Mahabharata 2 – Draupadi – Dishonored yet honorable

​Seminar at ISKCON, Toronto, Canada

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Thank you for coming today for this second session on the Mahabharata characters.
Today I will discuss about Draupadi. How she manifests a combination of submission and determination. So, Draupadi is born to Drupada.
So, she has several other names. One of her names is Panchali, born in Panchaladesh. Another name, one of her name is Krishna also, based on the complexion.
So now when she was born, actually her father, Drupada, had just been defeated by Drona. By Drona’s students actually. And he wanted to take revenge.
And for that he felt that I am not strong enough to defeat. So he defeated Drona. So he said, I want a son who will cause the death of Drona.
And for that purpose he performed the yajna. And while he was performing the yajna, the human mind works often in mysterious ways. So, actually Drona had been the cause of his defeat.
Basically Drona and Drupada had been friends earlier. But later on, when they were in Gurukul, they were friends. But later on, Drona remained a relatively poor brahmin, whereas Drupada became the king.
And when Drupada was approached by Drona, Drupada disrespected him saying that friendship can only be among equals. And you are no longer equal to me. Now this was an uncharacteristic lapse from Drupada because Drupada was normally respectful to brahmanas.
But we all are sometimes caught on bad days. Normally I will be gentle, we will be here, but sometimes somebody catches on a bad day and we just explode at them. And if they form their opinion of us based on that one incident, they will say, hey, this is a very irritable person.
So, unfortunately that’s what happened to Drupada and he behaved in a very seriously wrong way. He very grievously disrespected Drupada, Drona. Drona said that you say that friendship can only be among equals.
He said I’ll not only become equal, I’ll become better than you. So, then he trained the Kauravas and the Pandavas. And then when their training was over, as Guru Dakshina, he asked them that you give, I want that you bring Drupada arrested in front of me.
And so the Kauravas tried to have Drupada arrested. They failed. Then Arjuna and the Pandavas went and Arjuna defeated Drupada, his army, and he actually had Drupada arrested and brought in front of Drona.
And Drona said that, okay, you had said friendship can only be among equals. I wish to revive our friendship. But now you are no longer equal to me.
He said that. Now you have no kingdom. Your kingdom is mine because I have defeated you.
He says for our friendship’s sake, I give you half of the kingdom. He said let us be friends. Now Drona also spoke to him in a scornful way.
So, Drupada felt very insulted. He said, I will do austerity by which I will get a son who will kill Drona. At the same time, the human mind works in such a strange way that when he saw Arjuna, it was Arjuna who had defeated him.
But he felt no anger towards Arjuna. Because he felt Arjuna was simply doing what his Guru had told him. And he felt that Arjuna is such a great warrior.
Such a hero. He said, if only I could have such a hero as my son. He said, I cannot have him as a son.
So, I wish I have him as my son-in-law. And thus he desired to have a daughter. So, from that same fire sacrifice, Dhristadyumna was born who was fated, who was trying to kill Drona.
And then Draupadi was also born. Now, when Draupadi was born, it was, a prophecy came at that time. Because of her, a war will be fought which will cause the destruction of the whole dynasty.
Of many Kshatriya dynasties it will cause. Now, you know, the word cause has multiple meanings. And we have to see, we will come later to this point, what it means.
Something can be a cause, but something need not be responsible for that happening. Just like when rains fall on a ground, on some ground. So, sometimes the rains at some particular places, the ground is being tilled nicely, there crops come.
And other places, if there is no ploughing, no sowing of seeds, then the same rain causes weeds to grow. So, we could say the rain is the cause of the weeds. But the rain is not the cause.
In the sense that, the rain is simply creating the facility, providing the facility for nourishing of the soil with water. Then whatever has been sown, according to that, everything will grow. So, whatever is grown.
So, the rain is the remote cause, we could say, or the ultimate cause. It is not the immediate cause. The specific cause for what grows on the ground, that is what has been sown over there.
So, it is not, as we will see later, it is not that Draupadi was responsible for the war. Rather, it was around her that the war was fought. And the war was caused by the obstinacy and the wickedness of the Kauravas.
So, now both Draupadi and Dhristadyumna, because they were mystically born, they were born through fire. So, they grew up very quickly. And that’s how eventually Arjuna and Draupadi were of compatible age for marriage.
Because by this time Arjuna was already young. He was already in his youth. And Draupadi, at that time, Drupada performed a yajna to get a son and a daughter.
But those fire-born siblings, they grew very fast. And eventually, Drupada had performed, Drupada wanted to have Arjuna as his son. And when he heard that in the Khandava, sorry, in the Varanavarta house of Lak, the Pandavas had been burned.
He was mortified. He said, how is this possible? How could the prophecy have gone wrong? And then some rumours came about, maybe the Pandavas are still alive. So, he thought, I want to find out.
So, he decided to do a swayamvar for Draupadi. Now, this is interesting, because at one level, Draupadi was born and her birth was invoked with the specific purpose that she will marry Arjuna. And yet, now, if that is already destined, then why is he doing a swayamvar for her? Actually, the swayamvar was simply an excuse to get Arjuna to appear.
So, if Arjuna is alive, then Arjuna will appear. And Arjuna excelled in archery. Now, they could have put as a test anything.
They could have put excellence in mace fighting, excellence in spear fighting. But they put the test as excellence in shooting an arrow with a bow. Why? Because that was the area of excellence of Arjuna.
So, the swayamvar was not so much for Draupadi to choose her Varan. Because her Varan had already been chosen. It was destined.
It was more for causing her Varan to appear, her groom to appear. Now, during that assembly, there were many Kshatriyas who came. And Draupadi was phenomenally beautiful.
So, they all wanted, and Drupada was also a very powerful kingdom. So, at that time, there were two main kingdoms which were very powerful. The Kuru kingdom and the Panchala kingdom.
If you look in the Mahabharata, at the composition of the armies, the major forces were on the Kaurava side, they had the Kuru forces. And on the Pandava side, they had the Drupada forces, the Panchala forces. So, these were the two main forces at that time.
So, now, if an alliance could be formed between those two powers, then things would be very orderly for the whole subcontinent, the whole world at large. So, now, he wanted to get Arjuna to come out. Now, all the Kshatriyas came because an alliance for any of them with the Panchala king would be a big advantage.
So, they all came and competed. None of them could actually meet the target. Now, tomorrow I’ll talk more about Karna, but let’s talk a little bit about him today.
So, Karna also came to compete. Now, Karna was known at that time as a Sutaputra. Sutas are actually charioteers primarily.
So, he was not considered exactly a Kshatriya and thus there was naturally some reservation about, some concern about whether he could compete or not. So, now, according to some TV depictions of the Mahabharata, they said that when he wanted to compete, Draupadi told him, you know, I will not marry a Suta. And because of that, Karna felt very insulted.
Now, these are actually all dramatised, sensationalised retellings. I’ll come to that. Several sections in which Draupadi’s character has been negatively sensationalised.
So, actually what happened was, now, if you look at the Mahabharata, the Mahabharata is a huge book. It’s 110,000 verses. Now, it’s not just the world’s longest book in terms of one single book.
Actually, before the western world came, westerners came to India, their idea was that the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two Homeric sagas, they were considered to be the longest poems in human literature. But the Mahabharata is eight times Iliad and Odyssey combined together. It’s phenomenally large.
And one challenge because of this is that sometimes some verses are interpolated in it. Because what happens when a book is very big, and especially the Sanskrit of the Mahabharata is also very simple. If you go to the Bhagavatam Sanskrit or go to the Vedic Sanskrit, it’s quite difficult.
But the epic Sanskrit, the Itihasa Sanskrit is relatively easy. Sometimes some verses can be interpolated. So, there is a book called Mahabharata Atparinirnay written by Madhavacharya where he addresses this point that the Mahabharata has been interpolated and therefore we need to have a systematic understanding of its conclusion.
And Madhavacharya offers a conclusion from the perspective of the Madhva Sampradaya in his book. So now, if we consider that Mahabharata Atparinirnay and there is an academic perspective, there is a critical edition of the Mahabharata that is made. Critical edition means there are scholars who look at all the manuscripts of the Mahabharata that are available.
And then they see which particular verse is present in which manuscript. And then they try to look at the context. And they see if the verse goes from there to other.
They have a whole process by which they determine which verses are interpolated and which verses are actually there originally. So, either way if you look at the traditional understanding which is given by Madhavacharya, if you look at the academic understanding which is given by Mahabharata Atparinirnay, either way actually what happens is Karna competes and Karna misses the target. So, Karna shoots and his arrow comes closest.
It barely misses the target by a whisker. But he misses. Now, even if we say for argument’s sake that Karna was not allowed to compete.
We assume that that is a possibility. But still we have to understand, see there is a fundamental principle and there is a secondary principle. The defining principle of swayamvar is swayamvar.
It is for the bride to choose her groom. And whatever criteria are set in archery or in any other competition, that is secondary. The primary thing is that the bride is going to choose her groom.
So, if Draupadi or her family feels that they do not want their daughter to be married to a family whose antecedents are not so proper, then that is their discretion. So, now this is actually not an insight. If you look at it, there are additions of the Mahabharata which also describe that when Arjuna is about to compete, after all the Kshatriyas compete and none of them succeeds, then Arjuna comes up.
And Arjuna actually asks Draupadi and Dhrishtadyumna, is a Brahmana allowed to compete? Because normally swayamvar is for Kshatriyas. So, now behind the hierarchy, Brahmanas are higher than Kshatriyas. But although Arjuna is a Brahmana, Arjuna asks, is a Brahmana allowed to compete here? He doesn’t just presumptuously march ahead and say, I’ll compete.
So, if Arjuna had that deference to the sensitivity of the people who were there, Karna could also have had that. And instead of just walking ahead and then being told you cannot compete, he could have enquired first, is he allowed to compete or not? Unfortunately, whatever happened, it was not an intentional plan to insult Karna. The whole plan was to get Draupadi to find her destined groom and that was Arjuna.
So, Arjuna hit the target and then Arjuna got the hand of Draupadi. Now, after this, then the Pandavas went back home. Most of us know the story that every day they would go.
Now, the Pandavas were living in the garb of Brahmanas. They were Kshatriyas. But as Kshatriyas, they could be very… Kshatriyas, they are heroic, chivalrous people.
And Kshatriyas usually don’t live by seeking alms or anything like that. So, now, because they were living in the garb of Brahmanas. And at that time, there was no camera with photos to click.
Otherwise, everybody would know this is Pandavas over here. So, their identity was not known so easily. But when Krishna saw Arjuna, Krishna told Balram, isn’t that Arjuna? But Balram and Krishna were both delighted to know that Arjuna was alive.
So, the Pandavas would go and ask for alms. And when they would get that, they would come and bring it to their mother. And this day also, they can just see your mother what we have brought for you.
