Was Draupadi the cause of the Kurukshetra war?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Question was the Kurukshetra war fought because of Draupadi? Answer not because of Draupadi not in the sense that Draupadi caused the caused the warriors to fight rather it was because the Kauravas grievously dishonored Draupadi that the Pandavas tolerance went beyond the Pandavas tolerance Pandavas felt that a line had been crossed and they could no longer tolerate this so it is it is not that Draupadi instigated the Pandavas to fight against the Kauravas it is not that Draupadi herself triggered the fight rather it was Draupadi was treated by the Kauravas like a trophy by both Duryodhana and Karna they had wanted a trophy princess to to bloat their own egos and when they had been unable to win her and Arjuna and the Pandavas had won her they had become envious and then in trying to get back at the Pandavas and in trying to get back at Draupadi whose hand they had not been able to win so they decided to dishonor her in the Kuru assembly by by calling her a prostitute by trying to disrobe her by relegating her to the role of a maid servant who was to clean the Kauravas palace so they they grievously dishonored her and before and at that time the Pandavas decided that enough is enough and before that they had tolerated Duryodhana was trying to poison Bhima they had tolerated the Kauravas trying to burn them alive in the Varanavarta in the house of Lakh they had tolerated the Kauravas giving them the barren half of the kingdom they tolerated series of injustices but when their chaste and virtuous wife was publicly dishonored and she was used as a means to in a power struggle to to try to humiliate them through humiliating her the Pandavas were infuriated and at that time the different Pandavas took vows so Arjuna took a vow to kill Karna Bhima took a vow to kill Duryodhana and Dushyasana and basically the war the war more or less became inevitable at that time now even after that it was after the 13 year period got over the Pandavas were still ready to accommodate them and they offered peace in the most accommodating terms so at that time when they offered when Krishna came as Shantiduta personally and offered Duryodhana peace proposal saying just give five years to the Pandavas so at that time when they refused and at that time war became inevitable so the Kurukshetra war was not caused because of Draupadi it was caused because of Duryodhana it was caused because of Duryodhana’s envy Duryodhana’s greed Duryodhana’s stubbornness his envy towards the Pandavas his greed for the kingdom of the Pandavas his his stubborn his obstinacy in trying to hold on to that which did not belong to him his so it was Duryodhana’s evil nature that caused the Kurukshetra war and to blame Draupadi for the Kurukshetra war is entirely wrong some people argue that when Draupadi was born it is she was born as a prophecy that this princess will become the cause of the destruction of the Kuru war of the of many warriors and this indicates that she the Kurukshetra war was caused by her but here we have to understand that there is a difference between a cause which is a cause which is which is an active instigator and a cause which is which is more like a symbol so for example if say there is a conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir so now it is not that Kashmir is causing the war between India and Pakistan you know it is hostile forces on either side whichever side it may be because of the disputed zone they are fighting so say Pakistan is sending in insurgents trying to trying to create terrorism trying to drive out the Kashmiri pundits whatever you can talk about so much about the specifics but the point is it is not that Kashmir is causing the war although Kashmir may be the cause of the war so there is a difference between a cause which is an active agent and a cause which is a disputed zone or a disputed object so when it is said Draupadi was the cause of the Kurukshetra war that is not in the sense that she was the active instigator of the war she was a major disputed object which whose dishonor by the Kauravas led to things going beyond the boiling point tipping point where the Pandavas tolerance ran out and eventually Duryodhana’s obstinacy sealed his fate so the war was caused by Duryodhana and his evil nature not by Draupadi thank you