The source of knowledge for this series of blogs on the Mahabharata, are the talks by Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Any error in understanding is mine alone.. Not all situations from the Mahabharata are blogged upon; and for those situations blogged upon, parallels are drawn to day to day living.

The cool breezy evening found MAnvi pensive. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice her thAthA walking past her. Her thAthA being the person he is, chose to leave her with her thoughts. He knew that she will share her thoughts in due time.

MAnvi: thAthA, Yudhishtra seems observant and makes his own analysis of people which is interesting. He tells Bhima that Duryodhana respects only those with power. He knows who has power, who has weapons and who will be useful to him. He also tells Bhima that Duryodhana befriends certain people and treats them well.

thAthA: So what does that tell you of Duryodhana?

MAnvi: If I want to be politically correct, I would say that it is difficult for me to say anything. However, there are some thoughts that occur to me:

  1. Duryodhana understands only power and people in power. That power could be due to the position these people hold, the knowledge they have that he considers important to him and their influence over him due to the position or knowledge.
  2. Duryodhana has a scant regard for those who are not in power and from whom he gains little. This would perhaps make him not see what he needs to see, though it is within his sight.
  3. Only if those people who are in power are useful to him, he will respect them.
  4. He is choosy about the people he befriends.

thAthA: Go on, MAnvi. I am listening.

MAnvi: He wants power and so he respects others who have power. That deep yearning for power!! That deep desire to rule Hastinapura!! That need to be given respect as a ruler!!

thAthA: Is yearning or desire or need for power wrong, MAnvi?

MAnvi takes to silence for a few minutes before continuing.

MAnvi: thAthA, I am not sure if he respected his father Dhritirashtra because he had power. I think he made statements that his father could relate to because his father also wanted power and Duryodhana knew it.

Sakuni felt that the other kings paying their respects and offering gifts to Yudhishtra during the Rajasuya Yajna was fair, as Yudhishtra merited it. He tried telling Duryodhana this. Duryodhana though was able to talk his way with Sakuni the way he needed to, and make Sakuni invite Yudhishtra for a game of dice. Perhaps he knew that Sakuni also loved power and used that as a card.

Lets take Karna, thAthA. He had his own desires and ambition. He sensed that he was a kshatriya and not a sUta putra. He also desired to rule. He also wanted that power of a King. Duryodhana perhaps sensing that, befriended Karna and treated him well. Karna became loyal to Duryodhana.

Look at the way he looked at others like Bhishma, Drona, Vidura. They all displayed no yearning for power and the recounts of Duryodhana do not display his respect for them.

– Is his yearning, desire and need for power wrong? I think it is a feeling that is there in him as much as it is in each of us.

– Did he use his father, Sakuni, Karna, Bhishma, Vidura, Drona to gain what he wanted to? Perhaps he did.

– Is using them to gain what he wanted to was wrong? How can it be wrong thAthA, when they allowed themselves to be used by him? They also would have known that acceeding to his request, was not the right thing to do, isn’t it? So if they allowed themselves to be used by him, then they are as much involved in it as he is. If they didn’t allow themselves to be used and stood for what they thought was the appropriate thing to do, then each of them stand for what they think is right. Then there is both a right and a wrong and each one to his own opinion.

He is a man who has been shaped by his experiences and environment. He is also one who knows the difference between the right and the wrong but unable to make that clean cut.

Duryodhana wants power, respects power and people with power (position / knowledge). He knows who has weapons and who will be useful to him. He befriends certain people and treats them well.

thAthA, Duryodhana says, “I know what is right but I am not able to pratcice it; I know what is wrong and I am not able to keep away from it.” 

If you ask me whether Duryodhana is right or wrong, what I would say is just my perspective of what is right and what is wrong. That’s based on my experiences, my values and my beliefs. Will I be right or wrong when I call Duryodhana right or wrong?

That leads me to a question thAthA – “Is there a Duryodhana in each one of us?”

Now MAnvi’s thAthA went silent. He realised that her question lent a completely different perspective to his thoughts. A moment when he admired the power of her thinking and wondered how to make her aware of the power she held.