Studies in the Mahabharata

These are masterful verses. The eyes of the Pāṇḍavas refuse as it were to lose Kṛṣṇa out of sight and in any case their loving thoughts will follow him even beyond the horizon. Somewhat listlessly the brothers return home:

akāmā iva pārthāste govindagatamānasaḥ /

nivṛtyopayayuḥ sarve svapuraṁ puruṣarṣabhāḥ /

syandanenātha kṛṣṇo’pi samaye dvārakāmagāt. / 23

Unwilling as it were the Pārthas, with their minds fixed on Govinda, turned back and those bull-like men returned to their city. Kṛṣṇa in his chariot reached Dvārakā in time.

Alf Hiltebeitel, Kṛṣṇa and the Mahābhārata (A Bibliographical Essay), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. LX (1979), 91

Published in: Aṛtadhārā, Prof. R.N. Dandekar Felicitation Volume, pp. 187-194.

Mbhr. 6.25.7-8

On the Meaning of the Mahābhārata, 63.

Mbhr. 1.1.20-22

Mbhr. 1.1.66

Mbhr. 1.178.9-10

Mbhr. 1.181.32

Mbhr. 1.183.4

3.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa – Guru and Leader of the Pāṇḍavas

In the previous chapter we have learnt something about the affectionate relationship between Kṛṣṇa and the five Pāṇḍavas. In a few verses we got hints of his future role as their master and guru, but such a position was not yet explicitly stated. In this present chapter we will trace his becoming the leader of the Pāṇḍavas and will see how he occupies an eminent position even in this early second Book of the Mahābhārata.

The first occasion for Kṛṣṇa to be called in as chief advisor presented itself when Nārada paid a visit to King Yudhiṣṭhira, suggesting to him to undertake the Rājasūya sacrifice which would make the senior most Pāṇḍava an unchallenged universal monarch. Even though Nārada mentioned that Pāṇḍu himself33 had wished this sacrifice to be performed, Yudhiṣṭhira chose to approach Kṛṣṇa for authoritative advice:

Believing that a sacrifice should not just ruin oneself, and carrying out his task with great care, he thought of Kṛṣṇa Janārdana for settling the question, of Hari who is superior to the entire world… When he had made this final decision, Yudhiṣṭhira Pārtha quickly dispatched as to a guru a messenger to the guru of all beings.34

Kṛṣṇa responds readily to Yudhiṣṭhira’s request and visits the Pāṇḍavas very soon. In the following passage Yudhiṣṭhira gives a detailed analysis of several kinds of advice which one can receive from various sources, and he explains why Kṛṣṇa alone is the perfect, objective guide who can be trusted without any reservation:

Some people do not point out an error out of friendship. Others flatter for personal gains… But you are above such motivations and above anger and desire. Please tell us what is best for us in this world.35

Kṛṣṇa’s Dialogue with Yudhiṣṭhira

Kṛṣṇa at first talks about the powerful alliance of King Jarāsaṁdha and Kāṁsa mentioning how the Vṛṣṇis had to flee from Mathurā to Dvārakā to escape Jarāsaṁdha’s invincible army. This event is likely to have really taken place because we can hardly assume that any poet would have invented an episode in which the great avatāra is shown to be in the defensive.

Kṛṣṇa proposes then that Yudhiṣṭhira should accept to become samrāṭ, universal sovereign. As a precondition for attaining this high status, Jarāsaṁdha would have to be killed. By this occasion 86 prisoners in his dungeons – all of them kings defeated in battle – would be released and saved from the human sacrifice that Jarāsaṁdha is planning to offer to Mahādeva.

The following scene, a dialogue between Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa, with Bhīma and Arjuna playing minor roles as additional speakers, is a first example of Kṛṣṇa helping one of the Pāṇḍavas overcome a deep inner crisis. In fact, Kṛṣṇa’s well-known discourse in the Bhagavadgītā is only the culmination of a number of similar elucidations which form a whole consistent series of talks on the value of a righteous battle, a battle for dharma, on overcoming personal weaknesses and hesitations, risking one’s life while fighting for Truth.

Yudhiṣṭhira’s objections to the undertaking of attacking Jarāsaṁdha are characteristic of his nature. He seeks tranquillity and acquiescence rather than the daring assault and upheaval. This project of freeing those unfortunate kings would certainly disturb his peace:

śamameva paraṁ manye na tu mokṣādbhavecchamaḥ /

ārambhe pārameṣṭhyaṁ tu na prāpyamiti me matiḥ //

I consider tranquility highest, but no tranquility would result from their release. If I undertake this, I assume that the highest cannot be achieved.

