Dhanurveda incarnate, grandsire Bhishma who was the most senior in the entire assembly spoke. His speech was pure, virtuous, fluent and weighty like the Himaganga. Due to meditation and constant contemplation about Kurus’ interests, it had become profound like the sound of the ocean. It compelled the audience to introspect and think deeply. He said in a firm voice, “Venerable Yadava Vasudeva’s son Vaasudeva, Lord of Dwaraka, Srikrishna is present in this ancient royal assembly of the Kurus for the first time, along with his elder brother Balarama and younger brother Uddhava. I feel that this is the moment of greatest honour for us Kurus of the Chandravansha. I welcome him with joy.
“The last time he visited Hastinapura, he didn’t come to the royal assembly. He asked for my blessings at that time which I deliberately hadn’t given. Yesterday also I didn’t give my blessings. It is true that I am senior to him in age. But just the seniority of age never indicates quality of life. Accordingly, I am not senior to him in any other capacity except age.
“Even though he lives far away in Dwaraka, he knows very well in his heart how highly I regard him. That is why with that respect in mind, at this critical juncture of life, I am going to speak from the bottom of my heart about this kingdom of Hastinapura that I have nurtured devoutly with my life. I request everybody to listen to it quietly.
“First of all, I am elated that the Pandavas who have suffered a lot, are alive. I am going to perform rituals to ward off all ill effects that must have been caused due to the Tarpana rites performed for them. At this moment, my mind is brimming with innumerable joyous memories of their father Maharaja Pandu. Valiant, victorious Maharaja Pandu, who spread Kuru’s reputation throughout the world. Today, the Pandavas have returned with their mother to the royal capital of their late father. I welcome them from the bottom of my heart and offer them my blessings.
“All the Pandavas and Kauravas should come together with determination. If that happens, then under the guidance and support of venerable Yadava Srikrishna, the Kurus can teach a good lesson to the self-proclaimed emperor Jarasandha, who has put eighty Kshatriyas in his prison. I have no doubt at all that under Yudhishthira’s composed leadership, with Srikrishna’s eternally pragmatic advice and by getting associated with his kingdom Dwaraka, my one hundred and five Kurus themselves will achieve the glory of being honourable emperors.
“The valiant sons of Maharaja Pandu, officially crowned king of this kingdom, have returned now. Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas is the rightful heir of his father who was enthroned as the King. King Dhritarashtra who was taking care of this kingdom of Hastinapura as a guardian after Pandu, should honourably restore it to Yudhishthira now.
“All the remaining Pandavas and all Kauravas should come together under his leadership and keep the pennant of Hastinapura’s glory fluttering forever. This is my final and impartial verdict as the last senior Kuru. As a king, Yudhishthira should appoint the eldest Kaurava Duryodhana as the chief commander and both should establish new standards of valour in future.”
The entire royal assembly of the Kurus fell silent as they heard the clear-cut decision of just and truthful grandsire Bhishma. He had left no ambiguity behind. Maharaja Dhritarashtra was dumbfounded to hear his final decision. Tightly clasping in his fists the lion faces carved on both sides of the royal throne he went through unbearable anguish for a moment. He muttered as if he was talking to himself, ‘meaning I – I – should get down from this – this royal throne?’ Noticing his agony and hearing his murmuring the eldest Kaurava Duryodhana got up at once from his seat. He spoke in a clunky sound like that of a mace, “Looks like the grandsire has forgotten the service of the Maharaja to the royal throne so far. There is no question of appointing the prince till he is alive. As it is, the undeclared prince-hood already belongs to the Kauravas – the eldest among them – meaning me. What the Pandavas can do at the most is to ask for their share in the kingdom. If the Maharaja is ready to offer it to them then they should silently accept whatever he offers.”
Shakuni, the son of Subala, who always supported his bhacha vigilantly, stood up suddenly. He spoke in his usual sly, sarcastic, deceitful tongue, “The grandsire is indirectly suggesting the Maharaja to go to the forest for Vanaprasthashrama! The truth is that actually his beloved Pandavas were born in the forest. They are fond of forests. Therefore, my advice to the Kuru royalty is that if at all they wish to give the Pandavas a part of the Hastinapura kingdom, they should offer them the region of Khandavavana. As long as the guardian Maharaja is alive there is no question of appointing a new king or prince!”
