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
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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