the initiative to go and talk to my father? If I do, my father would start an argument. Immediately Sanjaya or Vidura would come in between and talk all about “Dharma”, etc., which I’m not interested in at the moment. If these people start talking, immediately Bhishmachaarya would jump in. If all these people talk, I would start raging again with anger and ultimately our ploy would go for a toss. My aim is to behave in such a way that I won’t fight with anyone unnecessarily, and in these lines, I would want to snatch the Indraprastha kingdom from Yudishtra. Hence, you are the right person to go and talk to King Dhridiraashtra and explain our plan to him in such a way that he would get convinced!” 

As Duryodhana proposes thus, Sahuni was not in favour of this idea. He replies back thus, “Oh Duryodhana! This is where you’re going wrong. You’re not understanding the intricacies here. This plan would succeed only if you go and talk to your father. You’ve to talk to him in such a way that he would be emotionally moved. Shed tears in front of him. Make an emotional appeal in front of him that Yudishtra is slowly rising up and up and this would only ensure his son’s downfall very soon if this plan is not executed! If you communicate this with tears in your eyes, your father would definitely approve the plan. Whereas if I go and talk, he would immediately ask me as to why am I so keen on Duryodhana’s future, for which I might not have a convincing answer. Hence, you’re the right person to go and convince King Dhridiraashtra. I shall of course be with you all the time and give you a lending shoulder. I shall support whatever arguments you make in front of your father!” 

As Sahuni proposes thus, Duryodhana was convinced. Thus, both of them make their way to King Dhridiraashtra’s chamber. As we progress with this, we move into the next important “Adhyaaya”, wherein King Dhridiraashtra is slowly being pushed into the trap. Initially, King Dhridiraashtra was a righteous king and was standing by the “Raaja-Dharma”. However, with the “brainwashing” attempts made by Sahuni and Duryodhana, King Dhridiraashtra slowly started to get influenced. This is going to be an important lesson for all of us. This is in fact the same way in which Kaikeyi was brainwashed by Manthara to send Bhagawan Rama to the forest for fourteen years. We’ve witnessed in our earlier “Shrimad Ramayana” project as to how initially Kaikeyi was so fond of Bhagawan Rama and she literally treated Him as her own son – A step more than her son Bharata. When Manthara went up to Kaikeyi and spilled the beans initially, Kaikeyi did not pay heed to her words. However, when Manthara used the yardstick by saying that if she doesn’t get her acts together now, her son Bharata’s future would be doomed, Kaikeyi slowly got into the “Putra-Vaatsalya” mode! With this, Manthara drove her agenda to perfection, isn’t it? 

Similarly here also, King Dhridiraashtra was treating both Yudishtra and Duryodhana on the same plane. However, with Sahuni’s brainwashing by repeatedly saying that his son Duryodhana’s future is going to be doomed if Yudishtra’s meteoric rise isn’t checked, King Dhridiraashtra’s mind started to get polluted with the “Putra-Vaatsalya”. Hence, this “Adhyaaya” is extremely important and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this accord further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed how Duryodhana fell right royally into Sahuni’s trap of making him play the gambling game, which is going to be completely against the “Raaja-Dharma” and is going to drastically bring down the reputation of the Hastinapura Kingdom. Sahuni was completely instrumental behind this, and we’ve seen in the previous episode, how Sahuni used Duryodhana to drive his agenda of destroying the entire Hastinapura kingdom for the injustice that his sister had to undergo. We’ve seen how Gaandhaari was forced to marry the blind King Dhridiraashtra and how Sahuni took a resolve to destroy the entire clan of Hastinapura. Of course, he did not adopt a direct warfare technique to drive his agenda, but took an indirect route for the same. The moment he saw Duryodhana bursting with anger and frustration against Yudishtra and Co., Sahuni saw this as the greatest opportunity to drive his agenda through Duryodhana’s anger. 

