Most people, who I know have read Jaya/Mahabharata or watched the mega serial on TV. It’s truly an
epic of humongous proportions comprising plots and subplots with myriad array
of characters and character arcs, which is still unparalleled in scope and
depth.
Most folks have their favorites. I have heard the following
roll call when it comes to the most common favorite characters: Krishna, Karna,
Arjuna, Bhima, Bhishma, Draupadi, Abhimanyu, and even Duryodhana!
But, never have I heard someone say that Yudhishthira is his
or her favorite character. I always used to wonder why.
I know the reasons
for most people to hate him… The gambling episode and especially, losing his wife, Draupadi, after betting away his four brothers!
IMHO (In my humble
opinion)
He’s my favorite though. Actually, he’s the first among
equals for me because I also love Krishna, Karna (the most tragic character
ever created in an epic), Bhishma, and Draupadi.
Yudhishthira’s fighting qualities were nothing to brag about unlike his younger and mightier brothers and his elder brother! He was good at using spears and I guess, that’s about it. Not too masculine, neither wily nor cunning or shrewd. He wasn’t a worldly man either.
He was, according to me, the man on the middle path. His greatest strength was his honesty. He never lied. Ever. Not even once and that takes courage. More courage than you can even begin to imagine. He had no worries or secrets to himself.
The dice game
Even before the ill-fated and often debated game of dice, Yudhishthira had tried every trick of diplomacy with Duryodhana but in vain. He had even pleaded Duryodhana to handover a village for each Pandava but even that was rejected.
He finally gives in to the decision of playing dice to avert the war. Also, he never thinks that the Kauravas will defeat Pandavas in the game through deceit.
Yaksha Prashna
During their exile, Yudhishthira was the only one, who could answer the Yaksha Prashna among all the Pandavas. After satisfactorily answering the Yaksha’s questions, he brings all of them back to life.
Role in the war
He was always on the side of Dharma. So much so that even
when Krishna, Pandavas’ best friend and advisor, told him to lie about
Ashwathamma’s death, he declined. Only when an elephant by the name Ashwathamma
died, he proclaimed that Ashwathamma died. In fact, he actually mentioned,
“Ashwathamma, the elephant died!” but the qualifiers were droned out in the
battle noise.
Arjuna had confusions regarding his role as a warrior while
fighting his relatives. Bhima was fighting to take revenge and fulfill his vows
given to Draupadi. Nakul and Sahadev were following orders from the elder
brother. Though Sahadev was the wisest of all the brothers, he was silent.
Karna was in the war as he could never leave Duryodhana’s side and valued their
friendship more than anything else.
Yudhishthira was the only one fighting on the battlefield for
Dharma’s sake. Of course, so was Krishna but he taken a vow of not fighting
directly in the war (Though later he bent and broke those rules is a matter for
another blog post altogether!).
If ever there was a man, who always stood for ethics no matter what dilemmas he had to face, he was such a man...
The one who stood true to his name, no matter whether the war was physical or metaphysical in nature...
Disclaimer: This is the first of a series of brief
character sketches I’ll be writing on my favorite characters of the Mahabharata. Yudhishthira’s character
sketch written here is by no means a conclusion.
I do expect comments from serious readers, especially on the gambling episode. You’re more than welcome. Let’s engage in a healthy debate.
