Mahabharata Characters 23 – Yudhisthira 01 – Sticking to integrity amidst injustice

This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Mahabharata character series.
We are now going to discuss about Yudhishthir Maharaj. The name Yudhishthir means yudhi and sthir. Yudhi refers to war and sthir refers to one who is steady.
So he was steady in war. This steadiness is not just because of his courageousness. Yes, he was courageous, but his steadiness also refers to his steadiness in virtue.
Even when he was provoked to war, even when he fought war, and in all situations, he was steady in virtue. So steady in war while pursuing the path of war with virtue and living overall in virtue. So Yudhishthir Maharaj is the eldest of the Pandavas, and he is the son of Dharma.
Dharma is another name for Yamaraj. So Kunti Maharani, with the practice of Niyoga, Niyoga refers to the practice in which when a king is for some reason unable to beget a child, then the queen begets children through some other worthy man. It can be the brother-in-law, or it can be a sage, or of course it can be a god.
Of course, invoking gods is not easy or common. The principle is that the dynasty has to go on, and heir has to be there for the kingdom or for whatever position a person has, a successor has to be there. And for that purpose, Niyoga was authorized practice.
Generally, the practice in order to be protected from misuse, it was ensured that the Niyoga should not be practiced more than three times. So that’s why Vyasadeva, after he united thrice, once with Ambalika, and then with a maidservant, he refused to unite anymore. And Kunti also, she used Niyoga to invoke three devtas, Dharma, through whom she got Yudhishthir, Vayu, through whom she got Bhimasen, and Indra, through whom she got Arjuna.
And after that, she refrained, although Kunti was requested by Pandu, Kunti reminded her of the codes of morality and avoided going any further. So, Yudhishthir Maharaj is the son of Dharma. Dharma is one of the Lokpalas among the various devtas, the Lokpals are considered extremely powerful.
So, Indra, Kubera, Vayu, and Yamaraj, these are considered, Varuna, not Vayu, Varuna and Yamaraj are considered to be the four Lokpalas. And they are prominent among the devtas. And it was through Yamaraj that Yudhishthir was born.
And right from his birth, he showed extraordinary virtue, was young, responsible, respectful, and very inclined towards spirituality, towards scripture, towards study, towards learning, towards saintly people who would impart that learning. And he lived with his father and mother in the forest, relishing the presence of the sages and learning from them. And then when Pandu passed away, he came back with his mother and his four younger brothers to Hastinapur.
And now he was the eldest male in the family. And he had to, although he was very young at that time, he had to take the position of a leader. And Kunti, of course, was the mother and she was the guardian of the Pandavas.
But still, she knew that the male has to take a leading position. And Yudhishthir was very responsible as he took up the various responsibilities of ensuring that the Pandavas were accepted and they became integrated with the citizens of Hastinapur and the courtiers of Hastinapur. So because of his gentle, respectful, and virtuous nature, Yudhishthir endeared himself to everyone.
And although he bore no malice towards anyone, Duryodhana felt threatened by the presence of Yudhishthir. Because Yudhishthir was slightly older, was older than Bhima, or then, of course, he was older than Bhima, he was older than Duryodhana also. In fact, Gandhari, she had become frustrated, her pregnancy went on for very long.
And when she heard that Kunti had already got a child through Devatas, in frustration she hit her womb and then eventually from that, a lump of mass came out, which by Vyasadeva’s mercy divided into hundred. And then the hundred Kauravas were born. So, Yudhishthir Maharaj was older than Duryodhana.
And as far as the kingdom was concerned, there was a dispute to some extent. Dhritarashtra was the older among the two brothers. Actually there were three, but Vidura was not born directly in the royal dynasty.
So, because his mother was a maidservant and the father of Vyasadeva, so there was no directly the royal blood flowing through him. That’s why he had no stake to the kingdom. Now normally the elder brother becomes the king, that’s the principle of primogeniture.
But then Dhritarashtra was incapable, disqualified because of his blindness. So Pandu became the king. And normally the principle is that after one king and the kingdom passes to his sons.
And that is the principle of primogeniture, it doesn’t pass to the another brother after that. And it was this principle itself which made Yudhishthira, which actually in the Ramayana, if we go back, in the Ramayana, it was because of this principle that Kaikeyi became persuaded Initially when Mantara told her that Ram is going to be coronated as the prince regent, so that he will eventually become the king. She was actually very happy because she loved Ram just like Lakshmana.
And Mantara told, how are you being so foolish? You will lose the kingdom. You will have to become the maidservant of Kaushalya. And Bharat will have to become the servant of Ram.
And then the kingdom will be passed away forever from you. She says, no, Bharat may even be exiled or killed by Ram. Why is that nonsense are you speaking? Actually, there will be no problem.