So, Kunti thought that, oh, they must have got some very nice food. So, Krishna thought, whatever you have got, share it equally among yourselves. And she just spoke it casually.
Sometimes, you know, silence speaks louder than words. So, they just come back in a very cheerful mood. And suddenly, a deathly silence.
So, Kunti was in her house, she just turned around. And she saw this beautifully dressed bride. And she realised what she had spoken.
She was horrified. She said, what can be done now? She said, I have already spoken this, what can be done? And Yudhishthira also started thinking. He said, my mind cannot contemplate a sinful activity.
But still, I feel that your words, I don’t feel any revulsion on hearing your words. So, they started thinking. And at that time, Vyasadeva comes.
And Vyasadeva tells about Draupadi’s previous life. And in her previous life, she had been a maiden. And she had wanted a husband.
But somehow she was not able to find a suitable groom. So, she had performed severe austerities to worship Lord Shiva. And when she performed severe austerities, finally, after a long time, Lord Shiva appeared.
And Lord Shiva appeared in her excitement. He said, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband, I want a husband. She said, five times.
Shiva said, I will give you five husbands. That’s not what I wanted. That’s not what I wanted.
He said, no, you will be a part of the plan of the Lord. And Vyasadeva told this. And Yudhishthira was also pacified.
Then, in the meanwhile, Yudhishthira and Draupadi, they were worried. They had, normally, whenever a daughter of a family is getting married, the parents, the family members want to know where is she getting married. So, here they had arranged a Swayamvar and some unknown Brahmin had come and taken their daughter.
So, Draupadi had sent Dhrishtadyumna behind. See, who they are, where they are staying. And from their talks, he understood that these are not, the way they were jubilantly discussing the battle, these are not Brahmanas.
So, he invited them to their palace. And there the Pandavas revealed their identity. And then Vyasadeva repeated the same story, Vyasadeva said that.
So, Drupada was also taken aback. How can Draupadi marry five husbands? So, Vyasadeva told the whole story. And Vyasadeva said, this is actually going to be a part of the plan of the Lord.
So, the five Pandavas were actually five very different people. So, especially if you want to see the contrast in character, there is a very strong contrast between Yudhishthira and Bhima. I mentioned this yesterday.
Yudhishthira was trying to find a peaceful way out whenever possible. Bhima was always looking for battle. If you look at contemporary Indian history, Yudhishthira was like Gandhiji.
Bhima was like Subhash Chandra Bose. Now, both wanted Indian independence. Common cause, but very different purposes.
Different means for pursuing that cause. So, their character was, if you see the Pandavas, each of them is different. And those five Pandavas, actually they were united by Panchali, by Draupadi.
So, she brought harmony among the diversity of the five Pandavas. And thus she played a very pivotal role in the Mahabharata. Then, when they were married, so at that time, Dhritarashtra called them and gave Khandava Prastha, Khandava to them, which they made into, the forest they made into a city, magnificent city.
Then they performed the Rajasuya Yajna. And Rajasuya Yajna, Yudhishthira was, Yudhishthira and Draupadi, they were the host and hostess around whom the Yajna was performed. And it was a time of celebration for them.
The greatest success for a king and a queen is to perform the Rajasuya Yajna. And the Pandavas performed that. So, this was to be a time of great happiness.
But, there was one person who could not tolerate that happiness. And that was Duryodhana. Shishupal was doing the Rajasuya Yajna.
Now we are talking about Rajasuya Yajna getting over. See, all of us have our triggers. Triggers means, if I know that I am a short tempered person.
And there are certain circumstances where I tend to become all the more short tempered. So, if I know that, you know, if I am getting late for something, and my short temper really gets, the fuse goes off at that time. So, then if I know that is my trigger, I should be careful to plan my life in such a way that I don’t get late.
It doesn’t require that much planning. I can arrange my life, but if I find there are certain situations in which I get triggered, then it is my responsibility to avoid exposing myself to the triggers. So, you know, some people are say addicted to something.
Somebody is addicted to alcohol. And they want to give up alcohol. They say, not only should you give up alcohol, but you should also throw out of your life, things that remind you of alcohol.
Because how the desire comes up, one thing, second thing, third thing, fourth thing, one cannot know. So, basically, whatever triggers one has, if we have anartha, if we have weakness, then we have to be, it’s our responsibility to avoid exposing ourselves to the triggers associated with that weakness. So, Duryodhana, he had a lot of envy towards the Pandavas.
And that is a whole long story. But briefly, initially the Pandavas were actually, were born in the forest. Because Pandu had retired from the world and he was in the Himalayas.
And there was no certainty that Pandu will ever have a child. And if he has a child, whether the child will come back to kingdom. So, it was expected that Duryodhana will become the next king.
And Duryodhana had thus become, been pampered by everyone. And children, especially who are born to well-to-do parents, often they have a, they have a entitlement mentality. I am entitled to this, I am entitled to this.
And similarly, Duryodhana had an entitlement complex. Where he felt that I was entitled to the kingdom. And suddenly the Pandavas came back.
And whereas Duryodhana initially was like the centre of the whole family, centre of the whole kingdom. He is the prince, he is going to the heir apparent, he is going to the next, he is the prince, he is going to the king. And suddenly he found that these Pandavas, they came and most people started getting attracted to them.
Because Duryodhana was, although he was the prince, he was insolent. He was disrespectful quite often. The Pandavas were courteous, Yudhishthira especially was respectful, learned, gentle.
And so he found himself being sidelined. And from that point onwards he started becoming more and more envious. So that he knew that there was envy towards Yudhishthira that was there.
And yet circumstances happened in such a way that when Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya Yajna, he went around and conquered the whole world. But he did not fight against the Kauravas. Because the Kauravas were in the same family.
And so because this was a function performed by the same family, so the Kauravas also went. Yudhishthira said, I am too, because of being blind I cannot travel. So I will not come.
But he told his sons to go. So Duryodhana went and there Duryodhana, all of them had to take up some different responsibilities. Like if there is a marriage in the family, and all the relatives pitch in and they take up different responsibilities in the marriage.
So like that Rajasuya Yajna was a big sacrifice. So Duryodhana got the responsibility of receiving gifts on behalf of Yudhishthira. Now whatever service he would have got, this was the most provoking for him.
Because he was already envious of the Pandavas and he said, I should be getting all this, not them. Why am I getting it? So he could have backed out, he could have asked for some other service, but he did not do that. And as he was seeing so many gifts coming, you know, the gifts were enriching Yudhishthira, but the gifts were also scorching Duryodhana.
It was hard. It was becoming like a desert, burning flaming desert. And this was bad enough.
But after this, after the ceremony got over, all the guests who had come left. But somehow Duryodhana got this devilish desire to stay on. He said, sometimes people, some guests come, and then after that they stay on.
So, you know, every guest who outlives their invitation, then they become like unwanted guests. So actually the Pandavas and Krishna, they had a very friendly relationship. Very intimate.
So Krishna was staying there, some of the others were also there, but Duryodhana said, I will also stay. Duryodhana did not say so. Pandavas, of course, they were hospitable.
They allowed him to stay. Now there was this Maya Sabha. There was this assembly which had been made by the Maya Dhana for Krishna, for Arjuna, for Yudhishthira on the instruction of Krishna.
And that was especially mysterious, you know. When people make a house, everybody has a house, so people want to show what is special in my house. Maybe from this window you can see the scene, or I have got the chandelier, or I have got this, whatever is special.
So Yudhishthira’s palace, all kings had their palaces. But Yudhishthira’s palace, the speciality was this illusory sort of thing. So you look, it appears to be a plain ground, but it turns out to be water over there.
It appears to be water, but it is plain ground. So now Duryodhana got deluded by this. Duryodhana was walking along a particular place, he thought it is normal, he came to a particular wall and he thought there is a way out.
He thought it is a door over there. And he came there, bang! He hit his head against it. His head was reeling.
Then his head was reeling. The Pandavas, Sahadev came and said, you should know the door is here, he said. He felt so angry.
Basically, you know, for many people, greater than the fear of losing their head, is the fear of losing their face. Losing their face means, you know, to appear stupid. To be dishonoured for looking stupid.
Duryodhana couldn’t tolerate. Another time he was just walking along and he thought it is ground over there. And it was actually water and he slipped.
He slipped and fell down. He slipped and fell down. Everybody who saw there, it was just a funny sight, they started laughing.
Now, there was no acrimony. There was no hate in that. It was just an incidental thing.
How can such things happen? Now, of course, again I said they are sensationalised. So, according to sensationalised traditions, at this time Draupadi says, Andhe ka beta andha. The son of a blind man is blind.
Now, Draupadi never says like this. There is no mention at all in the Mahabharata of this. And actually, Draupadi is a cultured woman.
She is not going to make cheap taunts like this to anyone. We look at the overall nature of her speech, we will see later when she becomes angry and Yudhishtira gambles her. Even when she is angry, even when she is being disinsulted, actually her speech throughout remains very dignified.
So, yes, Duryodhana may have felt dishonoured at that time. But he had actually quoted the dishonour. He had no reason to stay over there.
Bheeshma and others had already left. So, he was just staying there. And he felt very insulted at that time.
And he just said, I want to leave. And he left. While he was going along, he was breathing heavily.
Shakuni asked, what is the matter? What do you mean, what is the matter? Can’t you see how prosperous the Pandavas are? He says, I want their wealth. So, Karna said, let us challenge them to a fight. We will defeat them and we will take their wealth.
Shakuni said, you are a child. You cannot fight against the Pandavas. So, Karna said, no, I can fight, I can win.
He said, no, you will not be able to. Their strength is formidable. What reason do you have to challenge them for a fight? He said, I have another plan.
Invite them for a gambling match. And there, I will defeat all of them. And then I will get their kingdom for you.
Duryodhana thought about it and he said, I don’t think my father will agree to this, to a gambling match. He is already afraid of the Pandavas’ strength and he is afraid that they will get angry. He says, no, if you tell him, he will not be able to refuse you.
So, then they both make a plan. And they return. They go to meet Dhritarashtra.
Oh, Duryodhana, how are you? He asks about his well-being. Duryodhana does not reply only. So, Dhritarashtra is surprised.
He is a little concerned. Shakuni says, O king, what are you doing when your son is in such terrible misery that he is considering giving up his life? Dhritarashtra is alarmed. What is the matter? What is the matter, O son? So, he says, the Pandavas, they have got so much wealth, such treasuries and jewels from places we have not even heard about.
So, he says, what man can be happy? So, then Dhritarashtra asks, what is the problem? They have got wealth, you also got wealth. Whatever you want, you have it. No, I have it, but they have much more than what I have.
So, what is the problem for you? You have whatever you want. Now, what man can be happy when his enemies have more things than what he has? This is actually the nature of envy. We don’t see how much we have.
So, basically, our relationship with possessions becomes dependent on someone else. Rather than seeing what I have and being satisfied with what I have, we look at what others have and we become dissatisfied. Say now, say after this programme, there is going to be prasad.
