Bits of life

S-9 Words-2000

ignorance that led to this fiasco.
"Now, aunt Kunti! you too are at fault. Just because you are their mother, you cannot order them as you wished. Look at the way things shaped by your hasty words. So it is important to speak with care and anything should be spoken only after giving it sufficient thought.”

Draupadi, thus married the five Pandava princes and came to be known as Panchali which means the wife of five. An agreement was done to this effect. She would spend a year with each of them in her married life. That was how the strange problem of Draupadi was solved.

In Hastinapur, word spread that the Pandava princes were alive, and were doing well. They were with Drupada at present. Thinking that the Pandavas were dead, Dhritarashtra made Duryodhan the crown prince. But then now that Yudhishtar was safe and alive, Dhritarashtra fell into a dilemma. His ambition was to see that his son Duryodhana as the king of Hastinapur. His hopes had risen when the Pandavas were reported as dead. But now the tables seemed to have turned against him and his son. Duryodhana told his father that he was not ready to give up his position as the crown prince of Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra however, knew that the people of Hastinapur would not support him if he ignored the fact that Pandavas were alive and continue to act according to his wishes. So he decided to send Vidura, his step brother and minister to bring back the Pandavas with due respect.

Vidura came to Kampilya to fetch the Pandavas back to their home and country, Hastinapur. the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi and mother Kunti arrived at Hastinapur. they were duly received by Drona, Kripa, Bhishma and other courtiers. Then they arrived at the palace door. The whole Hastinapur was present on that auspicious occasion. They cheered, “Victory to Pandavas.”

The Pandava family was welcomed by Dhritarashtra and Gandhari with all the pomp and splendor of a royalty. Dhritarashtra was able to hide his ambitious thoughts regarding his son Duryodhana. He also did not show any sign of disappointment at the reappearance of Pandavas in Hastinapur.

However, Duryodhana seethed with jealousy and impotent anger at the way things shaped. He had depended on his maternal uncle Shakuni to once again come up with a plan that would see the end of Pandavas and their members of family. His ambition and life’s aim was to possess the throne of Hastinapur at any cost. Did he succeed? Let us wait and see how this political feud would end.

Dhritarashtra was caught in a strange dilemma. He could not decide whether he should continue with his son Duryodhana as the crown prince or he should relegate this responsibility to Yudhishtar, who was in all fairness, was the crown prince. Dhritarashtra, however, did the sensible thing. He called for an emergency meeting with Bhishma, Drona, Kripa, Vidura, and Shakuni. They could not say no to Shakuni because he was closely related to the king, Dhritarashtra. The discussion started. A minister was vocal in supporting Yudhishtar to remain as the crown prince. Duryodhana must of necessity relieved from the position of the crown prince. The king asked Bhishma to express his opinion. Vidura interfered and said that the issue must decided by the king. If Bhishma supported Yudhishtar then others would blame him for being partial. So the best thing to do was to leave the decision to the king.

But Dhritarashtra stated that before taking any opinion he must consult the important people of Hastinapur. Therefore, he said he would request Bhishma to come up with a solution to the problem.

Bhishma discussed the matter in detail. He said that no party should be treated unfairly. Since Yudhishtar was the crown prince even before Duryodhana was made to take his position. But prince Duryodhana must be given justice. So the best thing to do according to Bhishma was to divide the kingdom of Hastinapur between two crown princes, Yudhishtar and Duryodhana. Thus in the game this political motives, Hastinapur was caught and had to be divided into two parts. One half of the kingdom went to Yudhishtar, and the other half had gone to Duryodhana.

However, the pitiable part of the deal was that the Pandava princes got a raw deal. They got a part that had amounted to a wasteland. The name of this country was Khandavprasth. It was a land where nothing bloomed. Neither trees, nor fields ever showed the signs of giving anything of value. It was a dry land with poor rainfall. When they came to know of this unfair partition, the Pandavas got together and talked about it in elaborate detail. Arjuna argued as to why Duryodhana was not asked to go to Khandavprasth and the Pandavas to rule Hastinapur as before.

Dharmaraja or Yudhishtar took the matter up rather with more insight than the others. He stated that there was nothing wrong in Duryodhana getting Hastinapur. after all, he was their first cousin. He also said that Lord Krishna had asserted that Khadavprasth could be referred to as their land of action, their karma Bhoomi. He also told them that it was a new land. The city of Hastinapur was old and its foundation was crumbling, whereas Khandavprasth was new and it was going to have a city with strong and new foundations. In Hastinapur, there was infighting and violence, whereas Khandavprasth was going to be a place of peace. Yudhishtar also reiterated the fact that unless he got the support and help of his brothers he could neither walk nor do, look or hear. Bhima was like his feet, Arjuna, his hands; Nakula and Sahadeva were his eyes and ears. So without his brothers he could achieve nothing. If his brothers did not like to go to Khandavprasth, then they should remain in Hastinapur forever caught in the thoughts of cunning Shakuni and ambitious Duryodhana. Dharmaraja also stated that he did not want either Hastinapur or Khandavprasth. All he wanted was life with his dear brothers. Life with them was of greater value than fulfilling political ambitions and achieving material glory.

