Thursday 21 May 2015

FIVE VILLAGES A CHECKMATE.

When the Pandavas completed their twelve years of exile and one year of staying  incognito, they were ready to get back to their kingdom to rule as desired by the dharma principles.  But Duryodhana was stubborn and unwilling to hand over the reins to the Pandavas.  Sri Krishna decided to become a peacemaker and convince Duryodhana and the other Kurus to be logical and just.

When Sri Krishna came to Hastinapura, he tried his best to convince the Kurus, but they would not relent because of the strong influence of Duryodhana. They requested Duryodhana to part with the kingdom, but to no avail. Ultimately Krishna asked for only five villages so that the Pandavas could be happy ruling the five villages. Duryodhana roared “ I will not even give  land as much as the head of a needle.”  With this he sealed the fate of all the kings and the warriors.  They were forced to come to the battlefield to fight.

Why did Duryodhana reject the proposal of five villages instead of war and lose his own life and the life of millions of soldiers?  Was he stupid, ignorant and full of arrogance? He was certainly  arrogant, and this arrogance put him to checkmate or in a position in which he would lose either ways .
Sri Krishna was a master strategist. By asking for merely five villages he cornered all the Kurus. If they would have agreed then the Pandavas would soon expand and become the unrivalled kings, and Duryodhana would have had to stay under them. If Duryodhana gave the entire kingdom then also he would have come under subjugation.

Duryodhana had no other option other than being their subordinate. This was his destiny and only option. This was unbearable for Duryodhana. He preferred dying on the battlefield rather than dying everyday under the Pandavas. It was all about his personal agenda for which he was willing to put the entire kingdom at risk.
Such persons livng or dead are useless.   People who have a Duryodhana like mentality cause pain whilst livng and whilst dying.
Krishna tried hard to stop the war and drill some sense in the Kurus.They had the option of excuting him.
This option was offered by Krishna to the Kurus ---to bind him and hand him over to Yudhisthira, but the Kurus were unwilling or had no mettle to do this.

Krishna took the decision; he chose between the two evils. A living Duryodhana and a dying Duryodhan --- both situations would cause havoc. But a livng Duryodhana would cause perpetual havoc, so Krishna decided to remove Duryodhan once and for all, knowing very well that would cause havoc too.

Many times, life at the micro level puts us in such situations. We face a Duryodhana like situation in keeping one of our family members within the business or organisation. It is troublesome to keep them and removing  them also becomes troublesome. Therefore life is like Kurukshetra and it is better to have Sri Krishna steering our life chariot, so that even if we to take a difficult decision Krishna will be there to give us the strength to handle the situation.

1 comment:

  1. I liked this article, especially the check mate situation of Duryodhan.

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