Stories From The Bhagavatham - Vidura's Departure From Hastinapur

 


The Bhagavatham gives us a brief glimpse of what happened to the stalwarts of Hastinapur during and after the war of Kurukshetra. This chapter is about Vidura.

The Pandavas had spent thirteen years in exile and had returned to Hastinapur asking for their share of the kingdom. Even though they had met all the conditions of the exile, Duryodhana still refused to give them their rightful place. He was advised by Bhishma and Drona but he heeded to none and started preparing for the war.

Dhritarashtra was worried for his sons and the father in him outweighed the king. He sent his charioteer Sanjaya to Yudhisthira with a message that the later should give up his desire for the kingdom and should go back to the forest, preventing the war.

This action of Dhritarashtra was met with disapproval from many, including Sanjaya himself. The king lost his peace and found it difficult to sleep. He called out to Vidura for assistance. Although Vidura was not pleased with the king’s inaction against his sons, he came to Dhritarashtra and tried to impart some wisdom to him.

“You say you cannot sleep, brother.” Vidura said to the king. “I will tell you why. You have allowed a lot of injustice to happen with your brother’s sons. Right from the day Kunti returned to the palace with her sons after losing Pandu, you have been displeased with all of them. You watched your sons try to burn the Pandavas in the house made of lax. You saw Yudhisthira being handed the dry region of Khandavaprastha for his kingdom. Even then, the Pandavas built a magnificient palace there and were minding their own work. But your sons could not digest even that. You watched them swindle the Pandavas at the game of the dice. You allowed your sons to humiliate Draupadi in front of the entire court. You watched in silence as your sons unfairly exiled the Pandavas for thirteen long years. And now what has happened?”

Vidura continued. “After fulfilling the terms of the exile, Yudhisthira now rightfully asks for justice. And even now you are blinded by your love for your sons and for the kingdom? Instead of providing justice, you are telling the Pandavas to give up? It is not late. Krishna himself is coming to you with a message of peace. Listen to him.”

Krishna indeed came to Dhritarashtra’s court and in the presence of the Kauravas, Bhishma and other elders, he tried to talk sense to the king and to Duryodhana but to no avail.

Again Vidura tried to save the king from making a wrong decision. He said to the king. “You do not know the grave danger that awaits you and your sons. Have you forgotten the dreadful oath of Bhima who has sworn to kill your son? Krishna is the Lord Narayana in a human form and the Pandavas are dear to him. The Lord himself is with the Pandavas and so is the Goddess Lakshmi, for she will be there where her lord is. Duryodhana is the very personification of all your past sins. The wise say that it is allowed to abandon one person for the honour of the family, one family for the honour of the village, one village for the sake of the community and the entire earth can be abandoned to save one’s soul. Abandon this Duryodhana and save your kingdom.”

Hearing this, Duryodhana stepped down from his seat and accompanied with Karna, Dushashana and Shakuni, stood before Vidura in anger. “Who allowed this low-born man into the court?” He thundered. “This man is a traitor. Inspite of eating the salt of this kingdom, he sides with the enemy! We do not want such a person in this court. He should leave the city and the only reason we are allowing him to live is because he is the king’s brother!”

Vidura looked around the court but no one intervened. Calmly he thought about the Lord and attained dispassion, his mind freed from all detachment and pain. Taking up his arrow, he placed it at the hall, his gesture a statement that he was finally free of all Maya and attachment towards his brother and his sons and was free from their bondage. Without looking back even once, he walked out.

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaaya!

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