Deception!

For some time, Pāndavās & their newly wedded wife stayed at Pāncāla capital receiving hospitality of Drupada. The alliance between them was secured. Soon by means of spies, all kings & princes who attended Draupadi’s Swayamvara learned that it was Arjun who had pierced fish target. They marveled at Pāndavā’s prowess & condemned Kurus & Purocana for their wicked assassination attempt

When Duryodhana found out it was Arjun who won Swayamvara, he plunged into gloom & depression. He lamented-May Purocana be damned for his carelessness. It appears that fate is indeed supreme & thus due to Pāndavās miraculous escape only, Arjun was able to win Draupadi instead of him. Now that his cousins are allied with Drupada, his position has become weak too

Duhsāsana, himself ashamed & dejected, tried to console his elder brother saying-if Arjun had not disguised himself as a Brāhmana, he wouldn’t have won Draupadi. It seems fate is supreme & exertion is useless

It was with gloom & despair that Kauravās returned to Hastināpur, but Vidura was overjoyed to hear that not only Pāndavās were alive & well but had won beautiful daughter of Drupada. He happily announced to Dhritrāshtra that Kurus have prospered by achieving good fortune. Hearing this Dhrita blindly thought Vidura was informing him about Duryodhana winning hand of Draupadi. Without even waiting for Vidura to say more, he ordered special ornaments for his supposed daughter in law & commanded that his son & Draupadi be brought home with great pomp

Vidura then disclosed real situation to Dhrita & said-It is Arjun who has won Draupadi’s hand & not your son. Pāndavās are alive & well & also have made alliances with many powerful kings. Upon hearing this Dhrita expressed joy & said-Virtuous sons of Pāndu are as dear to me as my own sons & they deserve all success in life. This is wonderful news. Vidura was pleased listening this & said to Dhrita that hopefully he maintains this magnanimous outlook in future

As Vidura left, Duryodhana came to see his father & said in hushed voice-Why did you speak so highly of Pāndavās? This is improper. How can you laud prosperity of our enemies? We must act in a way that Pāndavās position becomes weakened day by day

Dhrita replied-My dear son, there is no need to become agitated. You can be rest assured that I only desire which is agreeable to you. However, I don’t want Vidura to know this & hence I made a show of being pleased just to fool him. Now my son, tell me what is in your mind?

When one deceives others, in turn they deceive themselves. It’s an illusion thinking that our perception is true. Our senses drag our minds from reality into illusion and thereby keep us far away & bewildered not to see what is good for us & what is destructive. Focus on the desires which is the starting point of such deception


dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ saṅgas teṣūpajāyate
 saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate
krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ
 smṛti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśo buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati

Thoughts! #gameoflife


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