Episode 32

Triggers of Discord- Unfolding progression of Enmity between Kauravas and Pandavas

(Summarization of Adi Parva of Maha Bharat)[i]

Maha Bharata apparently looks like a feud between the cousins just for gaining the kingdom. The issue appears to be a dispute over landed property. But what were the sources of discord? Was there any ideological influence that was the source for dispute? From Adi Parva of Maha Bharata we can glean certain passages and observe certain events that fuelled the fire in the minds of Kauravas and Pandavas which ultimately resulted into a war of great devastation, where it is said, that all kings of all provinces in India participated in the epic war. Let us understand how the misunderstandings unfolded among the cousins.

The Story

Dhritarashtra, Pandu Maharaj and Vidura were three brothers born to Ambica, Ambilika and to the servant maid with the blessings of sage Vyasa. Since Dhritarashtra was blind by birth, his brother Pandu Maharaj was made the king of Kuru kingdom by Bhishma. Pandu Maharaj expanded the kingdom and defeated all the kings with his might. With the wealth that he acquired, he helped his elder brother perform hundreds of Yagas and Yagnas.

Under the benevolent patronage of Bhishma, the Gandhara (Present day Rawalpindi) princess was married to Dhritarashtra. Initially, the king of Gandhara, Subala hesitated to give his daughter for the marriage as the bridegroom, Dhritarashtra was blind. But after seeing the family lineage and prestige he consented to give his daughter. As a dutiful wife, Gandhari covered her eyes with a white cloth so that she could not point out his physical deficiency. Sakuni, the brother of Gandhari accompanied his sister to Hastinapura and presented new cloths to Bhishma and other elders. Gandhari never regretted for marrying a blind man and served the family with devotion.

Kunti was the daughter of Kunti Bhoja who arranged a Svayamvaram for his daughter. On seeing Pandu Maharaj, Kunti instantaneously fell in love with him and garlanded him in an open darbar of her father.

Bhishma also requested Salya, the Bahlika king of Madra desa (the present-day Sialkot in Pakistan) to give his sister, Madri for a marriage to Pandu Maharaj. Salya was happy but he was constrained to follow a family custom. ‘Kanya Sulkam’ – the practice of offering gifts to the bride’s family was in vogue with Bahlika kings. ‘I don’t know the practice is good or bad; but I cannot violate the family practice’, asserted the king. Bhishma was pleased to honour the age-old practices. He offered huge volumes of gold, golden ornaments, pearly, rubies and horde of camels and elephants to Salya and came back to Hastinapur with Madri. She was married to Pandu Maharaj.

Bhishma also approached a king by name Devaka Maharaj who was having a virgin Paarasava[ii] bride by name Sulabha (Veda Vyas has not mentioned this name in Adi Parva) and got her married with Vidura.

With the blessings of God of Dharma, Dharmaraja was born to Kunti. Gandhari was unhappy for she was bearing the womb for two years, but it was not got delivered. Out of frustration and jealousy she began beating her own stomach and delivered a big piece of meat (Mamsa khanda). Veda Vyasa heard it and reached the spot quickly. He ordered to choke the meat piece with cold water. Immediately the piece of meat broke into one hundred and one small pieces of the nature of wombs. All those were kept in individual ghee pots and they waited for another two years for incubation. The pots slowly started breaking and Duryodhana emerged first followed by ninety-nine brothers and one sister, Dussala.  Thus, Duryodhana was younger to Dharmaraja and equal of the age of Bhima since Kunti delivered Bhima on the same day with the blessings of God of wind, Vayu.

Kunti gave birth to Arjuna with the blessings of Lord Indra. Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Madri with the blessings of twin gods, Aswini Devatas.

Eventually, Pandu Maharaj died and Madri resorted to Sahagamana (see episode25: https://unclekatha.com/?p=224). All the associates of Pandu Maharaj and the elderly Brahmins brought Kunti and the Pandavas to the court of Hastinapur for the patronage by Dhritarashtra. All the elders including Bhishma, Vidura, Bahlika, Somadatta and Dhritarashtra payed homage to Pandu Maharaj and asked Kunti to stay in Hastinapur with her five sons.  

Vedavyasa reached out to his mother Satyavati and suggested, ‘Oh! Mother, all the future is full of bad days. You cannot stay here to see the destruction of Kuru Empire. The bad deeds of Kauravas eventually make people suffer on the planet’. Satyavati agreed with the words of Vyasa and was ready to move out of the court to forests. Her both daughters-in-law, Ambika and Ambalika also followed Satyavati. All the three ladies indulged in severe austerity and tapas and left their bodies to the higher abodes of heaven.

