In the Laakshyagriha burning incident, six Nishadas (one Nishada woman and five of her children) were poisoned and killed as decoy to fake the death of Kunti and the five Pandavas—an act not much talked about.
The only justification of this abhorrent act could be that they were trying to survive in a world where gross injustice had been done to them as well. But it is not a good enough excuse to kill six innocent people. (I believe they could have fooled the Kauravas by using other means to depict their death in the accident.)
Yudhishthira practiced nonviolence, even in extreme situations that led the Pandavas to unpredictable miseries. For instance, consider the episode of Draupadi’s modesty outraged by Jayadratha, Duryodhana’s sister Dusshala’s husband. Mesmerized by Draupadi’s beauty, Jayadratha forces her on to his chariot and carries her away. As the Pandavas come to know about this, they hunt him down and rescue Draupadi. Unable to stand against the five invincible warriors, Jayadratha flees. Arjuna and Bhima set out to find him. The enraged Draupadi demands Jayadratha’s life. But Yudhishthira very calmly instructs his brothers, ‘O thou of mighty arms, remembering (our sister) Dusshala and the celebrated Gandhari, thou shouldst not slay the king of Sindhu even though he is wicked!’6 Exercising nonviolence against a person who has violated his wife’s modesty beats all logic. One wonders how could a person who is compassionate towards the antagonist’s sister fail to understand his wife’s grievance. Misplaced compassion has its own serious repercussions. The defeated and insulted Jayadratha seeks divine blessings to defeat the Pandavas. Lord Shiva grants him the boon that, save Arjuna, he will be able to defeat the other four brothers in battle. At Kurukshetra, when Arjuna is elsewhere fighting the Samsaptakas, Jayadratha defeats Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva and is instrumental in killing Arjuna’s young son Abhimanyu.
Yudhishthira’s inaction remains a characteristic trait in him throughout his life. He stays an indecisive person plagued by self-doubt. Lacking initiative, he does not have the confidence to go ahead with the rajasuya yajna—a ritual to claim the kingship. It does not suffice that his official priest Dhaumya, the divine sage Narada, and his illustrious brothers try to convince him. He seeks Krishna’s advice too, before hesitatingly accepting to perform the rajasuya yajna. Still, he is uncomfortable with Jarasandha’s prowess, and is not sure if Bhima and Arjuna can conquer him. It is with such fits and starts that he undertook any venture. Aware of his trait, Kunti sends him a firm message through Krishna before the Kurukshetra war. Scared that Yudhishthira might back out of the war and concede his rightful kingdom to the Kauravas, she narrates the conversation between princess Vidula and her son. Vidula’s son was of a similar disposition; lacking the initiative and motivation to win back the kingdom he had lost. Vidula’s fiery words of inspiration enabled her son to break free from his stupor and gather the drive to defeat his enemies. The message is loud and clear—Yudhishthira too should remind himself of his foremost duties as a Kshatriya and take up arms against injustice. Like Dhritarashtra, who is caught between a sense of justice and his love for Duryodhana, Yudhishthira too is constantly caught between the desire to lead a peaceful life in pursuit of spiritual knowledge, and his duty as a Kshatriya to take up arms against his enemies and protect his subjects. This often leaves him in unenviable situations where he earns the displeasure of his brothers and wife.
I don’t see any justification for this behaviour by Yudhishthira and his obedient brothers. Being a Kshatriya, they should have fought with Jayadratha, who outraged their wife’s dignity. His compassion seems misplaced, wherein he sympathized with Dusshala and Gandhari but not Draupadi.
If we look at other minor instances where the Pandavas acted in an unfair manner, then their childhood cannot be ignored. In their defence, it can be said that they were not mature enough to understand the consequences of their acts. But then, a young Duryodhana too should not be held responsible for his evil scheme to poison Bhima in their childhood. Kohli describes that when the Pandavas and the Kauravas were children, Bhima, with his immense physical strength, was a bully and would torture the younger Kauravas, sometimes almost killing them in the process. As Yudhishthira was older than Bhima and the Kauravas, it was his duty to restrain Bhima from torturing his younger cousins. However, he did nothing of this sort, and we can conclude he turned a blind eye towards Bhima’s misdeeds.
