My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 7: Happenings at Hastinapur Palace

Before we started our journey to Hastinapur, Kunti mata told us before hand on what we may have to expect at Hastinapur and how to behave and conduct ourselves. She specially took a session for Bhim bhai and Nakul, telling them to control huge appetite for food and to control childish antics respectively. Kunti mata was a self-respecting woman, and she wanted to ensure her kids behave immaculately and doesn't give anyone the chance to point fingers at them and complain about their behaviour. All of us understood, what the session of Kunti mata meant for us. Specially, after the demise of our father and Madri mata, Kunti mata became somewhat strict and rigid with us, may be she was guarding us not to fall in any kind of difficult situation.

Soldiers from Hastinapur came to our ashram a day prior to our journey and accompanied us throughout the journey as per the orders of our Pitamah Bhishma. Finally, after a long and tiring journey we reached our destination Hastinapur and it was already late in the evening. The things which immediately caught my attention when we entered the city, were of huge buildings and fortified walls surrounding the perimeter of the city with military garrisons protecting and safeguarding it. The city was lit up with huge chandeliers on either side of the roads and the roads were decorated with bright colours. I was stunned to see such huge buildings and overall magnificence of that place was mind boggling. Also, I was surprised to see such vast number of people dwelling in the city. As our childhood was spent in the ashrams in the forests, it was difficult for us to envisage such scenes. We all were a bit nervous on how we would be received at Hastinapur, as we never had any kind of direct interaction with any of our relatives in Hastinapur. Only once in a while, few messengers used to carry messages to and fro between our father Pandu and Hastinapur to let them know about our well-being.

Once we reached near to the palace gates, we were welcomed grandly by the loud drums and proclamations and with sprinkling of rose water. It was a red carpet welcome for us. At the entrance stood an elderly man in white robes and with a crown in matching colour and looked majestic and it was none other than our Pitamah Bhishma. His face shone brightly looking at us, and alongside him we saw a strong looking physically imposing man without eyesight and who we instantly recognized as our bade pitashree Dhritrashtra, and beside him, we saw a woman clad her eyes with silk cloth and we recognized her as our badi mata Gandhari and beside her we saw kaka Vidur. We were able to recognize our bade Pitashree and badi Mata, as Kunti mata gave vivid description of their person to us before we embarked on our journey.

Slowly, huge number of people gathered around the place to catch a glimpse of us. Looking at the huge crowd, it felt like most of the city has come to welcome us, it was a lovely feeling to see so many people eagerly awaiting for us and welcoming us. I could make out that most of the people felt sympathetic to our situation, as we lost our father and Madri mata at such a young age and lived a difficult life all through by staying in the ashrams far away in the forests and away from the comforts of the royal palace. Also, I felt that most of the people gathered there, very much loved our father Mahraj Pandu who ruled the kingdom, though it was for a brief period, but with justice and empathy and during that time the kingdom was peaceful and prosperous. I could make this out by the loud proclamations people were making by thundering proudly that 'Maharaj Pandu ... amar rahe aur sada hamare dil mein rehenge' (Maharaj Pandu will always remain immortal and will dwell in our hearts). I got emotional and at the same time proud of my father and his deeds and how his people loved him so dearly. 

After receiving such a grand welcome, we slowly proceeded further towards the inner corridor of the palace. First Kunti mata took the blessings of our Pitamah and then bade pitashree and finally Gandhari mata. She introduced us kids one by one to all the members of the family and we sought their blessings. We instantly felt the warmth of our Pitamah Bhishma when he hugged us and so was the case with Gandhari mata and Vidur kaka and we could feel they welcomed us from their hearts and really were glad to see us at Hastinapur. But, we did not feel the same warmth from our bade Pitashree and in fact felt he was a bit stiff with us and seeing his face we could see he was a bit cold at all these happenings.

Amidst all this, beside the corridor we saw a stocky built man in black clothes looking at us with sort of evil eyes and he looked a bit scary to us. He had a wicked smile and we instantly could feel he has many hidden emotions buried and we were already feeling a tinge of hostility from him. Just beside him, we saw a boy of the age of Bhim bhai seething with anger and looking at us with disgust, and at that time we did not understand why he was behaving such by seeing us. Along side him, was another boy who too looked a bit similar to the other one. They proudly introduced themselves to us as Yuvraj Duryodhan and Dushshasan respectively. And, Duryodhan did not even greet us properly and immediately asked us the question on who we were and why did we come to Hastinapur and when we would go back to our home. We all were quite shocked at this response from Duryodhan, but Pitamah Bhishma and Gandhari mata immediately reprimanded Duryodhan and told him we are his cousin brothers and ordered him to greet each one of us properly and Duryodhan reluctantly agreed to that. But, that cold stare and his seething anger never left and we could feel he is not at all happy to see us at Hastinapur. Apart from these two boys and that evil looking uncle who we later that day came to know as Shakuni, we felt the rest of the boys did not harbour any ill feeling towards us or were seething with anger.

In fact, one boy of my age and a girl a little younger to me immediately came from behind and hugged us tightly and introduced themselves as Vikarna and Duhsala. We instantly became friends with them, we felt they were very genuine and warm in their feelings towards us and with no malice. Also, another boy a bit older to me rushed in and greeted us and introduced himself as Yuyutsu. Like I said, apart from our bade Pitashree, that evil looking uncle Shakuni and those two boys Duryodhan and Dushshasan, everyone reciprocated warmth and were happy to see us.

Next day, our Pitamah Bhishma called us all boys to have a breakfast with him. And, during the breakfast, Duryodhan laughed loudly seeing the appetite of Bhim bhai and stated that probably it was the first time we brothers were seeing such delicious food and hence it was natural to eat like there is no tomorrow. Bhim bhai immediately rose up from his chair and was ready to launch some punches on Duryodhan and luckily for Duryodhan, Pitamah Bhishma intervened on time and saved Duryodhan some heavy bruises. Pitamah Bhishma scolded both Duryodhan and Bhim bhai and told them in no uncertain terms that next time he saw such things from them, they would be thrown out of the palace. We all knew how difficult it was to rile our Bhim bhai and but when he was riled up, it was near impossible to rein him and he would not listen to anyone and smash anyone bullying or intimidating us. First and foremost, he always cared for our family and its reputation. He was a very loving person who used to take life in good spirit and have fun and entertainment, and there was never any malice or grudge in him towards anyone and he was always open in his feelings. I always felt so proud to have such a loving brother who cared so much for the well-being of his family. Rest of the breakfast, was all finished quietly and everyone was in awe of Pitamah Bhishma and no one dared to be disrespectful and haughty in front of him.