As premonitions of a great war abound, kingdoms throughout the continent continue to align with the Kauravas or the Pandavas. Given the slow speed of communication mechanisms, the notion of adding reinforcements as and when required cannot be possibly sustained, and so this alignment basically means an immediate donation of armies. And therefore, it is important that when we imagine this period before the war, we must see it as one in which the armies of the two sides had more or less already assembled. Peace is now as expensive a proposition as war.
But peace is, nevertheless, still regarded as a possibility. King Drupada of Panchala, Pandavas’ father in law, has sent an emissary to the Kaurava court in Hastinapura. The emissary is tasked with wasting the enemy’s time, but that can’t be used to say that any possible success in securing peace would not be a desirable outcome. In fact, proof that peace is still a preferred outcome for the Pandavas can be gauged from the fact that Drupada has chosen a priest as his emissary — surely, a brahmana brokering peace can be expected to have a greater chance at success, as against someone whose belligerence may threaten the prospect altogether. In other words, Pandavas are in a conciliatory mode.
As might be expected, the emissary is well-received by the prominent members of the Hastinapura court. He details how the Pandavas have fulfilled every criterion after the infamous dice game, and should now receive what is their share in the unified kingdom of Hastinapura (unified because the erstwhile Pandava kingdom of Indraprastha is now merged with Hastinapura). Bhishma responds first to the emissary, agreeing with everything that he has said. But before Bhishma can get to the question of giving the Pandavas their due, he is cut short by Karna. Karna expresses concern that the last year of the Pandavas’ exile, the year of anonymity, ended too soon.
Uncertainty about whether the final year of the exile was observed in full or not is a calendar-keeping mistake by the Kauravas. During his face-to-face with the Kaurava army on the borders of Matsya, Arjuna was observing disguise as Brihannada. But he had been easily identified by everyone among the Kaurava forces. While Bhishma believes that the period of exile was over by then, Karna believes that there was still some time left. The text doesn’t tell us who is right, though if it is Karna, then, as per the dice game’s terms, the Pandavas should have to repeat the entire exile again.
Karna, in fact, places this demand — that the Pandavas go on exile again — before the emissary, and clarifies that if they don’t do so, it is the Pandavas who shall be violating dharma. Both Bhishma and Dhritarashtra censure Karna as he says this — suggesting that in the royal family of Hastinapura, the question of what is dharma and what is not has already become too convoluted. Dhritarashtra then announces that he will send his own emissary, Sanjaya, to parley with Yudhisthira.
Tanuj Solanki
@tanujsolanki
The writer is reading the unabridged Mahabharata