[Jon Woodgate]

Learned members,


I give below my thoughts on the respective answers by the characters, also based on my readings of the MBH...

First of all, the Pandavas were devamsa-jaathas as their fathers were Gods. All 5 Pandavas were endowed with tremendous divine strength and they proved it by conquering all other countries except Mahishmati, Hastinapuram and Dwaraka (the latter two excluded out of friendship) and anointed Yudhishtira as the Emperor of the world. It was certainly not out of fear of anyone, nor lack of ba**s, that they behaved that way in the assembly. Nor were they stone hearted as not to be moved by the insults and suffering of their beloved wife. However, the Pandavas were self controlled, able to sacrifice a lot, and sworn to adhere to Dharma at all costs. They also placed an extraordinary reliance on the gambling rules!

In my analysis, KRISHNA & Vikarna were most penetrating & dharmic of them all. The dice game itself was adharma, as Vikarna says clearly. Gambling in any way you look at it, is a sin because it corrupts the minds of both parties and the loser quickly loses his reason also. It quickly gives rise to enmity and bad feelings. It is like rust corroding pure iron. At the end Arjuna tries to support Yudhishtira by quoting the Kshatriya code of conduct. But that was satisfied once the call for playing the game is accepted. At most it can be played as an entertainment. But both parties should be very clear on it. In this situation, it cannot be expected of the Kauravas. That they are playing with an ulterior motive is evident from the introduction of Shakuni who was notorious of sharp practice, at the last moment. Until then it was assumed that Yudhishtira was playing Duryodhana. Anyway, when something was patently adharma, the most important thing was to prevent it from happening. Much ado was made by Bhishma et al related to the rules. The gambling rules are not sacrosanct. Because, the foundation of the game itself was on adharma. When the foundation is staggering, what is the point in following the nitty gritty of such rules? I think this is the mistake that Yudhishtira, Bhishma, Vidura & the rest made. Even Draupadi, although hapless, made this mistake by not pointing it out.

The moment a game of adharma stops becoming a 'game', the rules have no value. What value do we give to the rules set by mad men in a lunatic asylum? People following adharma are waywards, they are akin to mad men or ignorant babies, right thinking men will always decide so.

There is criticism from certain quarters that in certain situations Krishna went against the set rules in the great war. They miss the above aspect. There is a Big adharma done by one party, and they are blaming the other party for not following the secondary rules.

Rules, once set, have to be followed. To a large extent one is bound by one's word given at the time of setting the rule mutually. But the foundation of it all, has to be right also. The Pandavas had fulfilled their word by spending 12 years in intolerable hardship in the forest and the 13th year incognito. Any way you look at it, their kingdom was due. But Duryodhana at the last moment, went against the rules set earlier by refusing to give even 5 villages. This is gross adharma. The root cause of the war was Adharma followed by one party. As for the rules set for the war, they were set by one party steeped in Adharma. When this is the case, one is not expected to act like a machine and follow the nitty gritty of each rule in every instant. So Krishna's acts were praiseworthy as they were aimed at looking at the bigger picture, that of preventing the gross Adharma of the Kauravas from winning, eventhough the Pandavas at great cost to their side, followed the rules to a large extent.

Even in their meeting in the forest, Krishna does not support the machine-like acts of Pandavas in the dice game, their following the gambling rules literally. He says that the dice game should have been prevented and stops there. Similar was his policy before the great war. He tried his best to mediate and avert the battle. But when battle was inevitable, the cause of dharma has to win..