Posted:
I'd like to start a thread to discuss some of the lesser known but nevertheless admirable characters from this epic. We've all dissected the major characters many times, so why not discuss the minor but significant characters?
I'm going to start with Yuyutsu.
Would love to read about more such characters- please feel free to add
1. YUYUTSU:
During Gandhari's long pregnancy, Dritrashtra had a fall from grace with a maidservant and he conceived a child with her. Forgiven by Gandhari, Dritrashtra openly acknowledged the maid's pregnancy as his own responsibility and took the maid as his second wife. Their son was named Yuyutsu. Yuyutsu was raised alongside Gandhari's hundred sons. He was younger than Duryodhan and older than Dushashan so he was in fact Dritrashtra's second eldest child. Gandhari, in her kindness, never treated him as any different than one of her own sons and the Kauravas, led by Duryodhan, included him as one of them. But as Yuyutsu stood alongside his brethren, looking out at his cousins the Pandavas, he knew he was different. He knew he was not a Kaurava.
It wasn't that he didn't love his family. He loved each and every one of them. Especially Duryodhan. For all his ego and temper, Duryodhan was a protective elder brother who never failed to stand up for those he considered his own. So Yuyutsu loved Duryodhan. Yet he couldn't be blind to Duryodhan's destructiveness. He hadn't followed Duryodhan in every conspiracy and plot the way the Kauravas had. Duryodhan's greed and caprice repulsed Yuyutsu. He tried to keep his own counsel. He was, after all, the son of a maidservant and was only called prince as a courtesy. He had no real power in his family. Yet there were moments when his conscience pricked him too deeply and he had to speak up.
The charioteer gaped up at him. "My Prince-" "Do it now." In the silence of that battlefield, Yuyutsu's chariot rolled towards his cousins. The Kaurava infantry gaped at him as he drove away and the commanders of both armies were stupefied at they watched. "Yuyutsu!" Duryodhan roared and Yuyutsu's charioteer pulled the horses to a stop.
Yuyutsu turned and looked at his elder brother's furious face. Then he looked at his Grandsire Bhishma, who was standing near Duryodhan. Grandsire was not angry. As Duryodhan raged, Bhishma raised his hand in blessing, telling Yuyutsu what he needed to know. Yuyutsu faced his cousins once more and told his charioteer to keep going. "Don't stop until we're on the Pandava side." He'd never had much power in his family. He'd never wanted it. But at this time and in this place he had the power to follow his conscience.
It's one thing to talk about what's right and what's wrong and debate the issues but to actually follow through with action is another matter entirely. This is true especially when following through compromises our relationships or our standing in society. That would take character and strength and courage and not everyone has these virtues. In fact, very few do.
Joshi, J.A. (2014-01-07). Conscience (J.A. Joshi's Mahabharat) (Kindle Locations 294-296). J.A. Joshi. Kindle Edition.
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