Krishnavatara VII: The Book of Yudhishthira Page 9

  He chanted the invocation to Peace in a low voice:

  ‘The heaven is at peace; so is the sky;

  May that peace be mine.

  The earth is at peace; the waters and the grasses are at peace;

  May that peace be mine.

  The WORD is peace; all the Gods are peace;

  May that peace be mine.

  May that peace be mine; and with that peace

  I will give peace to men and beasts.

  May that peace be mine.

  Peace, peace, peace.’ (shanti, shanti, shanti).

  ‘It is all a mockery’, Yudhishthira thought. ‘How can peace be mine? I cannot get peace unless the hate in the hearts of Duryodhana and my brothers is conquered. How can I falsify the Master’s prophecy. Oh Gods! Is there no way out?’

  In his mind there was a flash of lightning. ‘The root cause of the war is the heritage. If I want to falsify the prophecy, I must get rid of it.’

  * * *

  It was the year when Draupadi was living with the Eldest.

  She observed that her husband was often restless, lost in thought or absent-minded. Evidently, the failure of the Rajasuya to bring peace weighed heavily on him. The alignment of the Rajanyas for and against the Five Brothers also, she sensed, had left a bleeding wound in his heart.

  All the other members of the family were jubilant over the way Sishupal had been dealt with by Krishna. The insults which the prince of Chedi had hurled at the venerable Grandfather had deserved this fate. But she saw that Yudhishthira avoided talking about it. He was thinking of how to falsify the Master’s prophecy.

  Unexpectedly the two rathis came to announce the arrival of uncle Vidura, the principal Minister at Hastinapura.

  Uncle Vidura had a privileged position in Hastinapura. Like Dhritarashtra and Pandu, he was begotten by the Master but on the palace maid who substituted one of the Kashi princesses when Niyoga was performed. He was brought up with Dhritarasthra and a close bond of affection had sprung up between the blind prince and his step brother.

  From his mother, Vidura had inherited a homely face, a blunt nose and a squat figure. From his father, he had inherited good nature and moral integrity. Since boyhood, Vidura had been wise and considerate, devoted to dharma and solicitous of the welfare of the Kuru family.

  As he grew up, he became an adept in statecraft and an authority in Nitishashtra, the science of human behaviour and he was accepted as the principal Minister of Hastinapura.

  With his uncanny gift of seeing another man’s point of view; he earned the respect and confidence of everyone in the royal family other than Duryodhana and his brothers.

  He had supported Grandfather Bhishma when Pandu’s sons had been accepted into the family. By their likeable ways and inherent goodness, the Five Brothers had won his affection; in return they looked upon him as a father.

  Vidura tried his best to make friends with Duryodhana and his brothers but they rejected his advances. They looked upon him with contempt; after all, he was the son of a palace maid. They considered that his influence over their father was responsible for his partiality for the Five Brothers. Shakuni, the brain behind Duryodhana’s coterie, had found in him a formidable enemy. He could see through in him their manoeuvres, and his influence over the Grandfather and the venerable Mother was immense. He was a life-long friend to Dhritarasthra and also bore a certain influence over him, but Dhritarasthra was easily swayed by his love for his son, Duryodhana, who played upon his weakness.

  Uncle Vidura’s unexpected return to Indraprastha forebode a coming calamity.

  The Five Brothers gave him an affectionate welcome. Vidura embraced the Five Brothers, prostrated himself before Mother Kunti and had a cheerful smile for the other members of the family.

  After he had partaken of a meal, when the Five Brothers, Mother Kunti and Draupadi met Vidura, his smile had disappeared and his eyes were heavy with anxiety.

  ‘Uncle, what gives us the pleasure of your company?’, asked Yudhishthira of Vidura.

  ‘To deliver a message which I am sorry to bring,’ said Vidura. He looked sadly at the loving family which was soon going to be overwhelmed by calamity.

  ‘What is it? Let us have it,’ said Bhima, who was prepared to face any calamity.

  The noble King, your uncle, invites you to Hastinapura.’

  Everyone was surprised. Bhima opened his eyes wide and asked: ‘Why?’

  Vidura heaved a sigh. ‘It is difficult for me to put it into words,’ he said with feeling.