Bhima being a bully in his childhood could be true, however, his intentions were never ill, and he meant no permanent harm to the Kauravas. Unlike him, Bhima did not have any evil intentions to kill Duryodhana and his brothers to inherit the kingdom. His bullying was only a show of his physical strength that he never failed to boast about. And since it wasn’t unethical per se, Yudhishthira never said anything about it unless it crossed the limit of dignified behaviour on his part. For example, once Bhima compared Karna to a dog due to his low-caste affiliation.
However, it must be kept in mind that the caste system (or the varna system) was one of the fundamental tenets of the society at that time. Violating it was considered to be unethical. Therefore, involving lower-caste people in an upper-class ritual was forbidden. Each of the varnas took their roles in the society seriously, and any digression from it was taboo.
Another instance that points out the misdeeds of Bhima (supported by all the Pandavas), was during their first self-designed exile, when he met Hidimbaa, and despite no fault of hers, was about to kill her. (Though later she was spared due to Yudhishthira’s politically motivated intervention.) The story began after the Pandavas escaped from the Laakshyagriha and reached a dense forest. Tired and exhausted, they all fell asleep at night, except Bhima, who kept a watch. In the same forest lived Hidimbaa along with her brother Hidimba, who was a very powerful rakshasa. He smelled the Pandavas resting at a distance, and asked Hidimbaa to lure the well-built Bhima so they could prey on him. Hidimbaa confronted Bhima but fell in love with him. She assumed the form of a very beautiful lady, approached Bhima and expressed her desire to marry him. She also revealed her true identity and her brother’s intentions. Bhima refused to accept her as his wife and confronted Hidimba. A great fight took place, which resulted in Hidimba getting killed. After killing Hidimba, Bhima wanted to kill Hidimbaa too as he thought that she might want to avenge her brother’s death. Yudhishthira stopped Bhima from committing such a deed. Hidimbaa then begged Kunti to allow Bhima to marry her, as she was deeply in love with him, and also because she was all alone now. Kunti ordered Bhima to marry Hidimbaa. Bhima, on Yudhishthira’s counsel, agreed on the condition that he could leave her once she bore a child with him. Hidimbaa agreed and they got married. Within a year, Hidimbaa gave birth to a son. They named him Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha went on to become a great warrior and an important figure in the Mahabharata war. What should be noted here is the fact that Bhima abandoned his wife once a son was born to them, and never fulfilled the duties of a father to Ghatotkacha. Not only was this act an unfair one, but also immoral. He knew that they could ask his powerful son Ghatotkacha to help him during the war later, and that was the only reason he married Hidimbaa.
Kunti was aware of her and her children’s precarious position. She, along with her children, was a fugitive escaping an assassination bid, and was in desperate need of shelter and comfort. Away from the restrictive gaze of the society and living in seclusion, the Pandavas and Kunti had no inhibitions in mixing freely with Hidimbaa and her son. Though they were helped by Hidimbaa, they probably realized that if they stayed there for a longer period, they would be doomed to a life of seclusion, and deprived of their rightful share in their kingdom. Since, they had no permanent place to stay and no reliable shelter, they decided to leave Hidimbaa and move on. It’s possible that Kunti and the other Pandavas were feeling apprehensive that Bhima might grow too fond of Hidimbaa, and choose to stay with her permanently. There was also the possibility of a loss of face if a rakshasi girl became the first daughter-in-law of the Pandu family, or even the entire younger generation of the Kuru prince
s, as Duryodhana was yet to be married at that time.