Younger Pandava brothers saw the wisdom behind this statement of Dharmaraja. They agreed with his views and were prepared to go with him to Khandavprasth.

Bhishma made arrangements for the coronation ceremony of Yudhishtar as the king of Khandavprasth. Krishna and Balarama decided to stay back till the ceremony was over. Duryodhana, on the advice of Shakuni invited Balarama to have a tour of Hastinapur. they wanted to get the favor of Balarama. Later, Duryodhana took Balarama to his palace and fed and wined him and made him feel important to him. Poor Balarama did not understand the reason behind this drama and promised him to teach mace handling and warring with it. He agreed to stay back in Hastinapur for this purpose after the coronation.

The day of Dharmaraja’s coronation as the king of Khandavprasth dawned. As the day progressed to mid-morning, the invitees started arriving. Rishi Vyasa too arrived to bless the Pandava princes who were going to go away to their new land leaving the country they knew from their childhood days. Yudhishtar and Draupadi were made the king and queen of Khandavprasth by the court priests and with the presence of all the near and dear.
Duryodhan was a happy man that day. He was thrilled to have Hastinapur for himself only. He knew that after his father’s departure from the world, he was going to be the sole heir of the throne of Hastinapur. in this jubilant mood, he was expansive enough to congratulate the Pandava princes on their initiation to enter a new land and a new country.

The Pandavas took their blessings from Bhishma, Kripa, Drona and Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. After that they departed to their new land of Khandavprasth. They were accompanied by their mother Kunti, wife Draupadi, Lord Krishna and his brother Balarama.

They were aghast when they saw the land of Khandavprasth. It was a dry, hot and infertile land. There were no rivers and no greenery. As Krishna had rightly described, this was the land which they, by their action had to transform into a fertile and green country. They started work on the fields without delay. Bhima started tilling it and all of them started clearing the bush and weed from the land. Arjuna with his astras was able to induce rain and soon the dry and parched land came alive. With the rains came the springs and ponds and rivers alive. Soon the trees grew and the fields started yielding crops. There was greenery in place of a brown earth, there was water in a place where it never rained and the soil remained unyielding and infertile.
Then Indra himself came down and blessed the Pandavas with a prosperous life. He asked the divine architect Maya to build a beautiful and magical place for the Pandavas. His will was done without delay. The Pandavas took a tour of the palace and wondered at its magical aspect.

The next plan on the Pandavas’ agenda was to expand their kingdom. Krishna told Arjuna that the next mission in building their political empire is to expand their borders. How would that be possible questioned Arjuna to which Krishna suggested thus;

“Dear Arjuna, the best way to expand your kingdom would be by virtue of political friendship, and that would be possible only through marital bonds. So you should go on a long tour and see what best you could do with regard to the above mission.”

Once it so happened that some men had stolen cattle from a poor citizen. When he reported the matter to Arjuna, the latter wanted to get his bow and arrow and hunt for the culprits. His bow and quiver were in Draupadi’s room. At that time she was living with Yudhishtar. If another Pandava entered the room of a brother with whom Draupadi was leading her life at that time, he had to undergo penance. That was the condition laid for them after their marriage with the Pandavas. Out of helplessness, Arjuna had to enter Draupadi’s room and take his bow and arrow. For committing this mistake, he had to go on a year long journey for penance.
During this period of penance, Arjuna met Subhadra, young and beautiful sister of Krishna and Balarama. Both fell in love with each other and Krishna helped them express their feelings for one another. Krishna told Subhadra that he would talk to his father about the marriage between her Arjuna.

Exactly during this time, Balarama, who was teaching the craft of using the mace to Duryodhana, was impressed by the latter’s expertise. Shakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana already told him that if such a moment came, he should ask for the hand of Subhadra to marry. So Duryodhana followed his advice. Balarama was pleased with the improved skill of Duryodhana at handling the mace. So he asked Duryodhana to ask for a favor. Duryodhana was prepared for this moment, thanks to his cunning uncle, Shakuni. He immediately asked for the hand of Subhadra as he wanted to marry her. Balarama promised to talk to Vasudeva, the father of Subhadra. He too came to the palace of Vasudeva at the same time when Krishna was thinking of meeting his father for the same reason.

When Vasudeva and Devaki heard of Balarama’s proposal for Subhadra’s marriage with Duryodhana, they were not impressed. On the contrary, they liked Arjuna who at that time was their guest. Krishna arrived at that moment and could not talk against Balarama. However, he went back to Arjuna and instigated him to elope with Subhadra on the next morning when she would visit the temple. He told him in particular that he should let Subhadra handle the chariot and the horses. Arjuna wondered why, but he did not question the suggestion.