This is where we’ve to be extremely careful – If someone is approaching us in an extremely friendly nature to lend a shoulder during times of our frustration, we’ve to be careful not to trust that person blindly. Of course, there might be good people who would genuinely try and help us out, but there might be others who would prey on our weakness! This is where we’ve to use our discrimination. We’ve to analyze why this person is coming close to us, and what he / she is going to gain out of this sudden bonhomie. Duryodhana failed to do this analysis and we’re going to witness from now, how he encountered a huge downfall gradually with severe repercussions for going behind the crooked Sahuni. 

Moving on thus, we shall witness what Sahuni replied to Duryodhana’s question that we saw yesterday. Duryodhana had asked Sahuni to suggest an “illegal” way to counter Yudishtra’s phenomenal growth and to somehow bring him down. As Duryodhana asks thus, Sahuni does some thinking and slowly replies thus, “Oh Duryodhana! After a lot of thinking and analysis, I feel the following – The only way to counter Yudishtra is via the game of gambling! As far as I know, Yudishtra is extremely interested in playing the gambling game, but he doesn’t know how to play it smartly and win. Because of his keen interest, if we call Yudishtra for the game, he would never refuse. He would definitely come. Because he likes to play the game, he would definitely play it. However, because he doesn’t have that astuteness in him, he would not be able to win the game!” This is exactly what Sahuni says to Duryodhana, and this is the first time that Sahuni is bringing forward the proposal of the gambling game in front of Duryodhana! 

Sahuni continues further thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Let him come for the game. You bet whatever you want to, and he would accept. I shall roll the dice on behalf of you and with this, I’m sure that you would win. Thus, with every move that you make, you can grab all his wealth and kingdom slowly, and at the end, he will be left behind as a popper! With this, you can claim victory without even an arrow fired!” As Duryodhana hears this absorbing accord of Sahuni, he is now feeling like jumping up and down with joy! The plan is made! Duryodhana feels satisfied as if he has heard a full accord of the Vedas and Upanishads from a reputed “Guru”! The words of Sahuni make Duryodhana extremely happy, and Sahuni sees the glow on Duryodhana’s face! It was as if Duryodhana has obtained the “Brahma-Gnyaana” (Supreme Knowledge of the Brahman)! 

As Duryodhana was rejoicing, Sahuni was smart enough to put a rider here – He continued thus, “Oh Duryodhana! All the plans look very good – But on paper! The game of gambling is something that is against “Raaja-Dharma”. Because of this, your father might object! He might be a stumbling block, preventing us from executing our plan. Bhishmachaarya and Dhronachaarya too might object. How are you going to handle these people and convince them to accept this proposal of ours?” This made Duryodhana think! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall wait till the next episode to understand how Duryodhana is going to handle these people, including King Dhridiraashtra and how he’s going to convince them for the game! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sahuni instigating an already frustrated Duryodhana even more. Indirectly, Sahuni is trying to push Duryodhana into a huge trap, which Duryodhana is not realizing due to his extreme anger. This is where we’ve to learn an important lesson – If we get angry, we would not know and understand what we’re doing. We would completely lose ourselves and our thinking ability while we’re fuming. Our mind would completely stop functioning and we would end up making extremely wrong decisions, which would take us towards our downfall. This is exactly what Duryodhana is doing here. Moreover, if we’re angry and project ourselves to be completely helpless, others would use this opportunity to drive their personal agenda and bring us down. We’ve to be very careful here. This is exactly what Sahuni is trying to do – He’s trying to use Duryodhana’s frustration and incapability to drive his vicious agenda and gain prominence. Ultimately, this is going to end up in a huge disaster, not only for Duryodhana, but also for Sahuni himself. 