Yudhiṣṭhira’s weak-hearted response to Kṛṣṇa’s proposal is countered by Bhīma with a strong rebuttal. He pronounces the standard formula for victory which is to be often quoted in the text hereafter:

In Kṛṣṇa there is policy, in myself strength, in Arjuna victory. Like three fires we shall vanquish the Māgada.36

Kṛṣṇa supports Bhīma’s inspired argument with further deliberations, trying to warm up the kṣatriya in Yudhiṣṭhira. He points out the glory of a kṣatriya dying by the sword and draws attention to the cruel fate of those 86 kings who are to be killed by Jarāsaṁdha.

Yudhiṣṭhira retorts with a typical sattvic argument. Would it not be egoistic on his side to send Kṛṣṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna into the battle just for his own glory? Bhīma and Arjuna are like his eyes, Kṛṣṇa is his mind: how could he risk their lives? This argument needs to be analysed carefully. Although Yudhiṣṭhira holds it to be egoistic to accept the proposal for a battle, we may say that from Kṛṣṇa’s viewpoint there is actually an egoistic reaction behind Yudhiṣṭhira’s refusal. It is not his glory for which the battle against the asuric Jarāsaṁdha is to be fought, but the glory of dharma as such; even though Yudhiṣṭhira would receive the fruits of this action, his own glory is not the immediate aim. He is only a human representative destined to receive the honour of becoming samrāṭ.

Even the fact that Yudhiṣṭhira is being asked for his permission for this action by Kṛṣṇa does not prove anything except Kṛṣṇa’s politeness. The latter has already made up his mind and will proceed anyhow. But since he has to act with other human beings, he has to deal with their problems and resistances. And for the time being Yudhiṣṭhira would rather prefer to give up the project:

I should like to abandon this task, Janārdana. My mind is against it. The Rājasūya is hard to achieve.37

We feel here reminded of Arjuna’s refusal to fight in the Bhagavadgītā (2.9):

I shall not fight, he said to Govinda, and became silent.

Paradoxically, in this present scene we find Arjuna using the same arguments against Yudhiṣṭhira now which Kṛṣṇa later uses in the Bhagavadgītā with reference to Arjuna:

[Arjuna said:] A kṣatriya’s concern is always victory, oh king… If for the sake of the sacrifice we achieve the destruction of Jarāsaṁdha and the release of the kings – what could be higher than that? If we don’t act, they will surely think that we lack character… Afterwards the ochre robe will be easily available for munis who desire peace.38

We may compare this with Kṛṣṇa’s words to Arjuna at the moment of his great crisis:

Again, with a view to your own dharma as well, you should not waver; for, there is nothing higher for a kṣatriya than righteous war.

But if you do not fight this righteous war, you will forfeit your own dharma and honour and incur sin.

Your enemies will slander you in various ways, reviling your strength. What could be worse than that?39

It is to be observed that in both these cases the argument is not developing on a highest spiritual, but rather on a moral human level. The appeal is to the sense of human honour, uprightness. From a higher spiritual view point it should matter little what the enemies of a disciple think about him, whether it be good or bad. But in the given situation an appeal of this kind may be more effective and is therefore chosen here by Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna respectively.

In the present scene Kṛṣṇa finally advances a new argument to change Yudhiṣṭhira’s mind. He proposes a personal encounter with Jarāsaṁdha avoiding his superior army. If the king is killed, his forces would be dispirited. And if those forces should attack the aggressors, the latter would “attain heaven” due to their efforts to protect their kinsmen.40 This reminds us again of the Bhagavadgītā’s pronouncement: “Slain you will attain heaven; victorious you will enjoy the earth.”41

After some initial hesitation and resistance Yudhiṣṭhira has been convinced now of the need of attacking Jarāsaṁdha and agrees to the proposal. He recognizes Kṛṣṇa as the “protector of the Pāṇḍavas”, in whom they seek shelter. “All that you say, Govinda, is correct…”42

The Execution of Kṛṣṇa’s Plans

Kṛṣṇa’s plan of executing Jarāsaṁdha is carried out by Bhīma who kills the mighty king in a terrible wrestling duel. Kṛṣṇa is present as a non-combatant giving effective psychological support and tactical advice to the Pāṇḍava. This support is actually giving Bhīma the edge over his equal opponent who is finally crushed on the ground. His people do not offer any further resistance.