Coming to Arjuna and his individual acts, we come across the story of Ekalavya. Though Arjuna never makes a deliberate, obvious comment on his wish to become the greatest undisputed archer, he leaves no stone unturned to achieve the same. If not for the episode of Ekalavya that stands as an aberration, Arjuna’s success could be admired as the most commendable one. But he proves that in spite of his excellent qualities, he is human enough to give in to baser emotions like jealousy. Drona had promised Arjuna that there would be no archer equivalent to him in the entire universe. But as fate would have it, the Nishada prince Ekalavya comes as an unsuspecting rival to challenge Arjuna’s supremacy. It was Ekalavya’s cherished dream to become Drona’s disciple, and he approached Drona with the same request. But Drona refused him politely saying that he only tutored royal princes, and hence could not accept Ekalavya as his pupil. Undeterred, Ekalavya made a clay image of Drona, instilled him as his guru in his mind, initiated himself as Drona’s disciple and started practicing archery. His devotion to his guru made him excel in the skills of archery in no time. Once as the Kaurava and the Pandava princes went into the forests for a hunting expedition, deep into the woods, the hunting dog that accompanied them saw the dark-hued Ekalavya and started barking at him. The Nishada prince playfully shot seven arrows in quick succession to fills the dog’s mouth before it could close it. At the same time, the dog was neither injured nor hurt. Stupefied by such deftness of hand, the princes bowed their heads in shame and inquired about the youth. Ekalavya proudly introduced himself as a disciple of guru Drona. Cut to the quick, Arjuna walked up to his guru and asked, ‘Thou hadst lovingly told me, clasping me to thy bosom, that no pupil of thine should be equal to me. Why then is there a pupil of thine, the mighty son of the Nishada king, superior to me?’7 Thereupon, Drona in the name of guru dakshina demanded Ekalavya’s thumb which the devoted disciple gave him unhesitatingly. This incident throws light on the depth of Arjuna’s desire to remain the undisputed archer of his times, which ignited his jealousy towards Ekalavya. And this desire remained ever burning and undiminished in him till the end. To aim at excelling in one’s chosen field cannot be called a weakness, but when the person cannot tolerate someone else with equal or better skills, it leaves much to be desired in his character. While living in Drona’s ashrama, Arjuna was unable to beat Ekalavya in archery. Burning with jealousy, Arjuna encouraged or one might say compelled Drona to deprive Ekalavya of his thumb.
In his later years as an adult, one does not find Arjuna giving in to such baser instincts to defeat his rivals. Even his rivalry with Karna is mature and civilized, quite unlike how he felt and acted against Ekalavya. But his pride at being the most skilled and unparalleled archer remained with him. Fortunately for Arjuna, every time he got carried away by his vanity and was about to suffer the consequences, he would quickly regain his senses and focus on solving the problem. The instance of his duel with Lord Shiva, who comes down to Earth to test his skills before blessing him with the divine weapon ‘Pasupata’ is a good example. Arjuna undertakes severe penance to please Lord Shiva and acquire celestial weapons to help him conquer the Kauravas in the war. Pleased with his austerities, Shiva appears in the form of a ‘kirata’, a hunter and aims his arrow at the same boar that Arjuna held his aim at. Angry with the kirata for aiming at his chosen target, Arjuna engaged him in a fight. In a few minutes, Arjuna realized that the kirata is invincible, and that he was losing the battle. Hurt and ashamed, he installs Lord Shiva in his mind and starts worshipping him with garlands. He is surprised and shocked to see the very same garlands on the kirata’s neck, and realizes that it was none other than Shiva with whom he was fighting. Prostrating before him, he asks for forgiveness, which Lord Shiva readily bestows upon him, and blesses him with the celestial weapons he asks for. If it was pride that forced Arjuna to pick up a fight with the kirata in the first place, then it was the realization of his mistake that drives him to surrender to Lord Shiva. Thus, Arjuna at many instances displays his arrogance in being the best warrior, but is also quick to realize his mistake and take necessary steps to ease the situation. There are no dramatic displays of emotions. Even when he speaks to Drona regarding Ekalavya, it is not aggressively or rudely, but with a gentle strain of disappointment and jealousy, which could not be termed unethical per se.
Another instance that shows the misdeeds of Arjuna was when he broke his vow of Brahmacharya before his twelve years of exile ended. The Pandavas, addressed by Narada, and in consultation with one another, established a rule amongst themselves in the presence of the celestial rishi. They decided that when one of them was spending personal time with Draupadi, if any of the other four saw them, then he must go on an exile into the forests for twelve years, passing his days as a Brahmachari. Because of this understanding, there was no jealousy or dispute between them. However, once a robber stole some cows from the Brahmins in their area. A Brahmin came to Arjuna with his grievance and wanted him to hunt down the robber. Arjuna needed his weapons, which happened to be in the same chamber where Yudhishthira was playing a game of dice with Draupadi at the time and that meant that Arjuna had to violate the privacy clause in order to enter the chamber. He did it regardless, since he considered it his dharma to redress the grievance of his subjects. Though Yudhishthira and Draupadi understood Arjuna’s actions and forgave him for it, he was insistent that he should be punished for his actions. Hence, he left on a twelve-year exile. During the exile, he married two other women—Ulupi and Chitrangada. Even though he had vowed to be a Brahmachari during his exile, he broke the vow and married two other women only to leave them soon and move on in his journey. He was similar to Bhima in this respect, since he neglected his fatherly duties towards Iravan and Babruvahana, sons of Ulupi and Chitrangada, respectively.