Now, suppose there is a feast, but assume this is a special feast in which everybody is going to get different delicacies. So, what I get in my plate, what you get in your plate, what they get in their plate, everybody is going to have different. Now, everybody has got delicacies, everybody has got a good feast, but it’s different.
And suppose when I have my feast in front of me, instead of eating my feast, hey, what has he got in his plate? What has she got in her plate? What is there? And instead of enjoying the feast I have, what am I doing? I am getting dissatisfied thinking, oh, he has got that, they have got that, she has got that. Hey, enjoy what is there with you. Why bother about what others have? So, like that, we all have certain talents, we all have certain gifts.
There are many things right in our life. But instead of appreciating what is right in our life, we look at what others have and we become dissatisfied. And this is very unfortunate because the gifts that we have, they are actually, they can make us happy, whatever we have.
It’s not that we can’t strive for more. But if we depend on what others have, then there will always be some who will have something more than what we have. I will stay dissatisfied.
So, I once saw an advertisement, it was a car advertisement. So, there was this young man driving a car, brand new car, and there is a girl looking at him admiringly. And then behind there is another young man glaring an envy.
And the advertisement was, buy this car and enjoy the envy in your neighbour’s eyes. So, this is such a low level of enjoyment actually. There are different people who can get enjoyment at different levels in different things.
But thinking that my enjoyment depends on how much envy I can see in other people, it’s such a low level of enjoyment. So, then I was at this low level of consciousness. And what is it? How can I be happy when the Pandavas are prospering? So, then what can I do? Dhritarashtra was very concerned, agitated that his son was unhappy.
So, there is a plan. And then Chakuni tells his own plan. Dhritarashtra is very apprehensive.
But Duryodhana is adamant. And finally, Dhritarashtra gives in to him. Tells Vidura to go and call the Pandavas for a gambling match.
Vidura himself protests vehemently. This will cause war and this will cause destruction. Don’t have this gambling match.
He insists. Then when Vidura goes to the Pandavas and the Pandavas hear, Yudhishthira is first. The concern is, no, if we gamble, we will soon fight.
We should not gamble. But just before the Kurukshetra, before this happened, after the Yajna gets over, Rajvi Yajna, Vyasadeva comes and Vyasadeva tells Yudhishthira that okay, although you have performed a glorious Yajna which is successful, still, soon, he says, I see dark times ahead. And a great war will be fought.
And at the end of that war, your position on the throne will become solidified. And it will cause the destruction of many dynasties. Yudhishthira is disturbed on hearing this.
And he starts thinking, what causes war? War is caused by dissension, by disagreement among others. And quite often, disagreement is caused by disobedience. So he says that, I will always obey my elders.
And in that way, I will try to avoid conflict, I will avoid dissension. So now, unfortunately for him, this very vow that he takes, it works against him. I will always obey my elders and for him, the most prominent elder is Dhritarashtra.
Who is like his father in the absence of his father, his uncle. So he cannot refuse when Dhritarashtra invites him to come for a gambling match. And Yudhishthira goes.
And when they come for the gambling match, at that particular point, Yudhishthira, first thing he sees the Kauravas and he says, why do you want to take the wealth which I want to use for the service of the Brahmanas? He does not see the kingdom as his own kingdom. He sees that it is meant for serving society. The Brahmanas arrange for the material spiritual well-being of people.
They provide guidelines and the Kshatriya implements it. So Dhritarashtra just laughs and says, oh, you know, if you are afraid to fight, you needn’t fight. If you are afraid to play, you needn’t play.
Then Yudhishthira agrees to play. And then Dhritarashtra says, on my behalf, Shakuni will play. This is unheard of, Yudhishthira says.
According to the rules of gambling, those two people who are gambling, they should play. So here it is like, say, you know, if, say, that is in a college, you know, maybe there is some duel. Two friends have some disagreement and they say, we will have a boxing match.
They will box with each other. So two friends, and they come for a boxing match. And at the time of the boxing match, there is friend A and the friend.
The friend, they can be rivals, whatever. There is A and B who are there. At the time of the match, A comes there, but B says, I will not fight.
On my behalf, he gets some champion, world champion, professional boxing player. So he will fight on my behalf. This is unfair.
It’s unfair. How can you have a match between an immature and a professional? So it’s completely unfair. So Yudhishthira says, no, how can you fight? Again, what Yudhishthira, Duryodhana uses the same trick.
If you are afraid, you need not fight. You need not play. Actually, for a Kshatriya, this is a very taunting statement.
If you are afraid, you need not play. Kshatriyas are actually fearless. So Yudhishthira looks at Dhritarashtra.
And Dhritarashtra remains silent. So actually the match is rigged. Rigged in the sense that a match between an immature and a professional is no match at all actually.
So Yudhishthira knows that he is going to lose. But he is constrained to play that match over there. And he starts playing, playing, playing.
And one thing, second thing, third thing, fourth thing, fifth thing. Starts losing everything one by one. Finally, he gambles Nakula Sahadeva.
Then he gambles Arjuna, Bhima. He gambles himself. He loses everything.
So each time when he is losing a lot of things, Arjuna points to Yudhishthira and says, enough, stop now. But Shakuni goes in. And Yudhishthira has this weakness for gambling.
The Mahabharata actually depicts characters not in black and white. Nobody in this world is perfect. Everybody has certain deficiencies.
So the Mahabharata depicts it. Yudhishthira is Dharmaraj, but he has this weakness for gambling. And he is also thinking that, I have lost everything.
I must get it back. Let me gamble. Once I will win.
He knows that decks are stacked against him. But if he has lost so many times, at least once I will win. That means I will get something back and we will leave from here.
So one by one he gambles everything. And finally when he has lost everything, he has lost himself also. Devastated, Yudhishthira is sitting as if in a daze.
Not knowing what to do, what has struck him. He came into that gambling match. He was the wealthiest man in the world.
He was the emperor of the world. Rajasuya means essentially he is the emperor. And now suddenly he is gone with nothing.
He is left with nothing. What has happened? What has struck him? So at that time Shakuni says, you still have one thing which you can gamble. And that is Draupadi.
Everybody in the assembly is alarmed. They say, how can this happen? Yudhishthira is thinking, this is my only hope. Anyway, without her husband, who is going to protect her? So let me put her on stake and I will win.
I will win back the kingdom. So he decides to stake Draupadi. But this time Bhima and Arjuna both are furious.
But still for them Yudhishthira is like their father. So they don’t stop him forcibly. So then he gambles and he loses Draupadi also.
At that time Dhritharashtra has at least put on a mask of impartiality. He tries to act as if Dhritharashtra and Pandavas are both his next generation children. But here that mask, that pretender’s mask falls off.
Has the Panchali been won? Has Panchali been won? He is eagerly asking what is happening. He is taking glee in the Pandavas’ misfortune. And then at that time Dhritharashtra says that now that Draupadi has been won, she should be summoned into the assembly.
So they send a messenger to the women’s chamber where Draupadi is there. Now at this particular time Draupadi is wearing a single dress, a single cloth she is wearing. So she had just taken a bath after her period and she was just changing over doing some prayers after which she will start her normal routines.
So then at that time she says the king has summoned you in the assembly. He says I cannot come in this condition. No, he says summon you.
He says that there was a gambling match in which you have been lost. A gambling match in which I was lost? She is shocked. He says how could the king have gambled me? Did he have nothing else to gamble? So then the messenger Pratikamini tells the whole story.
He says he lost everything. He lost everything, he lost himself also. And then he gambled you.
Now Draupadi starts realising the magnitude of what has happened. You can think, you know, if somebody is a wife and her husband is a millionaire and she comes, somebody comes and goes, comes home and tells, you know, you lost everything. You lost your house, you lost everything.
It is shattering. But Draupadi, she has such strength, she doesn’t collapse. She immediately starts looking.
She is also a Kshatriyani, Kshatriyan lady. She starts looking for some way out and she catches a way. She says if Yudhishthir had gambled himself and lost himself, then how could he have gambled me? If he is not his own master, how can he be my master? Go and ask this to the assembly.
So Draupadi is basically, like somebody is drowning, they will hold on to straws. Draupadi is finding out some way to hold on, to stop the situation from going into a total disaster. So then the person goes and asks, this is what Draupadi asked.
Duryodhana is angry. Where is she? I have not brought her. So she asks this question.
So Yudhishthir, everybody remains silent. So Duryodhana says, tell Draupadi that she can come here and ask this question. And she goes back.
He goes back and Draupadi says, if you have not answered my question, there is no reason for me to come. And the messenger goes back again. Duryodhana says, so Dushasan, you know this foolish Pratikamin, he is scared of Bhima.
But I know you are not scared of Bhima. So you go and get Draupadi. And then Dushasan goes into Draupadi’s assembly.
And Draupadi, you know, is apprehensive what is going to happen. But when she sees Dushasan coming in, she gets alarmed. She tries to run towards Gandhari’s chamber.
Gandhari is the only lady who feels she might be able to control. Seems all the men have just got perverted. What is happening? But Dushasan also sees what she is trying to do and he charges her and catches her.
And drags her by the hair. And drags her and flings her in the assembly. The Pandavas are furious.
Bhima is literally giving out smoke at that time. But he has lost himself. He doesn’t know what to do.
So at that time Draupadi, she rises up. She is crying, trying to get Dushasan to stop her. She offers her respects to the elders and she says, forgive me for coming in this condition but I did not have the opportunity to dress myself properly.
And she again repeats her question. If Duryodhana had gambled himself, how could he have gambled? And everybody stays silent. And she says, now at this particular point, Duryodhana is gloating in the misery of the Pandavas.
And he tries to increase their misery. He says, oh Draupadi, if you say that Dharmaraj committed adharma by gambling you, by staking you after he had gambled himself, then I will release all of you. So basically what he is trying to do is, he is trying to play husband against wife.
You know, there are always, in the family there are always some relatives or some other people who love to create dissension. So this is what Duryodhana is trying to do. And Draupadi is very sharp.
She refuses to fall for this bait. He said, I know that Yudhishthir had no desire to gamble. He gambled not because of his desire but in spite of his desire.
He gambled because his elders told him to gamble. So those elders who caused this gambling match to be held, let them decide whether my gambling was fair or not. My being put on the stake was fair or not.
So she turns around and puts the responsibility on the elders. Everybody is looking at Dhritarashtra. Dhritarashtra stays silent.
Completely silent. They turn around and then now the only person, the eldest person in the assembly is Bhishma. The onus falls on Bhishma.
And Bhishma says to Draupadi, Oh Draupadi, it is laudable that even amid such a calamity, you are remembering the principles of Dharma. And you are seeking to act according to the Dharma. Now your virtue is unparalleled.
And then he says, unfortunately regarding your question, he says, there are two principles. One is that one who has gambled and lost himself, he has lost everything. He doesn’t own anything at all.
