Impending War

After the rejection of Lord Krsna's peace offering, the battle loomed like a large black cloud in the sky. At that late, ominous hour, with the armies already making preparations for battle, King Dhrtarastra invited in his elder brother Vidura for consultation. Vidura was an expert minister and politician. His instructions are well known in Vedic literature; just the phrase "instructions by Vidura" indicates policies approved by experts in political and moral principles. Therefore, Dhrtarastra expected his words to be exactly to the point.

Vidura came into the presence of King Dhrtarastra and his one hundred sons, headed by Duryodhana and Duḥsasana. The hall was silent, and everyone pressed forward to hear Vidura. Vidura was known by those present to be partial to the Panḍavas, who from the time of their birth had to undergo many attempts on their lives by Dhrtarastra. Actually, when the Panḍavas were just babies, Dhrtarastra acted as their affectionate and protective uncle, but as soon as they began to grow into strong, competent youths, Dhrtarastra realized that these boys, and not his own, would take the throne. He then turned to unfair means in order to dispose of them. According to the Vedic system, after the retirement of the previous king, Dhrtarastra, as the eldest son, should have been heir to the throne, but he was disqualified by blindness. Therefore, the next in line was Dhrtarastra's brother, Panḍu, who duly reigned. After the early death of King Panḍu, his five sons, the Panḍava brothers, led by Yudhisthira, the oldest, came in rightful line. But Dhrtarastra was determined that his sons, and not the sons of Panḍu, should rule. Due to this illegitimate desire, he had many times tried to kill Yudhisthira and his brothers, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva. Vidura, however, the younger brother of Dhrtarastra, took it upon himself to guard the Panḍavas, just as a bird protects her eggs with her wing.

Vidura was filled with compassion by remembering the continual sufferings caused by Dhrtarastra to the Panḍava brothers and their mother, Kunti. But at the same time, he was a great court philosopher and a true friend to Dhrtarastra. There was no doubt of his faithfulness to his brother; even Duryodhana knew this to be so. (Ultimately, after the last miseries of the war, it was shown that Vidura was Dhrtarastra's only true friend in the entire royal court.) Called in on the verge of war, Vidura stood in the hall and offered his advice to the blind King. He could not help remembering, however, that this was the same royal hall wherein Yudhisthira and his brothers had lost their kingdom and their wife in a rigged gambling match. Dhrtarastra's sons, led by Duḥsasana, had at that time tried to insult the Panḍavas' wife, Draupadi, by first loosening her long hair and then trying to strip her naked in the presence of a large gathering. At that time, Krsna, the infinite Lord, had answered the helpless cries of Draupadi, His pure devotee and cousin, and had become her infinite sari. The more the brothers unraveled her sari, the more sari was supplied by Krsna, and she was never disrobed. Another time, Dhrtarastra ordered a house built, and when the building was finished, he invited his brothers' family to live there. But Vidura gave a hint in the presence of all of the members of the royal family that even a weapon not made of steel or any other material element can be the most sharp for killing. Thus he hinted that the Panḍavas were being sent to the house to be killed and that they should be alert. Later he came disguised as a brahmana and directly warned the Panḍavas that on a certain night the house was to be set on fire. Thus the Panḍavas were able to make a timely escape through a tunnel under the earth. Vidura could remember many such plots, and in each case he had given protection to the Panḍavas, while at the same time trying to restrain his brother, Dhrtarastra.

Vidura, however, was not about to be influenced by attachment to the Panḍavas; he had the good of his brother at heart, and he spoke in direct words which made him famous among expert ministers in Vedic history as the giver of the keenest political and moral instruction. This is recorded in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Vidura said, "You have asked me, brother, to come for consultation at this dangerous hour. I say that you must now return the legitimate property of Yudhisthira, who has no enemy and who has been forbearing through untold sufferings due to your offenses. He is waiting with his younger brothers, among whom is Bhima, breathing heavily like a snake-surely you are afraid of him." Vidura offered good counsel, but at his first words, Duryodhana's face turned with rage. But Vidura spoke on: "Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, has accepted the sons of Prtha as His kinsmen, and all the kings of the world are with Lord Krsna. He is residing at home with His family members, the royal order of the Yadu dynasty, who have conquered unlimited numbers of rulers. He is their Lord." Palatably or unpalatably, Vidura wanted to impress on his elder brother that to fight against the Panḍavas would be ruinous for him because they were supported by Lord Krsna. Vidura, being saintly, could recognize that Lord Krsna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, enacting His pastimes upon the earth. The Lord had conquered many powerful demons, even in His childhood, and the Panḍavas themselves, prior to their exile, had won their wives by conquering all the rulers of the world. With Krsna as their intimate relative, the Panḍavas had all universal power behind them. Such was Vidura's advice.

According to the law of karma, that Dhrtarastra and Duryodhana were born in the royal family and had reached a position of wealth and power indicates that in past lives they had performed pious deeds. But because they could not hear Lord Krsna Himself when He spoke sensibly to them on important topics in a grave hour, it is to be understood that the benefits of their past piety were completely exhausted. There was no way now but downward if they refused to accept the Personality of Godhead or the words of His bona fide representative. Vidura was on a welfare mission to save them from the wrong choice. But by now, hearing Vidura, Duryodhana was angry, and he was cursing. It is said that good counsel given to a foolish person causes the fool to become angry, just as feeding milk to a snake only increases its venomous poison. But Vidura gave these final instructions in an attempt to deliver Dhrtarastra from the clutches of death:

"You are maintaining offense personified, Duryodhana, as your infallible son, but he is envious of Lord Krsna. And because you are maintaining a nondevotee of Krsna, you are devoid of all auspicious qualities. Free yourself from this inauspicious condition as soon as possible, for the good of your entire family."

Duryodhana could stand it no longer, and he delivered a direct insult, like an arrow to the ears of the famous minister, Vidura: "Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept-mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy, against those upon whose support he has grown up. Get him out of here immediately. Take all he has, cane him and leave him with only his breath!"

The actual facts behind this slanderous attack by Duryodhana were as follows. When getting married, the kings in Vedic society would take on several other young girls along with the married princess. By intimate association with the king, these girls, called dasis, would have sons. Such sons had no royal claim, but they were raised with all the facilities of princes. Vidura was such a son of a dasi. Duryodhana not only attacked his birth, but he called him a spy because he seemed to support the cause of Yudhisthira, whom Duryodhana took to be his enemy. Duryodhana actually knew well that Vidura was a great soul and was Dhrtarastra's well-wisher, but, caught up in political intrigue, Duryodhana had become blind to the actual situation. Therefore he slandered his uncle Vidura and threatened to drive him from the palace. Dhrtarastra had always been affectionate to his younger brother, Vidura, but he tolerated the insults by Duryodhana because he and his sons were set on wiping out the pious Panḍavas once and for all.