Was Yudhishthir a real Dharmaraaj? Whats your opinion? - Page 2

Originally posted by: SRUJAconscience

These posts are very precious for me.I have to save them!😃

Will try to comment here soon.

[Recently I have collected an excellent article on Yudhishthir written by Dr. Nrisinghaprasad Bhadury, the famous Bengali researcher of Mahabharat & Krishna related topics. That article is too long to translate here so am trying to summarize my feelings & realizations after reading that.]

To understand how & why Yudhishthir was a Dharmaraaj, first we have to understand what definition of Dharma for him was. In short, it was universal welfare & impartiality.

Just think, the persons of epic Mahabharat who are marked as great warriors of Dwapar & fought valiantly in wars, none of them got the word war' or yuddha' as a prefix in their names! But the peace-loving man who could not fight well with weapons due to own extreme Satta Guna, who can never be treated as a great warrior, whose teacher scolded him on the first day of Examination for failing to fix target, was blessed with that prefix in his name at the very moment of his birth; he was named Yudhishthir, the person who remains calm even during war'! So which war is this?

Definitely it was the war of mind. Yudhishthir was equal-visioned throughout his whole life. He always wanted & tried to make everyone pleased including his enemies, but unfortunately none was pleased with this nature of him, not even his brothers & wife. This was his actual battle field where he had to fight always with himself only. He could see everything & that quality made him feel after Kurukshetra war that he had lost everything. The victory became more painful than defeat, as the feelings of every painful people around him grabbed his heart.

On the day of Dronacharya's bird's eye-piercing test his nature was cleared to all. The incident can be taken as symbolic. When Drona expected that Yudhishthir would be successful to fix his target on bird's eye, the student simply replied that he could see everything & everybody. Drona took it as his external failure but internally his failed student was completely fixed in his own target of Dharma, was steady in his own principle. And that principle was universal welfare which is always based on a broader point of view. Also judging on a matter from many different perspectives was his inborn nature. So how could he see the bird's eye only? Moreover, it was also evident then that he had not a fixed target on Hastinapur's throne. With this symbol, almost all deeds of Yudhishthir can be explained. When Duryodhan & Co. was caught by Gandharva army & kaurava ministers requested Yudhishthir to do something, Bheem took it as a revenge taken by their friend Gandharvas (I think, Arjun, Nakul, Sahadev too thought the same which was expressed by Bheem in words) & became very happy. But he was Yudhishthir only who could see the whole matter from various other perspectives like he saw everything during Drona's test. He thought that it is Dharma to save the people who are seeking for help, saving the sharanaagata is right at that moment. He also thought that it was matter of honor for women of their family who did not commit any crime to hurt Pandavas. Last but not the least, he might have thought that saving kauravas from enemies will also be a revenge, which will show kauravas what sin they have committed by insulting their own kulvadhu, & now their enemies come forward to save their kulvadhus from danger! This is like a sweet revenge taken by Yudhishthir where even the shameless Duryodhan felt ashamed for a while. This power of judgment from all points of view made him Dharmaraaj, the righteous king.

Similarly, when Jayadrath abducted Draupadi, all were ready with a fixed target on the criminal's death-punishment, but only the failed student of Drona's class could see his sister Dushshalaa & aunt Gandhari behind Jayadrath's life. If his universal vision did not work then, who saved Jayadrath's life that day? Did he not follow that day only these words of God, Adweshta sarvabhutanang maitrang karun eba cha/ Nirmamo nirahankara samadukkhasukha kshami'?

Another place can be noted to understand this sama-buddhi' or equal feeling to all. In Udyoga parva, when messenger Sanjay was returning to Hastinapur, Yudhishthir not only sent his message with him but also sent a loving & caring well-wish to each & every man of Hastinapur. None was absent from that wish. King Dhritarashtra, Duryodhan & his brothers, Karna etc enemies, all the servants & guards of the palace, all the queens & wives of kauravas, all the unmarried daughters of their clan, last but not least all the common people including poor, old, handicapped & even the prostitutes of Hastinapur was blessed with his wish & prayer. In each case his words were, May they get whatever they want, may their hearts be full with pleasure.' This place can easily remind us the words of Lord,

"Suhrinmitraa udaasin madhyastha dweshya bandhushu

Saadhuswapi cha paapeshu sama buddhi bishishyate."

So, if this sama-buddhi' is the basic nature of Yudhishthir's Dharma, then it is the part of Sanatan Dharma itself. Also, note that it is quality of a yogi as said by Lord.