And the other is that the wife is always under the protection of the husband. So with these two principles, I am confused. I do not know which is higher and therefore I cannot answer your question.
Now here you will see one thing that sometimes there is this whole idea that we see that when we say the wife belongs to the husband, it is not like a property. It is a person. In a personal relationship we see how it is.
Yudhishthir gambles all his property and loses it all. After that he gambles himself. And after that he gambles his wife.
That means his property is at one level, he himself is at another level and his wife is at a higher level. So it’s a completely different level of relationship. So when two people love each other, you are mine, they may say.
Now that mind is not so much in terms of possession as in terms of belonging, in terms of reciprocation of relationship. So Draupadi is actually gambled after he has gambled himself, after he has lost all his property, after he has lost himself also. So at this point when Bhishma says I cannot decide, then the Kauravas start gloating.
And Vidura is speaking strongly, he says this is atrocious, what is happening, it must be stopped. But nobody listens to him. Now Bhishma actually here gets caught in Niyamagraha.
Niyamagraha means agraha is insistence, niyama is rule. So niyamagraha means insistence on the rule, that’s the literal translation. But essentially it means insistence on the letter of the law without understanding the purpose of the law.
So yes, there are two laws that the slave doesn’t own anything, there is another law that the wife belongs to the husband. But the important point is what? The purpose of all laws is to prevent lawlessness. And what can be more lawless than to have an honourable lady being dishonoured in public in the presence of those who are meant to be the protectors of law.
So, you know, we should never get so caught in technicalities that our broad sense of conscience that gets lost. Sometimes we get too caught, should I do this, should I do that, if you look at our broad conscience, it will be clear this is ghastly wrong what is happening. And this is so wrong that actually among the Kauravas there is dissension.
And Vikarna gets up. Vikarna is one of the Kaurava brothers and he says that actually what has happened, he asks the assembly, you should answer this question. In every assembly there is hierarchy.
Say, if we are an assembly of devotees, then some question is asked. So, usually the senior devotee will get an answer. If senior devotee doesn’t give an answer, then the younger devotee may give an answer.
So, in that hierarchy, Vikarna is quite young. So, Vikarna turns to the elder and he says, oh elders, she is asking a question. Please answer the question.
When everybody stays silent, Vikarna says, if nobody is answering, then I will answer. And he says, there are four activities which make people mad. There is hunting, there is gambling, there is intoxication, drinking and there is womanising, excessive sexuality.
So, these four activities, these are broadly related to the four regulatory principles that we have. These four activities drive people mad. And when people get caught in these four activities, they just act in an insane way.
So, what they do under the influence of these activities, that should not be taken very seriously. That is the first thing. Second thing he says is that Yudhishthira did not want to gamble.
He was forced to gamble by the instruction of his elders. And he is a mature to gamble against a professional. And that is unfair.
Because of these three reasons, I feel that the whole gambling match itself is null and void. And therefore, the Pandavas have lost nothing. And therefore, Draupadi has not been staked.
The second reason was that Yudhishthira gambled unwillingly because he was goaded by the Kauravas, by Shakuni. And third is, he had to fight against Shakuni who was a professional. And a mature fighting against a professional, that is unfair.
Because of these reasons, I feel the whole gambling match is null and void. And therefore, Draupadi is not lost. When he speaks this, everyone cheers.
The whole assembly cheers. And when they cheer, at that time, very uncharacteristically, one person gets up. And that is Karna.
And Karna, he says, O Vikarna, you are just a child. And you are speaking like a child. Do you presume that you are wiser than all these elders who are remaining silent? Because you have been so presumptuous in speaking like this, and you have spoken foolishly, I will reject what you are speaking.
And then, he says, nobody forced Yudhishthira to gamble. Yudhishthira chose to gamble and he chose to fight against Shakuni. If he had not wanted, he would not have fought.
He needn’t have fought. In principle, that is true. But for a Kshatriya, it’s a matter of honour.
It’s, let’s say, India-Pakistan match is going on. And say, there is a under-15 India-Pakistan match, you know. Under-15 Indian players, under-15 Pakistani players are there.
And there, when the match is going on, say, the Indian batsman goes and starts batting. And then there is, you know, the international level Pakistani fast bowler who comes and starts bowling. You know, maybe he is 25, 30.
And then, they say, this is an under-15 match. It’s like, already the stadium is there. Everybody has come for watching the match.
And then, there is a 25, 30-year-old bowler who is going to bowl fast. And then, he says, no, this is an under-15 match, how can he play? He says, no, if you are afraid, you need not play. How can the batsman at that time say, I will not play? How can the batsman say, I am afraid? It is for the umpire.
It is for the audience. It is for the organisers. For them to point out this is false.
So, here, Yudhishthir is gambling. Yudhishthir is a Kshatriya. He has a sense of honour.
He cannot back out from a match at that time. But it is for everybody else at that point to have stopped the match. So, in practise, Yudhishthir could not have backed out at that time.
So, then Karna, he actually does the most atrocious thing over there. He says, as far as Draupadi, you are talking about her honour, how can she be dishonoured like this? He says, she has already married five men. So, what honourable lady can be with five men? He says, she is a prostitute.
And as she is a prostitute, she should be treated as such. Now, this is outrageous. To call a respectable woman a prostitute is horrendous.
It’s unforgivable. And even from the dharmic perspective, actually Draupadi, she did not, what does a prostitute mean? Prostitute basically means a woman who sells her body to get money. Now, even if Draupadi had married five husbands, still she had done nothing to get five husbands.
She had only dutifully participated in swayamvar. And she had gone with the man who had won her in swayamvar. And then by the arrangement of others in which she had no part to play, she got five husbands.
So, she had done absolutely nothing to get five husbands, more than one husband. Simply, she had deferred to the instruction of the elders. And on top of that, even if there is a prostitute, you know, prostitute is also human being.
Even prostitutes are not to be disrespected. So, the point is, he says she is a prostitute. She, you can disrobe her.
It is actually Karna who suggests this. Let us disrobe her. Now, for him, it’s not just lust over here.
Lust is there. Draupadi is beautiful and they are always attracted to her. But here also, Draupadi becomes like a tool for them to dishonour the Pandavas.
And at this point, when Dushasan comes upon Draupadi. And Draupadi tries to run but nobody stops her. Nobody stops.
And then she starts pulling at her. Draupadi is trying her best to stop. But she is no match to Dushasan’s strength.
She is pulling and pulling and pulling. And then finally, Draupadi realises that she is of no match. She just raises her hand and calls out helplessly, Krishna, help me.
Krishna, help me. And she calls out. What happens is, that suddenly, she is just raising her hand, helplessly calling out.
And her saree becomes inexhaustible. Sometimes in movies, you will see Krishna there. Krishna with his hand upwards, smiling and saree coming from his hand.
But it’s not like that. Nobody sees what is happening. Now, if Krishna is there, why is he sending saree out of hand? Why can’t he stop and beat Dushasan up? So, actually what happens is, nobody understands what is happening.
So, Dushasan keeps pulling, keeps pulling, keeps pulling. And the saree just doesn’t get exhausted. And then, the saree doesn’t get exhausted but Dushasan gets exhausted.
And there is like a big pile of saree over there, you know. And Dushasan just lies down. And everybody applauds Draupadi’s chastity.
Since because of her chastity, because of her purity, that her honour was protected by some mystical means. So, nobody understands actually what happened. They see that she prayed to Krishna.
And then he was protected. But it’s not that Krishna is there over there. At least not in a visible form.
And then, when this happens, now see, for some people, there are spiritual people who don’t need miracles. They understand that actually God is great. And the important thing is to love God.
It is not that we have to see some miracles. Somebody can walk on water. Somebody can produce some fruits.
Okay, these miracles are there. Srila Prabhupada compares them with technology. These mystic siddhis, while they are miraculous, they are simply like technology.
It is, for those who do not know how it works, it’s magical. For those who know how it works, you know, for a person who doesn’t know how a cell phone works, you know, you just press some buttons and you talk with somebody in some other part of the world. How is this happening? It’s magical.
It’s not magic. There is a process. So, like that, there are siddhis by which certain miraculous things can be done.
So, those who are spiritual, they don’t need miracles. Now, for those who are pious, in general, not spiritual, today morning I have a class on the difference between piety and spirituality. So, those who are pious, they need to get intellectual understanding to rise to the spiritual level.
But when they are just pious, if some miracles happen, they think, hey, something special is going on. This person must be special. And they start respecting that person.
So, in general, the assembly starts applauding. Like Draupadi’s chastity. It’s a pious assembly.
Kshatriyas are pious people. They do dharma so that they can go to swarga. They start applauding Draupadi’s chastity.
But for those who are impious, for those who are non-believers, those who are materialistic people, determined, demoniac people, determined materialists, so then for them, they just, even if they see miracles, it has no effect on them. This is just something that happened. I don’t know how it happened.
I don’t bother about it. So, it is for those who have faith, no, miracles have no effect. That means, the miracles, what’s the big deal about it? What difference is it going to make really? But for those who have absolutely no faith, those who are not just faithless, but those who are anti-God, for them also miracles have no effect.
Because they are determined to stay on atheistic. So, here what happens, the Kauravas, they see Draupadi protected like this, but still they feel, okay, we are going to dishonour her, this particular plan didn’t work. So, we will try some other plan.
They say, now she has become our maid, she should go and clean our palaces, like all the other maids. And Dushyasana approaches her. He tries to drag her away.
Okay, so Draupadi just moves aside and she is herself going in that direction. At that time, all this time, Vidura has been time and time again trying to stop Dhritarashtra. And he says, okay, things have gone too far now.
And he says, and those times the yajnas were very important. All kings would have a yajna, small fire sacrifice, where they would have the fire burning. And Vidura tells Dhritarashtra, okay, your sacred fire, which you had kept burning since the time of your, for many, many years, since the time he started performing sacrifices basically, he says, that fire has suddenly gone off.
I see inauspicious moments everywhere. O king, stop this calamity before everything is destroyed. So, at that time, Dhritarashtra feels, things have gone too far.
Things have gone too far. And he realises that, he has also heard in between, the Pandavas have all taken vows. Bhima has taken a vow that, I have not gone through the whole story.
Duryodhana also says that, come and sit on my lap. He tells it to Draupadi. So, Bhima has taken a vow to break Dhritarashtra’s chithai.
He has taken a vow to break apart Dhrishasana’s hands. So, all these terrible vows have been taken and Dhritarashtra is scared. And he immediately turns to Draupadi.
He says, O Draupadi, I had called this man just for testing the skills of the two cousins. Don’t take what has happened very seriously. He says that, if I, Gandhari and I had done any kindness to you, please remember that and forgive and forget what has happened now.
He says, I want to, you have been very exemplary in sticking to dharma throughout. So, ask for whatever you want. He says, I want Yudhishthira to be free.
He says, although Yudhishthira is the one who has gambled her, but Draupadi preserves her honour. I am not saying, ask for something more. He says, let all the Pandavas, along with their weapons, be free.
