Drona will have to be on my side. No father will take the side opposite to his son.

Kripa will now naturally side with these two. That leaves only Vidura. He is very
fond
of the Pandavas. He is prepared to abandon even you, if it comes to a choice
between
you and the Pandavas. But what can one low-born man do? He can only talk to you
about Dharma. Let him. You enjoy his talks anyway. Father, I have thought out a
plan. You say that Yudhishthira is loved by the people. I agree. If, however, you
send
the Pandavas away with their mother to some distant place, say, Varanavata, for a
year, I will try and win the love of the people. After all, in a year's time,
people will
forget Yudhishthira. The common people are known for their short memories. They
will learn to love me. As for the Pandavas, IF and when they return, they will find
their days of glory gone. You must do this for me. Send them away from here. If you
love me, remove this sharp arrow from my heart. It is killing me, robbing me of my
peace of mind. I have not been able to sleep since a long time now. Send the
Pandavas
with their mother to Varanavata, and I will take care of the rest. I will see that
something definite is done". With these parting words Duryodhana went away.
The king sat alone for a long time, alone with his sinful thoughts. He knew his
son. He
knew that a plot would be hatched so that the Pandavas would never come back. He
did not say anything or do anything to his son. But by his silence he had lent his
approval. Dhritarashtra was hoping to finalise the plot with the help of his evil
mentors. His jealousy for the unfortunate sons of his dead brother was just as
great
and violent as that of Duryodhana. Only, he knew how to hide it: his son did not.
Dhritarashtra sent for a man called Kanika. This man was a friend of Sakuni. He was
a
pastmaster in all the different crooked ways of a schemer. The old king asked him
how to set about the task. He said: "My son and I are burning with hatred and
jealousy. The cause must be known to you. The rise of the Pandavas is unbearable to
us. Can you suggest some method by which we can rest in peace?" Kanika said: "The
only way to get peace is to abandon the Pandavas. Get rid of them somehow. But
remember, you must be able to practise hypocrisy. You must pretend to be fond of
them but in reality find ways and means of destroying them. The only cure is
killing.
It is not safe to allow the enemy to thrive. It will then be like trying to cut a
free which
has grown too strong. You must nip it off when it is young. It is better for you to
protect yourself and your sons. The Pandavas are getting stronger day by day. I am
telling you clearly what should be done". After giving this golden advice Kanika
went
away.
24. The Pandavas Sent To Varanavata
A few days passed. The king sent for Yudhishthira and said: "I have been told that
the
city called Varanavata is very beautiful. Why don't you all go there and spend some
time happily in that beautiful city? After a year or so you can come back to
Hastinapura. What do you say?" He thought that the guileless prince would not see
the
reason behind this sudden suggestion. Yudhishthira, however, saw through the whole
thing. He knew that the intentions of the king were not kind. But he realized his
own
helplessness. He said: "I will do what you wish". He told all the elders, Bheeshma,
Drona, Vidura and the others: "I have been asked by my uncle, or rather I have been
commanded by my uncle, to spend a few months at Varanavata. Please bless us and
wish us well". He added: "When we were children, very young children, our father
died. We were brought to you and you are to us father, mother and well-wisher. I
ask
of you to treat us with the affection due to us. We are children who trust you
implicitly".
Yudhishthira addressed his grandfather: "You, our grandfather, can see how much
affection our uncle has towards us. He wants us to spend some time in Varanavata,
the
shrine of the great Sankara who destroyed the sinful Tripura. Indeed, we are
fortunate
in our father who thinks only of our welfare". This speech steeped in sarcasm must
have touched the heart of Bheeshma who was himself very much at home in sarcasm.
But, as Duryodhana said, he was indifferent. He could easily have interfered. He
could have stopped this exile of the Pandavas. But he did not, since he did not
guess
the sinfulness of Dhritarashtra. He could not have dreamed that he would go to such
an extreme. The arrogance of Duryodhana had not yet reached the stage when he
openly defied his elders, nor was Dhritarashtra fully revealed to his uncle.
