Krishnavatara VII: The Book of Yudhishthira Read online

  During this period, they came—the residents of Girivraja as well as of the neighbouring areas—to have a darshan of Krishna with such presents as they could afford and to see the great hero who had killed the invincible tyrant. The Srotriyas, most of whom were in hiding or had crossed over to Kashi or Videha (Mithila), came to offer blessings, to Krishna and to the great Bhima, Arjuna and Sahadeva (son of Jarasandha).

  7. BHIMA PLANS A DIGVIJAYA

  Sahadeva and his sons promised to attend the Rajasuya at Indraprastha. Meghasandhi, who carried the rich presents which Sahadeva had made to Yudhishthira, accompanied Krishna and the two Brothers all the way to Indraprastha.

  The three leaders, Udhava and the maharathis rode in chariots. The Rajanyas rode in chariots or vehicles drawn by bullocks. The mulls travelled on foot or in bullock-carts with their families. It looked like the triumphant procession of a victorious army.

  The great news of the defeat and death of Jarasandha, considered immortal so far, and the release of the ninety-eight Rajanyas, carried from mouth to mouth, attracted crowds by the road-sides to receive a darshan from the heroes.

  Susharma, King of Kashi and the brother-in-law of Bhima, and Drupad, the King of Panchala and the father of Draupadi, gave a royal welcome to the heroes on their way to Indraprastha. Dhrishtadhyumna, the Crown Prince of Panchala, joined them in their journey to Indraprastha.

  The crowds gathered on the out-skirts of Indraprastha to give a tumultuous welcome to the heroes. Tears were in Yudhishthira’s eyes when Krishna fell at his feet. Krishna had secured for him imperial status without a military conflict.

  The Master was also present. As soon as the news of the great victory reached Yudhishthira, he had invited the Sage to grace the occasion of the return of the heroes.

  When the Master returned to Dhaumya’s ashram, he was lost in thought. Human sacrifice was the grossest of all sins, the most offensive in the eyes of the sages. The thought that Jarasandha was going to perform the human sacrifice of a hundred Rajanyas had caused him anxious days and nights. At one time he had thought of going to Jarasandha himself and courting death at his hands, but the Gods had not consented to his desire. The Lord Surya (the Sun God) had given a mandate that he should go in search of a proper person who would prevent the human sacrifice.

  For the last two years, the Master had been seriously concerned at the failure of the Kuru House to give forth a potential Chakravarti. He had prayed again and again to send a Sasvat-dharma-gupta, a defender of eternal dharma who would provide a structure of power to uphold the dharma which he had built.

  The Master had already been deeply impressed with Krishna’s personality; with his graceful body; with that face of his which could smile, frown or inspire with marvellous effect; with his eloquence; with his unerring judgment of men and situations; with his resourcefulness ready to meet every crisis; and, above all, his passionate faith in dharma.

  When he received the news of Jarasandha’s death and the release of the Rajanyas, the Master had instinctively sensed that Krishna had become the architect of a new age for Aryas.

  Even in his eyes, Krishna was a god. He had thwarted the attempt of Jarasandha to hold a human sacrifice, as Lord Varuna—the mightiest of Gods—had done ages ago when Shunahshepa was being offered as a sacrifice by King Harischandra.

  When Krishna prostrated himself before him, the Master, departing from his usual manner of blessing, lifted Krishna in his arms, as if putting a seal on the gift given to him by the Lord Surya (the Sun God). The Master had been in search of a Sasvat-dharma-gupta. The search had ended; he had come.

  Three days later, the Five Brothers, Krishna, Uddhava and Satyaki, Dhrishtadhyumna and also the Master and the royal preceptor, Dhaumya, met to take stock of the situation.

  ‘Now, what shall we do next?’ asked Yudhishthira.

  Bhima’s exuberance knew no bounds. ‘You need not worry, Eldest. Everything that was required to be done has already been done. We have not wasted the three weeks we spent in travelling from Girivraja to Indraprastha’.

  ‘What have you decided?’ asked Yudhishthira.

  ‘The revered Drupad of Panchala has sent Dhrishtadhyumna to help us. Susharma of Kashi, Sahadeva of Magadha, and Shalya of Madra are already preparing a contingent each to form part of our army. Krishna has also agreed to bring select chariot-warriors,’ replied Bhima.