We might be wondering as to why Sahuni is driving such an agenda over Duryodhana, even though we might outwardly understand that these two are very close to each other. The actual truth is slightly different here. As we know, Sahuni is the brother of Gaandhaari, who is Duryodhana’s mother. Both are from the Gaandhaara Desha (Present day Afghanistan). As Gaandhaari got married to King Dhridiraashtra, initially before the marriage ceremony and everything, she did not know that her future husband was a blind person. However, when she knew it, she also tied her eyes with a cloth and thus she equalled herself to her husband without eyesight. Now since both the husband and wife were without eyesight, the king of Gaandhaara Desha sent his son, Sahuni to be of help to Gaandhaari. Initially, Sahuni was not in favor of this marriage to happen, however, it did happen because of various pressures from various quarters. Bhishmachaarya also played a role in this marriage, and we’ve witnessed this in our earlier episodes as well. Sahuni was against marrying off his sister to a blind person. With this marriage happening, Sahuni felt that his family was completely cheated by Bhishmachaarya and Co. Hence, Sahuni was looking for various opportunities to seek revenge against Bhishmachaarya and the Hastinapura kingdom. Of course, he wasn’t very good at warfare, but he was extremely good at the gambling game. Hence, Sahuni was waiting for an opportunity to use his expertise and gain prominence in the Hastinapura kingdom. 

It was at this time, Duryodhana came to him with all his frustration! This was the golden opportunity that Sahuni was waiting for, and he grabbed it with both hands! He thus, used Duryodhana’s ignorance and anger to drive his agenda and thus gained undue popularity and power! Thus, we can understand here that Sahuni was not really a good companion to Duryodhana, although Duryodhana thought otherwise. Duryodhana did not know anything of this background story till the last moment. He only thought that Sahuni uncle was helping him all along, but little did he know that this same Sahuni uncle was only pushing him towards disaster. This is where, we’ve to be careful – If we expose ourselves to a third person and if this person has a vicious personal agenda within, we’ve to understand that we’re finished completely! This is why we always keep mentioning that we should control our mind and try to keep ourselves calm and composed at all times. The moment we become angry, we would not know what we’re doing, and finally we might end up in the hands of opportunistic people who are preying on us! Of course, it might be difficult to control anger 100%,. If we’re getting angry too, we should try to maintain our composure in such a way that we do not start exposing our ignorance to someone else. This is something that we’ve to consciously practise for our own safety and security. 

Thus moving forward, Sahuni instigates Duryodhana more and more and leads him to a situation where he is helpless to bring down Yudishtra in the legitimate way by winning over him. The only way to bring down Yudishtra is by adopting the illegal and the perverted way. What can Duryodhana do? He fell on the feet of Sahuni to help him out! Thus, Sahuni thinks for a while and is now going to propose an important strategy here. Duryodhana was eagerly waiting for Sahuni’s reply as Sahuni was trying to tally some important statistics in his mind. So for today, as Duryodhana is waiting for Sahuni’s proposal, we shall also wait along with him to understand what Sahuni is going to propose! An important accord awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana lashing out at Sahuni and the others upon learning Yudishtra’s meteoric rise in such a short span of time. Duryodhana somehow wants to regain the “lost” portion of the Hastinapura kingdom and sits down to discuss with his uncle, Sahuni, the ways and means of achieving that. However, initially to Duryodhana’s dismay, Sahuni tries to demotivate Duryodhana even more by discouraging him to go for this pursuit. This infuriates Duryodhana even more and thus, Duryodhana bursts out in anger. He’s now ready to try any means to bring Yudishtra down – Both legal and illegal. This is what Sahuni was waiting for. By initially discouraging Duryodhana and infuriating him, Sahuni wanted Duryodhana to go to that extent of doing illegal things which are against the “Raaja-Dharma”. This is what Bhagawan Krishna is going to explain in detail, under the title called “Asura-Svabhaavam”. In the sixteenth chapter of the Bhagawad Gita, Bhagawan Krishna clearly explains how people would go about abducting others’ wealth, bringing about others’ downfall through illegal ways and means, etc. which are grossly against what the Vedas and Upanishads explain in our Sanaatana Dharma. Bhagawan Krishna explains that if a person doesn’t agree to the fact that whatever the Vedas teach is “Dharma”, and if the person comes to the conclusion that whatever he / she does is “Dharma”, accounts to the “Asura-Svabhaavam”. 

