Bits of life

S-11 Words-2000

as Krishna, Vasudeva’s son. Jarasandha kept calm. Krishna asked him to choose one of them as his opponent in the wrestling match. Jarasandha cold shouldered Krishna and Arjuna. He chose Bhima as his opponent saying that he would be the only right person to fight with.

The wrestling bout between Bhima and Jarasandha started on the next day. They were equals in fighting till a point. Beyond that Bhima proved to be a more worthy wrestler than Jarasandha. However, after he had him on the floor and sliced his legs away, the legs would join again and Jarasandha came alive laughing and making fun of Bhima. Unable to understand this mystery, Bhima turned to Krishna with a question on his face. Krishna took a blade of grass and sliced and threw the two parts in opposite directions. Bhima saw the secret of killing Jarasandha by Krishna’s action. Next time he tore the legs off Jarasandha, he threw them in opposite directions. The left leg went in the right direction and the right leg went in the left direction. This trick had put an end to the life of Jarasandha.

Soon after the death of Jarasandha, Krishna, Bhima and Arjuna went to the prison and freed the eighty six kings from incarceration. He told them to go back to their kingdoms and live happily. The kings were overjoyed and thanked Krishna and Bhima for letting them out of Jarasandha’s imprisonment and a threat to their lives. Peace treaties were signed with them and they agreed to be faithful the rulers of Indraprastha, the Pandavas.
Then the Pandavas went on a victory tour and vanquished those kings who opposed them in battle. Soon they returned home and Dharmaraja made arrangements for the Rajasuya yaga.

Krishna then made Jarasandha’s son the king of Magadha. Thus ended the life of one of the most cruel kings of those times. Evil was defeated and righteousness prevailed. The three returned to Indraprastha.

With the defeat of Jarasandha, the Pandavas became the unconquerable lords of the whole land. Now, declared Krishna they were fit to perform the Rajasuya yaga. Invitations went out to friends and foes alike. Everyone without the exception of Duryodhana wanted to see the land of Pandavas, the city of Indraprastha. Dhritarashtra felt the pangs of jealousy and anger at the way the Pandavas transformed khandavprasth into the green and ever blooming Indraprastha.

A few days before the initiation of the Rajasuya yaga, kings and princes from various corners of the country started arriving at Indraprastha. One such king was the king of Chedi, named Shishupala, a close associate of Jarasandha. He was the son of Krishna’s second aunt. She gave birth to a baby monster. The baby Shishupala was born with an extra pair of arms and with an eye at the center of his forehead. Looking at the terrible baby, the nurses urged the mother to throw it away. Bur the voice from the sky asked her not to throw it away. It assured the mother that the boy was going to be a great warrior. It revealed the fact that the person in whose arms it lost its extra limbs would be its killer. The mother was sad. People came to see the extraordinary baby.

Krishna and Balarama too visited them. When Krishna lifted the baby, its extra limbs vanished. His aunt got worried and pleaded with him not to harm her son. Krishna said whatever he would do was for his good. But his aunt continued to plead with him and beseeched for mercy for her son. Krishna assured her that he would not harm Shishupala for nothing. He would tolerate his mistakes and errors against him till a limit. Beyond that he might not be able to forgive him, he said. To be exact, Krishna promised that he would tolerate a hundred sins committed against him by Shishupala. Once that number got completed, Shishupala would be killed by him.
To return to the Rajasuya yaga of the Pandavas, we are told that guests from various corners of the world were present in the court of Dharmaraja, in his captivating court of Indraprastha. The queens and princesses were witnessing the occasion from the balconies while the invitees that include kings and heads of states, rishis that include Vyasa and others and teachers and most importantly, Bhishma the grand old man of the Kuru dynasty.

After the Rajasuya yaga was completed, the invitees and hosts gathered in the main court. The atmosphere was pleasant and there was a sense of joy around.

After everybody was seated in their places, Bhishma got up and said,

“Dear Yudhishtar, it is our custom to honor someone of worth at the end of the Rajasuya yaga. After honoring him, you should pay respects to all your elders.”

“My respected grandsire, tell me you who is the most honorable one among the members of this gathering?”
Bhishma replied to Yudhishtar thus:

“Yudhishtar, my beloved boy, who else can be more honorable than the son of Devaki? Who else is more worthy of salutation than Krishna who is the lord of all the three worlds?”

Pleased by this suggestion made by Bhishma, Yudhishtar invited Krishna on to the podium, made him sit on a special asan and then among the chanting of the rishis started to honor him.

When he was doing it, Shishupala shouted abuses at Krishna. He said no one knew his real birth. It was doubtful if he was the son of Vasudeva. Bhima got angry at the way Shishupala was throwing abuses at Krishna. He said he would slice his tongue if he wouldn’t stop talking nonsense. But Krishna said let Shishupala talk. He still had to go a little way before he got killed by him, he affirmed.

