Pandavas and Kauravas, scions of princes of the Kuru Kingdom fight for what they think their birthright is and how that should be implemented while thin, oily and deep webs of ancestry and morality and plotting and righteousness weave around Aryavar...
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Matsya 3285
All the Kshatriyas gathered in Virata's Sabha (Council) to discuss their purpose. Being elders Drupada and Virata sat at the head of that council; beside Drupada sat Balarama and Satyaki. Yudhishtira and Krishna sat next to Virata. Draupadi's sons were there, five young lions, with their fathers and uncles: Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Krishna's sons were there, too, Pradyumna and Samba. Abhimanyu sat between Arjuna and Krishna. Next to him the representive of Suyodhana, Shakuni himself with his usual retinue and guards. The tensions were as high as the crackling thunder in that room.
The Sabha got underway. At first, there was some polite chat, mainly about the wedding that had taken place sometime before. When everyone had taken his place, Krishna rose to speak and silence fell.
The Dark One said, "There is no one here who does not know that perfidy sent the Pandavas into exile; we all know about the game of dice and how Shakuni cheated Yudhishtira. Yudhishtira lost his kingdom, his wealth, his army, everything he owned, not on the field of battle but at a low game where he never stood any chance of winning. Thirteen years the Pandavas and Draupadi spent in the wilderness like beggars.
Though Yudhishtira could have crushed Duryodhana* in war and taken back what was his, he never did so. Though many of us urged him to take arms against his cousin and promised him our support. As kings yourselves, you might imagine the ordeal of the Pandavas and their queen in the wilderness. Now their exile is over and the sons of Pandu are back with us. We have met here today to decide what they should do next.
*Suyodhana and Duryodhana are the same person. Although his real name is Suyodhana, his rivals had degraded his name in spite to mean one who doesn't know anything i.e. Duryodhana.
For myself, I urged Yudhishtira thirteen years ago to kill the Kauravas and take the entire Kuru kingdom. Duryodhana and his brothers deserve to die for what they did.
Yudhishtira is a man of dharma; not for me would he abandon what he thought was just. Even now, after all that he and his family have endured, this saintly man speaks only of peace. He speaks of dharma (law and order) still."
Krishna paused and you could hear the morning breeze murmuring in the trees outside, for the silence in that sabha. He resumed, "We know nothing of what Duryodhana intends. I, for one, feel he will never give anything back to his cousins: that, already, he is preparing for war. But Yudhishtira insists we must ask him formally if he will return half the Kuru kingdom; half only, though to my mind the whole kingdom belongs to the Pandavas, since The Pandavas conquered most of the lands the Kurus rule today. Yudhishtira does not want war. He does not want bloodshed, but peace. First, let us hear what the rest of us have to say."
Krishna sat down, unaccustomedly solemn today and for once, unsmiling. After a moment's pause, Balarama rose. Wearing resonant blue silk, he towered over the sabha, "My brother has spoken impartially. He spoke of Yudhishtira's dharma and, I am happy to note, said little that disparaged Duryodhana."