“Shakuni, nobody has asked for your advice. King Dhritarashtra should announce whatever his decision is.” Grandsire desperately tried to restrain Shakuni. Now the assembly hall was abuzz with whispers. It went on for quite a while. Duryodhana stood up and stopped the whispers by strong words of reproach, “Pandavas have nothing to do with the royal throne of Kurus in any way! They may be the sons of Kunti and Madri, but in no way are they ‘Pandavas’ – the sons of our kaka Pandu! All the citizens know very well why our kaka Maharaja Pandu had left Hastinapura. Grandsire need not support the Pandavas so much. He should not ask for the entire or half of the kingdom for the Pandavas at all. The Pandavas should quietly accept whatever part this Kuru assembly offers them.”
Now Sri clearly realized what Duryodhana was getting at. He was entering the mysterious jungle of Pandavas’ birth by the ‘Niyoga’ custom. Till today he had solved the problems of the Shursena kingdom of Mathura, the kingdom of Karvir, Pragjyotishapura and many more, in a perfectly righteous manner. But this dispute of the Kuru kingdom was indeed tricky. It was apparent that Duryodhana was going to make a big issue of Pandavas’ birth and deprive them completely of the fair share of their venerable father Pandu’s kingdom. At that point Sri rose from his seat determinedly. Immediately the Kuru council fell silent for a few moments. All attendees were well aware of the power of Sri’s speech as they had heard about it. Shakuni and all Kauravas including Duryodhana panicked. They thought that with his eloquence and mesmerizing speech Sri will persuade Maharaja Dhritarashtra within moments. But the unexpected happened. Sri spoke calmly and deliberately, “Dear Kurus! I agree with the impeccable thoughts of grandsire about the kingdom of Hastinapura, but whatever he has said may not happen. Listening to Duryodhana’s speech I have come to realize that the unity of Kauravas and Pandavas is an improbable prospect like that of a day and a night coming together.
Shakunimama has unerringly noticed the merits of Pandavas. It is true that they are very fond of forests. Forests are dear to me also. I have complete faith in the dauntless capability of the Pandavas. On behalf of the Pandavas I declare to Kuru Maharaja Dhritarashtra, all the Kauravas, Shakunimama, all his brothers, and all the members present here along with venerable grandsire Bhishma that the Pandavas are ready to accept the region of Khandavavana that Maharaja Dhritarashtra is so generously offering them as the share of their father!”
The Kuru council including grandsire Bhishma was astonished at this firm decision of Sri that was so unexpected even to the Pandavas. There was only one person, that too a lady, in that fully occupied assembly who was not astonished, not startled at all. She was our aatya Kuntidevi, the mother of the Pandavas! The Pandavas had given complete power to Sri to take a decision on their behalf, as decided in the council the previous night. And yet Bhima grumbled. There were whispers among the Pandavas trying to console him. To contain those whispers, the cunning minister of the Kurus, Vrishavarma, raised the royal sceptre in his hand and firmly pounding it he said, “Venerable Pandava Yudhishthira, do you accept the region of Khandavavana as your share of the kingdom? Any complaint later won’t be tolerated.”
Following a nod from Sri as a signal Yudhishthira rose quietly and declared his decision, “I agree to accept the region of the kingdom offered by the Maharaja of Kurus as our father’s share in the kingdom. I hereby humbly accept the region of Khandava vana while paying obeisance to Grandsire, my venerable f
ather Maharaja Pandu, honourable Maharaja, Maharani, all valiant late kings of the Kurus since Maharaja Hasti, brothers Srikrishna and Balarama along with Kunti mata”. Very politely he further said, “All we want are the invaluable blessings of all. Citizens of Hastinapura should feel assured that in memory of Maharaja Pandu, with the blessings of Lord of Dwaraka Vaasudeva Srikrishna and Kunti mata we will raise a new and prosperous kingdom in Khandavavana.”
‘Well said, well said, Hail Maharaja Pandu! Hail Srikrishna, Lord of Dwaraka! Hail eldest Pandava Yudhishthira!’ Many had surmised that there definitely would be a lot of feuding in the royal assembly of the Kurus. But Sri had accepted the region of Khandavavana on behalf of the Pandavas and concluded this most important council very skilfully, leaving everyone astonished. Uddhavabhauji constructed a picture of this special assembly of the Kurus of Hastinapura, with a detailed account in his interesting speech.
