Merit!

Sri Krsna continued telling Maharaj Yudhisthira about what happened at the royal court at Hastinapur:

 

Drona said: When Pandu left for forest, along with his two wives, he handed over charge of the kingdom to Dhritrāshtra & Vidura. Vidura served his elder brother just like a menial servant & it was he who took care of all domestic affairs. Bhisma handled matters pertaining to defense, as well as diplomatic relations with other kings. My dear Duryodhana, by appreciating how there was previously so much cooperation, you should now accept the Pāndavās as brothers & work with them. I make no distinction between my son & the sons of Pandu and you should also become similarly broad-minded

 

Vidura implored: O Bhisma, you shouldn’t remain indifferent to the great slaughter that is at hand. You should either retire to forest, along with Dhritrāshtra & me, or else bind Duryodhana by force and hand over the kingdom to Pāndavās. After saying this, Vidura sighed very heavily, as if he was overwhelmed by sorrow. Being very fearful for her sons' lives, Sakuni's sister Gandhari next said: Duryodhana, you usurped the kingdom from my husband & Vidura. Because they were caretakers of the kingdom ruled by Pandu, it now rightfully belongs to Pāndavās

 

Addressing the assembly, Gandhari said: O rulers of the earth, the kingdom should be given back to Yudhisthira, so that he can rule it under the direction of Dhritrāshtra & Bhisma

 

Dhritrāshtra said: Dear son, listen as I relate to you the glorious history of my family. The Kuru dynasty originally descended from Soma, the god of the moon. Sixth in line from Soma was King Yayati, the son of Nahusa. Yayati had 5 sons, of which Yadu, born from Devayani, was eldest. Yadu established his capital at Hastinapura, but due to his disobedience, his younger brother Puru, was later installed on throne. In this way Dhritrāshtra wanted to show Duryodhana that an eldest son could be dethroned for the sin of disobedience

 

He continued: My great grandfather was Pratipa, who had 3 sons-Devapi, Bahlika & Santanu. Eldest son, Devapi, was very obedient to his father & his brothers and the subjects loved him. Thus, when Pratipa became old, he decided to install Devapi on throne so that he could peacefully retire to forest. But, at the last moment, the brahmanas forbade Pratipa from installing Devapi because he was afflicted with white leprosy disease

 

Pratipa was very unhappy, but he had to accept the injunction of sastra that no one with a bodily defect could become king. Thus, Bahlika became the next king, but soon after he abandoned the kingdom so that he could go live with his maternal uncle. With his uncle's sanction, Bahlika's younger brother, Santanu, then became the ruler of Kurus

 

My dear son, in a similar way, even though I am the eldest son of Vyāsdev I was disqualified because of blindness & so Pandu became the king. After Pandu’s death, it was natural that the kingdom should be handed over to his sons. This is as per law

 

Alas, Duryodhana laughed at these suggestions and showed no respect


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