The 86 kings are released and urged to attend the great unction of Yudhiṣṭhira. His brothers conquer for him all the surrounding countries so that conditions are ready now for the Royal Consecration. In a gesture of gratitude Yudhiṣṭhira attributes all his success to Kṛṣṇa who has master-minded the strategic move which gave him his new status as unchallenged emperor.

Because of you, Kṛṣṇa, the whole earth is under my sway now and by your grace, Vārṣṇeya, I have obtained great wealth. Now I wish to employ all this properly for the best among the Brāhmins and for the sacrificial fire.43

The final act of Kṛṣṇa’s glorification as guru of all beings and the Pāṇḍavas in particular occurs in a chapter called The Taking of the Guest Gift. At the beginning of the gathering of the kings that have been invited for Yudhiṣṭhira’s coronation, Bhīṣma asks Yudhiṣṭhira to offer a guest gift to the most deserving visitor. He points out to him that Kṛṣṇa is by far the most important guest, full of glory, strength and prowess. The whole assembly is brightened by him “as a sunless place is by the sun and a windless one by the wind”.44

Śiśupāla’s Intervention

At this moment Śiśupāla, king of the Cedis, son of Vasudevas sister Śrutaśravā, intervenes angrily and refuses to accept Bhīṣma’s suggestion. In a highly polemic speech he insults Bhīṣma, Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas, advancing some comprehensible arguments for denying Kṛṣṇa the honour of the special guest. If the elders of the assembly were to be honoured, Kṛṣṇa’s father Vasudeva would be the right choice. If the best ally of the Pāṇḍavas were to be honoured, Drupada might be the obvious choice. Or if a great teacher, an eminent priest were to be shown respect, Droṇa or Vyāsa should be first considered.

Śiśupāla’s language gets more and more coloured by hatred towards Kṛṣṇa whom he blames relentlessly for accepting the honour of the guest gift. In his typical way Yudhiṣṭhira tries to calm down Śiśupāla with courteous words. But then Bhīṣma speaks, making Yudhiṣṭhira aware that their choice of Kṛṣṇa does not need this kind of justification. Bhīṣma claims it to be a simple fact that Kṛṣṇa is the greatest personality present. Nobody in the assembly, he says, could compare with his glory. He adds that “the whole world is founded on Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we honour him and no one else, even in the presence of elders.”45

In the following passage Bhīṣma continues praising Kṛṣṇa who is lauded not only as a great teacher but also the transcendent ruler of the universe:

Kṛṣṇa alone is the origin and the dissolution of the worlds… He is the unmanifest prakṛti and the eternal doer… This Śiśupāla is a fool who does not know that Kṛṣṇa exists everywhere for ever; therefore he speaks like this.46

Next Sahadeva challenges all kings present to speak out if anyone does not want him to honour Kṛṣṇa. Nobody objects, but a group of irate kings gathers round Śiśupāla who then starts a frontal attack on Bhīṣma. He points out a number of alleged sins of the latter, specifically his abduction of Ambā47 who had already given her heart to Śālva and had become very miserable due to his action.

Bhīṣma retorts by giving some background knowledge on Śiśupāla, he informs the assembly how Kṛṣṇa gave a boon to his paternal aunt that he would forgive her son a hundred insults. It is for this very reason, says Bhīṣma, that Śiśupāla could act as he did in the present scene; in fact, “it was the decision of Kṛṣṇa himself, the Lord of the world.”48

Thus, the whole incident of Śiśupāla’s challenge is given a new interpretation now. Nobody can really challenge Kṛṣṇa, since everything is contained in him and part of his game. The rebellious king is nothing but “a particle of the glory of Hari” who wants to recover it.49 But Śiśupāla, undaunted by this mystical interpretation, continues insulting Bhīṣma, the Pāṇḍavas and Kṛṣṇa. The latter waits patiently until Śiśupāla has completed a hundred insults and then cuts off his head with the discus.

A miracle follows upon this final act of the drama: a great radiance rises forth from the killed king of the Cedis and enters Kṛṣṇa. Then there is a strong rain from a cloudless sky, lightning strikes and the earth trembles as all the kings in the assembly look on with great amazement.50

So the great Sacrifice ends on a somewhat dramatic note, but it has been successfully accomplished, after Yudhiṣṭhira’s last potential contender has been eliminated by Kṛṣṇa. He soon leaves for Dvārakā admonishing Yudhiṣṭhira to protect well his subjects.