Many of us have this problem today as well. It is not only Duryodhana who did this. Duryodhana was just an example of someone who had the “Asura-Svabhaavam”, however, many of us have this tendency deep within us in some form or the other. For instance, how many of us would like to be ill-treated by others and not open our mouths to oppose such things? If we’re abused by someone, immediately our ego would rise up and we would only tend to give it back with interest to the person who is abusing us, isn’t it? If we’re doing this, it simply means that the “I” / “Me” attitude within us is overpowering us. This is exactly what Duryodhana is doing here too – He has a clear-cut plan in his mind as he talks this to Sahuni. He knows that no wars can now stop Yudishtra from rising further up. This is exactly where Sahuni tries to capitalise! Now what Sahuni is going to say is very interesting and is going to teach us an important lesson here. Sahuni says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Why are you having the grudge that everybody is against you? I’m there with you, isn’t it? Why do you worry that Bhagawan Krishna is siding towards the Paandavas? Just like how Bhagawan Krishna is helping Yudishtra, I’m by your side to help you out! I know how to protect you, just like how Bhagawan Krishna is trying to protect the Paandavas. Moreover, you have your best friend, Karna by your side. We can pull Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya towards our side easily and make them fight for you. All of us know the strength of Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya, don’t we? If both of them stand against the Paandavas, even Arjuna cannot take them down!” 

As Sahuni explains to Duryodhana thus, he continues further: “Oh Duryodhana! Even though we might have all these people by our side, I really doubt whether we can still win a war against the likes of Arjuna, Bhagawan Krishna, Bheemasena, etc. If we go into a war, there is no guarantee of a victory. Anything might happen at any point in time! Even if we manage to win the war, this might only trigger more wars with them and they might emerge stronger than us at some point. Hence, going for a war and claiming Indraprastha is not a permanent solution to this problem. Hence, we’ve to think of another way to capture them!” Now this is where, Sahuni lays the trap for Duryodhana. If we analyze this reply of Sahuni carefully, we might slowly understand that Sahuni is not trying to help Duryodhana come out of the problem. He is only trying to push Duryodhana deeper into the route to destruction. For instance, if we have a fever and when we go to a doctor for treatment, what should the doctor do? He / she should ideally give some medicines to cure the fever. Instead, if the doctor says that we should go back and eat ten cups of ice-cream, have a cold water shower, switch on the air conditioner and sleep, what is the doctor trying to do here? Is the doctor trying to cure the fever, or is he trying to amplify the problem? This is exactly what Sahuni is doing to Duryodhana. Rather than suggesting a medication for the cure, Sahuni is trying to amplify the problem further and thus, trying to push Duryodhana into a vicious trap! 

We might wonder why Sahuni is doing such things to Duryodhana? Is he doing this intentionally or unintentionally? There is an important thing that we’ve to understand behind Sahuni’s such actions. Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana getting jealous and furious upon witnessing Yudishtra’s skyscraper growth within such a short span of time. As he looked around the Indraprastha palace, Duryodhana was awestruck on one hand as Mayan had done an excellent job in terms of the construction. Whereas, on the other hand, Duryodhana was completely taken aback with Yudishtra’s name and fame, as he had just obtained the title of “Chakravarthy” (A great king) post the “Raaja-Suya-Yaaga”. Also, with the magnificent palace, Duryodhana’s ego took a great hit! He fumed amidst his brothers and rushed back to Hastinapura, only to come across Sahuni first, who added fuel to Duryodhana’s fire of ego. Sahuni instigated him further by saying that things have completely gone out of hand after the Raaja-Suya Yaaga, and that, even if Duryodhana thinks of doing such a grand event, he might not be able to match the level to which Yudishtra achieved. All these words infuriated Duryodhana even further as he burst out loudly on Sahuni. He went to the extent of abusing Sahuni of taking the side of the Paandavas, after Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya. 

Moving ahead, Duryodhana continues further thus: “Oh Sahuni uncle! I also know that it is now too late to capture the Paandavas through the means of war or any sorts of direct confrontation. I also know the fact that Bhagawan Vaasudeva Krishna is by their side and until He is there by the side of Yudishtra, there is no chance of taking them head-on. My question is very simple and straightforward to you – Taking them down through legal means is now next to impossible. Can we try some illegal ways and means of taking them down? Can we create a ploy in such a way that Yudishtra might fall into our trap and we can capture him? Can we do something that Yudishtra might not expect us to do, so that he would fall down? Oh uncle! I know that you’re too good at constructing such traps and ploys and that’s why I’m asking you!”