He says, with their weapons, they will regain everything that they have lost. So, Draupadi, she still has confidence in the Pandavas. And there, he says, ask for something more.
I am not satisfied. He says, no, Kshatrani should not ask for more than two benedictions. I have asked for two.
This is enough. And Duryodhana says, Dhritharashtra says, Dhritharashtra says that, I will give you everything that you have lost. And he says, please live in peace.
And actually, the whole result gets null and void. And the Pandavas go back. They are furious, but they go back.
And in the meanwhile, Duryodhana and Shakuni are furious. This is our old plan. We had won everything and this old man spoiled everything.
And then, they again go. So, for Dhritharashtra, sometimes he comes to Dharmic understanding, but for him, his Dharmic understanding is not like sunlight. It is like lightning.
Sunlight is that which illuminates for a long time. But lightning, temporary illumination, darkness one second after that. So, there is a moment of lightning at this particular point where he gives everything back to the Pandavas.
But then Dhritharashtra, Duryodhana and Shakuni go and they say, Father, what have you done? He says, not only we have lost everything, but we have antagonised the Pandavas also. He says, just because you have given the kingdom back, do you think they are going to forgive us? You have honoured them, dishonoured their wife and they are going to break revenge against us. I feel that they will just go back to their kingdom, get their army and attack us.
So, we have to avoid this. We will have to prepare. The only way we can prepare is if we can dispossess the Pandavas.
And then he says, call them back for another gambling match. So, the Pandavas say, what are you talking about? But he pressurises it. There is one gambling match, so again a full gambling match happens.
In that, they lose everything. It’s like one stake, everything is lost. And then they are sent to 13 years exile and one year incognito.
Now, this Duryodhana was so cunning, he felt that the Pandavas, they are so famous, especially now, earlier they had stayed in the forest, but they were just princes, one set of princes among many princes. But now, Yudhishthira was the emperor of the world. He had been there, so everybody knew him.
So, he felt sure that the Pandavas would never be able to stay incognito. And the condition was, if in the Aghyatvas they are detected, then again they have to go 12 plus 1 years. He had devised this scheme so that they can be lifelong sent to the forest.
That was his plan. And actually on the 13th year of their exile, the Mahabharata described that he sent 10,000 spies all over the country trying to find out where are the Pandavas. And all those 10,000 spies come back empty handed.
He says, what is this? Have they disappeared? Have they fallen off the surface of the earth? And Duryodhana, you know, all people who are egoistic, they have their flatterers. So, they always keep flattering. So, one of Duryodhana’s friends said, they must have died already.
So, like that. Anyway, so now, Draupadi, actually if you look at this whole incident of the Mahabharata, Draupadi is disrobed. Essentially, we see that the character who comes out brightest is Draupadi.
She is dishonoured, but she throughout remains honourable. You know, she remains honourable. She sticks to the principle of dharma, reminds everyone of dharma.
And she appeals the assembly to remember the principles of dharma and to act accordingly. She is actually a very powerful character. And the person who comes out the darkest is Karna.
You know, he had no business suggesting that Draupadi be disrobed. He had no business saying that Draupadi is a prostitute. Actually, later he regrets it.
We’ll talk about Karna tomorrow. But, just two more incidents and we’ll conclude it. So, when Draupadi is in the forest, you know, she just comes full blast out at Yudhishthira.
How could you have gambled me? How could you have done such a thing? So, usually, you know, in a family, it’s not that there can always be harmony. There will be conflicts even in the family. But the important thing is conflicts within the family, they should be kept inside the family.
Not that they are brought out in front of the whole world. So, Draupadi, when Duryodhana tries to play Draupadi against Yudhishthira, she refuses to fall for the bait. She refuses to fall for the bait.
Why? Because, she has an issue with her husband, she will deal with it, but in private, not in public. So, sometimes parents may also have conflicts. It’s not that parents cannot have conflicts.
But usually, parents don’t fight in front of their children. The children go out and then they have an argument, a fierce argument also. So, Draupadi, she takes an issue with Yudhishthira.
And Yudhishthira admits in the forest, actually, I have a weakness for gambling. I have a weakness for gambling. So, to be virtuous does not necessarily mean to be free from vice.
It means to be honest enough to admit one’s vice. Now, we all have weaknesses. One problem is, if we admit that, okay, I have this weakness and I am working on it.
And how does Yudhishthira work on it? Yudhishthira in the forest, you know, he meets sages. Now, the sages are actually learned in everything. There is a sage who is expert in gambling also.
He doesn’t play gambling matches, but he is expert in gambling as a skill. And from that skill, Yudhishthira learns gambling. He knows that Duryodhana is going to try everything.
In fact, on the 10th day, on the 11th day of the war, after Bhishma falls and Drona becomes the king. Drona becomes the commander. So, at that time, he asks, Drona is very pleased because Drona thinks, Drona will make Karna the commander.
And I will have to work under Karna. But when Drona is made the commander, he feels happy. He says, I would like to offer you some gift for having given me this honour.
What can I give you? He says, I want Yudhishthira arrested. Alive. So, Drona becomes pleased and he says, Oh, Yudhishthira is such a jata chatru.
And even you don’t want to kill him. Duryodhana just shakes his head. He says, if I kill Duryodhana, if I kill Yudhishthira, then Bhima and Arjuna will go mad.
And they two alone will destroy my entire army. My plan is, if I can get Yudhishthira alone, I will challenge him to another gambling match. And I will send him to the forest.
So, Drona says, you will never learn. You will never learn. But the point is, Yudhishthira, he has weakness, he admits his weakness and he rectified that weakness.
As a Kshatriya, when sometimes he is challenged, he cannot refuse a challenge. But he prepares. He becomes an expert at that particular skill.
Now, Draupadi, actually, just as soon as they go to the forest, at that time, Krishna comes over there. And Krishna comes and Draupadi is devastated. She says, Krishna, why did you not come to help me? He says, you are my relative, you are my friend, you are my lord.
You should have come to help me. And, you know, Krishna doesn’t say over here, you know, don’t you have faith in me? My plan is perfect. Krishna doesn’t speak like that.
You know, when the lord comes in this world, he acts in a very human way. And human way means, you know, when somebody is suffering or somebody is in distress, our goal is to help them in their distress. If philosophy helps them in their distress, we tell philosophy.
Sometimes when people need philosophy to become relieved from distress, sometimes people just need human support. So, you know, philosophy, if it is brought in inappropriately, we can come off as very insensitive. So, when Draupadi is dishonoured like this, nobody tells her, you know, you must have done some past bad karma because of which you are suffering like this.
No, at this point, it is a dishonour. We are not meant to judge people based on their past karma. Imagine if a person is robbed.
A thief comes and robs a person. And this person is robbed, goes to the king, he says, I have been robbed. And the king says, you are robbed because of your past karma.
What will happen to principles of justice? Or for that matter, if, you know, where will it stop if you start attributing everything to past life karma? Where will this stop? You know, if a baby is crying, will the mother say, the baby is crying because of his past karma? Is it ridiculous? Is it? No, we are meant to deal with people based on their this life karma. The baby is crying, I am a mother, I have to take care of the baby. I have to console, pacify the baby.
So, from now, sometimes, despite our best efforts to help people, sometimes things may not work out. That time we understand there is some past life karma working. So, we are not to focus on what is whose past life karma.
We have to focus on what is my dharma. What is my duty. So, for the Pandavas, it is not their concern what Draupadi’s past life karma was or whatever.
Their concern is, we are the husband, we are meant to protect our wife. So, the king is not supposed to think, what is the citizen’s past life karma because of which he was robbed. He should be thinking, I am the king, my dharma is to protect my citizens.
So, philosophy should never be should never be presented in a way that is insensitive to people’s human emotions. Our philosophy is meant to enhance our humanity, not shrink our humanity. Sometimes in the name of philosophy, people are in distress.
Why are you so distressed? So, we see the same when Abhimanyu is killed and Arjuna is grief struck. Arjuna is devastated by the death of Abhimanyu. And Krishna doesn’t tell Arjuna, Arjuna, you have forgotten Bhagavad Gita.
What is this? He doesn’t speak like that to Arjuna. Krishna is compassionate. Krishna is considerate, supportive, encouraging.
And Krishna acting in a very very human way helps Arjuna to come back on the path of duty. So, it’s not that just because we are spiritual, we are not meant to have human emotions. Or that others should not have human emotions.
Rather, our human emotions are natural responses. But we don’t become controlled by the emotions. Arjuna grieves, but Arjuna doesn’t reject Krishna, doesn’t give up his bhakti.
Rather, he increases his service. The next day, what happens? He fights even more fiercely for the cause of Krishna. So, in this case, when Draupadi is dishonoured, when Draupadi is grief-struck, Krishna doesn’t tell her, where is your faith in me? Krishna tells her, what does he tell her? He says, actually, if I had been there, I would have stopped this gambling match.
I would have told about the evils of gambling and made sure that nobody would have gambled. But he said, unfortunately, I was not here. So, Yudhishthira asks, where were you? Where were you, Yudhishthira? So, he says, actually, what had happened was, the Pandavas, the Pandavas and Krishna, they were living in Indraprastha, after the Rajasuya Yajna.
And at that time, the demon Shalva, who takes that opportunity to attack Dwaraka, and he comes with a huge army. And he comes now, one of Krishna’s sons is there, Pradyumna is there and Pradyumna heroically fights and defends. But he is alone.
Most of the Yadu elders are at Indraprastha. All the Yadu heroes are at Indraprastha. And they are not anticipating any attack at that time because this is Rajasuya Yajna and all the world’s Kshatriyas, all the Kshatriya kings are expected to be there at the Rajasuya Yajna.
So, they don’t expect any attack over there. At that time, this demon attacks. And because of that, Krishna has to rush back.
And this demon is a very wily demon, keeps appearing and disappearing. Bhagavatam describes this particular demon’s activities. So, it takes some time for Krishna to fight, to kill the demon and then the whole city is ruined.
So, he has to restore the city and he gets caught in that and by that time, when he hears what has happened, the gambling match is already over and Krishna rushes back over there. And Krishna tells Udraprati that you know, the indignity that you have suffered, that will not go away. Those who have dishonoured you like this, they will be punished.
Udraprati is stuck to the path of Dharma. Hold on to that even now. So, Krishna is not insensitive to Udraprati’s pain.
He consoles her and encourages her to stick to the path of Dharma. And later on, when they are in the forest and after that, when the Ajnaatva gets over, so, at that time, Udraprati, there are many incidents actually, how much time do we have? Okay, I’ll take one last incident from Udraprati’s life. So, this is actually, this is described more in the Bhagavatam than in the Mahabharata.
So, at the end of the, at the end of the war, on the 18th night, Ashwathama just goes mad. Ashwathama slaughters the whole Pandava camp. In that he slaughters Pandava’s five sons also.