  ‘Tell us the reason, Uncle,’ asked Bhima. ‘We are sufficiently seasoned. ‘This is not the first time an inauspicious move comes from Hastinapura.’

  ‘In imitation of Maya’s Sabha built for you, Duryodhana has had a similar Sabha constructed at Jayant and he wants you to visit it.’

  ‘Duryodhana does not send uncle Vidura to give us an invitation to see the Sabha. There is something more’, Bhima impatiently remarked.

  Uncle Vidura said: ‘Duryodhana invites you to the Royal game of dice—in effect, sends you a challenge to play it.’

  The Royal game of dice!’ exclaimed Yudhishthira.

  Bhima’s face was flushed; Arjuna frowned; Draupadi’s eyes flashed in anger.

  ‘The Eldest is not an adept at the game and we play it indifferently. It is unfair to challenge us,’ said Arjuna.

  ‘We refuse to go to Hastinapura to play the game. It is Shakuni, the cheat, who has discovered this way of winning our wealth’, said Bhima.

  ‘Yudhishthira, my son, what have you to say?’ asked uncle Vidura.

  13. A CHALLENGE TO THE MASTER’S PREDICTION

  Yudhishthira was lost in thought. ‘The Master’s prediction is coming true,’ he said to himself.

  Everyone expected him to speak. He asked: ‘Uncle, what is the purpose of this invitation? They were with us for months when the Rajasuya was performed. Why are we invited now?’

  Uncle Vidura shook his head in despair. Bhima said: ‘It is a device to filch Indraprastha from us’.

  ‘Or,’ Sahadeva interrupted, ‘to get us to decline the invitation to the royal game of dice and expose us to the ridicule of the Rajanyas.’

  ‘There must be some motive behind this move. What is it, uncle Vidura?’ asked Draupadi.

  ‘It is a sorry tale,’ uncle Vidura said. ‘The Eldest placed him in charge of the royal presents at the Rajasuya and he was amazed at your riches. He wants to rob you of them’.

  ‘Seeing our prosperity, he became blind like his father’, Draupadi said cuttingly.

  ‘On his return to Hastinapura, he raised a storm, gave up food, and threatened to court death unless your riches became his’, said uncle Vidura. ‘We tried our best to cure him of his malady but failed. He was like one gone mad. I remonstrated with him. I said to him: “You have been given Hastinapura as you desired. What more do you want?” As usual he abused me for being your partisan. His reply was: “The Five Brothers are not entitled to the riches which they have gathered at Indraprastha. They are all mine – my patrimony. Have not the old canons laid down that the wealth acquired by younger members of the family belongs to the head of the family - the father?’”

  ‘Did I not tell you, brother,’ said Bhima to Yudhishthira, ‘that Duryodhana would not allow us to live in peace in Indraprastha?’

  Turning to uncle Vidura, Mother Kunti asked: 'What is the view of the venerable Grandfather?'

  ‘The Grandfather refused to listen to Duryodhana’s unreasonable demands and so did the king at first. But the king, as you know, is very weak and in spite of my advice could not bear to see his son unhappy. He began by calling Duryodhana petulant and ended by accepting the means devised by the wicked Shakuni.’

  ‘Those must be something really wicked’, said Bhima.

  ‘Yes, it was Shakuni who suggested to him that you should be invited to the royal game; he can then play on Duryodhana’s behalf'. He added: 'He was sure that you would not have the courage to reject the noble king
’s invitation. And with the cheating Shakuni playing against you, you are sure to lose the game.’

  ‘Why need we accept the invitation?’ asked Draupadi.

  ‘If you decline the invitation, Duryodhana will denounce the Eldest as a coward and a disgrace to the kshaatra tradition. He will put you to shame and call in question your right to hold the Rajasuya’.

  ‘I don't care what Duryodhana calls us,’ said Bhima and added emphatically, ‘I refuse to accept the invitation, whatever the consequences. Our reputation is firmly based on our heroic exploits.’

  ‘Don’t be in a hurry, Bhima,’ said uncle Vidura. ‘Duryodhana will not rest content with calling the Eldest a coward. He will summon his friends and your enemies, Dantavaktra and others, to help him to capture Indraprastha.’

  ‘He wants to force us to go to war. We are ready to do so,’ said Bhima.

