It illustrates his way of
thinking. He separates the Pandavas from the Kuru heritage. Thinking that only
his sons are the rightfull heirs to the Kuru throne and not Pandu's sons.
Because he was highly doubtful about the possibility of
his sons' ultimate victory. In his doubt, he inquired from his secretary
Sañjaya, "What did my sons and the sons of
Pāṇḍu do?" He was confident that both his sons
and the sons of his younger brother
Pāṇḍu
were assembled in that Field of
Kurukṣetra
for a determined engagement of the war. Still, his inquiry is significant. He
did not want a compromise between the cousins and brothers, and he wanted to be
sure of the fate of his sons on the battlefield. Because the battle was
arranged to be fought at
Kurukṣetra,
which is mentioned elsewhere in the Vedas as a place of worship—even for the
denizens of heaven—
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
became very fearful about the influence of the holy place on the outcome of the
battle. He knew very well that this would influence
Arjuna
and the sons of
Pāṇḍu
favorably, because by nature they were all virtuous.
Sañjaya was a student of
Vyāsa,
and therefore, by the mercy of
Vyāsa,
Sañjaya was able to envision the Battlefield of
Kurukṣetra even while he was in the room of
Dhṛtarāṣṭra. And so,
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
asked him about the situation on the battlefield.
Both the Pāṇḍavas and the sons of
Dhṛtarāṣṭra belong to the same family, but
Dhṛtarāṣṭra's mind is disclosed herein. He deliberately claimed only his sons
as Kurus, and he separated the sons of
Pāṇḍu
from the family heritage. One can thus understand the specific position of
Dhṛtarāṣṭra in his relationship with his nephews,
the sons of
Pāṇḍu.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
was the eldest son of the Kuru dynasty, but he was blind, bodily defect.
Therefore he was not awarded the throne. His next brother,
Pāṇḍu, he was offered the throne, but he died at a
very early age, a young man. When these sons of Pāṇḍu, the five sons,
Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja,
at that time not
Mahārāja,
Yudhiṣṭhira,
Bhīma,
Arjuna,
Nakula,
Sahadeva, they were very small children, so they
were taken care of by
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
and other elderly familymembers like Bhīṣmadeva. He was the grandfather of the
Pāṇḍavas.
Bhīṣma
was elder brother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's father. He was so old.
Actually, the kingdom
belonged to
Bhīṣma,
but he remained a
brahmacārī,
he did not marry. There was no issue of Bhīṣmadeva. Therefore his nephews,
Dhṛtarāṣṭra and
Pāṇḍu,
they were inheritor.
Now, after the death of
Pāṇḍu,
there was conspiracy.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
thought "Actually, this is my kingdom. Now, somehow or other, I could not
get it. Now my brother is dead. So if I do not inherit, why not my sons?"
This is called politics. Enviousness and jealousy is always found in politics.
This is the nature of this material world. You cannot avoid it. Spiritual world
means just the opposite. There is no politics. There is no jealousy. There is
no enviousness. That is spiritual world. And material world means politics,
jealousy, diplomacy, enviousness, so many things. This is material world. So
even in the heavenly planets, these things are there, politics. Even in animal
kingdom, these politics are there. This is the nature.
Matsaratā. Matsaratā
means enviousness. One man is envious of another man. It doesn't matter, even
they are brothers or family members like
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
and
Pāṇḍu.