And this is devastating for Pandava, especially for Udraprati, because all five are her sons, five sons through her husbands. And, you know, she has had some, she had a benediction that she would have five husbands and through the five husbands, she would have five sons. She would not have any more sons after that.
So, that was the benediction that she had. And all the five sons, that means she would have no more sons. That’s why they are all very conscientious about Abhimanyu as the heir.
Now, the Pandavas have other sons also. Like, say, Bhima had married to Hidimbi and through that he had Ghatotkach. Like that the Pandavas had married others also at different times.
But they were not, they were not exactly Kshatriya matches, you know. It’s not a Kshatriya marrying a Kshatriya. It was a Kshatriya marrying a Rakshasi or a Kshatriya marrying a Gandharvi or something like that.
Now, those matches, the children that are produced from them, they cannot become the kings of the kingdom of the earth. So, that’s why they are very very cautious about Abhimanyu’s son Parikshit. And that’s why Parikshit Krishna protects specifically.
So, anyway, at this particular point Draupadi is devastated and Arjuna says that I will get that wicked Ashwathama and you, I’ll kill him. And then he is brought back. So, they arrest Ashwathama and bring him back.
Now, at that time, now, Draupadi’s soft heart comes out. And Ashwathama is brought in front of her. What does Draupadi think? She doesn’t see Ashwathama just as the murderer of her sons.
He is. It’s a grievous crime. But she also sees that he is the son of Kripi.
And he thinks that rather than seeing Ashwathama as the cause of pain and one who deserves to be punished, she sees that punishing him will cause pain to Kripi. And she will have to go, if we kill him, then Kripi will have to go through the same pain which I have to go through. And she says, therefore, don’t punish him.
Now, Yudhisthira also agrees with her. This is her soft heart. At the same time, it is her sensitivity, you know.
Actually, it is very difficult for us to see things from anything outside our perspective. From her perspective, she has lost her sons and this man has killed her sons. She can be furious.
But she sees not only from her perspective. She sees from the perspective of Kripi. And when we talk about Krishna consciousness, you know, Krishna consciousness means, it’s expansion of consciousness.
So, expansion of consciousness means, Prabhupada writes, that Krishna can see from unlimited perspectives. And Krishna consciousness means, a devotee also can see from unlimited perspectives. And so, our practise of bhakti should expand our consciousness.
That means, normally, we can see only from our perspective. But we should be able to learn to see from others’ perspective. The situation from my perspective looks like this.
But from someone else’s perspective, it may be looking entirely different. So, from my perspective, see, often whenever there are conflicts, most of you have seen that picture of a sketch, which from one perspective looks like a young woman. From another perspective, it looks like an old woman.
So now, that image, is it a young woman or is it an old woman? It is depending on which perspective you look from. So, this perspective, when it comes to perspective, perspective is not logical. It is psychological.
So, psychological means, depending on from where we see, things appear different. And most conflicts, they become escalated when we see only from our perspective, not from the other person’s perspective. When we try to understand things from other person’s perspective, that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to agree with them.
But at least we acknowledge, okay, this is also another way of looking at it, and I understand why you feel like this. But, you are seeing only this side, you are not seeing this side. So, when two people see only from their perspective, when the conflict comes up, it just becomes worse and worse and worse.
But here, Draupadi exhibits that sensitivity. And then, what does Arjuna do? Arjuna says, yes. Bhima, on the other hand, is furious.
He says, he has killed our son. He must be killed. So, when there is a conflict like this, Arjuna resolves it by cutting off the hair of Ashwathama and removing his jewel.
Thus, he makes him powerless. See, the point of punishment is not just to cause pain. The point of punishment, actually, there is a whole different class.
What are the purposes of punishing? But essentially, the purpose of punishment is ultimately to reform the person. The person cannot be reformed, at least that person should not be able to cause harm again. And if the person is not ready to stop causing harm, then the person has to be killed.
So, here, because Brahmana is not to be killed, what he does is, he disempowers him so that he cannot cause any harm again. So, this Draupadi, although, actually speaking, if you see, she is portrayed as a, sometimes some people portray her like an avenging goddess. She is dishonoured and she causes the destruction of all the Kauravas.
It’s not like that. No, she is the person who is wronged the most. And still, time and time again, she always chooses the right path.
So, when we discuss about Karana, we’ll discuss this theme more in detail. But, I’ll conclude with this point that you know, life may dishonour us, but life cannot force us to make dishonourable choices. Dishonour us means, circumstances are coming such a way, we’re disrespected, we’re misunderstood, we’ll be mocked, we’ll be incited, life may dishonour us.
But, life cannot force us to make dishonourable choices. We can always choose the right thing. And that is what Draupadi demonstrates.
Although, she is dishonoured reportedly, she always gravitates back to honourable choices. Ultimately, she is enthroned as a, Yudhishthira is enthroned as a king, and she is enthroned as a queen. And she is redeemed even in this world.
She is a great devotee of the Lord. And she is celebrated as such. So, in the, in the, disrobing incident, quite often, as bhaktas, as devotees are focused on how Krishna comes and miraculously protects Draupadi.
That is wonderful, but you know, not all of us in all situations can expect Krishna’s miraculous intervention. And our focus, if we focus only on Krishna’s miraculous intervention, then we always stay in an expecting mentality. Will Krishna intervene? Will Krishna intervene? Will Krishna help? Why is Krishna not helping? But if we shift the focus in that same incident on Draupadi, and see that how she was so resilient, how she was so determined, how she was so, you know, she had a, you know, she had a spine of steel inside her.
She was extremely determined. And that is an example which we can all follow. Whether we are females or males, you know, life can put us in dishonourable situations, but we can always act honourably.
And if we act honourably, eventually we will be redeemed. Even if we have to go through some difficulties in the intermediate. So I’ll summarise.
Talked about Draupadi’s life today. Talked about how she was born. So the swayamvar was primarily as a tool to get Arjuna to come.
Drona had dishonoured Drupada because Drupada had dishonoured Drona. And Draupadi was a son. Draupadi was born so that Drupada could have Arjuna as a son.
Arjuna as his son-in-law. And then Draupadi did not dishonour Karna. It was Karna who quoted dishonour by being presumptuous and thinking that I can compete.
We discussed about different readings of the Mahabharata also in that connection. And then I discussed how Draupadi got five parsons. That was because of her previous life and nothing, you know, she just consented to what her elders told her.
And she was faithful to all the five Pandavas and she was the person who united the five diverse Pandavas in a harmonious unit. And even during the terrible gambling match when Mithisha lost everything, she held on to the principles of dharma. And she tried to bring back sanity and dharma in an assemblage and become insane.
And Karna acted scurrilously by assassinating her character. Krishna miraculously intervened but nobody understood what happened. So for the adharmic, even miracles have no effect.
For the pious miracles have effect. For the spiritual, miracles are not needed. The Pandavas, Kauravas stayed insolent and they tried to again dishonour Draupadi.
But then when the fire sacrifice itself got extinguished, the minister gave it back. Then Dhritarashtra gave back the kingdom. So, Draupadi throughout acted very honourably.
Draupadi was furious with Yudhishthir but she took out her anger in private, not in public. Later on when they were in the forest. And when she questioned Krishna, why did you not come and help me? Krishna did not blame her for her faithlessness or anything like that.
He actually was very considerate and he consoled her. So philosophy should not be used to deny human emotions or suppress human emotions. Philosophy is to expand our humanity.
It should be there to help people and if philosophy can be used to help, that is good. That is because we should not ascribe people’s, justify rationalise people’s life problems and our unwillingness to help them by saying that it’s all because of past life karma. We have to see what is my dharma in this life and act accordingly.
And lastly discuss about how Draupadi she was so empathic that she could think not just when her own sons had been killed, she could think not just as a murderer of her sons. She saw from Kripi’s perspective and our expansion of consciousness means that we should just not see from our perspective but should be able to see from others’ perspective. And that’s how we can avoid or minimise conflicts.
And lastly that life may dishonour us but life cannot force us to act dishonourably. And rather than focussing on the miraculous that Krishna came and miraculous of protector Draupadi we can focus on that which is repeatable. How Draupadi exhibited a spine of steel, how she was so determined in acting in a honourable way throughout.
That example if we emulate then no matter what life sends our way, we can grow spiritually through it all. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Are there any questions? … … … … … … … … … … Too many questions here. First question is that how do you understand Yudhishthira’s gambling or what is the lesson to be learned from that? So actually the human mind has the capacity to interpret everything in a way that justifies its own ideas. The human mind has that capacity.
Whatever evidence you provide the same evidence for example youth is temporary. So spiritualist will tell us youth is temporary, don’t waste your temporary pleasure, seek the eternal. Materialist will tell us youth is temporary, enjoy before you lose it.
So the same safe information can be seen in entirely different ways. Somebody can say that Oh, if a person who is supposed to be Dharmaraj, Yudhishthira, gambles, then why should I not gamble? I’ll also gamble. But the lesson of the Mahabharata is something entirely different.
And gambling can get even a person like Dharmaraj into trouble. So what to speak of us? So when scripture wants to teach something quite often, it teaches through extreme examples. So through Yudhishthira’s example the very grievous consequences of gambling are demonstrated.
Even in the Mahabharata itself it is indicated that gambling is a vice, which should be avoided. I quoted Vikarna saying that when people come under the spell of gambling mania, they just lose all sense. So the lesson there is that even a person who is Dharmic so Dharmic as Dharmaraj Yudhishthira, even he can come under the spell of gambling and can act grievously.
Therefore it is best to stay away from this. I think I’ll just gamble a little but it will be like a vortex that will suck us in. So it’s best to avoid that.
That’s the primary lesson from Yudhishthira’s gambling. From the transcendental perspective this whole pastime is orchestrated by Krishna to demonstrate to us that ultimately we have no protector except Him. So everybody Yudhishthira, the other Pandavas, Bhishma they all stay passive and that because they are orchestrated that way so that ultimately despite having so many protectors Draupadi has no protector and then she turns towards Krishna.
So we also, we need to make arrangements for material security, material protection but there can be times in our life when all our arrangements just none of them work. So at that time we have to depend on Krishna so that is also the principle that is demonstrated ultimately through Yudhishthira’s gambling. The other question was about Varanas.
Are the Varanas applicable today? The Pandavas also acted as Brahmanas for some time during Angyatvas. Yeah, see the important every if you consider the principle there is a rule and there is a purpose. So today morning I gave the example of traffic rules.
The traffic rules in India and America are opposite but the purpose is the same. So similarly when we talk about the Varana Ashram system there are rules, specific rules but there is an overall purpose. The specific rules are for each Varana there are particular rules and there is division according to the society but the purpose is what the purpose is to engage people according to their strengths.
Everybody has to face problems in life. Nobody can live a problem free existence. The expertise of Varana Ashram is that it allocates to people the problems that they will like to face.
