The End of the Exile

Upaplavya

At the end of thirteen years (twelve years of exile and one year of remaining incognito), the Pandavas and Droupadi revealed themselves, after spending a year in disguise, in the kingdom of Matsya.

The end of thirteen years was calculated according to the lunar calendar, which was perfectly acceptable. But Duryodhana using this as a loophole, claimed that the calculation was erroneous as the solar year was not yet over.

Building on this argument, Duryodhana made up his mind to not return their kingdom to the Pandavas.

The Pandavas and their allies, Drupada and his sons and the king of Matsya, along with Krishna, gathered in all their might at Upaplavya, in the kingdom of Matsya, to strategise their next move.

The blunt diplomat

Even as they were readying for the inevitable war, sending an emissary in order to try and prevent the war was the ideal path to follow. The Pandavas, upon Krishna’s advice, sent a priest, as their emissary to Hastinapura, to the court of Dhritrashtra.

The emissary was sent with explicit instructions to speak about ‘dharma’ and the numerous hardships faced by the Pandavas and Droupadi during the twelve years in the forest and the thirteenth year spent in servitude. Displaying the characteristic straightforwardness of brahmins, he minced no words and spoke sharply.

While the Kuru elders agreed that the Pandavas were right in their demand for their kingdom, Duryodhana, backed by Karna and Shakuni, was adamant and refused to return the kingdom. He insisted that the Pandavas had to go on exile for another twelve years, as part of the condition laid that they would need to do so, if they were ‘discovered’ before the end of the thirteenth year.

The diplomat failed in his mission to broker peace.

Dhritrashtra’s desperate move

Dhritrashtra was in a fix. He knew that the Pandavas were right in their demand, yet he lacked the heart to counter his unreasonable son.

Understanding the obstinacy of Duryodhana, while being well-aware of his nephews’ good naturedness, Dhritrashtra made a desperate move, without the counsel of Vidura, without the knowledge of the Kuru elders.

He sent for his charioteer Sanjaya and asked him to deliver a message to his nephews in the presence of Krishna and others at Upaplavya. An upset and unhappy Sanjaya set forth to deliver Dhritrashtra’s offensive message to the Pandavas, while Dhritrashtra waited with his fingers crossed.

To be continued...