POLITICS OF THE WAR CODE

 

The negotiations to avoid war between the Pandava and the Kaurava brothers had failed and war was imminent. Duryodhana appealed to the kings who had chosen to fight for him to give him victory. They told him that the Pandavas themselves were great warriors and with Krishna on their side, they were invincible. Notwithstanding all this, they would fight for him with full commitment and while having darshan (sacred viewing) of Shri Krishna on Arjuna’s chariot, they would fall in the battlefield and attain moksa (liberation).

Duryodhana turned to Bhishma. He told him that many great kings and warriors had joined his side and in contrast Yudhisthira’s army was small. Would the huge Kaurava army not vanquish the small Pandava army easily, he asked the venerable Bhishma. Bhishma said the question was not how large his army was and how large the enemy’s. It was within Bhurishrava’s power to send them all to the abode of the god of death within three days.  Shalya could end the war in two days and Aswasthama, in one day. Karna could do so in three praharas (three quarters of a day) and guru Drona, in two. He could do so in one prahara and Arjuna could do so in just a muhurta (moment).

When he fought, continued Bhishma, his hands and fist shook, when Drona fought, his chest would palpitate fast and likewise every great warrior present there had one such problem or the other. Only Arjuna was not troubled by any problem of that sort. This apart, Arjuna had defeated Lord Shiva and pleased with him, the greatest of the gods, had given him the infallible arrow, named Pashupata. He had defeated Indra, the king of the gods and the other gods in Khandava forest. He had defeated the incomparable Balarama and later, Krishna himself. Only the other day, he had defeated the entire Kaurava army in the war in the kingdom of Virata. His manavedi arrow was so powerful that everyone in the battle field fell unconscious. Arjuna was indeed unconquerable, said Bhishma.

Duryodhana understood the situation. He asked Bhishma if there was some way to contain Arjuna. Bhishma said there was one. A rule could be made with the consent of all the warriors to the effect that weapons received from the gods must not be used in the war. He suggested to Duryodhana that he must invite the Pandavas to Hastinapura. They all would persuade them to accept a war code. Both sides must work out the code together and both sides must commit themselves to it. Sakuni was entrusted with the task of bringing the Pandavas from Jayanta (pronounced as jayantaa), where they were staying, to Hastinapura.

Bhishma knew that wars are not always won or lost in the battlefields. That raises the question about the nature of the heroic acts on the battlefield and more importantly, of the meaning of victory or defeat there. How fettered, for instance, was the defeated - by a curse or a promise made to someone dear or revered, or to self or by a rule or a personal value and the like?

Sakuni went to Jayanta and told Yudhisthira that he had come at Duryodhana’s behest to invite them to Hastinapura where they and the other warriors would work out a war code. Bhima did not like the idea of going there. “Why didn’t the Kuru king come here?” asked Bhima. “Why should we go there? Are we in his service that we would be at his beck and call?” he asked Sakuni. Sakuni said that at Hastinapura, there were the Kuru elders, many kings from many kingdoms and many others; so there could be arguments and discussions while making the code. Besides, going there should not be viewed as a humiliation for them; after all, one day that place might be theirs, he said (kale tumbhakain prapata hoiba sehisthana). No one responded to the last part of what he said. Quite rightly, one might think – in a war one side would win. Might be the winner in that war would be the Pandavas, but that would hardly be something to talk about at that point in time, especially when it was Sakuni, who Yudhithira considered utterly dishonest, had said so and in the casual way he had said it.

So the Pandavas went to Hastinapura with Krishna. They were fondly welcomed at Hastinapura and there was bonhomie among the Kauravas and the Pandavas. In the presence of all, Yudhisthira asked Sahadeva when the war should start. Sahadeva said the very next day – Tuesday, the dwithiya tithi (the second day) of the month of Magh - would be good for the purpose. Everyone agreed.

Duryodhana said,” Listen, O son of Dharma, in the battlefield brothers will be fighting with brothers. Let us fight without any negative feelings towards each other– let there be no malice or hatred in our heart. Let there be no bitterness or hypocrisy. This will be the war of dharma and the witness will be the Supreme god Narayana Himself. Dharma will win the war”.

Now, would Duryodhana have said what he did if he did not believe that he had done nothing wrong with regard to sharing the kingdom of Hastinapura with the Pandavas, no matter who all had said things to the contrary? In Duryodhana’s tone there was no insincerity, no hypocrisy. And for him, giving half the kingdom would be sharing the kingdom, as would be giving one village. No one goes to war under the banner of adharma. Duryodhana had no doubt in his mind that he wasn’t.

Then he said, “Let no one use the divine weapons. Let no one use weapons the use of which one hasn’t learnt from one’s guru (preceptor). Let Arjuna not use manavedi arrow. Let warriors kill during the war but become loving friends once the fighting stopped for the day and then they must sit together and enjoy the togetherness.” Everyone agreed.  “No one must violate the code. Narayana would be the witness. The one who does, would suffer”, said Duryodhana. The Pandavas and the Kauravas took the oath to abide by the code.

Bhishma’s objective was to disempower Arjuna; it was just that it was not he but King Duryodhana who had articulated what he wanted. Pandavas surely did not fail to understand Duryodhana’s motive, but they did not say anything by way of exposing him.

No one, neither the Pandavas nor the Kauravas, mentioned the infallible weapon Karna had received from god Indra. Everyone knew that he had decided to use it against Arjuna alone. With that weapon, Karna could have effectively won the war for Duryodhana. Now, the code disempowered Karna too. There is nothing in the narrative that explains why that weapon did not figure in the deliberations. The following might give a clue.

After the war code was accepted, Bhishma spoke. “You have taken the vow”, he told Krishna, “that you would only be the charioteer of Arjuna and not wield a weapon. O, the One of infinite kindness, O, the One with boundless benevolence for His devotees, know that I am the servant of your servant. I know that you will break your oath. On my account, you will wield a weapon.”

“You have taken avatara to reduce the burden of the earth. You will be the witness in the war for both sides. We will fall in the battlefield, looking at you and will be rid of the burden of our sins of countless existences”. With that, the meeting ended. Those who had assembled there left for their respective places of stay. The Pandavas returned to Jayanta. They had to make preparations for the war to start on the following day.

Krishna did not say anything. On the sixth day of the battle, Bhishma attacked Arjuna with an infallible divine arrow and Arjuna had no arrow to neutralize it. Unseen by everyone in the battlefield except Hanuman on the top of Arjuna’s chariot, Krishna destroyed it with his Sudarshana chakra. And on the ninth day, Krishna rushed to Bhishma’s chariot with Sudarshana chakra in his hand, setting aside details, and everyone saw that. Everyone saw that Krishna had broken his vow. Bhishma had won. Narayana would never disappoint His devotee.

Returning to the non-mention of Indra-given weapon to Karna in the discussion, maybe Bhishma knew it would be ineffectual. He knew Krishna would intervene if there would be threat to Arjuna’s life. And when the Avatara had chosen to protect Arjuna, which weapon in all the brahmandas could harm him!