Nārada had met him in his abode in heaven. Mbhr. 2.11.65

Mbhr. 2.12.24-25, 28

Mbhr. 2.12.38-40

Mbhr. 2.14.9

Mbhr. 2.15.5

Mbhr. 2.15.9, 14-16

Bhagavadgītā, 2-31, 33, 36

Mbhr. 2.16.9

Bhagavadgītä 2.37

Mbhr. 2.18.10

Mbhr. 2.30.18-19

Mbhr. 2.33.28-29

Mbhr. 2.35.10-11

Mbhr. 2.35.26

The eldest daughter of the king of Kāśī. Bhīṣma abducted her along with her two sisters for marriage with Vicitravīrya.

Mbhr. 2.41.1

Mbhr. 2.41.3

Mbhr. 2.42.22-25

4.

Psychological, Philosophical and Legal Aspects of the Dice Game

“Please tell this in detail, Brāhmin, because this was the root of the destruction of the world, best of the twice-born.”51

The dice game takes us into one of the most dramatic scenes in the Mahābhārata. It raises a number of intricate questions which deserve an in-depth study and elaborate analysis. We come across here some noble aspects of Indian culture, but at the same time also its very contradiction. We meet individuals in extreme situations of the most acute inner trial, and find even the wisest of the wise perplexed by a set of circumstances which is bewildering by its complexity, frustrating by its entanglement and fatal by its sheer force.

In the event of the dice game we experience in a major scene a density of action and subtlety of perception which seem to reveal the master hand of Vyāsa himself at work. The crisis of the Pāṇḍavas and their wife, the immensity of inner torture that they undergo, are described in a terse, almost cool language which nevertheless makes us breathless participants of a tremendous drama. We may say that the inner torment of Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna and Draupadī in this scene is even greater and more severe and devastating than Arjuna’s famous despair at the beginning of the war.

Apart from analysing these situations where souls struggle for their survival, fight for their inmost Truth, we will also try to provide new answers to a number of questions:

1) Why did Yudhiṣṭhira accept the challenge for the dice game? Was he really moved by his passion for the game?

2) Why did he accept to play against Śakuni, a well-known master-wizard joining the game on Duryodhana’s behalf?

3) Why was Yudhiṣṭhira so much in a haste to lose everything once the game started and his losing streak became obvious?

4) Why did Yudhiṣṭhira go so far as to stake even Draupadī, although it was clear that he would lose her as he lost everything else?

5) What were the exact implications of Draupadī’s question to the assembly whether Yudhiṣṭhira had lost himself before he lost her?

6) Why did none of the elders present in the hall (Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa etc.) intervene on behalf of Draupadī when Duḥśāsana started molesting her?

These are some of the questions which we will deal with, closely following the text of the Critical Edition. All the while we will have the occasion to enter a real life scene enacted in ancient India – or at least realistically imagined by the poet – which provides us with a first-hand psychological experience of various interesting characters.

Preliminary Events

Once prince Duryodhana52 stepped in the middle of the hall on a crystal slap, and wrongly assuming it was water, the bewildered prince raised his robe. Upset and downcast, he then roamed about the hall. Thereafter, beholding a pond with crystalline water, beautiful with crystalline lotuses, he thought it was land and fell into the water, fully dressed. When they saw him fallen into the water, the servants laughed a lot and gave him fresh clothes at the king’s behest. After this had happened to him, the mighty Bhīmasena, Arjuna and the twins all of them burst into laughter. Being an irritable man, he could not bear their mockery and did not look at them to save his face.53

Duryodhana suffered three great disappointments in his life. The first was when the five Pāṇḍavas left the forest after their father’s death and moved into the palaces of the Kuru house with their mother Kuntī. Like an admired and undisputed champion athlete who is suddenly relegated to third or fourth rank by the unexpected arrival of new sportsmen, so Duryodhana was bereft at that time of his sure status of not only the successor of the Kuru dynasty but also the leader among the young princes at the Court. He was one of those persons whose character does not allow them to prosper and be happy except under conditions where they are the one and only leader. To be eclipsed by another ‘star’, to be driven by others rather than driving oneself, to have rivals who divert the attention and admiration away from oneself – all this does not suit a Duryodhana who would prefer to die rather than accepting such conditions. Thus we find him fighting from the beginning, trying to kill Bhīma at first for having humiliated the Kaurava princes with various feats of strength, and then later attempting to burn the five brothers in the lacquer palace at Vāraṇāvata.

