The discussions in the Hastinapura sabha continues. Duryodhana and Karna are all for war. Bhishma and the elders remind everyone of the might of Arjuna and Bhima. Talk of Arjuna rankles Karna, who regards himself as the better warrior. Bhishma, forever dismissive of Karna because of his lineage, doesn’t rate him better than Arjuna. At one point, Karna is so offended by this that he declares that he will not take to the battle till Bhishma has fallen.
Bhishma finds this vow ridiculous for having come immediately after great pronouncements of valour and what-will-be. He laughs while proposing the idea that Karna has obtained his great weapons through deceit, by proclaiming himself to be a brahmana. This is ignored by the rest in the assembly. Dhritarashtra addresses Duryodhana, beseeching him to accept the Pandavas as brothers and give them a means of sustenance. But, Duryodhana does not answer his father’s request. It is as if, despite being the king, Dhritarashtra needs to take his son’s consent for these matters.
Meanwhile, in the Pandava camp, Yudhisthira and Krishna have a conversation in which the eldest Pandava expresses his desire to avert war. ‘Where is the killer who is not killed in return?’ Yudhisthira fears. In response, Krishna says that he will himself take the message of peace to the Kauravas. Yudhisthira, fearing the prospect of harsh words being spoken to Krishna in the Kaurava court, reluctantly consents to the idea. Bhima tells Krishna to be mild with Duryodhana. ‘We would rather follow Duryodhana and be under his control than let the lineage of the Bharatas be destroyed,’ he says. Also, shockingly: ‘Arjuna has never been in favour of war because there is great compassion in Arjuna.’
This contradicts the message Arjuna has sent to the Kaurava court through Sanjaya. The implied dichotomy in the Pandavas’ attitude towards war is indeed very strange. In their interactions with Sanjaya, the Pandavas seemed drunk on their strength and harped at length about why and how they would decimate all the Kauravas. Now, they talk to Krishna about trying to uphold peace from a disadvantageous position. This equivocation, one could argue, is what Duryodhana can smell. And this is what he sees as the biggest sign of Pandavas’ frailty. From the eldest Kaurava’s perspective two points, when juxtaposed, do not make sense: one, that the Pandavas are the mightiest in the world, and two, that they want only five villages from the empire of Hastinapura.
Of course, Krishna senses Bhima’s attitude as frailty too. He admonishes Bhima and reminds him of his earlier vows, foremost among them the vow to kill Duryodhana with a club.
After similar conversations with the other Pandavas, Krishna departs for Hastinapura, where the news of his arrival reaches a day in advance. Hasty preparation to welcome him is set in motion. Among other things, Dhritarashtra instructs a hundred servant maids (‘who have never given birth’ — whatever import that carries) to be presented to Krishna.
Tanuj Solanki
Twitter@tanujsolanki
The writer is reading the unabridged Mahabharata