Though taken aback by Ulupi’s direct expression of her sexual desires, at first Arjuna gently refused her advances and explained his condition of having to maintain the vow of Brahmacharya. But Ulupi is perseverant, and goes on to argue that the condition of remaining a Brahmachari applies only in regard to Draupadi and not with any other woman, and thus Arjuna was free to gratify her wishes. His vow would not be broken by accepting Ulupi’s advances. Moreover, it was a man’s duty to satisfy the woman who openly expressed her love for him. Therefore, even if Arjuna’s virtue suffered, it was inconsequential compared to the sin he would have committed by refusing her advances. When Arjuna remained relentless, Ulupi threatened him by saying that she would lay down her life if her wish was unfulfilled. As it was also Arjuna’s duty to protect those in misery, he was bound to save her life by granting her wish. Arjuna does not hesitate or procrastinate but spent the night with her. He perceived the desperation in Ulupi’s request, and felt that the desperation might catapult into helpless anger, which could drive her to any drastic action that might harm him, and thus he conceded to her wishes. Similarly, he agreed to marry Chitrangada too when she fell in love with him. These decisions weren’t rash so as to dishonour him or harm anyone else, but well thought out and balanced. Chitrangada was the princess of Manipur. There the matriarchal system was followed, which meant that the son born of Chitrangada and Arjuna’s union would inherit the throne of Manipur. Therefore, she refused to leave or let her son go with Arjuna and expressed her will to stay in her kingdom.
Arjuna continued on with his exile, travelling to many more places in India, including parts of south India. He then reached Dwaraka, the place where his cousin and close friend Krishna resided. Krishna decided to make his visit comfortable. Arjuna disguised himself as a ‘yati’ or a nomadic monk. Krishna, however, recognized his true identity and invited him to stay in his palace. Arjuna had heard much about Krishna’s beautiful sister, Subhadra, and was eager to meet her. Balarama, in the meantime, had already promised his favourite disciple, Duryodhana, that he would give his sister to him in marriage. Sensing Arjuna’s interest as well, Krishna advised him to kidnap Subhadra, before Duryod
hana could make her his own. And so, Arjuna kidnapped Subhadra.
The only justification for this act was that, Subhadra, though kidnapped, was also in love with Arjuna and the kidnapping was planned accordingly. At least that is what Lord Krishna told Balarama to pacify his anger since he wanted Subhadra to be married off to Duryodhana.
Arjuna’s indecisiveness before and during the war is also worrying. For example, during the war Krishna acted far more as an adviser and counsellor to Arjuna than only as his sarathi. He needed constant push during the war to fight the Kauravas.
The Virata Parva of the epic, which describes the last year of the Pandavas’ exile when they lived incognito, is where the subject of dharma is dealt with in depth. The five brothers and Draupadi separated, and entered the service of the king of Virata. When this year of exile drew to a close and Duryodhana was leaving no stone unturned to expose them so they could be banished again, Keechaka, brother of Sudeshna, the queen of Virata, happened to cast his eye on Draupadi, who as sairandhri was in the queen’s employ. She could not ward off his overtures and tried threatening him that her celestial husbands would kill him. These threats were of no avail and the king also turned a blind eye to the misdeeds of his brother-in-law. Yudhishthira and Bhima who witnessed his persecution counselled patience. An irate Draupadi met Bhima alone, and cajoled him to kill Keechaka, which they planned and executed in the dead of night. In the ensuing pandemonium when the ire of Keechaka’s half-brothers turned on Draupadi for causing his death, the Pandavas killed over a hundred Upakeechakas. In this way, numerous people were killed by the Pandavas to protect their identity.
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