  ‘It is not easy, my son’, said Vidura. ‘Your friends have recently returned home and would find it difficult to come back so soon to your help. Krishna’s hands are full with the war with Shalva and the Yadavas are fighting for their lives. This would be the right opportunity for Duryodhana to overwhelm you’.

  ‘He never will, Uncle,’ said Bhima.

  ‘But you know the value of the Rajanyas attach to the royal game of dice. They do not call it gambling—which it really is. If you don’t accept the challenge, it will undermine your status as a Rajanya’, said uncle Vidura. ‘And other Rajanyas would hold you guilty of provoking a meaningless war - a war which would have been avoided by playing the game of dice.

  Everybody was silent, overweighed with their thoughts.

  ‘We must not come to a decision in haste,’ said the Eldest. ‘Let us think over the matter for two days’.

  ‘By all means take your time, Yudhishthira,’ said uncle Vidura.

  ‘What is there to be thought about? It is an invitation to cut our throats’, said Bhima vehemently. ‘We refuse to accept the invitation’.

  The whole night Yudhishthira’s mind was enveloped in darkness. He was struggling to bring peace, but there was no possibility of it now.

  ‘The Master’s prophecy is coming true,’ he said to himself. ‘Uncle Vidura is right. Shakuni has timed the challenge at the most propitious moment for him. Krishna is busy fighting Shalva. The friends who had gathered at the Rajasuya will not be willing to come back to help so soon’.

  He thought and thought. He wanted peace, but war was at his doorstep.

  The picture which he had been seeing in his dreams was before his eyes——a battle-field, full of the broken wheels of chariots and the limbs of warriors scattered on the ground; himself lying with an arrow in his chest, waiting for someone to come and put a sword through him. He shuddered.

  He saw mothers, sisters, widows, children, heartbroken wandering homeless and cows butchered in hundreds.

  He heard the echoes of the refrain shanti, shanti, shanti —peace, peace, peace, from all sides, but it was all a mockery.

  When he woke up, a thought came to him.

  ‘The Master is right. I alone am the architect of these misfortunes. I am responsible to the Gods. I have not the courage to face the situation boldly.’

  ‘I want to keep my heritage; at any rate, I could not deprive my brothers of their heritage. I do not know what to do. I must find the way out myself.’

  He saw the glimpse of a solution. He summoned all the courage in him to live up to righteousness. The war should be stopped, whatever it might cost him.

  He knew what his brothers, mother and Draupadi would like him to do: to refuse to accept Duryodhana’s challenge. They were right in thinking that this was a trick to deprive them of Indraprastha. But peace was in balance. Whether he or Duryodhana ruled over Indraprastha made no difference, dharma must be upheld.

  Suddenly the decision stood before him, like a flaming sword. He grasped its hilt and decided to eliminate the possibilities of war, and challenge the Master’s prophecy.

  On the third day when they met to find a way out of the difficulty, Yudhishthira had made up his mind.

  ‘Well, what do you think, Eldest?’, asked uncle Vidura.

  ‘What do you advise, uncle?,’ said Yudhishthira.

  ‘My advice to you is: Don’t go to Hastinapura just now. Tide over this inauspicious moment. You can truthfully say that you may have to go to the rescue of Vaasudeva and cannot come just now. What do you say to that?’

  Bhima said: ‘I would not give a false excuse. I would lead our maharathis to the help of Krishna.’

  ‘It is not so easy to decide whether we should accept the challenge or not, my brother,’ said Yudhishthira, in a tone full of affection. ‘My brothers, all of you have pledged yourselves to honour my word and obey my directions. Unless the pledge is revoked, we cannot consider this problem honestly. I, therefore, release you from the pledge. Bhima, you are the fittest to govern Indraprastha; take over its kingship. I do not feel myself adequate to be a king. I will retire to the forest.’

  Everyone was shocked. Kunti gasped. ‘What are you saying, Eldest?’ she said, in a piteous voice, with tears in her eyes. ‘I nursed all of you, brought you up in the hope that you would stand together in life. Draupadi agreed to marry you all in order that you might be kept together. If you are divided, everything I did will be in vain. The dream of your establishing a dharma-raj, rule of righteousness, will have been shattered.’