Yudhishthir had no greed on any royal throne. Even after getting Indraprastha, when all was suggesting him to perform Rajasuya, he disagreed after listening from Krishna that how adharmi Jarasandha was in those days. At once Yudhishthir thought that if greed of power can make a person so cruel then why should a king perform Rajasuya? He did not allow again doing so until Lord Himself told him to do. And Lord knows everything; He knew that Rajasuya is needed to increase Duryodhan's jealousy which will make a clear way of his fall. So Lord requested Yudhishthir to perform Rajasuya (also, to punish Jarashandha) & the later surrendered himself to His order. Again, we know that in 13 years exile Yudhishthir only repented for his wrong deed in dice game but never for missing the royal pleasure. Draupadi & Bheem tried again & again to make him sad for sacrificing the wealth but all went in vain. The king, who can remain a tyagi in spite of seating on royal throne & don't feel worse in exile, can be taken as a nice example of Yogaarura person as described in Geeta:

"Gyaan-vigyaana triptaatma kutashtho bijitendriya

Yukta ityuchyate yogi sama loshta ashma kaanchana."

Also, from the above incident we can see that, Yudhishthir surrendered himself to Lord completely ("Pandavaanang bhabaan Naatho bhabantanchashritaa bayam"), long before the war where Arjun was asked to do so by Lord Himself. Also in Udyoga parva, this surrendership is very clear. He could not listen to: "Sarva Dharman parityajya maamekam sharanang vraja", but he did exactly the same.

Yudhishthir was not selected by Lord for teaching Geeta. But the Yogaarura person described in Geeta was already within him. Also:

"Dukkheshu anudbignamanaa sukheshu bigataspriha

Beetaraag bhaya krodha sthitadhi muni uchyate."

So the criteria of Sthitadhi person also match with Yudhishthir.

Now, Lord says:

"Aaruruksho mune yogang karma kaaranam uchyate.

Yogaarurasya tasyaiba shama kaaranam uchyate."

Here is the answer that why did He choose Arjun for Geeta upadesh but not Yudhishthir. Arjun was Aarurukshu', wanted to attain the highest peak but not on the peak. So he had to perform Nishkaam Karma to reach the peak. On the other hand, Yudhishthir was already on the peak, he was Yogaarura, so he had no more need of Geeta upadesh. Karma for Arjun & Shama for Yudhishthir. [Of course, Arjun was much more balanced among the 5 brothers & a good student too, for which Lord said that I am Arjun among Pandavas', but that is a different topic so am not discussing it here.]

In spite of being against of a blood-shedding war, Yudhishthir finally agreed to fight in the Dharma yuddha, only keeping in mind that there is a greater cause (Dharmasangshthaapan) & before the war he again surrendered all upcoming karma at Krishna's Feet. Thus his war became a nishkaam karma, & even after winning the whole kingdom he was ruling it like a perfect sannyasi, which shows us an example of anaasakti' or absence of attachment.

Let me explain another fact. In Karna parva, we know that Yudhishthir scolded Arjun & Arjun was going to kill him for keeping own promise. Then Lord stopped Arjun by saying that, "If a lie can save a life, then it will be treated as the great Dharma", see, basically Krishna applied the same rule on Yudhishthir during Drona vadh. That day Yudhishthir showed that he too knew about this great Dharma uttered by Krishna, but Arjun did not. So again today, Krishna teaches this lesson to Arjun only. Also He knew that the half-lie had hurt Yudhishthir severely, merciful Lord was consoling His devotee by supporting him that way. With this single leela, Krishna simultaneously performed two jobs, teaching another lesson to Arjun who firstly disagreed to it, & telling Yudhishthir indirectly that he had not committed any sin by uttering a lie.

So we can see that, the Dharma of Dharmaraaj is always derived from the Sanatan Dharma said by God. Without Krishna he was nothing. Vyas Dev said that:

"Yudhishthira Dharmamayo mahadruma

Skandhoharjuna Bheemsenasya shakha

Maadrisutou pushpaphale samriddhe

Mulang Krishna Brahme cha brahmanashcha."

So Krishna is his root. If He did not supply nutrition then how could this tree of Dharma survive? The Lord always nourished him, protected him, & kept his organs (Bheem & Arjun) under own guidance, so that the tree can stand safe and sound! Let me finish with Krishna's words to Yudhishthir: "You have achieved everything with your truthfulness & simplicity...you want nothing except truth & Dharma, you are a real Dharmaraaj."

Originally posted by: -Shruti

Awesome posts everyone! I confess that I never bothered to understand any other character except Bheeshma (Bheeshma ke siva koi nahi mera 😆). Hence my petite knowledge derived various conclusions, under the influence of opinions shared by others, which were negative due to the dice hall happening in particular. The posts here have helped me increase my knowledge and understand Yudhisthira a bit. 😊