In the patronage of Dhritarashtra, both Pandavas and Kauravas grew. They used to play all sorts of outdoor games like running, jumping, climbing trees, swimming, swinging on the trees, plucking the mud from earth etc. By virtue of strength and valour Bhima used to outperform all the boys. Bhima could command and control all the hundred Kauravas in any competition; he used to hold the hair of one and made his face beat the face of other person. He used to press them beneath the water surface and used to release only after giving lot of choking suffocation. When all Kauravas climb the tree, he used to kick the tree with all force and make them fall to the ground.

Bhima used to make many things which were not liked by Kauravas. But all those were of childish nature and never intended with deceit (Adi Parva 127.24).

Duryodhana saw in Bhima a future enemy and started planning to eliminate him by force. One day he asked all the brothers to go for a swimming spree in the waters of Ganges and he arranged all food and drinks for all brothers. On that fateful day he mixed the deadliest poison in the food of Bhima and he himself served it to Bhima. With smiles on lips and anger in heart, Duryodhana felt that he had succeeded in his objective. After hectic swimming, Bhima got tired and slept at a place. The poison started invading all his cells and he was unconscious.

Duryodhana personally tied him with ropes and with the help of his brothers threw him into river Ganges from a great height with all jealousy and anger. It was the passage route to Patala loka (underground land) and Bhima, by virtue of his weight, went up to Patala loka. Many serpents had bitten him. Poison is the best cure for poison. The poison in the stomach decimated with the influx of poison of the serpents. Bhima came to senses, cut off the ropes and killed all serpents.

Luckily an old serpent by name Aryaka saw Bhima. He was the paternal uncle of Kunti’s father. He hugged Bhima and took him to the king of serpents, Vasuki. He asked Vasuki to bless him. Upon his advice Vasuki offered a celestial drink in a pot. Bhima drank everything in the pot and got the strength of thousand elephants. Then he reached his mother and Yudhishtira (Dharmaraja) and narrated the entire story.

All the boys were later entrusted to learn the art of warfare to Krupa and there afterwards to Drona. Drona was desirous of making Arjuna an unchallengeable leader in the field of archery; and Duryodhana was insecure as he was already seeing a formidable wrestler in Bhima and one more warrior in the area of archery was a nightmare to Duryodhana.

This was the background when the display of the skills of Pandavas and Kauravas was announced by Drona at the end of their studies. The war with maces between Duryodhana and Bhima was ferocious, and they fought as if two male elephants were fighting for gaining the hand of a female elephant (Adi Parva 133.33). The war was to be stopped by force. There was no one to match the skill of Arjuna in archery. The entry of Karna was a god given opportunity to Duryodhana to entice him to his side. He made him king of Anga desa (present day Bihar) and with his help he wanted to tame Arjuna in future wars. On the side of Pandavas, even Dharmaraja felt that there was none to match the skill of Karna in archery (Adi Parva 136.25).

After the death of Pandu Maharaj, there was a void in the kingdom and Dhritarashtra made Dharmaraja the crown prince on seeing his valour, patience, kind-heartedness and above all for his righteousness. Dharmaraja, by his virtues, endeared the hearts of people in no time. Under his command, Bhima and Arjuna won series of victories against other kings and earned name and fame.

The news of victories of Pandavas and their growing popularity was hard to listen for Dhritarashtra. He was quite agitated. He asked one of his trusted ministers, Kanika as to what he should do (Sandhi- peace; or Vigraha- war) with Pandavas.

Kanika started advising Dhritarashtra (KANIKA NITI)

“Oh! Maharaj. What I am going to explain is practical dharma which every king must follow. A king must use force and always exhibit his valour to make others fear. It is dharma to attack an enemy when he is in adversity. It is also dharma to kill an enemy even if he surrenders and beg for pardon. If the king does not kill his enemy, he will be in the grip of fear always. It is advisable to kill enemy, his friends and his associates mercilessly. If the king is week and enemy is strong, the king can bear him on his shoulders; but once he becomes strong, he should kill the enemy as if breaking a pot on a rock. The king has to employ appropriate strategy - sama, dana, bheda or danda and somehow eliminate his adversaries”.

‘But how to employ these strategies?’, Dhritarashtra asked inquisitively.

‘Oh Maharaj! The king should frighten the timid; should bribe the corrupt; and should make friendship with the strong enemy. A king who is interested in his own growth should not hesitate killing even his own son, friend, father or his guru’.

‘An enemy has to be killed by giving money (hiring goondas), by giving poison, or  should be threatened by bad language’.

‘Hi, Maharaj! While striking the enemy, the king should maintain his equanimity and balance. You should talk sweet before striking, after striking and even while striking the enemy. Once the enemy is fallen to the ground, the king should weep for his death and talk good about him later. By following peaceful path of righteousness, the great blunders of the king are forgotten by the people’.