During this visit to Hastinapura Sri stayed for one or two days at the residence of his staunch devotees Mahatma Vidura and minister Sanjaya and gladly accepted their hospitality. Grandsire attended one of the meals at Vidura’s residence on the outskirts of the city. Though Mahatma Vidura was Maharaja Dhritarashtra and Maharaja Pandu’s brother, he was an illegitimate son born to a maid. He was a simple and unselfish person. Though he was a minister in the royal assembly of the Kurus he lived in a simple house with his wife Parasavi and his family, on the desolate border of Hastinapura. He was well known everywhere as being a staunch devotee of Sri, even more than being famous as the minister of the Kurus and as a noble person in Hastinapura and the region around it. However, nobody knew where he and Sri first met. Even I didn’t. But just as Sri had deeply embraced Uddhavabhauji, Daruka and Arjuna in their very first meeting, he did it with Vidura too.
Similarly, Sanjaya, the special minister of Maharaja Dhritarashtra in Hastinapura also was a devotee of Sri. He was the chief of the special charioteer-troop of Dhritarashtra. Even he was loving and versatile. Just like my Aakrutikaka in Kundinpura possessed a rare vidya of charming, this Kuru minister Sanjaya also possessed a rare vidya – a vidya that allowed him to see distant things! He would go into a meditative trance just while sitting. The exact picture of whichever events and places hundreds of yojanas away that he would think of, would take form in front of his meditative eyes. He could pass on minute details to the audience of the scene that he visualized by his inner vision, in his melodious voice. Hearing Sanjaya’s miraculous story from Sri I often felt like meeting him once! When that would happen, I would offer him sweet saffron-flavoured milk, and would persuade him to tell me about the many different appearances, forms and manifestations of Sri he saw with his inner vision. I was confident that even Sanjaya with the special vision must not have seen as many various forms of Sri as I had seen with my inner vision.
After leaving Hastinapura Sri went along with the Pandavas to survey the Khandavavana region that they had received as their share of the kingdom. A small town named Indraprastha was located here. Sri got a spacious sturdy cottage built for the Pandavas on the outskirts of this town. While leaving Hastinapura, Sri also arranged for the Pandavas to get some plasterers, woodcutters, ironsmiths and architects with the assistance of Vidura and Sanjaya. He had also urgently dispatched special envoys and ordered famous architect Mayasura, his assistants Taraksha, Kamalaksha, Vidyunmali and the one and only master architect Twashtta to be present in Khandavavana immediately. They already had the experience of the creation of Dwaraka.
During this period, Sri used to go to river Yamuna that flowed through the thick forests of Khandavavana for his bath and morning Arghya. One such beautiful morning, he came to the stone steps on the banks of the gently flowing Yamuna along with Uddhavabhauji and a few select Yadavas. It was the time of daybreak. Sri saw a woman in the Yamuna in front of him, her back was facing Sri. She quietly stood in waist-high water, like a sculpture. She had tightly tied her thick black hair on her head, with a string of white jasmine flowers. She was wearing a white vesture with a white bodice. She had already performed her Arghya, Namana and Vandana. Now she was meditating with her eyes closed. The reflection of her fair and graceful upper body that was above the water was gently undulating on the waters of the Yamuna. Sri stood transfixed as he saw her. He said to Uddhavabhauji who was with him, “Udho, brother, who is this ‘Jalakanya’? Go, find out everything about her.”
Bhauji smiled. He went up to the river Yamuna, and slowly descended the stone steps built by the Kurus. Cultured bhauji couldn’t bring himself to disturb the Jalakanya engrossed in meditation and stopped there. Just then a long-winged wild peacock came from somewhere producing a high-pitched cry. Fluttering his long plumage with golden, blue, green eyes he gently alighted on the banks of the Yamuna, and began drinking water. The fluttering of his plumage broke the trance of the Jalakanya. Ripples rose on Yamuna’s water. Jalakanya offered the last Arghya to the Sun god, smiled at the peacock and got out. She picked up an earthen pot full of water from the step near the shore, carried it on her waist and began walking. The marks of her delicate, wet, lotus-like feet started imprinting in line, on the stone steps. Uddhavabhauji moved forward at that moment and in his cultured Yadava style he humbly said, “Forgive me Devi. Who are you? Where are you from? Do you come here every day? Who do you meditate on and worship?”
The Jalakanya from Khandavavana got startled for a moment or two. Then looking at Uddhavabhauji’s innocent face and polite expression she smiled and said, “I am Kalindi. I live here, in this Khandavavana. I am awaiting Krishna of Dwaraka ever since I remember. I meditate in his name, and worship him. I have offered my entire life to him! Who are you?”
