39. Dhritarashtra and Bhisma

Bhisma understood Dhritarashtra's desire for expansion of his kingdom. But he well knew this was no easy matter, but could happen if only the King was judicious especially with regard to making the choice of his successor. He thus put forth his views:

 

‘But there’s a necessary condition to make this happen. You have to make a statesman’s choice when selecting the crown prince – the one who will succeed you. He can make or mar things.’

At this rejoinder, the blind king again sank into whirlpool of thoughts. He loved his sons dearly and more so Duryodhan. He always longed to see him as his successor. At the same time, he knew Yudhisthir was more competent to shoulder the responsibility. Bhisma, Dronacharya, Kripacharya and other elders and the citizens of Hastinapur were in praise of the eldest son of Kunti and not Duryodhan. As he thought more and more his discomfort only aggravated. So he decided to wind up the session and retire to the palace to share his anxiety with Gandhari.

5. Five sons return home, console mother

These affectionate words reflecting both urgency and fatigue awoke Kunti from her reverie. She rose, opened the door to find her five sons standing right in front - eager to hug her and tell stories about how they spent the day. With their father no longer alive, the children had very strong bond with the mother. In later days of his life while wandering in the forest Pandu had a feeling that his immensely talented five sons were not getting the right environment to grow as true Khsatriya princes. At times he had expressed this concern to his wives Kunti and Madri. Before death suddenly and cruelly snatched him from this world, Pandu implored the queens several times to move to Hastinapuri with the children. Even if that meant absolute solitude for himself, the young princes could be brought up in the best of Kuru traditions. The bereavement of the husband was aggravated manifold by Madri’s giving up her life leaving her two sons Nakul and Sahadev to Kunti’s care. Before she could grieve enough, heavy responsibilities were thrust on her.

In spite of being a strong willed, intelligent and learned woman, Kunti was simply devastated by the rapid occurrence of these tragic events. Only her deeply spiritual life style saved her from sinking into deep depression. She decided to fight against odds and perils to restore the five children to their rightful place in Hastinapur.

She was a mother to all five brothers in equal measure – she loved them without any discrimination. However, the children felt she was more affectionate towards Sahadev, the youngest. At times they would ovingly tease her for being biased in favour of her youngest son. But was it a fact? Difficult to say because three sons of her own were so talented and good-natured that none could love them less. May be, special feeling for Sahadev could be because she had an extra responsibility towards Madri’s sons in her absence.

As Kunti sat, her five sons thronged her and narrated the day’s proceedings. She could make out that the children were happy and that Bhisma, the grandfather, was himself present to observe how they took the lessons and their special skills and abilities. Kunti was relieved. She was also relaxed that there was no quarrel or fight amongst the cousins. She stole a moment from the conversation, delved into own mind, prayed and thanked God.

2 Co-existence begins

So astounding and shocking was the conduct of Duryodhan that none could speak for a while. Then a profound voice broke the silence. It was of Bhisma, the grand father. An admonishment, affectionate but firm, was distinctly heard:

‘Son, isn’t what you said unbecoming of a prince? Is that what your parents and us tried to teach you all these years? Try to be worthy of the glorious Kuru lineage and I’m sure you would know how to welcome your brothers.’
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These words seemed to have some sobering effects. In the brief interlude that followed Bhisma’s utterances, Gandhari extended both her arms to reach for Duryodhan and Yudhisthir. Two cousins came closer and Duryodhan seemed to be preparing for co-existence in days ahead.

Dhritarashtra did not allow the moments of temporary truce go waste. He said:

‘Gandhari, Kunti and children must be very tired. Wouldn’t you take them to their mansion? It’s time they take food and relax for some time.’

Gandhari rose – a couple of palace maids came running. Taking leave of Bhisma and Dhritarashtra, Kunti followed her sister in law along with the children. They were ushered in to a mansion annexed to the main palace. The rooms were big, neat and clean – the beds were nicely done. After the family was settled, Gandhari left for the royal kitchen. Soon the food arrived. The children enjoyed the food and then jumped to their beds. They were exhausted and slept like dead. But their mother was not that fortunate. Even before they left Kurujangal for Hastinapur, she was a worried person. The initial encounter between the cousins made her more worried. She repeatedly prayed to the almighty for the welfare of both families. After some time, the tire and fatigue overtook and she too fell asleep.

On the following day, half a dozen sentries came to take the five princes to the study room. The road to it went through huge courtyards. After a mile or so, there were imperial flower gardens on both sides. At the end of the road stood a big building about six feet above the ground. There were two flights of stairs on the north and western sides converging on the marble floor of the portico. On reaching the stairs, the Pandava brothers could hear humming of children voices. On reaching the portico, the adjacent room came within their sight. As they stood at the main door waiting for permission to enter, they found it was a huge room, with lots of books stacked in shelves. One hundred and one Kaurava princes sat there facing a teacher. A highly learned scholar was giving them lessons on Vedic scriptures. As Yudhisthir and his brothers were ushered in, they saw grandfather Bhisma seated in another corner. They saluted both the teacher and the grandfather and received their blessings Then Bhisma introduced the cousins to each other and left the place telling that he would meet them again at the ‘arms lesson’ class.

As the teacher asked his pupils to recite from the scriptures one by one, the princes complied with varying degrees of proficiencies. As the Pandava brothers were new entrants, they were given the option to begin their presentations from the next day. But Yudhisthir sought the teacher’s permission to recite from the day’s lesson. Pleasantly surprised, he acquiesced. What followed pleased him immensely. The rendition – words, accent, pronunciation- was an embodiment of perfection. As soon as the class ended, there were curiosity and many of the Kaurava princes gathered around Yudhisthir with mixed feelings of appreciation and jealousy.

Before assembling for the arms class, the students had free time and they talked. Yudhisthir was the centre of attraction. Duryodhan however was not happy to notice the bonhomie. Dushashan too was not happy and gave his elder brother company. Both had some strange and hostile feelings towards their cousins and considered them as unwelcome addition to the palace.

The grandfather himself was present in the arms class. Kripacharya, the famous Guru of the land, was in the overall charge of the class. The princes were taught archery, handling of various other arms like narach, kshrupra, mace, spear, etc and also riding on horses and elephants. Bhisma keenly observed the orientations of the Pandava brothers in handling of arms. He was happy that despite not having any formal training till then, each of them showed promises. In particular, he was greatly impressed by Arjun and Bhim and decided to hold discussions with Kripacharya about prince-specific training schedules.