Copyright@shravancharitymission
By Kamlesh Tripathi
By Kamlesh Tripathi
The great war of Mahabharat was just over
and Dharamraj Yudhistir had taken over as the undisputed Emperor of the vast
kingdom.
And, with the permission of Lord Krishna, Dharmaraj
Yudhistir along with his patrani
(chief queen) Draupadi and younger brothers, went to the bloody battlefield to meet
and ask after Bhishma Pitamah who was lying on the bed of arrows, waiting for
the sun to move to the position of uttarayan
(northward movement of the Sun in the celestial sphere) so that he could
wilfuly leave his body.
And upon Yudhistir’s request, Pitamah began sermonizing about the varn-ashram
(natural phases of life) and the time tested relationship between the King and
his subjects to Yudhistir. And when Pitamah was midway into his sermons,
suddenly queen Draupadi laughed at Bhisma Pitamah.
Pitamah felt a bit awkward at this, and stopping his
sermon he asked,
‘My dear daughter, what makes you laugh?’
Draupadi hesitantly replied—‘It was a
mistake Pitamah, I shouldn’t have laughed so please excuse me.'
Pitamah was not satisfied with her reply. He
softly said, ‘Any well mannered daughter-in-law of such a great family doesn’t suddenly
laugh, and that too without a reason in front of elders. And, I know you are
extremely cultured and well mannered so your laughter cannot be without a
reason. Don’t hesitate and tell me the real reason for your laughter.’
With folded hands Draupadi said—‘Pitamah it
may sound absurd and ill-mannered, but if you insist I will have no choice but
to tell you, because I just cannot disobey your orders. You were just now giving
such rich sermons on dharma-updesh (Theology)
and what came to my mind was; when Dushashan was disrobing me in Kuru-sabha (Kuru’s court) where was your
dharma-updesh then. It appears to me all this dharma-updesh you have learnt after that episode. And with this
thought in my mind I couldn’t help and I laughed. Please pardon me.’
Pitamah was stunned at this. He waited for
some time and then said very softly, as he was badly injured.
‘Daughter there is no question of your
seeking a pardon because in some ways you are right. I was well conversant with
dhrama-updesh during that time also;
but then I was feeding myself with the polluted bread of Duryodhanya and that
had polluted my mind, and that’s why in that Kuru-sabha when Dushshan was
disrobing you I could not use the dharma-updesh
and dharma-gyan judiciously to save
you. But with all the innumerable arrows of Arjun that have pierced my body all
my polluted blood, made out of the polluted bread of Duryodhana has drained out of my body, and with that my
mind has become pure again and I’m able to think about religion and dharma-gyan in the right manner.
The source of your bread goes a long way in making you.
***
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