So if a Brahmana is told in a devotional context if a Brahmana is told we ought to build a new temple and we need to raise 10 million dollars for that. A Brahmana will say come on, after building a big temple also we are going to have Krishna Katha. Let’s have Krishna Katha now only.
Why do we need a temple? On the other hand if Kshatriya is told in the Bhagavatam Vaishya is told in the Bhagavatam there is some verse which says that whatever faults are there in whatever you do if you chant Hare Krishna, those faults are counted. Can you find that verse? The Vaishya will say thousands of verses in the Bhagavatam Baba who will find it? Where should I find it? Just give your class without the verse. Nobody will notice also.
So on the other hand if you tell a Brahmana, find this verse. Where is the verse? Where can it be? Look and search and find. Vaishya tell him that yes, now I have something to do.
What is this chanting, dancing? I have something practical to do now. So what happens is that different people have different strengths. And when they are engaged according to their strengths the problem that they face is that they see them as challenges.
One of the things in positive thinking it is said that don’t see your problems as problems, see them as challenges. Yes, we can see them as challenges when we have the talents to deal with them. If we don’t have the talents to deal with them, we can’t see them as challenges.
We will see them as problems only. So a Brahmana can see searching a reference in scripture as a challenge. But a Brahmana will see fundraising as a problem only.
Let’s get it over with. So like that. So varanashram, its essential purpose is not to divide people or label people according to their varna.
The essential purpose is to engage people according to their strengths. So today its primary applicability will be in terms of that principle. It’s very difficult today to decide who is in which varna.
So the important thing is that we look at ourselves, our strengths, if we have children, we try to look at observe them and see what are their talents, what are their strengths and try to help them develop those talents, engage accordingly. The essential principle of varanashram from the material perspective is to engage people according to the talents. From the spiritual perspective it is to make material life as harmonious as possible so that spiritual life can go on peacefully.
Varanashram ultimately is material. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu clearly states that So he says that I am not a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra. I am not a Brahmana, Brahmachari, Sanyasi.
So spiritually we have to transcend all material identities ultimately. But while we are in this world, if we are engaged according to our Swabhava, then the conflicts at the material level become very less. So otherwise when we are not working on our nature, then the work that we do that itself causes us too much stress, too much anxiety, too much conflict within us.
And then that conflict internally makes it, makes life so difficult that practising spiritual life becomes much more difficult. So the purpose of varanashram from the spiritual perspective is to make material life as harmonious as possible so that we can focus on spiritual life peacefully. So in today’s world how to do that? It is relevant in the sense that we all need to be engaged according to our nature.
But how to do that? Usually it is that we observe ourselves, we observe our loved ones, we consult our seniors or our friends and by that we try to understand what is our nature. We don’t have to make any radical changes in our life. Sometimes this question, what is my nature? If we just leave this question hanging in the air, the mind can make a mess out of our life.
The mind will say, if I ask my mind, what is my nature? The mind will say, whatever you are doing now, that is not your nature. That means the mind will keep us perpetually dissatisfied, whatever we are doing. So whatever we are doing, we can continue doing that.
But while doing that we can observe ourselves. When I am doing this, I am comfortable doing this. The guna and karma, when we say, how do we understand guna and karma? Guna means quality, karma means activity.
We could say it in today’s terms as, when something is according to our guna, we feel comfortable doing it. We feel comfortable internally while doing it. And when something is according to our karma, we are competent externally in doing it.
So somebody is an author. Somebody is meant to be an author. They are writing, they are comfortable and they are competent.
So we can, while doing our various activities in our life, we can look at what we are comfortable doing and what we are competent in doing. And if we observe that over a period of time, we can gravitate towards doing that more and more within our profession, within our family, within our services in the temple, whatever we are doing. And that way we can work according to the essential purpose of Varanashram.
Now, in some situations, some devotees may want to set up farm communities which are withdrawn from the society. And there they may replicate Varanashram in a social way. That is good.
But that is right now in quite a nascent stage in our movement. How exactly it is going to be replicated, what all is going to be done within that. So that is still much, Prabhupada wanted it and that is under discussion.
And eventually it may become implemented based on how things work out. But that may not be directly relevant for us. For us as individuals, we can focus on the specific application of Varanashram that I can try to understand what I am comfortable doing and what I am competent at doing and try to gravitate towards that.
So that the conflict in material life is lesser and I can focus more on spiritual life. Does that answer your question? Thank you. You had a question? My question was about religion of Pandavas.
As per Dharma, is it correct or not? So the way Pandavas killed Bhishma and Drona, was it correct according to Dharma? Yeah. So actually, before the war starts, both the commanders meet. At that time, Duryodhana also comes there.
The Kauravas say that, O Pandavas, remember the codes of Dharma and fight according to the codes of Dharma only. Duryodhana says, of course, what is the question? We are going to fight according to the codes of Dharma. Duryodhana is also, you know, he is he is savvy.
So there must be some hidden agenda over there. Then he comes back and he says that, we will surely fight according to the codes of Dharma. He is thinking that the Kauravas have committed so much of Dharma throughout.
And now they are reminding us of Dharma. So he says, we will not be the first to break the codes of Dharma. But if you break the codes of Dharma, then we will not hold ourselves back.
We will not hold ourselves back. So this is an agreement which the Kauravas also agreed. Kauravas say that we will not break the codes of Dharma.
But eventually what happens, they break. So now, I’ll talk more about this, especially with respect to Karna in tomorrow’s class. But like Nishma and Drona, let us talk now.
See, a jai before the war is about to begin. There are two interruptions. First is the interruption when Krishna, when Arjuna says I will not fight, when Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita.
The second interruption is when Yudhishthira actually takes off his crown, gets off his chariot and walks over to the Kauravas’ head. Everybody is alarmed. What has happened? So Yudhishthira, he wants to seek the blessings of his elders.
And one of the blessings, when he seeks the blessings, one of the blessings he asks is, it’s a very difficult blessing to ask. He asks you to please tell me how I can kill you. So, he has to do that because that’s how he can win the war.
So Bhishma says that, Bhishma actually gives a very enigmatic answer. There are four elders for Bhishma, for Yudhishthira who is blessing, Bhishma, Drona, Kripa and Shalya. So, all of them give very interesting answers.
So Bhishma says that, I have decided that I will never fight against, I will never fight against Brahmanas, against sages, against women and against those who have been women in their previous lives. Against those who have been women in their previous lives. And actually, he doesn’t say previous life, against those who have been women earlier.
So, the previous life is implied but not exactly over there. So what happens is, then Drona says that, you know, I cannot be defeated. Bhishma also says I cannot be defeated but I will not fight against these people.
Drona says that, as long as I am raised by weapons, no one will be able to defeat me. But on hearing some disagreeable news from a trustworthy source, I will put down the weapons. Then, I can be defeated.
Kripa says, I cannot be defeated. Go ahead and attain victory. What that means is, actually Kripa, he cannot be defeated himself.
But he doesn’t have knowledge of mystic weapons. That’s why he is not a great threat to the Pandavas. So, he cannot destroy the Pandavas too much, although he himself will not be defeated.
And then Shalya, he says that, actually, O Pandavas, I will fight with the Kauravas, fight on the Kaurava’s side heroically. But when the time comes, you will be able to defeat me. That is destined.
So, now when it comes specifically to Bhishma’s death, so, on the tenth day, Bhishma and Shikhandi, they come together. Arjuna and Shikhandi, they come together and they start fighting against Bhishma. So, Shikhandi has been in a previous life, Amba.
That’s a whole long story. But Amba has become Shikhandi. Amba has taken a vow that she feels that Bhishma has been the cause of the ruination of her life.
She says, I will ruin his life. I will kill him. So then, Amba becomes Shikhandi.
Actually, when she is born actually as a female, Shikhandini, but then there is a whole story why she becomes a male. But the important point here is that when the fight is happening, it’s primarily a fight between Arjuna and Bhishma. And then, when this fight is going on, there are other warriors also who come.
So, Shikhandi helps from Arjuna’s side and Dushasan comes quite repeatedly at that time and tries to help Bhishma. They are fighting. So now, sometimes it is depicted as if Arjuna hides behind Shikhandi.
And then, Arjuna shoots arrow at Bhishma. It’s not exactly like that. It is that both of them are attacking.
And Arjuna in the vicinity of Shikhandi and when the two are very close to each other, in order to not hit Shikhandi, Bhishma avoids attacking Arjuna. But throughout it all, it’s a long fight. And when Dushasana comes to help Bhishma, Bhishma says that Shikhandi’s arrows cannot hurt me.
He says, those arrows are coming at me but they are just like pinpricks. Because the point is not just to shoot arrows. Not just to hit the target also with the arrows.
It’s also with how much force the arrow hits the target. Like a bullet comes and hits me, but if the bullet doesn’t penetrate into my body, I’ll not be hurt much. So the arrows, they depend not only on the wounds caused by the arrows, their impact depends not only on the precision with which they hit the target, but also with the momentum, the force with which they hit the target.
That’s how much they penetrate and that’s how much they wound the warrior. So when Shikhandi shoots his arrows, they don’t hurt Bhishma much. Bhishma himself tells this.
It is Arjuna’s arrows that hurt. And when the fighting is going on, if Arjuna is shooting, so to shoot the arrow, Arjuna has to look at Bhishma. If Arjuna is shooting entirely from behind Shikhandi, the arrow will go through Shikhandi.
Isn’t it? So, Arjuna has to come out. So basically, Arjuna fights and Bhishma also fights at that time. So, it’s not that Arjuna is doing something unfair over there.
See, we have to understand morality is not always categorical. Morality is also contextual. Morality means what is right, what is wrong.
This is not categorical. This is the right category, this is the wrong category. Whatever is in this category is right, whatever is in this category is wrong.
You may think like this. But right and wrong are also contextual. To steal from someone, to take something that belongs to someone without their knowledge or without their consent, that is bad.
Stealing is bad. But suppose you have a friend who is feeling very depressed, who you know may become suicidal, and that person has a knife with which in the past they have slit their wrist also. They may do it again.
Now you go secretly and steal their knife away from them. Is that good or is it bad? Stealing is bad, but stealing a knife from someone who is becoming suicidal, that is good. So what is right and what is wrong is not so easy to decide.
So in this particular case, when the Pandavas, when Arjuna and Shirdi fight together and they bring Bhishma down, is it wrong? Yes, if we simply think that, okay, Arjuna was hiding behind Shikhandi and fighting, then there is no doubt it is wrong. But if you look at the overall picture, it is that it was Arjuna and Shikhandi, both of them were fighting and Shikhandi’s arrows did not wound Bhishma. It was not that Shikhandi was killing and Bhishma was not retaliating and that’s why Shikhandi died.
No, Shikhandi’s arrows did not hurt Bhishma much. It was Arjuna’s arrows that hurt. And when Arjuna was shooting the arrows, Bhishma was also countering at that time.
