Posted:
This topic has repeatedly frustrated me So I had to share and express my feelings in here. You guys have written such great posts in here, making references to original story that it is encouraging to know that we have a well-informed and educated audience in here.
Here goes my questions: Was Draupadi the cause of Mahabharat? Why do people blame her as an instigator of war between brothers?
Draupadi was unfortunate in 2 instances. In her swayamvar, she had a choice and so let Karna know he did not fit the bill. (Not to forget her ill-fated choice in Arjuna) She may have laughed at Duryodhana (he did not listen to the maid's admonitions) when he stumbled during his visit to the Lakshagrih palace. It was their egos and vindictive nature which must have made them wait for an opportunity to disrespect her. She was a victim here, and not the cause of Mahabharat.
Mahabharat was already foretold right since Duryodhana was born and when Dhritirashtra consistently denied Pandava's their rights to the throne. Sure a lot of people were grey. But am questioning how come no one ever pointed fingers at Yudhisthir and squarely pin the blame on him?? We may question interpretations of the text in a multitude of ways but let us stick with facts for a second and examine them carefully.
The more important question is: Was Yudhisthir deserving to be the elder brother and in a rightful position to take decisions on behalf of his family? There, in my humble opinion, the answer is a resounding No. It seems that the Pandavas were doomed right from the start due to a very weak and ineffective leader in their elder brother Yudhisthir, who did not learn from his past mistakes and continued to make foolish decisions that cost Pandavas so much time, sacrifices and personal losses on their way to the hastinapur throne.
Yudhisthir is supposed to be on the side of Dharma and well-versed with vedas. Dharma, as dictated by vedas refers to cosmic law and order; righteous way of living. Dharma as dictated by vedas does not refer to caste discrimination either. Yet, how often has he sided with Dharma in his actions ?
1) At age of 5 years, duryodhana had already made an attempt to drown Duryodhana. And what was Yudhisthir's response? He is your brother, let us be loving towards him.
----so even before draupadi came into the picture, duryodhana had already started bullying and targeting the pandavas. To name a few examples, he had them exiled, continually belittled them, constantly battled with bheema. and yet did big brother learn to fight for his rights? No he chose to stay a coward and not take any action.
2) when Karna was being disrespected for his birth order, he did not get up to defend him but chose to stay silent (despite the Pandava's own questionable births).
---In that sense, I respect duryodhana to wholeheartedly accept karna despite his questionable heritage (remember karna had not proved his superiority to arjun around that time, but was only asking for a chance to participate in a duel as a commoner). But yudhisthir did not support him because he saw him as a threat against his brother. Instead, if yudhisthir had supported him on the basis of his right to duel with arjun on the basis of his valor alone, he would have been worthy of greater respect (and lesser antagonism from karna). Pandavas were among the ones who kept mocking Karna as being a lower caste.
---and here's another example of yudhisthir's famous judgment lapses. Upon knowing that Karna was his brother by birth, he immediately forgave him of his sins regarding conduct towards draupadi. What happened to his ideals regarding righteous living?? Now suddenly, all of Karna's sins are forgiven? How come the same person was now acceptable to him?
3) There are numerous such examples but lets end with the infamous dice game. Yudhisthir gambled away his kingdom achieved with great difficulty just weeks after he had performed the raj yagna, had received numerous expensive gifts from various kings.
--Now what kind of king gambles away his own hard-fought, newly won kingdom? Duryodhana/Shakuni may have played around with the dice but no one but he himself chose to gamble away. His actions support that of a weak person who did not know how to discipline his mind or use simple common sense. After all this is the very cousin who drowned his brother in childhood, remember? and aimed to murder his family in cold blood. This very cousin who refuses to part with hastinapur.
--so he gambled away himself and his brothers. Again, no one ever references to him as the culprit and a fellow with a penchant for mega-foolish decisions.
--Draupadi gets humilated, the pandavas want to intervene but he uses big brother authority to silence them and does not intervene. Spectacular.
-- (and yet ages later, he agrees to do his part to deceive his guru drona about his son ashwatthama's death). Maybe it's just me but am having a hard time seeing his adherence to Dharma.
4) But his mega-foolish episode has to come even after that. The elders intervene and give Pandavas back everything they had lost. the first dice game is declared invalid because yudhisthir having gambled himself away cannot have the right to gamble others, even if family.
--What happens when Duryodhana sends a second invitation on behalf of dhritirashtra? This so-called wise big brother accepts it !! And promptly loses his kingdom again !
5) Pandavas may have won the war, but it took them numerous years to achieve that. They spent bulk of their time in exile (even prior to mahabharata war). Because yudhisthir just did not have the common sense to maintain a healthy level of distrust with duryodhana or take the right decision. Thanks to him, Pandavas were grandfathers (Remember abhimanyu--arjun's son had a child on the way at the time of war) by the time they won the war.
A weak leader was the biggest let-down for Pandavas. Sad they were stuck with him due to filial loyalty. Sadly, we never learn the right lessons. Instead as per this new-age-mahabharat (full of distortions, if I may add), the women are made to look bad (and deserving to be mistreated) but men are painted as 'victims'.
1) Kunti, for not disclosing Karna as her son.
2) Draupadi for being a victim of her circumstances.
Your comments are welcome :-).
Cricket
CID
Hindi TV Shows
