Yudhisthir's Misdeeds
When we have to weigh something, we need to select the scale according to the product to be weighed. For example, the weight of a trainload of mined coal would be in units of tons. An error of a few kilograms would be overlooked as negligible. But when buying charcoal for household use, it would be in kilograms or pounds where ounces also matter. Then there is the purest form of carbon, diamond. It is almost 100.00 percent carbon. It is so precious that even milligrams matter.
This consideration is also applicable in judging people. For ordinary people like me, the criteria need not be so demanding. But as persons go higher up, their behavior has to meet increasingly more stringent norms. Particularly, mistakes and malpractices of heads of certain organizations must not be overlooked.
One such person is Yudhishthir. He is called a 'dharmaraj'. He must not have committed any bad or wrong act, some act prohibited by the principles of dharma. But he did. Our gurus and story-tellers (kathakar) do not want us to know some of the adverse facts about the heroes they want us to respect.
Let us see what is there in Mahabharata. Nothing stated below is made up by me. Each statement is based on the text of Mahabharata as translated by devotees of Lord Shri Krishna (LSK). (Krishna is also a name given to Dwaipayan Vyas,the author of Mahabharata, and Draupadi. Therefore, I use LSK for clarity.)
When the 105 cousins completed their studies, Guru Drona asked them to bring him King Drupad alive tied up like a criminal. The 100 Kauravas failed. The five Pandavas defeated Drupad's army, tied him up and brought him to Drona. Drona took a half of Drupad's kingdom, returned him the other half so that the two became equals in status. This shows that they were strong enough to handle some agent of Duryodhana. After escaping from there, it was not too long before Bhim defeated rakshasa Hidimba. He alone could have handled Purochan.
Only a few months later, the five brothers and mother Kunti were asked to stay in a laxagruh, a mansion at Varanavata. The house was deceitfully built of combustible materials so that the Pandavas could have been burned in sleep. Please visit:
https://en.krishnakosh.org/krishna/Mahabharata_Adi_Parva_Chapter_150.
It describes how six Nishads showed up and fell asleep and how Bhim started the fire that burned down the building along with Purochan, Duryodhana's agent, and the six foresters in their sleep so that the Pandavas could escape. This disproves the prevailing myth that the fire was started by some employee of Duryodhana. Was Yudhisthira excused from condemnation for these murders because Nishads were not considered even Shudras? Were they 'expendable' non-humans?
The five boys could have themselves ten-handedly defeated Purochan, tied him up and taken as a criminal to Hastinapur for punishment by Bhishma. Or, they could have sought guru Drona's help. There was no need to kill innocent uninvolved people just to escape the way they did.
Now think. The six Nishads were 'atithi' (guests). They should have been treated as gods. At the least, Kshatriyas are supposed to protect others sheltered by them. They should not have been victimised. Is there any verse in Manusmriti that would justify Yudhishthira's sinful and criminal behaviour? If you find any, please let me know. I will verify it with my copy of the book.
Ancient rules of fight prohibited attacking an enemy not having any weapon. Killing Purochan in his sleep was also a sin.
What did the Pandavas do after escaping from the laxagruh? They dressed up as Brahmins and sustained themselves on alms (bhixa) given by others. Wasn't this daily lying? As Brahmins did they perform their dharmic (religious) duties to learn and teach knowledge? If not, did not they commit adharma? How can Yudhishthir be called our 'dharmaraj'?
Later, during their one-year incognito stay at the end of their deal with Duryodhana, Yudhishthir told King Virat that he was a Brahmin named Kank. Wasn't that a lie repeated every day for one full year? How can he be called a 'satyavadi' (truthspeaker)?
There also prevails another myth that the Mahabharata war could have been avoided if Duryodhana had agreed to grant the five specific villages demanded by the Pandavas. Please visit https://en.krishnakosh.org/krishna/Mahabharata_Udyoga_Parva_Chapter_82:3. The Pandavas were in Upaplavyanagar when LSK was planning to visit Hastinapur to attempt a compromise. The five brothers expressed their willingness to forego their claim if Duryodhana would grant them five villages. It was Draupadi who very vehemently opposed the idea mainly because she wanted Dushasana's blood to groom her hair to fulfil the vow she had taken when she was being molested.
Bhim also had taken a vow of resolution to kill Dushasana and drink his blood. Drinking a person's blood is an act of extreme hatred for that person. It is prohibited in civilized society. In Bhagavad Gita, LSK has taught us to give up our hatred altogether. Isn't it strange that he did not advise Bhim and Draupadi to give up their hateful vows? Could not their past insults have been avenged by cutting off Dushasana's both hands?
Bhim's vow was fulfilled in Karna Parva83:2. https://en.krishnakosh.org/krishna/Mahabharata_Karna_parva_Chapter_83:2. The following extract is worth quoting.
"Indeed, all those that stood around Bhima and beheld him drink the blood of Dushasana, fled away, overwhelmed with fear, and saying unto one another, "This one is no human being!" When Bhima had assumed that form, people, beholding him quaff his enemy's blood, fled away with Citrasena, saying unto one another, 'This Bhima must be a Rakshasa!"
Was there a precedent of any rakshasa having drunk blood?
However, Draupadi does not seem to have had the chance to use that blood to groom her hair. Bhim was surrounded by so many warriors and was so busy killing them that he did not get the chance to take the blood to her until Karna was killed. Thereafter the blood would have clotted up.
Our ancient predecessors were not highly civilized as we like to claim.
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