They are, they love each other very much and that love will continue on and who knows after Ram, Bharat may also become the king. So Mantara started laughing, how foolish you are. After Ram, his son will become the king.
If Ram becomes the king, Bharat will never have a chance to become the king. So the normal principle is that if one brother becomes the king, then his sons continue on as the successors. So Duryodhana actually felt threatened.
He had been pampered and he had expected that I would become the king. So Bhishma had been the caretaker. After Bhishma, Dhritarashtra would have become, but when Dhritarashtra did not become the king because of his blindness, Pandu became.
When Pandu retired to the forest, Dhritarashtra became the caretaker king and he became attached to the royal comforts. And because Pandu had already left and Pandu had not begotten children and then the news of Pandu’s curse had also, Pandu’s being cursed had also come that Pandu, if he tried to unite with his wives, then he would die. So it is expected that Pandu would not have any children and therefore it was thought that Dhritarashtra’s son would become the king.
So that’s how Duryodhana was expecting it. And when Yudhishthira came here, he felt that it is my right which has been usurped. Actually, it was not his right.
It was from Pandu. It should have gone on to Yudhishthira only, but Duryodhana was expecting that. So on one side, Duryodhana felt threatened by Yudhishthira’s position because he was older among these, this generation, he was the oldest among this generation and along with that, he was virtuous.
So people became attracted to him. And as far as strength was concerned, he found that Bhima was stronger than him. So both ways, he felt threatened and he determined that somehow or the other, I will conspire and I will get the kingdom.
Yudhishthira noticed how Duryodhana was becoming envious and he tried his best to avoid such envy from growing. But he could not do much because when envy is there, actually, it does not require much provocation. Just the presence of a person whom one is envious of, that causes it to grow.
And then at one time, Bhima was poisoned and thrown into a lake of poisonous snakes. We will discuss that story later when we talk about Bhima. But eventually when Bhima came back safe and he told his brothers and mother what had happened, Yudhishthira thought carefully and Yudhishthira said, don’t tell anyone about this right now because our position is insecure and already there is tension.
But if you tell that there has been an attempt to your life directly, then there will be open conflict. So what is covered will become open and once it becomes open, the Kauravas may become even more brazen. And as of now, he knew that the Pandu was not there, the father was not there.
And although Bhishma, Vidura were affectionate, but still they were being maintained by the Kuru kings and therefore they could not go openly against him. So he told them to be quiet. He tried his best not to provoke things further.
And eventually when Dhritarashtra saw that more and more people were getting attracted to Yudhishthira and they were expecting him to become the king, so at Duryodhana’s conspiracy, they sent him off to Varanavarth. So at that time, Yudhishthira very intelligently understood the plan was to send them away and he sensed that there will be some danger. And when Vidura gave his coded message that we discussed when we were talking about Vidura, Yudhishthira understood very carefully.
What is happening? And they stayed in Varanavarth for almost one year. And after that, they set fire and they departed from there. And when they departed, now actually, when the Pandavas departed, at that time, the fires spread very rapidly.
And when the fire spread rapidly, how it worked was that there was Purochan, who was a stooge, who was an accomplice of Duryodhana, and he was supposed to set the house on fire. But the Pandavas observed very alertly and they were always very alert. And that’s why Purochan did not find the right time.
Although the Pandavas were alert, at the same time, the Pandavas did not give a reason for him to become suspicious. And he was just biding his time, waiting for a right time when he could kill them without raising suspicion. Because after all, they are the princes.
And if the princes are killed, there is going to be a tension of the whole state, whole country, not just their own kingdom. Other kingdoms also will be interested. What happened? And if there is suspicion of arson, of intentional killing, then that could be counterproductive for Duryodhana’s scheme.
So he was waiting and the Pandavas were very careful. And eventually, the Pandavas themselves escaped. Yudhishthira Maharaj guided and Bhima was instrumental in this.
And then as they went through the forest, there Vyasadeva came and met and guided Bhima, guided Yudhishthira Maharaj. Stay low profile. This is what has happened is unfortunate.
I am pained to see how you are being persecuted by the Kauravas. And right now, you keep a low profile and I will periodically guide you. And Yudhishthira Maharaj was very grateful for this guidance of Vyasadeva.
And then Yudhishthira Maharaj… At that time, he was not a Maharaj. He was Yudhishthira. And he decided to… When he heard of the Swayamvar of Draupadi, they decided to go to Draupadi.
They were dressed as brahmanas. And the dress of a brahmana very much suited Yudhishthira. His disposition was quite brahmanical.
He loved to study scripture, discuss scripture. While he was living as a brahmana, he delighted in the discussions with other brahmanas. And what he had learned in the forest from the sages in his early childhood, now he expanded in that knowledge.