“I am Uddhava. The one whom you worship and in whose name you meditate, is my elder brother, Srikrishna of Dwaraka, and he has come here in person! See there!” Bhauji pointed to Sri standing on the topmost step. The eyes of the Jalakanya and the Jalapurusha met! Sri slowly climbed down the stone steps. Kalindi gradually climbed up the steps of life on the strength of her worship!
The king of birds, the peacock, flew far away with a joyous cry. It depicted a multi-coloured romantic tale while leaving!
I had to go to the Shuddhaksha gate to welcome my seventh and last sister, after Sri’s Hastinapura visit. While taking her in to my embrace and patting her, I let out a sigh of relief. Kalindi was the eighth wife of Sri. Sri wedded her on the banks of Yamuna itself by the Gandharva manner of marriage. She was quite different from the seven of us. The last palace on the island of Queens’ mansions raised by Gargamuni, was occupied with her arrival now. Though she was a daughter of a Kshatriya she looked, seemed and talked like a Brahmin daughter. She easily mingled with the seven of us.
Dwaraka had transformed into a populated Gokul now. I had noticed that since meeting the Pandavas, especially after bonding closely with Arjuna, Sri’s mood had changed quite a lot. He always looked happy. Each task that he performed was with brimming enthusiasm. He breezed through the palaces of the eight of us as easily as the fragrant air in a garden. I don’t know if my seven sisters felt the same or not, but to me it felt as if he was always in my palace, even if he was in any other palace.
Nowadays when Sri talked, not a single moment passed without a mention of the Pandavas in some or the other context, and without their praise. Especially when he was speaking about aatya Kuntidevi he spoke with tireless and exceeding enthusiasm. He would be in a special mood if Vasudevababa and Thorali mata were there during chitchat over dinner. He was well aware that aatya had suffered a lot throughout her life, and Vasudevababa regretted it deeply in his heart. That is why in his sweet tongue Sri would describe how Kunti aatya’s third son Arjuna is a possessor of all good qualities. He would say – “He looks, talks and behaves exactly like me”. He is even more valiant than me. His name itself is Arjuna! The one who gathers all the knowledge that comes his way and stores it. When people see us together they can’t figure out who is who.”
While speaking, Sri would sometimes unwittingly
refer to him as Dhananjaya, sometimes Partha, or Kaunteya or at times Gudakesha. I would get lost while hearing him speak about Arjuna. Sometimes, to me, Sri himself would seem like Arjuna. I would pinch myself and get to my senses. An intense urge would well up in my mind to meet Sri’s dear Dhananjaya at least once.
Sakhi Draupadi occupied a bit of more space in Sri’s heart than Arjuna. Only I knew that with all the details. That way Radha from Gokul was also Sri’s sakhi. This Draupadi was also his sakhi. But there was a subtle difference between both of them. And I was the only one who was aware of that. Radhika was like the sun disk before the solar eclipse. Milky white! Draupadi was like the sun disk after the solar eclipse. Curd white! Radha was lovely, fragrant like the bud of a Champaka flower. Draupadi was like the enticing bud of a Brahmakamala. Radha was like the silent streak of lightning that flashes in the sky from one end to the other after the rain of Mriga. Draupadi was like the roaring, thunderous lightning that resounds through the firmament during the downpour of rain in Mriga. Both were equally dear to Sri. Maybe that was the reason that I would feel an uncontrollable urge to meet both of them.
Sri would talk about the other Pandavas in few but precise words. He would say, “Yudhishthira is the perfect elder brother of the Pandavas. The other four Pandavas are like roaring, foaming oceans. Around them is the quiet shore of Yudhishthira’s controlled and broad mind. All the other Pandavas respect Yudhishthira absolutely. Bhima is like a catastrophic gigantic ocean of mammoth strength. He appears to be quiet and peaceful but in his mind, he keeps bubbling constantly. His hunger and sleep patterns perfectly suit his burly body. Though Nakula and Sahadeva are twins there is no similarity in their disposition. Nakula looks extremely handsome, like our Pradyumna. Our Uddhava also looks like Nakula and Pradyumna, but he has a completely different nature. He is like the high peak of snow-capped mountain that has pierced the sky and has attained peace. Sahadeva possesses unmatched skills of assessing horses. He is alert and cautious like a horse.
Srikrishna- the Lord of the Universe Page 37