  ‘Why do you want such a powerful force for peace?’ asked Yudhishthira. ‘I do not relish the amassing of such military might. It might provoke war.’

  ‘In a fortnight’s time, we will succeed in gathering two hundred maharathis and twenty atirathis at least,’ said Bhima. His eyes twinkled merrily, he rubbed his hands as if congratulating himself. ‘I forgot to tell you that a small contingent of Rakshasas is also coming’.

  Everyone, except the Master was shocked.

  ‘Rakshasas!’ exclaimed Yudhishthira.

  ‘Yes, led by my son Ghatotkacha’.

  Bhima had a broad smile on his face. He said: ‘You will find his face rather fearful to look at, but he has a very kind heart. Every year he sends me word that he would like to come and pay his respects to me.’

  ‘Ghatotkacha! What will he do?’ asked Yudhishthira stunned.

  ‘He will deal with those Rakshasa enemies of ours’, replied Bhima.

  ‘But his people are cannibals. They will pollute the sacred fire.’ Yudhishthira shook his head in despair at his brother’s impossible plans.

  ‘I have conveyed to his mother that neither Ghatotkacha nor his warriors must touch human flesh or pollute the sacred fire. Ghatotkacha has sent a reply: “I obey, father”’.

  Then Bhima burst out laughing, looking at the Master mischievously. He continued: ‘The venerable Master also knows him well. When I kidnapped him, the Master mothered him.’[8]

  The Master burst into a fit of laughter. Others joined him.

  Bhima continued: ‘Ghatotkacha has such a good nature, that, I am sure, Eldest, when you meet him, you will fall in love with him’. Then he laughed mischievously and added: ‘He is so much better than myself.’

  ‘But I am very much worried, Bhima. What does all this force which you have collected mean?’

  ‘It is going to be a Digvijaya, a conquest of the world’, said Bhima. ‘I have not killed Jarasandha in order to suffer defeat at the hands of his henchmen. Don’t forget that Sishupal, Dantavaktra and Shalva—all friends of Duryodhana’s—are our determined enemies, Jarasandha or no Jarasandha. I want to gather sufficient military strength to prevent them from threatening our Indraprastha’.

  ‘Please, please, Bhima, don’t prepare for war,’ pleaded Yudhishthira.

  ‘What am I but a kshatriya?’ urged Bhima. ‘I live by kshaatra-dharma.’ He paused and continued: ‘If you don’t prepare for war, you will have no peace.’

  ‘Bhima, please listen to me. Our Rajasuya does not mean conquest. Thanks to you, we have secured the triumph of dharma without shedding blood,’ said Yudhishthira.

  ‘We shed any amount of blood. When Jarasandha was torn to pieces, torrents of blood came from him,’ said Bhima, laughing. He then added in a serious tone: ‘Dharma requires that those who stand for evil must be destroyed to let righteous living triumph’. He paused for a moment and continued in a mocking voice: ‘I know what you want, Eldest. What you want is peace.—peace at any price, even if you have to give up Indraprastha to Duryodhana, and us too!’

  ‘Don’t be harsh’, interjected Yudhishthira with a conciliatory smile, which, however, made no impression on Bhima.

  ‘Harsh!’ exclaimed Bhima contemptuously. ‘My tongue is not a slave to untruth; it is the weapon of truth,’ he spoke in a serious tone, his face flushed. ‘And I tell you that there is going to be no peace for us till Duryodhana is destroyed—destroyed by us or by his wicked actions—and till Shakuni, the viper, is wiped out of existence. If they force a war on us, I propose to win it, whatever it costs.’

  ‘Be patient, Bhima, and listen to me’, sai
d Yudhishthira, with an indulgent smile. ‘Do you know what a fratricidal war will cost?’

  Bhima’s eyes were blazing. He stood up. ‘And do you realize what submissions to Duryodhana means?’

  Yudhishthira became paternal. ‘Bhima, don’t be angry. If you harbour anger, how can we make friends with the sons of our uncle Dhritarashtra? Sit down and listen to me. Is it not our duty to cement family ties, to invite our cousins in a manner befitting their status? They may be wicked, but we will conquer their wickedness by our righteousness’.

  Bhima said sarcastically: ‘Why not send a special invitation to Shakuni? As our arch enemy, he deserves the honour.’

  ‘I propose to do so,’ replied Yudhishthira. ‘Perhaps if he comes here and sees the love we bear to Duryodhana, he may change.’