And then, eventually, it was Arjuna who broke the… who met the target, who pierced the eye as was the target and won the hand of Draupadi. And when the Pandavas were about to leave, at that time, when all the kings got angry and started charging, it was Yudhishthira Maharaj who told Bhima and Arjuna that now Draupada is our father-in-law. It is our duty to protect him.
And then, immediately, they intervened. And when Kunti said that… when the Pandavas had turned and Kunti said that, now we will have… whatever you have brought, you share it together. So, initially, everybody was shocked to hear this.
How could a wife be shared? And then, Yudhishthira Maharaj became very grave. He says, our mother always speaks truthfully and whatever she has spoken cannot be false. And moreover, my mind which has never contemplated any sin, it doesn’t find this thought inappropriate.
Leave alone revolting. That was Yudhishthira’s calibre. His mind had never thought of sin.
He was so virtuous. He knew that when this had come up, there would be some higher plan involved in it. And eventually, the sages came and explained to Draupada.
Then the whole issue was resolved. And so, first, it was Yudhishthira who married Draupadi. And then, after that, by the arrangement of Vyasadeva, by the blessings of Vyasadeva and by the arrangement of the blessings that Draupadi had got from Lord Shiva in her previous life, that story we will discuss later.
Every night, Draupadi, she regained her virginity. And in this way, she married all five Pandavas. And then, when the Pandavas returned back, when they were about to return back, then they got the message.
Dhritharashtra invited them and Dhritharashtra took them to, gave them Khandavaprastha. So at that time, soon after the marriage of the Pandavas with Draupadi, Narabhuni came there. And he blessed the Pandavas and instructed them.
He told them the story of two great demons who were brothers, who loved each other very much. And he told them that although these two demons, Sunda and Upasunda, they were like one and together they fought and they defeated all the demons and they terrorized the world and they had got a benediction that no one could kill them except each other. And they were such close friends that they would never fight against each other.
And because they would not fight against each other and there was no other way to kill them, oh, they were terrorizing the universe. Finally, the Devatas went to Brahmaji who had given them this benediction. They told him, please save us.
Then Brahmaji created a beautiful Apsara. Her name was Tilottama. Every limb was exquisitely attractive.
And she came walking right in front of these two demons. And when they saw, immediately both of them got attracted. And both of them said, she will be my wife and she will be your sister.
No, she will be my wife and your sister. And those two who were like one, now became two over a woman and they started fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting and they fought fiercely and both of them got exhausted. Both of them were in equal strength, but both of them were so infatuated by this damsel that they just lost sense.
They were completely exhausted. Finally, in one sweeping blow, both of them hit each other and both of them died. So Narada Maharaj became very brave and told them that all five of you have married Draupadi.
You have to be extremely careful that this does not cause any conflict among all of you. Therefore, you should make a rule that there will be particular periods when one of you will be with Draupadi and at that time others should not interfere. And so Draupadi will be exclusively serving one husband at a time.
And that is how there will be harmony and there will not be any conflict. So this is important. Although the five Pandavas were virtuous, they were very close to each other and they were united, but still there could be danger.
Such danger that a great sage like Narada Muni came and warned about it and told him that be extremely cautious about this. What should you do? You should make a policy. So when there are serious issues at stake, just an unspoken understanding often does not work.
There has to be clear understanding. Most conflicts result because of unclarified expectations and especially when there are things to be shared and there is no clear understanding of how and what basis things will be shared, then there can be a lot of conflict. So a great sage intervened and the Pandavas made a strict policy.
And at one time when Yudhishthira Maharaj was with Draupadi, they were together in their chambers and then they were talking with each other. That time a brahmana came saying that my wealth has been stolen away. My cows have been stolen away.
My sacrificial sticks have been stolen away. Please get them back. Thieves have taken them.
So Arjuna, he came back to Arjuna. Arjuna was about to go and charge out, but at that time he realized that his weapons were in the chamber in which Yudhishthira and Draupadi were there. So he thought deeply what to do.
And he decided that I will go inside. He went inside and Yudhishthira and Draupadi were talking. They turned up.
Yudhishthira smiled understanding and Arjuna quickly explained and he took the weapons and left. Yudhishthira Maharaj nodded, not at all disturbed. And Arjuna completed the service and came back and then he told, please give me your purse.
Now I will go on exile for one year. Yudhishthira Maharaj was dismayed. He said, this is not required.
He said, no, this was the agreement that we had made. If any one brother intrudes into the privacy of the other brother when he is with Draupadi, then this will be the punishment for that. Yudhishthira Maharaj said, don’t worry.
I did not feel any objection about it. And moreover, it is more inappropriate if the elder brother comes when the younger brother is there because the elder brother is like the father. And you coming in when I am with Draupadi is like you coming when the mother and father are there.
It’s not appropriate. Don’t worry about it. Yudhishthira Maharaj couldn’t tolerate the idea of Arjuna having to go away to the forest.