The second disappointment was when Arjuna won Draupadī at her svayaṁvara by his superior skill in archery. Duryodhana failed to string the bow54 and saw his close friend Karṇa defeated in the short battle which ensued with the unknown Brāhmins, actually the Pāṇḍavas in disguise. His worst enemies, believed to be dead beyond doubt, had staged a powerful comeback, won a most beautiful bride for themselves and secured a strong new ally, king Drupada.

The third great disappointment was Yudhiṣṭhira’s coronation as saṁrāṭ. For sure, this was a great event for the Kuru family whose members were given various functions at this occasion. “Duryodhana received all the presents of honour,” says the text.55 Even though Yudhiṣṭhira had generously assured the Kauravas, “all this wealth here is yours and so am I,” it can hardly have been a pleasing experience for Duryodhana to collect treasures on Yudhiṣṭhira’s behalf.56

And then came, on top of that, his embarrassing experience (recorded in the quotation above) while inspecting the palace built by Maya with many contraptions. Like a fool he stumbles into all the traps carefully laid out by the master architect, and everywhere sees laughing grimaces enjoying his ill luck. Duryodhana does not react with resignation, but he thinks of revenge. At this moment a seed was sown for a terrible and merciless battle where the end would justify the means whatever their nature. Henceforth, there could only be the defeat (and preferably death) of the Pāṇḍavas or his own, no compromise was conceivable.

While Duryodhana is returning home in the company of Śakuni, he is invaded by thoughts of burning hatred. He conveys his inner convulsions to his uncle at his enquiry:

I am outraged, burning day and night… When I saw all that blazing wealth at the Pāṇḍava’s, I was seized by anger and I am burning, although usually that’s not my state of mind. I will enter the fire or take poison or drown myself, because I won’t be able to live on.57

We need not assume that Duryodhana was really playing with the thought of ending his life. This is just cunning talk meant to impress Śakuni with the need of doing something to support him. In fact, he expects Śakuni to approach Dhṛtarāṣṭra, informing him about his son’s agony.

Śakuni’s Role

Śakuni, brother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s wife Gāndhārī, has generally a rather negative image, but here, in the established text of the Critical Edition, we get a slightly different picture and find him to be a rather cool-headed advisor trying to calm down the inflamed Duryodhana. He begins his answer to Duryodhana with the following counsel:

Duryodhana, you must not harbour any anger against Yudhiṣṭhira, for the Pāṇḍavas have always enjoyed good luck.58

In this whole passage Śakuni does not say anything which could further fan the fire of Duryodhana’s hatred. He is rather trying to bring him to a rational level, giving him a realistic evaluation of the situation. Śakuni points out that Duryodhana is not all alone, as he believes in this moment of depression, but he has powerful allies such as Droṇa, Kṛpa and Karṇa. But quite apart from that, Śakuni does not encourage him at all to think of war, because the five Pāṇḍavas and Kṛṣṇa “cannot be defeated in battle by force, not even by the hosts of the gods”.59

Here again Śakuni’s way of talking to Duryodhana is quite surprising. To hear in such frank speech from his close relative that his enemies are invincible must have been another severe shock for the Kaurava prince. We know from previous incidences that he would get furious with those who doubted his own fighting capacities. But Śakuni had a trump card up his sleeve which he quickly brought out to console his downcast protégé: the idea of staging a dice game with Yudhiṣṭhira and robbing him of all his wealth by shrewd, though non-violent means.

The Kaunteya60 loves gambling, but has no skill in it. If the rājendra is challenged, he will not be able to desist from it.61

We seem to have some evidence here that Yudhiṣṭhira in spite of all his virtue was attached to dice playing. On the other hand, when Vidura came to invite him on behalf of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the Pāṇḍava was not enthusiastic about the proposal:

At a game, Vidura, there will be quarrel. Knowing this, who would like to play?62

Yudhiṣṭhira is shocked to learn that Śakuni and other cunning players will be present. However, he agrees to accept the challenge in accordance with dharma: the invitation was sent by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, so Yudhiṣṭhira is obliged to accept it under the rules of the family law. Moreover, he seems to be under an oath to take up any challenge made to him; and thirdly, a sense of Fate, a sense of the inevitable overcomes him:

Through the Creator’s will everything is in his sway. I don’t refuse now to play with those gamblers. O sage, at the behest of king Dhṛtarāṣṭra I will go to the dice game. A son always respects his father. Therefore, I will do as you tell me, Vidura. It is not that I am unwilling to play with Śakuni. Otherwise he would aggressively challenge me in that hall. Once challenged, I never refuse, I have sworn this for eternity.63