  ‘You have always been kind to our enemies, but never to your friends,’ said Bhima sarcastically.

  ‘Don’t be angry, Bhima,’ said Yudhishthira. ‘After the tremendous success which you have achieved, he will see the futility of his efforts to destroy us.’

  ‘He won’t be won over; he will not appreciate our invitation. He will never be able to see the strength and prosperity we have built up without trying to find ways to filch them.’

  Krishna intervened. ‘King Vrikodara, please sit down. Have patience with us. The Eldest only wants an opportunity to win over Shakuni and Duryodhana by a righteous approach. You know that for his righteous ways, they call him Dharmaputra”’. He paused.

  Bhima looked at Krishna contemptuously. ‘Krishna, you also have lost your sanity,’ he said.

  ‘I entirely agree with you, Bhima. Nothing that the Eldest does is going to tame Shakuni’s ill-will’, said Krishna.

  ‘You know what Shakuni is, Krishna,’ said Bhima. ‘He is all poison; if you squeeze him dry, you will get enough poison to drown the world. What has he not done to destroy us?’

  Bhima poured forth the bitterness of his heart.

  ‘They tried to drown me when I was a boy. They tried to burn us alive in Varanavata. We had to spend years of our unhappy lives in the forest to escape their murderous designs. They have deprived the Eldest of the throne of our ancestors.’

  Bhima paused, and raising his fore-finger in warning, added: ‘Listen, Eldest. They are out to destroy us. They want our Indraprastha, not by force because they cannot win it, but by guile’. He was silent for a while.

  ‘My beloved brother,’ said Yudhishthira. ‘What they may do is irrelevant; what is important is to see what we can do to them. We will send a special invitation to Shakuni’. He paused for a while and added; ‘Don’t forget that Duryodhana also has a grievance; but for the fact that his father was born blind, he would have succeeded to the throne of the Kurus.’

  Bhima snorted like an angry war-horse and said: ‘I am not going to sit idle. I am going to fight for our existence, for your kingship, for the heritage of our children, for the happy world that we have created here, and for kshaatra-dharma, which we uphold.’ He took a long breath and added: ‘My path I have chosen. I have enough warriors to overwhelm Hastinapura if necessary.’

  Yudhishthira tried to interrupt, but an angry gesture, Bhima asked him not to do so. Then he continued: ‘I have already begun to mobilize the contingents; we will have a Digvijaya whether you like it or not. And I swear by my sacred thread that I will wipe out Duryodhana, Shakuni and all their friends, if they come in our way.’ Announcing this decision, Bhima thundered out of the room.

  Yudhishthira perceived that his other brothers too were for Bhima’s way of doing things. He also felt that he had done a great injustice to Bhima, who loved him so much; he was so brave, so loving so considerate; there would be no parting of the ways between them.

  The Master, who had sat silent so far, intervened. Turning to Krishna, he said: ‘Noble Vaasudeva, go and tell him that the Eldest leaves the whole Digvijaya campaign to him. He has his blessings too’.

  8. A STRANGE ARRIVAL

  After all the plans were finalized, Krishna went back to Dwaraka to give the glad tidings to the Yadavas that the Emperor Jarasandha was no more.

  With the elimination of Jarasandha, the balance of power was completely altered. Those who had looked to him for support felt helpless.

  The Five Brothers emerged as a strong, unchallengeable power in Aryavarta. They were closely allied to the Kings of Panchala, Kashi and Madra and the Yadavas of Dwaraka.

  The Master, worshipped as the source of dharma, had blessed them. Above all, the active leadership of Krishna, who had acquired a divine status in the popular mind, had given the Brothers a reputation for being invincible.

  The Four Brothers with their respective contingents, proceeded to give Yudhishthira’s greetings to the kings and invite them to attend the Rajasuya. If the invitation was received in a spirit of friendliness, the presents given to Yudhishthira were accepted. If, however, there was hesitation in responding to the invitation, the contingent’s presence played a decisive role.

  Most of the kings welcomed Yudhishthira’s friendship. A few had to be fought and subdued before they would do so. A small number of kings like Dantavaktra of Karush and Bhagadatta of Pragjyotish, accepted Yudhishthira’s hand of friendship only after they had suffered heavily in battle.