Saying thus, Duryodhana was point-blank and straightaway hit the bull’s eye for the first time ever. Till now, he was secretly and indirectly creating plots to kill the Paandava brothers, isn’t it? Now, things have nosedived southwards for him and he decided to take them on without any blemish. Hearing Duryodhana’s question, Sahuni replies thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Do you even know what you’re talking about? Your father had already allocated that “Kaandava-Prastha” officially to Yudishtra, isn’t it? Now that it has been officially given to him and that he has proved himself to be a great king, how on earth are you going to get it back?” For this, Duryodhana again burst out in anger thus, “Oh Sahuni uncle! This is exactly what I’m saying – I somehow want that portion of the kingdom back. I do not want Yudishtra to enjoy even a single inch of land from the Hastinapura kingdom. The entire kingdom should be owned only by me. I know that my father had foolishly given that portion of the kingdom to Yudishtra. Now I want it back. Suggest some ways and means of how to get it back!” 

As Duryodhana explains thus, Sahuni again instigates him further – “Oh Duryodhana! Isn’t it “Adharma” that you’re trying to abduct someone else’s property? Your father has officially given it to Yudishtra and from that moment, the Indraprastha kingdom is rightfully Yudishtra’s, isn’t it? How can you take it back? Is it right on your part?” Hearing this, Duryodhana fumes further – “Oh Sahuni uncle! I don’t care about what is “Dharma” and “Adharma”. Please do not try to teach me all these lessons! I’ve heard about all this enough and more in my life till now! If I keep following “Dharma”, I’m never going to be successful in my life. The only way to succeed is via the “Adharma” route! Hence, whatever I do is “Dharma” according to me! I don’t really care what others might think!” 

Basically, this is the problem with many of us today too – whenever we’re fuming with anger, we might not be able to differentiate between what is good and what is bad. This is exactly the pit where Duryodhana is also falling into! This is why we always keep explaining that we should try and maintain our demeanour at all times. We should keep ourselves calm and composed, no matter whatever problems come through. The moment we get angry, our brain stops functioning, and we end up making wrong decisions, which might prove to be disastrous at a later stage. This is exactly what Duryodhana is doing here – Because of his anger and frustration, Duryodhana is making a blunder for himself here, which is going to backfire at him very badly at a later stage, and we’re going to see how. 

So for today, let us understand this point very clearly – Anger and frustration would let us down and prevent us from making the right decision at the right time. We should at all times try to control our anger and look at the problem holistically. We shall wait till the next episode to continue with what Duryodhana did next! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on giving priority towards our “Atman” rather than our “Deham”. In that way, we witnessed an important point yesterday as to why people today enter into a state of mental depression quite easily. Often we see many people taking anti-depressant tablets and special medications to come out of mental depression. However, what we fail to understand here is that, if we give equal or more importance to our “Atman”, automatically the chances of getting into such unwanted states of mind would drastically be cut down. When we say that we’ve to give importance to “Atman”, it simply means that we’ve to follow the path of “Dharma” as much as possible, along with some routine spiritual practices that would take care of our mental health. This is exactly what Yudishtra did here. We’re going to witness from now, how many intense problems tried thwarting Yudishtra into pieces, but yet, he remained strong and steadfast in his “Dharma”, which ultimately pulled him out of all the hardships that he had to undergo. So let us learn the right lessons from Yudishtra’s life and let us slowly try and implement them in whatever capacity we can in our daily lives. 

