According to the eighteen-parva classification of the Mahabharata, the fourth, Virata Parva, ends with the Pandavas completing their thirteen-year exile and entering into an alliance with the kingdom of Matsya. This alliance is sealed through the marriage of Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu, with the princess of Matsya, Uttara.
Guests who have come to attend the wedding include Krishna, Balarama, Draupadi’s father Drupad, her brother Dhristadyumna, her five sons, and numerous others. The Kauravas, it appears, have not been invited.
After the marriage, the guests begin to discuss the course of action with regards to Yudhistira’s right over the unified kingdom of Hastinapura. Krishna suggests that a formal proposal be taken to Hastinapura to demand that Duryodhana submit half of his kingdom to Yudhistira so that there can be ever-lasting peace between the cousins. Some in the assembly prefer a more combative approach, announcing that Yudhistira was robbed of his riches unethically and that it would be not to wrong to use force to wrest back as much as is possible.
The first emissary sent to Hastinapura is a priest selected by Drupada. The instructions given to this emissary are interesting—Drupada asks him to waste as much time of his interlocutors as possible. The Pandavas’ idea is clearly to invest their time in military matters and prepare for the scenario in which Duryodhana rejects the offer made by the Pandavas. The priest is therefore supposed to deflect the Kauravas’ attention so that they have less time to commit to their own military matters.
Through spies and intermediaries, though, Duryodhana has been closely following events. He understands that being in Krishna’s favour is essential in case there is a war, and also that, whatever be personal inclinations, Krishna will not completely disregard an offer of friendship from the current rulers of Hastinapura.
After the death of his arch-enemy Jarasandha (at the hands of Bhima), Krishna is the undisputed champion of the numerous Yadava suzerainties spread throughout the continent, and Duryodhana understands that he cannot allow this fragmented power to unite in the name of Yudhistira. When he realizes that Krishna has started traveling from Matsya to Dvarka, Duryodhana starts from Hastinapura with a bunch of horseriders, aiming to meet Krishna as soon as possible.
Perhaps anticipating such a move, the Pandavas have made Arjuna stick close to Krishna. Of course, Arjuna, being related to the Dvarka-ites through marriage with Subhadra, has more of a reason to be there than other Pandavas.
How Krishna pacifies the two Kuru princes is the epitome of neutrality. With the Pandavas, he will be present himself. With the Kauravas, a large mercenary force of Yadavas will be present. Krishna’s neutrality shows that his control over Yadava clans is not total, and that he does not want the conflict in Hastinapura to lead to factionism among Yadavas. With the offer of himself and a mercenary army (a peacekeeping force, so to say), Krishna limits how much the war will tap into Yadava resources over time.
Tanuj Solanki
@tanujsolanki
The writer is reading the unabridged Mahabharata