Why didn’t the Pandavas forgive the Kauravas – why did they have to fight?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Okay.
The Pandavas did not want to fight but yet Krishna told them to fight. So why exactly did they fight the war? There are two different points here. There is the principle of tolerance and there is a principle of along with tolerance there is forgiveness.
But along with that there is also a counterbalancing principle of justice. So in the case of the Pandavas they tolerated any number of atrocities. Bheema was poisoned they tolerated that.
They attempted to burn Dalai, they tolerated that. They were given the barren part of the kingdom, they tolerated that. But when Tharaupadi was dishonored at that time a limit was crossed and that was something which they could not tolerate.
And yet even after that after the period of exile they were ready to settle for peace. And then to the extent that they said that we will settle for even five kingdoms. But Duryodhana was not ready to listen even to that.
So this is from the point of view of looking at the history the Pandavas had tolerated again and again and tried to accommodate and Duryodhana was absolutely not ready to accommodate. See Krishna’s going as Shanti Doodh is an extraordinary thing. Suppose say there is a say there is a war between India and Pakistan and at that border shooting going on and at that time maybe the secretaries of defence or something like that they will meet and they will try to resolve by some diplomatic means.
But suppose at that time when there is a war the Prime Minister of India goes to Pakistan for peace. It’s a very serious thing. So Krishna himself going for peace other than sending us a messenger that shows how earnest it is.
The Prime Minister himself going to another country for a peace negotiation as a peace emissary that indicates that they are really serious about peace. And for that to be rejected imagine say the Indian Prime Minister goes to Pakistan on a message of peace and the Pakistani government tries to arrest the Prime Minister. Outrageous! That’s what Duryodhana tried to do when he tried to have Krishna arrested.
So from the point of view of justice itself the Kauravas had time and time been brutally unfair. But the second part of this is that from the point of view of the people in general Yatha Raja Yatha Praja So if there is a king who has no sense of shame in disrobing an honourable woman in public when such a person is going to rule what will happen to him? Even during the 12-13 years that Duryodhana was ruling, at that time he did not do any abusive activities because he wanted to win over the people because he knew the Pandavas are still a threat and that’s why he wanted to win over the people by giving gifts and things like that. But eventually if the Pandavas were not in the picture, if the Pandavas abdicated their claim entirely and the Pandavas were no longer a threat, then Duryodhana’s atrocious side would have come out undone and would have been disastrous.
So it was not only to gain their own rights but it was also to provide a righteous kingdom, a righteous rule for their citizens. And the Pandavas fought the war and they tried to settle as much as possible by peaceful means. Now Krishna, was he some people show that Krishna or they try to say that Krishna was the instigator of the war but it is not that Krishna was the instigator.
Krishna tried his best to avoid the war. He went as a peace negotiator and he actually gave such a persuasive presentation in the peace negotiation that there was dissension in the Kaurava ranks. At one particular time when Krishna spoke about why we should have peace, Dushyasan got up and he said, Duryodhana, if you don’t give the Pandavas back their kingdom I will personally have you tied and I will have you as a prisoner handed over to the Pandavas.
Duryodhana was furious. He was mortified. He was furious.
He just walked out in anger. And then the remaining 98 Kauravas they didn’t know what to do because Duryodhana and Dushyasan were the eldest. Never before had there been dissension between the two.
They looked at each other and then they walked out with Duryodhana. And Dushyasan was left all alone. Dushyasan also walked away.
And when he came out, when Duryodhana was an excellent emotional manipulator of people. So when Dushyasan was feeling very embarrassed, very mortified I spoke against Duryodhana like this. What will Duryodhana say now? How will I show my face? But as soon as Dushyasan entered Duryodhana very cordially said, Oh Dushyasan, welcome.
He said, I have always been warning everyone that Krishna is a very cunning person. I said, today Krishna’s cunningness deceived you also. Dushyasan felt relieved.
Rather than blaming me, he is blaming Krishna. So the point is that Krishna he besieged so, he actually requested for peace so persuasively that even Dushyasan was temporarily convinced. So Krishna cannot be caused in any way as the instigator of the war.
Not in the Pandavas we call him the instigator of the war. It is the Kauravas who caused the war. By their utter intransigence, by their utter unwillingness to accept peace on any compromising terms at all.
Any other questions?