Krishnavatara VII: The Book of Yudhishthira by Munshi K.M

Author:Munshi K.M [K.M, Munshi]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Published: 2020-12-13T00:00:00+00:00

16. YUDHISHTHIRA SEEKS A FAVOUR

Bhishma swayed his swing-bed furiously. He knew the situation. Most of the Rajanyas of the Kuru family had gone and settled in Indraprastha. Others who were left behind had transferred their loyalty to Duryodhana; there was no other alternative left to them if they wanted to live in Hastinapura.

He knew that the friends of Duryodhana had decided to defy him should he intervene in the game. He smiled. ‘It is not so easy to deal with me,’ he muttered to himself.

He had just settled down in his bed when Vidura sought permission to come into the room. Bhishma sat up surprised. ‘If Vidura has come at this time of the night, there must be something very important,’ he said to himself.

‘Come in, Vidura,’ he said.

Vidura came into the room accompanied by a person whose face was veiled by his scarf.

‘Who is this man?’ asked the Grandfather.

Vidura’s companion dropped the scarf from his face and prostrated himself before the Grandfather.

‘Yudhishthira!’ exclaimed the Grandfather in surprise. Yudhishthira stood with folded hands. ‘You, at this hour of the night! What is it, Vidura?’

‘Something very urgent, venerable Grandfather,’ said Vidura. Then turning to Yudhishthira he said: ‘Yudhishthira, you can tell Grandfather what you wanted to say’.

‘I want to beg a favour of you,’ said Yudhishthira. ‘It is in connection with the royal game of dice to be played tomorrow.’

‘Why did you accept the challenge, you fool’, said the Grandfather in a severe tone. ‘Why didn’t you decline to come to Hastinapura? If you had not come, Duryodhana would have never have had the courage to declare a war against you. Even if he did, he would never have won it’.

‘May I speak?’ asked Yudhishthira.

‘Son, you may. But, by your weakness, you have exposed all of us to great danger’.

Yudhishthira folded his hands and with humility said: ‘I may have been a fool. But now we are faced with difficulties; only you can save us. That is why I have come to beg a favour of you, venerable Grandfather’.

‘What is it that you want?’ asked Bhishma.

‘My humble request is that the venerable Grandfather will not intervene in the game whatever happens, however dishonestly it is played’, said Yudhishthira.

‘What?’ Bhishma sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes and laughed dryly. ‘Am I awake or asleep? Am I dreaming?’

‘No, you are not dreaming, venerable Grandfather,’ said Yudhishthira. ‘I have come here only to beg of you not to intervene in the game even if Shakuni plays it fraudulently’.

‘Why do you want me not to intervene if the game is played fraudulently?’ asked the Grandfather, his eyes opening wide in surprise.

Yudhishthira said in a low voice. ‘Venerable Grandfather, before leaving Indraprastha, the Master made a prediction that there is going to be a massacre of kshatriyas in a huge war and that I will be centre of it’.

‘If the two branches of the Kuru family try to destroy each other, it is sure to be a vast war,’ said Bhishma.

‘I shudder at the prospect of war.

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