Changing the Tides

What's Next

NEXT DAY

Everyone was present in the court of Hastinapur.

A fierce discussion was taking place on the topic of the kingdom of Indraprastha and the wealth of Pandavas which they have lost in the game of dice.

Pandavas were standing in the middle of the hall and Draupadi was standing in the balcony with Rajmata Kunti, Gandhari and Bhanumati.

Where Mahamahim and kakashri Vidhur were in the view of returning the wealth and kingdom. Duryodhan and Shakuni were against the proposal.

As Duryodhan was against the proposal of returning everything to pandavas. Shakuni thought that there might be still a chance to convince Duryodhan to side with him.

And so he tried really hard to sweet talk Duryodhan into siding with him once again.

But Duryodhan ignoring Shakuni's efforts of convincing him spoke, " I am not against returning Pandava's wealth, but I am against deciding on this topic now. I won't take any decision on this matter until my friend and I have a discussion on this issue".

To this Vidhurspoke, "As he is no longer Angraj, there is no role of radhey in this royal court. Moreover, this decision does not concern him"

Duryodhan angrily replied, "I don't care if he is angraj or not. His views and opinions are very important for me. And as he is my friend, he has all the right to advise me on the matters where I request his guidance."

As soon as Duryodhan spoke those words, Karna entered the hall and greeted everyone present there.

Duryodhan told everything to Karna and asked for his opinions in the matter.

To which Karna spoke to everyone in the court, In my views this matter should be left for later. And, another matter which is much more important should be discussed.

Everyone was staring at him, and Vidhur asked the question on everyone's mind.
"And what might that be?"

Karna simply replied, "Punishment to be given to the princes."t

To this Mahamahim asked, "What for?"

To which Karna muttered under his breath, I did not expect the royals of Hastinapur to suffer from Amnesia in a single day.

Though it was intended to be low, but everyone heard him. And Mahamahim shouted at Karna to be in his limits and show respect in the royal court.

Karna simply chuckled.

And then he spoke," Punishment for the fiasco which took place yesterday."

Duryodhan realised that his friend wants him and everyone to repent for their actions and start a fresh chapter in their lives. He hole heartedly accepted his friends decision and agreed that in the influence of his Mamashri he went too far yesterday.

VIdhur asked, so are you asking for us to punish your mitra Duryodhan.

Karna simply said, in a way yes. He did a sin for which he should be punished. But in my opinion Pandavas and Mama Shakuni were the biggest sinners yesterday.

Kunti unable to digest the fact, controlled her anger and asked Karna, "how are the Pandavas responsible?"

Karna looked towards her, smiled and said, " Yudhishthir remembered to follow his Kshatriya Dharma, but ignored his Dharma as a king for his subjects at Indraprastha, as an elder brother for his brothers and especially that of a husband towards his wife.

Moreover, all the other brothers standing here did not oppose the decision of Yudhishthir as they considered following their elder brother as their dharma. But they also ignored their Dharma for their other brothers and their wife.

Now tell me Rajmata, if the royals would bet their own wives and brothers, how would this influence the citizens of this kingdom.
All of these are human lives, and not some property to trade or gamble away.

The citizens of a kingdom, follow the example of the royal family. Now tell me what kind of an example did Yudhishthir set yesterday.

The only reason I said that Duryodhan in my eyes is less guilty then Pandavas is because even if he was certain of his win he did not placed a bet on Bhanumati. Even in a case of a sure win, he did not think of Bhanumati as a piece of property which he owned."

Listening to this everyone went quiet. While Bhanumati smiled at Duryodhan.

It was not long before that Gandhari spoke, "Putra you are right."

Gandhari continued, "No one has more rights on someone than their mother. As she is the one which bears them for nine months, and goes through an immeasurable pain while bringing them to this world. And even then she does not have a right to bet or sell the child, as he /she is  a life and not some property. And in the current case Yudhishthir is just the elder brother.  So, he definitely had no rights to place Pandavas on bet.

Even wife is not a property of her husband after marriage. She is a companion, who stays with her husband in all joys and sorrows, a friend on which he can depend on and a well wisher, who always wish for your well being. And it is for certain that she is  not some piece of meat to be gambled away in a game of dice.

And if such a sin goes unpunished, I do not want to imagine what the future of women in Hastinapur would be."

Karna nodded and said, "I agree with you Mata."

Maharaj Dhritrashtra then spoke, "I too agree that punishment is required, but now the question is What punishment would be appropriate? As this is a unique case."

To this Karna said," I have a suggestion, and for which I need your permission".

Maharaj Dhritrashtra then spoke, " permission granted."

Karna then continued, "First of all I would like to suggest that make gambling away people a punishable crime in the kingdom. And regarding the Punishment for the princes, why don't we let the one who was so badly harassed yesterday punish her offenders."

Saying this he turned to Draupadi.

Draupadi looked at him with admiration and gave Karna a small smile.

Gandhari and Dhritrashtra, gave a nod of approval. While Kunti was a little hesitant.

Getting approval for Maharaj, Draupadi stood up. 

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