With this, we shall move on with the Mahabharata storyline as to what happened next. We shall now get back to the scene where Duryodhana along with his brothers and Sahuni are still at Indraprastha after the “Raaja-Suya Yaaga”. Now these people are going around the mighty Indraprastha palace and are awestruck! This is where we’ve left the story in our previous episodes, and in the meanwhile, Yudishtra is taking all these “Shabadhams” as Sage Vyaasa visits him. We’ve already seen how Duryodhana was insulted by the people in the Indraprastha palace, including Draupati for keeping a wrong foot inside a pond of water, wherein it seemed as if there’s no water at all! Moreover, during the “Raaja-Suya Yaaga”, Duryodhana saw in front of his two eyes that Yudishtra had received so many gift items in the form of wealth, gold, cows, etc. Also, we should remember that Duryodhana had earlier reluctantly handed over this piece of land (“Kaandava-Prastham”) to Yudishtra and the Paandavas. All these thoughts triggered Duryodhana and ignited a tsunami of anger and frustration within him. 

Looking at his brothers, Duryodhana fumed angrily thus, “Oh Duchhaasana and Co.! Look at the name and fame this Yudishtra has obtained out of the “Raaja-Suya-Yaaga” that he had done! Look at all the gifts that he has obtained! Moreover, look at the way in which this palace has been built! This is not even comparable to what we have at Hastinapura, isn’t it? I never expected Yudishtra to rise to such high levels of name and fame, and if this continues, he would outsmart all of us in no time! If such a thing happens in future, all of us would have to become his slaves at one point. I would never allow this to happen! Afterall who is Yudishtra? What is his background? He is an orphan left alone by his deceased father! How on earth can he gain so much power within such a short time? This is why I repeatedly confronted my father not to listen to Bhishmachaarya’s words and partition the kingdom. Now who will answer my fate in future if this Yudishtra is going level after level upwards? We’ve to somehow make a plan and stop Yudishtra’s multitudinal growth story immediately!” 

Fuming angrily thus, Duryodhana storms into his Hastinapura palace and sits down with Sahuni. All of us know that Sahuni is Gaandhaari’s brother, which means that he is Duryodhana’s uncle. Upon seeing Duryodhana fuming with anger, Sahuni asked him what had happened. Duryodhana replies to Sahuni thus, “Oh uncle! I had been to the Raaja-Suya-Yaaga of Yudishtra! It was performed on such a grand scale, which nobody on this earth could even think of! Yudishtra’s fame and name is rising by the moment!” Saying thus, Duryodhana stopped. Shrewd and smart as he was, Sahuni now used this opportunity to ignite Duryodhana more! He replied to Duryodhana in an irritating manner thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Looks like Yudishtra is slowly becoming unstoppable, isn’t it? Looks like you wouldn’t be able to even stand in front of Yudishtra even for a single moment, isn’t it? Looks like you’re never going to do a similar Raaja-Suya Yaaga in your entire life as Yudishtra performed, isn’t it? Moreover, Bhagawan Krishna is on his side, along with all the powerful people like King Drupada and the others. Also, all the sages are in favor of Yudishtra these days! Even our own Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronaachaarya are slowly getting into Yudishtra’s fold as per my observation. Hence, Duryodhana! I suppose things have become too late now! Things have gone out of our hands and we can never reverse the situation in our favor! Thus, I feel that it’s better if we close our mouths and sit in a corner and just clap our hands in appreciation for Yudishtra’s success! Isn’t it?”

These words from Sahuni infuriated Duryodhana even more! Already he was fuming with anger, and with these irritating words from Sahuni, Duryodhana burst out in huge frustration! In fact, Duryodhana became angry on Sahuni and scolded him for his words thus, “Oh uncle! You were the only person whom I had enormous trust upon! Today you’ve also broken my trust! Why are you talking in favor of Yudishtra? If Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya talk in favor of him, I can understand. But what bothers you? I’ve tried all the ways and means to overthrow Yudishtra and Co. I’ve tried pushing them into the “Laaksha Griha”, but they somehow escaped out of it. I’ve waged open wars with them, but in vain! Going and confronting them directly is of no use! I’ve to think of some other ways of destroying them! Please give me some ideas!” 

These were the words that Sahuni was waiting to come out of Duryodhana’s mouth! With this outburst, Duryodhana right royally fell into Sahuni’s trap! Now what was that trap into which Duryodhana fell into? Let us wait till the next episode to understand! Stay tuned! 🙂