Miscellaneous - Religion   

Destiny's role

CHENNAI : The Puranas and the Itihasas repeatedly bring out through their stories the truth that evil is strong and it is with God's grace and assistance alone that one can hope to overcome it. Lord Krishna asserts in the Bhagavad Gita that lust and greed are the cause of evil. In a lecture on the Mahabharata, Triruchi Sri K. Kalyanaraman pointed out that Duryodhana is evil by nature and jealous of the Pandavas. Since the idea of revenge takes root very easily in jealous people, Duryodhana's jealousy is fanned when he beholds the magnificent manner in which Yudhishtira conducted the Rajasuya sacrifice. As if to add fuel to fire, Duryodhana is spurred further when Draupadi and Bhima laughed at his unwitting act when he mistook a glass floor for a pool, and later fell into a pool, thinking it was glass. After this humiliation he was bent on taking revenge on Draupadi.

Countless are the instances in the Mahabharata where the direct confrontation of dharma and adharma comes into focus. Duryodhana followed the advice of his uncle Sakuni, a cunning and infamous dice player, and invited Yudhishthira to a game of dice, knowing full well that gambling was his cousin's one weakness. Sakuni certified to Yudhishtira's character as being truthful, principled and righteous and knew that it would be impossible to overthrow him except by manipulation. He devised the game of dice, drafted the letter of invitation along with Duryodhana, got Dhritarashtra to sign it, and somehow forced Vidura to deliver it to the Pandavas.

In spite of the total lack of propriety in the whole affair, when Yudhishtira accepted the invitation, Sahadevan, a realised Jnani, could only comment on the compelling force of destiny that drives the lives of people. Later when both Dhritarashtra and Yudhishtira ignored Vidura's warning to avoid the game, it became clear that the events were out of control. It looked as if Yudhishtira had lost his reasoning faculty and was driven to take wrong decisions that would bring misery and unhappiness. It illustrates the role of destiny and the power of fate over the lives of human beings.

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