Kanika continued, ‘If you want to kill anyone fast, put fire to his house. Do not allow the poor, the thieves and the non-believers to stay in your kingdom. You should talk pleasant always but keep the heart as strong as a rock. The king must attack when the enemy is indolent or while in difficulty.

‘O Maharaj! This is the practical path for a virtuous destiny. Apply it on one or to Pandavas’, telling like this, Kanika took leave from Dhritarashtra.

Dhritarashtra was inspired by the wordings of Kanika. On the same day a secret meeting was convened and all-important people like Duryodhana, Karna, and Dussasana assembled in the chamber of Dhritarastra. They decided to kill Pandavas by putting fire to their house.

But how could they destabilise and defame Pandavas? Dharmaraja had already acquired a good name in the hearts of people. Many citizens were the beneficiaries of the gifts given by Pandu Maharaj. Then, how to neutralize the elders? Duryodhana unfolded his plan.  

Duryodhana’s strategy

‘My dear father! Bhishma is always neural. Drona’s son Aswatthama likes and respects me and stays on my side. Drona will be there where his son will be. Wherever Drona and Aswathhama stay, Krupa stays there. Vidura’s material benefits are linked with our fortunes. Still he has a secret pact with Dharmaraja. But single handed he cannot do anything. I will spend wealth and purchase elite people of the country and thus neutralize them. You please send them to the city of Varanavatam on some pretext and we will manage the rest’.

Dhritarashtra agreed to the plot. The ministers of Duryodhana started eulogizing the beauty of Varanavatam wherever they went. ‘Such a beautiful city is no where on earth’, they praised. Pandavas started evincing interest in visiting Varanavatam. Duryodhana neutralized elder citizens and opinion makers with the power of his purse.

Sensing changing scenario, Dhritarashtra called Pandavas, talked graciously and counselled them to freely roam around in Varanavatam for a few days and come back to Hastinapura.

Pandavas left for Varanavatam where a lac building was ready for their accommodation. The building was constructed with lak, Karpura, hay and bamboo sticks which were inflammable at the flick of a small fire. Duryodhana ordered his confident lieutenant Purochana to put fire to the building while Pandavas were sleeping in the house. Pandavas had come to know about the evil plot hatched by Duryodhana through Vidura and they were alert. They put fire to the building when Purochana was sleeping inside and left for safer destination.

All Kauravas including Dhritarashtra wept bitterly on hearing news of the death of Pandavas. They paid homage to the departed souls and offered tilodaka tarpanam (giving out water over sesame seeds).

In the forests, Pandavas had a bitter time. They had to face two formidable demons, Hidimbasura and Bakasura (episode 26: https://unclekatha.com/?p=241; Episode 27: https://unclekatha.com/?p=246) and Bhima killed both asuras. Pandavas also encountered with Chitraratha and Arjuna defeated him (episode 3: https://unclekatha.com/?p=97) in an open battle.  

While Pandavas were spending their time in forest, all the citizens and Kauravas were thinking that Pandavas had died in the fire of lak house. But all the days were not the days of Kauravas. They saw their rivals, Pandavas in the court of Drupada when all people assembled for Draupadi Svayamvaram (episode 24 https://unclekatha.com/?p=213). They could not believe their own eyes. Now Pandavas had a powerful ally, Drupada. Kauravas were afraid of Drishtadyumna, Sikhandi and Drupada as well (Adi Parva 199-15). Duryodhana was getting agitated.  

Vidura approached Dhritarashtra and announced that Pandavas survived the peril of fire and they married Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada. The king pretended that he was happy. Later Duryodhana, Karna, Dussasana and Sakuni met Dhritarashtra in his private chamber and poured out their agony.

There was long discussion. Duryodhana suggested that Bhima should be killed secretly; beautiful women should be employed to lure individual Pandavas; Draupadi should be separated from Pandavas when she gets vexed with them; and Drupada should be won over by huge wealth.

Karna did not like the plan. He suggested, ‘It is difficult to plant discord note among Pandavas. Since ladies like to have more husbands, and she got five of them unexpectedly, it is difficult to separate her from her husbands. Drupada is a man of certain principles and values and so we cannot win over him with wealth. Before Pandavas consolidate their strength, we should attack them by force and capture them with Drupada. For kings, offence is the best form of defence’. Dhritarashtra liked the ideas of Karna and praised him profusely. But he wanted to take second opinion from Bhishma and Drona.

