Krishna in the Mahabharatha

A post by my friend Shreyas, something I found wonderful and thought I should share it with you'll! :) Read on..

“Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam.
Dharma sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge.”

For the upliftment of the good and virtuous,
For the destruction of evil,
For the re-establishment of the natural law,
I will come, in every age.

These immortal and oft-quoted lines, rendered by Krishna on the battlefield to Arjuna, sum up the essence of his avatar, and in particular his role in the Mahabharat. And yet, notwithstanding the fact that he was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Krishna donned a myriad of hats. Cousin to Pandavas and the Kauravas, counselor to Yudishtra, mentor and friend to Arjuna, protector and brother to Draupadi, chief trickster in the Kurukshetra war, and overall the upholder of justice – he assumed different roles for the benefit of different people. Above all, he shared a special relationship with Arjuna, which formed the basis of most of the Kurukshetra war and the Bhagwad Gita. Such was their bond, that he even assisted Arjuna’s elopement with his own sister and then pacified his angry kinsmen.

Contrary to popular perception Krishna’s role in the Mahabharat was not limited to only the war. Nor was he a facilitator of the war. In fact as an emissary of the Pandavas, he tried his best to settle matters amicably. Only when Duryodhana refused to give them even a pint of land, he urged Yudhistira to prepare for war. He was able to counter the gyrations of fate by offering the Pandavas an escape route at every critical juncture. Be it saving Draupadi’s honour when Durshasana mercilessly pulls her garments or filling Sage Durvasa’s stomach when he and his disciples visited the Pandavas in the forest (when they were out of food), his divine hand is hard to miss.

During the war, apart from serving as Arjuna’s charioteer and strategist, he was also the invisible force responsible for the Pandavas’ outwitting every single plan of their foes, by hook or by crook. Some of his innumerable tricks to ensure the victory of the Pandavas were:

• Saving Arjuna from Bhishma’s fury by entering the battle, thereby breaking his own vow, and later providing the Pandavas the way to defeat Bhishma.
• Using his Sudharshan Chakra to hide the sun and providing the Kauravas the false illusion that the day was over, in order to lure Jayadhrata out and facilitate Arjuna killing him.
• Immobilizing Drona with the lie “Ashwathamma is dead”, which the former assumed to be his son but was actually an elephant.
• Saving the Kuru clan by protecting Abhimanyu’s son Parikshit from Ashwathamma’s Brahmastra.
• Protecting Bhima from Dhrithirashtra’s wrath by replacing him by a statue which the old man breaks into pieces.

Krishna often justified his trickery by convincing the Pandavas that the Kauravas had broken Dharma first and in order to restore it, it was imperative that they resort to such tactics. So powerful was his role in the war that even the haughty Duryodhana once accepted, “All of the rishis say Krishna is the Supreme God, maybe they are right” and secretly prayed to Krishna. And of course, the Mahabharat would have been incomplete without his philosophical discourse to Arjuna, to help the latter overcome his moral dilemma about fighting his own family and Guru. This discourse, known to us as the Bhagwad Gita (Song of God), consists of insights intended to reach beyond the scope of religion and to humanity as a whole.

To maintain virtue in a decadent world, and to ensure the victory of good over evil, Krishna was born as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Yet, to the careful observer his role in the Mahabhrat is a paradox of sorts. Neutral on the surface but in actuality, the cause of all causes and the kingpin for all happenings. This is evident when he offers the Arjuna and Duryodhana the choice between himself and his entire army for the war, knowing that the avaricious Duryodhana would choose the army, thereby leaving the greater power (himself) with the Pandavas. He exploited the loopholes in the boons granted to every single of his enemies, be it Karna, Duryodhana, Jayadhrata or Bhishm, which lead to their defeat. Perhaps the intention of Vyasa in writing about Krishna’s character in the Mahabharat is demonstrate the essence of action; action that will always ensure the greater good. He exemplifies the dictum "What thou shalt sow, shalt thou reap."