In Dwarka, Satyabhama & Jambavati are in mourning for the Pandavas (too bad they didn't view the TV along w/ the 2 Vasudevs) as they join Krishna & Vasudev. Krishna asks them why they are crying, and tells them about the inevitability of death one day or another. He also tells them that sometimes, what is true one day may be untrue the next.
Bheeshma is mourning the Pandavas, and finally gets out of his room. Vidura calls him, but Bheeshma ignores him and continues going towards the river. Krishna & Vasudev set off for Hastinapur, and they are greeted by Vidura. Krishna sees Vidura in mourning and asks him why, given that he knows the true status of things. Vidura tells him that Bheeshma has gone to offer oblations to the souls of the Pandavas, and if he did that, harm would befall them. He and Vasudev both beg Krishna to intervene and stop such a disaster from happening.
Bheeshma is about to enter the river when suddenly Krishna appears & stops him. Krishna tells him that the Pandavas are alive, and Bheeshma wants to break this good news to the kingdom. Krishna dissuades him from it telling him that the time ain't right, and tells him all about Duryodhan & Shakuni's plot. Bheeshma resolves to go and punish them, but Krishna tells him that if he does that and blows their cover, then the Pandavas won't be strong enough to confront the Kauravas & their allies. He asks Bheeshma to give the Pandavas the time they need to be strong enough to defeat the Kauravas on their own.
Shakuni encourages Duryodhan to become the yuvraj. Duryodhan tells him that the time is not right, since he'd be suspected if he took the yuvraj crown so soon after the Pandavas' deaths. Shakuni tells him that he's thought about everything thoroughly, and explains that given how sentimental his father is, now was precisely the right time to go and demand it.
Later, Shakuni is w/ Dhritarashtra & Gandhari, and shedding crocodile tears over the Pandavas. He tells them about the importance of doing their shradhs. Bheeshma, Vidura, Krishna & Vasudeva are watching all this. When Shakuni is done, Bheeshma tells him that he needn't worry about that at all.
Comments: So they showed Vasudev accompanying Krishna to Hastinapur, instead of Balarama. Fine, but I wish they didn't just copy BRC as far as Bheeshma going to offer oblations to the Pandavas went, as there is no account of that in the Mahabharata, and therefore, this dramatization wasn't necessary. Instead, they'd have done well to simply have Krishna explain the near term strategy to Vidura, and maybe Bheeshma if needed, but not bother meeting Dhritarashtra or Shakuni at all.
I wonder how true was Krishna's claim that the Pandavas would have been defeated? At that time, Yudhisthir was still the yuvraj, and had the Pandavas started a war against Duryodhan, Bheeshma would normally have been protocol bound to Yudhisthir, rather than Duryodhan, since the former was the yuvraj (It was different after the Pandava exile, since Duryodhan was the yuvraj then), and in such a situation, Drona & Kripa would have been neutral, while Ashwatthama & Karna would have been on Duryodhan's side. Of course, it would have been different had Dhritarashtra asked Bheeshma, Drona & Kripa to intervene on behalf of Duryodhan, and in such a scenario, unless the Pandavas got military support from Krishna & Balarama, they'd indeed have been facing defeat.
Shakuni didn't make sense @ all - Duryodhan did, on the question of the timing of making him the yuvraj. They could have done the 'last rites' for the Pandavas and gone on from there. Incidentally, I hope Bheeshma doesn't expose to Dhritarashtra & Gandhari that the Pandavas are alive, but somehow prevents the Kauravas from doing anything for the Pandavas shradhs.
Edited by .Vrish. - 13 years ago
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