But he was firm and Yudhishthira Maharaj with a heavy heart agreed to let Arjuna go. And eventually, the adventures that Arjuna had during his exile we will discuss when we talk about Arjuna. But Yudhishthira Maharaj lived on and he was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and his desire was to establish dharma and to not just have righteousness and virtue, virtuous administration all over the kingdom, but along with that to also have a kingdom that would ultimately be glorifying the Supreme Lord.
Eventually, Arjuna went for one year and came back and as Yudhishthira Maharaj was ruling, he had been given Khandavprastha. Khandavprastha was transformed into Indraprastha by the mercy of Krishna and we will discuss through the heroics of Arjuna which we will discuss when we talk about Arjuna. So he was ruling in Indraprastha and the desire grew within his heart that let me become an instrument for glorifying Lord Krishna and therefore he felt if I want to do that, then I will want to establish him as the person worthy of the Agra Puja in the Rajasuya Yajna.
The Rajasuya Yajna is a massive sacrifice. It is celebrated by the king who is the emperor of the world to whom all kings offer tributes and to such a king, when this king gets the Rajasuya sacrifice, he chooses, he in consultation with the assembled people, chooses who will receive the Agra Puja. Yudhishthira Maharaj’s plan was that after the Rajasuya Yajna is performed, then I will choose Lord Krishna as the recipient of the Agra Puja and in this way, His glories will be established for all time to come in all over the world.
So with this desire in his heart, he started contemplating what would be required. Now there were many powerful kings, but the Pandavas were incredibly powerful and the Yadus of course were powerful, but because they were allies, the Yadus would not oppose and the Kauravas had some envy, but now they were cousins. So the Kauravas also, if Yudhishthira decided to perform a Rajasuya Yajna, the Kauravas would not oppose.
So they decided to think about who would oppose and there are many kings might oppose, but none of them were strong enough to pose a very big threat, but a major threat would be posed by King Jarasandh. Jarasandh had a huge army and he had been defeated by Krishna many times, but still he had survived. Krishna had spared him and now he had built almost an impenetrable army.
So Yudhishthira was thinking how will I be able to perform such Rajasuya Yajna. And so he had several reasons. He wanted to establish the rule of Dharma.
He was himself Dharmaraj. He was known as Dharmaraj because one, he was the king who was extremely Dharmic in his conduct and if he would be the emperor, then he would be ensured that all the other kings would also act Dharmically. And along with that, he also heard from, he wanted to glorify Lord Krishna as a supreme person.
And along with that, there was another reason why he wanted to perform this puja. So once when Narad Muni had come to the Maya Sabha where Yudhishthira Maharaj is living, Yudhishthira Maharaj wanted to inquire from him that, please tell me about the various Sabhas that are there in various parts of the universe. And the elaborate description Narad Muni described how the Sabha of Yamaraj is, how the Sabha of Varuna is, how the Sabha, how the assembly hall of Indra is and ultimately how the assembly hall of Brahma is.
And while describing this, he told that Pandu has gone to the abode of Yamaraj. Now, he has not gone to Yamaloka. He has gone to the abode of Yamaraj and his associate over there.
That is also an exalted destination. Yamaraj himself is an exalted person. He is a devata and his associates, those who stay in his court with him, they are also exalted.
Now, the Yamadutas, they have a particular service and they do that service in Yamaloka. So, when Yudhishthira Maharaj heard this, he eagerly inquired, how is my father? And then he was told that he is well, but he has sent a message that if he is to rise to Swarga, then you need to perform the Rajasuya Yajna. If you perform the Rajasuya Yajna, the credits of them will go not only to you, but also to your father.
And in that way, he will be elevated to Swarga. So, Pandu had lived an auspicious life and he was exalted in his own way. But still, when he had passed away, the thoughts just before passing away had been of Madri and uniting with her.
So, because of those thoughts, at the time of death, he did not get entirely the destination that he would have got based on just his virtuous life. So, the Bhagavata describes that what we think of at the time of death, that’s what we attain. Whatever thoughts we have at the time of death, that is what we attain in our next life.
So, somebody is attached to a dog, very attached to a dog and that person dies thinking of the dog, then the dog and the master may exchange positions. The dog dies thinking of the master, the dog will get a human body and become a human being, become the master and the master may become a dog. So, now, although Pandu had lived a dharmic life and he had performed various auspicious activities, still he had not been able to attain heaven because of that lapse at the last moment.
So, he was not exactly thinking of his wife at the moment of death. Just before that, some residue thoughts were there and then he went to a relatively not so exalted destination and he could move to heaven by the performance of the Rajasuya Yajna by Pandu, by Yudhisthira. So, Yudhisthira Maharaj thought, yes, I will definitely do this Yajna and he started meditating on Lord Krishna and contemplating how this could be done.
What happened thereafter, we will discuss in our next session. Thank you.