  Yudhishthira’s fears of a conflict with the kings disappeared. He was happy that the Rajasuya would be performed in an atmosphere of cordiality, strengthening the rule of dharma.

  He had concentrated all his energy on inducing people to take to righteous living. He was fair, just, generous and charitable; he had active sympathy for the poor and the afflicted.

  His righteous rule was reflected in the material prosperity of the kingdom. There was no drought and there were no floods. The rains came plentifully and the earth yielded abundant crops. Learning flourished. The cow, the mother of plenty, and the woman, the mother of men, were protected. Yudhishthira, came to be called, at first, Dharmaputra, the son of Dharma, and later Dharmaraja, Dharma incarnate.

  The disciples of the Master carried his blessing to the Acharyas of the different ashrams, inviting them to attend the Rajasuya. The great Master himself was going to preside over the ritual as Brahmaa; nothing would, they felt, be more appropriate.

  The Acharyas who specialized in Shrauta doctrine and ceremonies were full of enthusiasm; most of their difficulties would be solved by the Master during the Rajasuya.

  Maya, the Asura—who had once lived in the Khandava forest, and when it was burnt down, surrendered himself to Krishna—was, under his saviour’s advice, building a Sabha for Yudhishthira, such as had never been seen before in any of the three worlds.

  The four Brothers began to arrive from their respective tours bringing presents of gold and silver, cows, elephants and horses from friendly kings.

  Arjuna, with his contingent, had penetrated deep into the Himalayan regions right to Mansarovar in the north. Nakula in his tour in the west received tributes from even the Mlechha kings living on the shores of the sea.

  Bhima’s Digvijaya campaign in the east was very successful. His greatest achievement was to win the friendship of Sishupal of Chedi, who had been a loyal ally of Jarasandha and was now in search of an alliance which would make him more powerful than before.

  Bhima soon found a way to win the good graces of Sishupal. Repeatedly he said: ‘We are cousins, noble Sishupal. Venerable Shrutasravaa, your mother, and my mother, Kunti, who are sisters, would be happy to see us friends.’

  Sishupal hoped that by cultivating the friendship of the Five Brothers, he would win them over to his side against his inveterate enemy, Krishna. At the Rajasuya, he would be the most formidable guest and would use the occasion for securing great power.

  When Sahadeva returned from his tour in the south, as was usual, the Srotriyas, the Rajanyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, gathered to welcome the conquering hero.

  But they gasped at seeing a strange fearful creature seated next to Sahadeva in the chariot. Dark as ebony, the young man-moun
tain had a wide mouth, powerful jaws from which two canine teeth protruded, a copper-coloured sparse beard and a huge hairless head which was covered by a diadem of gold. He carried a wooden club, fitted with rings, armlets, necklaces and a waist-band of gold, and had painted himself with vermillion.

  As he jumped out of the chariot, his glance roamed over those gathered to welcome Sahadeva, to find his father. His father had left his mother when he was a child, but she had given him a vivid description of the formidable King Vrikodara who had won her love.

  His gaze fastened on Bhima; he appeared to be the only person there whom his mother’s description would fit. Ignorant as he was of the Arya ceremonial way of receiving honoured guests, even though Srotriyas were still offering welcome to Sahadeva by chanting mantras with copper pots in their hands, he like a mad bull, charged forward and fell at Bhima’s feet shouting: ‘Father, father,’ and lifted one of his (Bhima’s) feet and placed it on his own head.

  Everyone was frightened to see this strange creature behaving so unceremoniously. Arjuna took his bow from his shoulder and got ready to let fly an arrow if he showed any murderous intentions.

  Bhima lifted the monster from the ground and folded him in his arms.

  ‘Father,’ said Ghatotkacha in Rakshasi language.

  ‘How did you recognize me?’ asked Bhima in the same speech.

  ‘You are just as mother described. And she asked me to greet you by placing your foot on my head.’

  Bhima said: ‘Ghatotkacha, fall at the feet of the Eldest,’ pointing to Yudhishthira.

  Ghatotkacha could not help muttering: ‘Mother asked me to fall at your feet only. He is so small’.

  ‘First fall at the feet of the Eldest’, Bhima said peremptorily. Ghatotkacha shrugged his shoulders. ‘All right, I will do it,’ he muttered.

  There was a hush. People parted to make way bending low with folded hands. Bhima grasped one of Ghatotkacha’s arms and told him to fold his hands.