Shishupala went on bragging about the courage and stamina of other kings like Duryodhana and compared them to Vasudeva Krishna. He said that Krishna was just a faux and he had no stuff comparable to the great kings and rishis assembled in this court. Finally, he completed his hundred mistakes and was warned by Krishna. But he cared no more and said with arrogance that he would go on making mistakes even if they crossed a hundred and thirty. Krishna brought out his Sudarshana chakra. The chakra beheaded Shishupala and left the others in terror and wonder at the whole episode.

With the impact of holding the most powerful weapon in the three worlds, the Sudarshana chakra Krishna’s little finger started bleeding. Draupadi, who noticed the wound and the bleeding, ran to Krishna and bound his injured finger with the piece torn from her veil. Thus she took care of him and won his favor. He promised that he would take care of her whenever she was in dire need of his help.

Despite this grievous note, the assembled kings and rishis were addressed by Yudhishtar who thanked them for being present in the great yagna of the Rajasuya performed by him and his brothers. He invited them all to stay in Indraprastha for as long as they wished.

With this last speech the Rajasuya yaga came to a successful end. Some of the invitees who stayed back to enjoy the sights and sounds of Indraprastha were, Dhritarashtra, Krishna, Baladeva, Duryodhan, Shakuni and Karna. After a few more days, Krishna and Dhritarashtra went to their places. Duryodhan was burning with jealousy and doubt. He felt that the Pandavas might launch a war against Hastinapur because Dharmaraja said that wherever they were, they respected and loved Hastinapur. Shakuni stayed back with the intention of spoiling his mind further.

One day Duryodhan was taking a tour around the Pandavas palace. It had many wonderful things and was full of magic. He was testing and going through each room with its own entertaining features. He went to a particular place where there appeared to be a pool of water. As he neared he had put one foot in and found it dry. Then he picked enough courage to walk through the whole patch and reached the other end. A little further down the room he started walking casually. Unexpectedly, he found his foot in water and slipped on it and fell down. This would have an hilarious effect on the lookers on. Draupadi was standing on the balcony of that room. She saw Duryodhan falling into the pool of water and laughed aloud. She also said that a blind man’s son was also blind. Duryodhan lost his temper and vowed that he would avenge her act of ridiculing her. He was such a man who never forgot an insult or injury to his ego.

Later, Yudhishtar reprimanded Draupadi for being ungracious to Duryodhan. He chided her saying that Duryodhan was their guest and a guest was equal to God. Draupadi said she was sorry that she misbehaved. Yudhishtar was of the opinion that this episode would not end there. It would go much beyond the limits. He looked pretty worried about the whole matter.

duryodhan burnt in the fire of anger and insult. Shakuni tried to console him. They returned to Hastinapur. Shakuni said he would throw such a dice that the Pandavas would leave their kingdom and exit. He sat with Duryodhan and said that he should invite the Pandavas to Hastinapur. Together they went to Dhritarashtra and asked him to invite the Pandavas to Hastinapur for a few days stay and most importantly to play dice with Duryodhan. Vidura was sent as the representative of Hastinapur to extend the invitation to the Pandavas.
Despite hints from vidura not to accept this harmful invitation, Yudhishtar had accepted it and went to Hastinapur with his brothers and wife Draupadi.

A day was chosen for gambling. Duryodhan asked his maternal uncle shakuni to play on his behalf on the advice of the latter. The game started in a filled court. It was a game most unsuitable to play in a court of sages and warriors. We could clearly see that the standards of decency and decorum were slowly disappearing giving way to dirty politics involving vendetta.

No wise man in the court liked this gabling match except Duryodhan and his henchmen. His ulterior motive was to make destitute of the Pandavas and steal Indraprastha as well, besides taking revenge on Draupadi.
As the match proceeded, Dharmaraja started losing against shakuni whose dice fully cooperated with him. The bets started with small things like gold and silver and proceeded to betting the kingdom of Indraprastha. Still Dharmaraja did not give up. That was the evil magic of intoxicating sports like gambling and betting. It makes a slave of the thinking power of a person. It keeps on urging him to play and bet more so he might win the next round.

So Dharmaraja had nothing material to gamble with. Then shakuni suggested he might put his brothers at stake. One by one he lost all his brothers. Then it was the turn of Draupadi. He lost her as well. Now was the time for Duryodhana to avenge the insult he had at Indraprastha when Draupadi laughed at him. He sent for her. When she refused to come he had sent his brother Dushasana to bring her by force. When Draupadi refused to come, Dushasana used his brutality and dragged her by her hair to the full court of Hastinapur. Everybody was aghast at the sinful behavior of both Duryodhana and his brother. But they were not able to utter a single word against the hateful behavior of the brothers.

When Draupadi was made to stand before them, Duryodhana and his friends called her names and insulted her for being the wife of five brothers. Then Duryodhana asked her to come and sit on his lap with a lustful smile. Bhima got angry and vowed that he was going to break his thighs when time came for punishing for his sins. Without stopping at this unthinkable behavior, Duryodhana ordered his