Bheeshma
could not guess the evil intentions of the Kauravas. Poor Yudhishthira saw that
Bheeshma could not be made to guess what he was trying to tell him. He realized
that
he was helpless. He made preparations to leave for Varanavata. He knew that
something had been planned by his uncle. But he could not guess the exact form in
which danger awaited them all at Varanavata.
As soon as they heard that the Pandavas had agreed to go to Varanavata according to
the wishes of Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana and his uncle Sakuni decided to finalise
the
plot. Duryodhana sent for Purochana, one of the ministers in his father's court. He
spoke to him alone, making sure that they were not overheard. He took the right
hand
of Purochana in his and said: "All this world with her riches is mine. You are as
dear
to me and near to me as my father. You can share this kingdom with me now. You are
no stranger to me or my thoughts. It is up to you to help me in my hour of need.
You
know that the Pandavas have been asked to go to Varanavata by my father. I want you
to leave today, immediately, for Varanavata in a chariot drawn by the fastest of
steeds.
You must travel faster than the mind. In Varanavata you must build a palace for the
Pandavas. You must equip it with the richest articles: you must make it a fit place
for
the dwelling of princes. But remember, the house must be built of highly
inflammable
materials like lac and wax. You must store pots of oil and ghee in several of the
apartments. The house must be ready by the time they reach the city. You must
perfume it in such a way that the people may not suspect the real building
materials
used. Then, you must approach the Pandavas with great humility and ask them to live
in that house. You must tell them that my father had this house built specially for
their
comfortable stay in Varanavata. You must win their confidence. When they have lived
in that house for some time, when you are sure that they are unsuspecting, you must
set fire to the house. The fire should look as though it had been started
accidentally.
People must not suspect. I want this to happen successfully. I do not want this
plot to
fail. This is my only chance of getting rid of those hated cousins of mine without
anyone suspecting that I had a hand in their destruction. I depend on you
entirely".
Purochana assured him that his wishes would be carried out to the letter. He
hurried to
the city of Varanavata and began the construction of the dreadful house of lac. It
was
built on a very elaborate scale.
Dhritarashtra had asked the Pandavas to go to Varanavata for a year. The news
spread
like wild fire. The people were all unhappy. There were some who were bold enough
to express their opinion. They approached Yudhishthira and said: "This blind king
is
not good in his intentions. Why should you listen to him if he tries to do you
harm?
Please do not go to Varanavata. It will cause you unhappiness: or something more
terrible than just this unhappiness. Dhritarashtra does not like you or your
brothers. It
is very unfortunate that Bheeshma is blind enough to allow this injustice without
paying attention to it. We beseech you, do not go to Varanavata". Yudhishthira
pacified them with the words: "It has always been my rule, which I have set up for
myself, never to refuse to do anything that my elders ask me to do. Fatherless as
we
are, Dhritarashtra is our father. It is my duty to obey him. You must all bless us
and
send us to Varanavata". With tears in their eyes the citizens walked part of the
way
with the Pandavas and bade them farewell.
Almost all the citizens had gone away. Vidura walked some distance with the
Pandavas. He wanted to speak words of warning to Yudhishthira. He said:
"Yudhishthira, you are righteous. You are also intelligent. You must learn how to
protect yourself from danger. There are weapons more deadly and dangerous than
swords and arrows. Even during the terrible days of winter the rat knows how to
protect himself by digging a hole for himself. An intelligent man knows how to
protect himself even if no way is apparent. Against fire, a weapon more dreadful
than
the sword, a man should protect himself as the rat does. The way is clear after
that.
The stars are always there to show you the way. If you have your senses alert
nothing
can hurt you". Vidura spoke these words in Mlecha Bhasha, a dialect known to very
few people. The unfortunate prince Yudhishthira bent his head down, acknowledging
the words, and passed on towards Varanavata. Vidura felt as though a load had been
lifted off his mind. He bade them adieu and went home. - Production down few hours.
Provided support with expertise to bring the MII application back to stable state
after infra recovery (by CG) and successfully we went live.