I have already fully addressed Bodhianveshika’s chosen example of pratijñā and kartavya in conflict with righteousness. From the moment Śakuni asks Yudhiṣṭhira to disclose his remaining wealth (Kṛṣṇā Draupadī) until the moment Duḥśāsana sits down frustrated, that is, during the whole window of opportunity to “protect a woman’s honour” and “oppose what was happening because they knew it was wrong,” there is simply nothing in the text to suggest that pratijñā or kartavya was a consideration for any character except Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇā Draupadī and Bhīma, or that the characters’ moral conscience was concerned with violence against women, rather than the questions of valid gambling, classification of women as wife or slave, and keeping menstruation out of sight. There is plenty of tears-shedding, ululating, cheering for Bhīma to drink Duḥśāsana’s blood, and saying “Dhik!” by the spectators, but what bothers them is open to interpretation.
Since HearMeRoar is quoting text from when it was too late to protect the woman from assault, I will point out that the characters like Vidura continue to demand only an answer to Kṛṣṇā Draupadī’s question, and not punishment for Duḥśāsana’s assault upon her. Vidura quotes Kaśyapa: if an assembly fails to condemn wrongdoing, the president (śreṣṭhaḥ) is half-guilty, the attendees are a quarter-guilty, and the wrongdoer is a quarter-guilty; if they condemn wrongdoing, the president and attendees are absolved and guilt belongs only to the wrongdoer; eye-witnesses, confessors, and hearsay-bearers all have responsibility as witnesses. Vidura here acknowledges his kartavya to call out wrongdoing. Why doesn’t he say that Duḥśāsana committed a crime, that no woman should be violated? Did Vidura, whose own mother was a slave, accept that abuse is part of slavery, and slavery is part of orderly society?
Kṛṣṇā Draupadī asks, what is more pitiful than the fact that she, being a respectable woman, has reached the middle of the hall? Where is the governors’ dharma? Formerly, men of dharma didn’t bring women to the hall, she has heard, but that permanent dharma of the past has been lost among Kuru’s descendants. Now, if this was actually dharma that society followed at the time, why didn’t she mention it when she sent Prātikāmin back to the hall without her? Why didn’t Vidura remind Duryodhana of this dharma while warning him about provoking his own death? In the very next chapter, Dhṛtarāṣṭra will speak in the hall right after Gāndhārī and Vidura tell him about bad omens; how is that possible if women don't enter the hall?
This whole speech of Kṛṣṇā Draupadī is poorly written. If the author wanted to make the point that violence against women is adharma, there could be no better place than this speech by a victim immediately following a sexual assault; however, that point is not phrased. Instead, the emphasis is that bringing women into the hall is not dharma, and hyperbole is used to describe how sheltered Kṛṣṇā Draupadī has been until today, in her room, unseen by wind or sun, untouched by the breeze. (Ironically, at this point Karṇa has ordered Duḥśāsana to take her to their rooms, and she insists on staying in the hall.) She laments that her husbands are suffering her touching by a bad man, the Kurus are forgiving the tormenting of their daughter-in-law and daughter who does not deserve it, and she cannot bear Duḥśāsana tormenting her for much longer. (She is the Kurus’ daughter in the most farfetched sense that Pañcālas are descendants of Ajamīḍha and Nīlī, and Kurus are descendants of Ajamīḍha and Dhūminī.) Now, shouldn’t she conclude by demanding justice for wrongdoing, as Vidura did? Instead, she promises twice that if they deem her a slave, she will obey.
Bhīṣma reiterates that dharma is subtle; at its limit (dharma-velāyāṃ), the view of the strongest person among people is adopted as dharma by the rest. The translation quoted by HearMeRoar is really misleading. Bhīṣma is not saying that dharma is always established by force; he is saying that in the specific situation of reaching the limit of established dharma, the person with the strongest ability to view dharma is followed by the rest. Bhīṣma goes on to say that he is unable to decide, he feels apprehensive, but he praises her for not deviating from dharma even in distress. Droṇa etc., the elders who know dharma, are looking dead, so Bhīṣma defers to Yudhiṣṭhira. Reading Bhīṣma’s speech as a whole, it’s obvious that the person he considers strongest to view dharma is Yudhiṣṭhira, a slave who is in no position to exert force.
At this point, the text switches to a different version of events: the governors, who were previously described as cheering for Bhīma against Duḥśāsana, now say neither "Right!" nor "Wrong!" to Kṛṣṇā Draupadī's question because they are afraid of Dhārtarāṣṭra (= Duryodhana). Duryodhana challenges Bhīma, Arjuna, Sahadeva, and Nakula to admit that Yudhiṣṭhira was not in control to stake her, that he lied by doing so. He challenges Dharmarāja himself to answer whether he was in control or not, and says that the other descendants of Kuru don't decide because they feel sorry for her and her husbands. Then everyone cheers for Duryodhana and wonders how each Pāṇḍava will reply. Bhīma says only that Yudhiṣṭhira is his master and he awaits his order to slay Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons. After some words by Karṇa and Bhīma, Duryodhana again asks Yudhiṣṭhira to decide. As I've written before, I think Yudhiṣṭhira remains silent because he cannot speak against his master's interest after promising to be a loyal slave.
When Duryodhana shows his thigh to Kṛṣṇā Draupadī, and Bhīma vows to smash that thigh, there is no mention of how everyone in the hall reacted, unlike after his vow to drink Duḥśāsana's blood. Vidura comments that the gambling has gone too far when they are disputing a woman in the hall. He says that Yudhiṣṭhira would have been in control to stake her before being forfeit himself, but winning a round with someone not in control is like winning in a dream, invalid. Duryodhana again asks Bhīma, Arjuna, and the twins to declare that Yudhiṣṭhira was not in control. Finally, Arjuna says, how could he be in control when he himself was forfeit?
Edited by BrhannadaArmour - 3 years ago
Bigg Boss 19
Hindi TV Shows
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
Cricket
Kundali Bhagya