  ‘I know, I know all that,’ said Yudhishthira, in a voice full of anguish, yet firm. ‘The crisis has come. The Master predicted that there would be a war in which the kshatriyas would be massacred and I would be the centre of it.’ Yudhishthira wiped his tears from his eyes and continued: ‘It pains me to break your hearts, but I have thought it over carefully and I must challenge the Master’s prediction, with you if I can or without you if I must. I must gather whatever spiritual strength the God of Righteousness has given me.’

  ‘When did the Master make his prediction?’ asked Bhima.

  ‘The day he came to bid good-bye,’ said Yudhishthira. His hands were trembling as his emotion intensified. Turning to uncle Vidura he said: ‘The invitation that you have brought now is the first step towards the fulfilment of the Master’s prediction.’

  There was a shadow of distress in his face and all except Bhima were deeply moved by what the Eldest said.

  Bhima said in disgust: ‘We have pledged you complete loyalty. We will accept your decision to cut our throats. What more do you want?’

  ‘I don't want to trade on your loyalty. The crisis has arisen not only between ourselves and Duryodhana but between us also. I can’t ask you to forsake kshaatra dharma’.

  ‘Don’t take a dark view of the future,’ Arjuna said. ‘Things may change for the better. Let us stand together. Very often we are unhappy at your decisions but we have so far accepted them.’

  Uncle Vidura, with uncanny perception saw what was at the bottom of Yudhishthira’s resolve. The Eldest looked as if he was offering himself as an oblation to the sacred fire.

  Uncle Vidura said: ‘It is a noble resolve, Yudhishthira’. Turning to Bhima he said: ‘The Eldest wants to be true to his dharma and seeks peace. Will you, if you have to accept his decision against your inclination, obey him at any cost?’

  Yudhishthira said: ‘I have loved you brothers more than myself. The whole of our power is built on the unity of the five of us and the inspiration of the mother and the Princess of Panchala. But I see dangers ahead whatever way we decide.’

  ‘We will adhere to your decision whatever happens,’ said Arjuna.

  Mother Kunti said: ‘You have taken a pledge to be together for life. Your strength is anchored on the unity. That is the basis on which Draupadi agreed to marry all five of you.’

  Draupadi spoke. ‘I see inauspicious moments ahead of us. I had vowed that I would keep you all together; if I cannot, I will have lived in vain. I will go back to Kampilya.’

  Bhima controlling his anger said: ‘You are obliging us to m
ake a very difficult choice, Eldest. The Master knows the past, present and future. If he has predicted a war, it will come whatever your efforts to avoid it. We should therefore, be prepared to face it.’

  ‘Are you prepared to stand by Yudhishthira?’, asked uncle Vidura.

  ‘Our choice is made up,’ said Bhima, ‘when mother brought us to Hastinapura and made us take a pledge that we would obey the Eldest in all matters. We shall stand by our word - even if you ask for our heads - Eldest, which in fact you are doing.’

  Nakula nodded assent.

  Yudhishthira turning to Sahadeva said: ‘What have you to say about it, Sahadeva, the wise?’

  Sahadeva scratched his head and said: ‘If we break our promise, we will have destroyed dharma, and lost our moral strength.’

  ‘Eldest, you should not discuss the matter any further,’ interrupted uncle Vidura. ‘They have all stood by you in complete loyalty to you and will do so. They leave the matter entirely in your hands.’

  Draupadi said: ‘I am appalled. I wish Krishna were here to guide us. Things are very bad, but King Vrikodara, I am sure, will not fail to honour his promise to the Eldest.’

  Tears were in Yudhishthira’s eyes. He looked at his brothers, mother and wife, offering mute thanks for their loyalty.

  ‘I have taken a frightful vow to challenge the Master's prediction, uncle Vidura. I do not know what is in store for me. But I can only act as dharma dictates. It must not be said that Pandu’s sons failed kshaatra-dharma; at the same time I will not be untrue to the dharma which I have vowed to uphold’.

  ‘What is your decision?’ said Bhima in irritation. ‘Tell us when you propose to cut our throats’.

  ‘I am overwhelmed by the love that you bear me. We brothers, Mother Kunti and the noble Princess of Panchala are bound as one by infinite love.’

  Then, looking down, he said in a trembling voice: ‘Uncle Vidura, convey this message to uncle Dhritarashtra: We shall obey his wishes. We will come to Hastinapura and obey his commands.’