Sunday, December 27, 2020

Bagavad Gita (contd)

 In the sixth verse, Duryodana completes his enumeration of warriors on the Pandava side. He ends with reference to "Draupadi's" five sons. Just like the first reference namely 'Saatyaki', this last one also is significant. The mention of 'Saatyaki' was supposed to kindle hatred for Arjuna in Drona's mind. Reference to Draupadi's sons is the outcome of Duryodana's obsessive thought about her. It is an exposure of his revengeful thought.

Duryodana was insulted by Draupadi on an earlier occasion. (This is supposed by some to be a later day addition to Mahabharata and not in the original. The original itself is too voluminous for our comprehension!)

Duryodana was visiting the place of Pandavas. The assembly hall was astoundingly resplendent. As Duryodana was taking in its luxury, he mistook a lake of water for crystal floor, slipped and got wet. Bhima saw this and laughed aloud. Draupadi was not there. But Duryodana imagined she was there and that she also made fun of him. He took it as an insult. (Some of us have a need to feel insulted.) Duryodana wanted to avenge this insult. What better way than to kill her sons! So he specifically mentioned their names so that Drona would remember to do away with them. During the war, Aswatthama, Drona's son, killed them while they were asleep.

In life, we come across many imaginary situations perceived as insults misleading us to adharmic acts.

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