That’s the first thing. Second thing is that Bhishma himself indirectly revealed the way he will be killed. And indirectly he said, I will not be fighting against Shikhandi.
And throughout the days of the war, Shikhandi would challenge Bhishma and Bhishma would just turn away and start fighting with someone else. Or sometimes Shikhandi would challenge Bhishma and for a Kshatriya to turn away would be difficult. So what they would do is, the Kauravas would send somebody else to challenge Shikhandi or to come in between Shikhandi and Bhishma.
And that’s how they managed to prevent a direct confrontation for too long between them. On this day, the confrontation happened. It was Bhishma ultimately who was the person who revealed how to kill me.
And in that sense from the broader perspective of morality, it is not immoral. It is not immoral, it is strategic. Strategy means that if your enemy has a weakness, use that.
Now, you can’t call that immoral. Say, if India-Pakistan cricket match is going on, India is good at spin batting. India has got to go to spin ballers.
Suppose there is an Australian team which is not good at spin. So India makes a pitch which is very good for spinners. Well, that is a strategy.
When we go to Australia, they will make a pitch which is very good for pacers. And we don’t have such good fast bowlers and we are not good at fast batting. That’s a strategy.
So, it is not immoral. Bhishma had a weakness and that weakness was exploited over there. And most importantly, he himself said Bhishma did not actually want the Pandavas to lose.
Bhishma wanted the Pandavas to win. And he himself told how he can be brought down. So, rather than immoral, it is strategic what they did.
Now, with respect to Drona, it was different. When the killing of Drona came up, at that time, this happened on the 15th day. So, Drona was actually, the Mahabharata describes that Drona, was brought down by the bad association of Duryodhana and Ashwathama.
Sorry, by the bad association of Duryodhana, or rather, not the bad association, by the constant goading of Duryodhana. Goading means, Duryodhana was always accusing him, you are partial, you are not fighting fairly, you are not fighting wholeheartedly because you love the Pandavas. So, that got to him.
And that’s how he did that terrible thing on the 13th day. On the 13th day, he arranged for Abhimanyu to be killed because he suggested that six of us can attack together. So, if you consider from the point of view of the violation of war codes, it was Drona himself who led a grievous violation of war codes.
So, the first major violation of law codes that was done by the Kauravas and the Pandavas retaliated. Even in the retaliation, it was a measured retaliation. Drona… Okay, wait a minute.
So, what was wrong in Drona’s killing Abhimanyu? The strategy of forming a Chakravyuha is not at all wrong. Chakravyuha is meant to allure some warrior inside. So, the Chakravyuha was formed primarily because he wanted to have Yudhishthira arrested.
That was what Duryodhana had asked him to do. And Drona… Actually, what happened is, on the 11th and 12th days, Drona tried vigorously to have Yudhishthira arrested. And he came very close.
Yudhishthira’s chariot was destroyed. Yudhishthira’s armour was destroyed. But in the nick of time, Arjuna came over there.
Arjuna stopped him both days. On 12th night, when Duryodhana was goading Drona, Drona said that I have tried my best. But Arjuna, if he comes in the way, I will not be able to arrest Yudhishthira.
You get Arjuna out of the way, I will arrest him. And on that day, there is a Trigarta king, Susarma, he said, I will challenge Arjuna and I will side track him. And that’s how Arjuna was not there because he was fighting with the Trigartas.
And the Chakravyuha was formed primarily to have Yudhishthira arrested. Now, forming the Chakravyuha, alluring a warrior inside the Chakravyuha, none of that is wrong. But even when a warrior is isolated, all alone, without anyone else there, the fighting should always be one to one.
Even if that warrior is inside, surrounded by all enemies, it’s not that all enemies are meant to attack. It is that, it is something like, Chakravyuha means what? To give an example, say, you know, if some batsman is there and then, sometimes some captain might be very aggressive. So, around the batsman, you have ten closing fielders all around, catching positions.
First slip, second slip, third slip, all that around. That’s like attacking the batsman. The batsman is attacking the bowler but inside the bowler and the fielding team attacks the batsman.
So, Chakravyuha is basically to get the fielder, get the batsman into a vulnerable position. But even within the Chakravyuha, the rules are to be followed. It is not that, you know, there are six fielders over there and the bowler is bowling.
At that time, the fielders distract the batsman and then you get him clean bowled or something like that. So, there are rules that we follow even in Chakravyuha also. So, even within the warriors inside Chakravyuha, one-to-one fight has to go on.
But when Abhimanyu is trapped inside and none of them are able to defeat Abhimanyu in a one-to-one fight, then six of them attack together. And that is wrong. So, that is grievously wrong.
On the fifteenth day, Drona fights viciously. Now, there are always codes for fighting. So, the code is that a chariot warrior should fight with a chariot warrior.
And while fighting with a chariot warrior, if there are soldiers next to him, he can attack them also. But if there is no chariot warrior, chariot warrior is not meant to attack soldiers directly. It’s like one, you have a machine gun, you fight with somebody who has a machine gun.
So, at this particular point, Drona becomes incensed by Duryodhana’s constant goading and he starts attacking ordinary warriors. He uses mystic weapons against ordinary warriors and starts killing them. So, when that happens, he suddenly sees in the sky there are some mystical beings, some sages over there.
And those sages tell him, Oh, Drona, why are you acting so viciously? You have violated the principles of Dharma by killing ordinary people with mystic weapons. Stop this at once. Now, when he speaks this, when he hears this, he is troubled.
He doesn’t act accordingly immediately to it. But he is troubled. And he is thinking, should I fight or should I not fight? And during this period, he is fighting so fiercely that the Pandavas are stunned.
How to fight against them? And Krishna tells Yudhisthira, actually we have to do something right now to get him to stop. So, he says that his weakness is Ashwathama. So, tell him that Ashwathama has been killed.
Then, he will stop fighting. Only then can you save your army. So, Arjuna protests.
How can you tell him that Ashwathama has been killed like this? You cannot do that. That will be a lie. So, at that point, Bhima, Bhima is very strategic.
He charges into the Kaurava army and there is an elephant division over there. And in that elephant division, there is an elephant whose name is Ashwathama. So, he goes and kills that elephant.
And then he returns back. And while returning back, he passes by Drona and he says, Ashwathama is dead. Now, Drona’s heart trembles at that time.
But then he thinks, Bhima, Bhima is not a very trustworthy person. So, he just puts aside the word. And he keeps fighting.
He keeps fighting again. But then again, he says to the sages, stop fighting. You are fighting adharmically.
On one side, he sees the sages discouraging him, chastising him, reproaching him. Ashwathama is killed. He feels conflicted.
That time, whom to ask? So, he sees Yudhishthira. And he approaches Yudhishthira. At that time, Krishna tells Yudhishthira, okay, only you can save our army today.
Yudhishthira is conflicted, not knowing what to do. And then, Yudhishthira comes along, Drona comes along. So, he asks about Ashwathama and he says, Ashwathama hato hati.
Ashwathama has been killed. But then he speaks, narova kujerova. Whether it is the man who is killed or the elephant who is killed, I don’t know.
That the man has been killed or the elephant has been killed. But at that time, Krishna blows his conch. And when he blows his conch, Drona doesn’t hear this.
And Drona becomes overwhelmed. Oh, Ashwathama is dead. And he just puts aside his weapons.
He says, I will not fight. Now, Arjuna’s plan, I mean, Arjuna reluctantly goes along with this plan. Arjuna’s plan is to have Drona, to arrest Drona.
But the point is, if Drona is not fighting, he is no threat. If Drona puts aside his weapons, they go and arrest him. And then, he will be out of the fight and they can continue the fight.
So, Drona just decides, I will not fight. And he sits down in mystic trance. He sits down in yogic posture to do meditation.
And Arjuna is just thinking about how to approach Drona. At that time, Dhristadyumna, he charges forward. And Dhristadyumna says that, he has been born to kill Drona.
He has been fighting against Drona again and again. But every time they have fought, Drona has easily defeated Dhristadyumna. They are just no match.
And Dhristadyumna thinks, this is my opportunity. And as Dhristadyumna is charging towards Drona, Arjuna shouts, Stop! And there are several other Kshatriyas also, Stop! They see what he is going to do. So, Dhristadyumna, they all run towards him to stop him.
But Dhristadyumna just charges forward. That particular action of killing Drona is an impulsive action of Dhristadyumna. That is not a part of the planned conspiracy.
That is not at all a part of the planned conspiracy. He charges forward and he catches Drona by his hair. He drags him off the chariot where he is sitting and meditating and lops off his hair.
And Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Yudhishthira is horrified. Arjuna is furious. Arjuna is so angry at that time.
Arjuna wants to attack Dhristadyumna. How dare you kill your own teacher? You killed my teacher like this when he was defenceless, when he was not fighting. Actually, this is the closest, this event is the closest when there is dissension and almost conflict among the Pandavas.
So at that time, Krishna holds Arjuna back and Bhima holds Dhristadyumna back and then it stopped. So the point is that Yudhishthira’s lying was strategic. Dhristadyumna’s killing was immoral.
Yudhishthira’s lying was strategic. So that was just and if you see, there was no organised conspiracy the way it was for killing Abhimanyu. The Kauravas had no plan to arrest Abhimanyu.
Abhimanyu was chariotless, weaponless, even then they were attacking him. So in that sense, we see that was it wrong? The killing was wrong but the lying before that was not exact, was strategic. And even if we say it was wrong, still the principle remains that the law codes were to be followed from both sides.
And when the Kauravas violated the law codes first, sorry, when the Kauravas violated the law codes first, the Pandavas were also entitled to violate the law codes. So I’ll talk, so in essence the because Drona had done wrong in terms of having Abhimanyu killed, he was grievously in the wrong. He further did wrong in terms of killing ordinary warriors with celestial weapons.
And he was told by the celestial being that now your time has come, stop fighting, give up. So he himself organised that now my time has come over. So basically when he sat down to do meditation, that is one form of meditation which is called Prayavrata.
Prayavrata. Prayavrata means it’s fasting till death. So there are many warriors, they just decide that, not warriors, many sages or whatever, those who decide that now my life’s mission is over, I’ll stop eating, I’ll stop drinking, and I’ll be in a yogic meditation till I leave my body.
So more or less, Drona had decided to sit in that meditation. So Drona was planning to leave his body at that time. So there’s a whole complex setting that was there.
And the Pandavas’ plan was to disarm him so that, and have him arrested so that he will not be a threat to them. But it was an impulsive killing which was wrong. And the Pandavas themselves recognised that there was a dissension in the camp about whether it was right or wrong.
And so you have to understand this is contextually if you see, from the broad picture, from the specific action, the action of killing him was wrong. But from the broad picture, Drona had done a far greater wrong and stopping him from doing further wrong was a right action to do. Does that answer the question? Thank you.
So shall we stop here? Thank you very much. Vishwa Prabhupada ki Gaura Bhakta Randaki Shri Mahabharata ki Nitai Gaura Prema Nandai