Bhishma told, ‘For me the sons of both Dhritarashtra and Pandu Maharaj are equal. I don’t want a fight with Pandavas. In my view, Kauravas should make peace with Pandavas and give them half of the empire. If Dhritarashtra was elder son in the dynasty, it is Pandu Maharaj who consolidated the empire. Dharmaraja was the crown prince before leaving for Varanavatam. You got your kingdom by dubious means and before they have title over the kingdom”. (202.7).  Both Vidura and Drona also agreed with the opinion of Bhishma.

Dhritarashtra had no option before him. He told, ‘You are all elders and sagacious people. For me Pandavas are also sons just as Kauravas’ (Adi Parva 205.2). Then upon the advice of Dhritarashtra, Vidura set out to reach Pandavas with lot of gifts, ornaments and cloths.

Pandavas reached Hastinapura escorted by Vidura amidst rousing reception of the citizens of Hastinapura. Dhritarashtra gave them half the kingdom with Indraprasta as capital and advised them to move to Khandava forest area. He anointed Dharmaraja as king of Indraprasta and sent them to that area.

A short analysis of the story

The story is a broad summary of the main events revolving around Pandavas and Kauravas. KANIKA niti or KUTA niti is the ideological foundation of all jealous and anger on the part of Kauravas. This is the cause for hatred towards Pandavas. This KANIKA niti or KUTA niti has been followed by people on the planet since immemorial and it is more rampant now. We see all hatred, jealousy, anger and other bad qualities in majority of the populace due to the advocacy and practice of KANIKA niti or KUTA niti.

In entire Maha Bharata we observe Kauravas hatching plot against the mighty Pandavas. Initially the hatred started when Bhima was trying to dominate all Kauravas in any race/ competition. Ved Vyasa specifically mentions that it was sheer act of childishness and never with the intention of harming Kauravas. The enemity towards Bhima resulted in Kauravas plotting to kill him by poisoning. When they failed, they resorted to scorching the house of Pangavas. They discussed the idea of invading Pandavas. All these incidents are the seeds of growing feud which ultimately resulted fighting for capturing the throne.

It was a difficult task to decide their claim to kingdom. Dhritarashtra was the eldest of all sons but he was blind. The second in line, Pandu Maharaj consolidated the empire and expanded the kingdom. So, the siblings of both Dhritarashtra and Pandu Maraj claimed their stake and the feud got fuelled up in full scale. Ultimately it led to a great war.

In this story we find certain sociological issues which merit mentioning. In this story we observe the old people like Satyavathi, Ambika and Ambalika moving to forests in their old age in stead of becoming a burden to their sons. In the later part of Maha Bharata, we see Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti moving to forests in their fag end of their life. In Ramayana, we see Lord Rama merging into river Sarayu and reaching his abode Vaikuntam. In our present-day society also, we observe mendicants and Sadhus of Himalayan region merging their lives in river Ganges, particularly at Hrishikesh and Hardwar. What is this pattern of events? It needs study by sociologists since we hear the concept of old age homes in 3^rd century BC during the regime of Mauryan king, Asoka.

In this story we see a practice presenting clothes before marriages. Surprisingly this tradition has been continued in Hindu society even by today.

Respecting the age-old practices is one of the traditional heritages in Hindu society. Bhishma also respected the traditions of Bahlika kings and broght Madri for Pandu Maharaj after paying hefty amount of Kanya-sulka.

In this story we see the discussions of strategies such as ‘Honey Trappings’, ‘Freebee Distributions’, ’Supari killings’ and such other Machiavellian strategies which are later developed and perfected by many rulers and kings at large. Kanika niti which forms the ideological base for hatching conspiracies in Maha Bharata resulted in the extinction of eighteen Akshouhini soldiers in the battlefield of Maha Bharata.

Things to unlearn

Majority of the people who discuss Maha Bharata normally believe that Dharmaraj, the eldest of the Pandavas was the son of Kunti blessed by Lord Yama. This is disputed by great scholar Sri Pullela Rama Chandrudu in his magnum opus, ‘MAHABHARATA SARA SANGRAHAMU’.  Invoking the passages of Ved Vyasa he has conclusively proved that no where in the entire text, Lord Yama was mentioned as the father of Dharmaraj. It is rather the God of Dharma (dharma devata) who blessed Kunti and Dharmaraja was born.

                                                                      This is the end of Adi Parva.

Points to ponder

1. What is Kuta niti? How is it dangerous?
2. What is the sociological pattern we observe in the lives of old age people in the ages of Maha Bharata and Ramayana?

Footnotes

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[i] The story is written from the source book, Maha Bharat written by Sage Vyasa (Gorakhpur Press)

[ii] Paarasava is a person born to a Brahman man and a Sudra woman. Vidura was technically a Paarasava man.

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