Fight or settle?

 

Day after Uttarā & Abhimanyu’s wedding, all kings that had attended assembled in royal court. In front sat two venerable kings, Virāta & Drupada. Also seated in the assembly were Lord Krsna & Balarāma. Their father Vasudeva, Pāndavās, some of Lord Krsnā’s sons such as Pradyumna and Sāmba, Abhimanyu, and the sons of Virāta & Draupadi. These heroes conversed on various topics & then became silent

 

Everyone expectantly looked towards Sri Krsna, who said-My dear rulers of earth! We all know how Maharāj Yudhisthira was deprived of his kingdom & exiled to forest by Sakuni cheating him on dice board. Although they could conquer the entire earth, Pāndavās went to forest just to honor Yudhisthira’s vow. This last year especially was passed by them in great hardship as they engaged in menial services of others. All this is very well known by you

 

Everyone listened to this meaningful speech with rapt attention. Sri Krsna continued: All of you present should now give advice that is consistent with morality & beneficial for both Pāndavās & Kauravas. Maharāj Yudhisthira would never dream of accepting the sovereignty of the 3 worlds if it were obtained by dishonest means. On the other hand, he would be satisfied to accept a single village earned righteously

 

Still, we must keep in mind how Kauravas continually harassed Pāndavās right from their childhood. Pāndavās deserve to receive back all that was rightfully gained by them before the gambling match. If Kauravas do not voluntarily return Pāndavās kingdom, we must be prepared to fight. Still let us not judge things hastily. After all, Duryodhana has not yet expressed his intentions. Let us send a virtuous, pious & respectable ambassador to Hastināpur to request Kaurav king to peacefully return half the kingdom to Pāndavās

 

Balarāma then spoke-Dear assembled Kings! I fully agree with what My brother Krsna has said. Duryodhana should be urged to give Pāndavās their rightful share of kingdom. Let an ambassador be sent at once with the request so that the war can be avoided

 

I don’t think Duryodhana & Sakuni should be blamed. After all, Yudhisthira voluntarily accepted challenge to play dice, & he chose to play with the most expert gambler, even though there were thousands of others present with whom he could play. Let the ambassador speak in a conciliatory tone. What purpose will violence serve?

 

As Balarāma spoke, Sātyaki angrily interrupted: As is a man’s heart, so does he speak! There are 2 classes of men in this world-brave men & cowards. For this reason, O Balarāma, I don’t condemn Your words. I simply condemn those who are listening to them. How can anyone who dares to criticize Yudhisthira be allowed to speak in this assembly? Can it be said that persons who challenged Yudhisthira to play with dice acted virtuously?

 

Righteousness should always be evaluated with the lens of Dharma. When we face tough situations, instead of taking the fight to the last mile, we may think that just to avoid inconveniences let’s settle for the status quo or let go of the issues troubling us. But if the fight is to establish Dharma, then we should do our duty without attachment to the results. We need to raise our consciousness to fight unselfishly

 

Remember what is happening to others, if we don’t protest, we are next in line to suffer the same

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife

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