Vidura
was Dhritarashtra and Pandu’s brother in the Mahabharata.
He was famously known for his devotion to dharma (righteousness). Vidura was considered the most wise man in all of
Bharatvarsha. Whatever happened, Vidura always took the side of righteousness.
Therefore, he always favored the Pandavas. On several occasions, he advised
Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana to take the path of dharma, but they ignored him. In
fact, Vidura was the incarnation of Lord Yama himself, the god of dharma and death.
Once,
there was a Brahmin named Mandavya.
He was very knowledgeable and righteous. Once, Mandavya Rishi was doing a vow
of silence. He sat under a tree and passed hours in meditation. At that time,
some robbers had stolen money. They were being chased by the royal guards. The
robbers came across Mandavya’s house. They decided to hide inside his house.
The soldiers also came there. They asked Mandavya, “Brahmin, have you seen some
robbers here. We are chasing them, and they ran in this direction.” But Mandavya
couldn’t respond to them. He was following a vow of silence. Hence, he kept
quiet. The soldiers finally gave up and searched his house. Eventually, they
found the robbers and the loot hiding inside the house. The soldiers then
doubted Mandavya himself. Along with
the robbers, they arrested Mandavya.
They
were all presented in front of the king, who sentenced them to death. Thus, Mandavya was impaled on a stake and left there. However, Mandavya
was spiritually powerful. He used his
powers to stay alive. He even invoked other rishis. When the king realized that
Mandavya was a powerful rishi, he realized his mistake. He ran to Mandavya and
said, “Oh great rishi, I foolishly harmed you. Please do not be angry at me. I
only want your blessings!” Mandavya forgave him. He was then lowered from the
stake. However, he couldn’t completely take the stake out of his body. Thus, he
left the end in his body and continued to meditate.
Thereafter, Mandavya
went to Yamaloka and asked Lord Yama,
“Why have I suffered this punishment? I never did anything sinful.” “When you
were young, you once pierced an insect with a piece of grass. This was the
punishment for your actions,” Yama said. “You have cruelly punished me for such
a small sin! I curse you
that you will be born as the son of a Shudra woman! From now on, I declare that
any sins committed under the age of fourteen will not matter,” Mandavya
then declared.
Vidura’s Birth
King Vichitravirya of Hastinapura had two wives: Ambika and Ambalika. They were the princesses of Kasi, and Bhishma had kidnapped them
to marry Vichitravirya. Both wives loved their husband, and vice versa. But
Vichitravirya had one flaw: he was addicted to alcohol. This weakened his
health, and one day, he suddenly died.
Satyavati then
beseeched Bhishma to marry and father a child to continue Shantanu’s lineage.
However, Bhishma refused to break his vow of celibacy. He said, “I suggest that
we invite a Brahmin. This Brahmin can give birth to sons with Vichitravirya’s
wives and thus, continue the lineage.” Satyavati invited her son Veda Vyasa (Satyavati’s
son with Parashara). After properly greeting him, she said, “My son, your
brother Vichitravirya has died. But he has left behind two beautiful woman.
They want to have children. The line of Shantanu must continue. I request you
to have children with them. Please fulfill my and Bhishma’s wishes.” Vyasa
agreed.
After
purifying herself, Ambika got ready to have a child. Ambika was scared when she
saw Vyasa’s appearance: dark skin and wild hair. Because she was scared, she kept her eyes closed when they had
sexual intercourse. Hence, her child was
born blind. He was named Dhritarashtra.
After that, Vyasa entered Ambalika’s chamber. Ambalika was also scared and turned pale while they had sexual
intercourse. As a result of this, her child was born with pale skin. He was named Pandu. When
Satyavati heard that the children were pale
and blind, she asked for a third grandchild. Vyasa again went to Ambika’s
chambers. However, Ambika was
scared. Instead of going herself, she sent her beautiful maid. The maid was
not scared, so the child born was
completely normal. He was
extremely wise and was named Vidura.
Right
from their birth, Bhishma raised the three brothers as if they were his own
sons. Bhishma taught them everything about archery, horsemanship, combat,
religion, and history. Pandu was a master archer. Dhritarashtra was the
strongest of them all; he had the strength of ten thousand elephants.
Meanwhile, Vidura was the most righteous. He was
devoted to dharma. He was also extremely intelligent and wise.
Soon,
a king had to be chosen between the three brothers. Naturally, Dhritarashtra
would become the king because he was the oldest. However, the Kuru elders
objected to his coronation because he was blind. Vidura couldn’t be the king
because he was the son of a Shudra. Thus, Pandu was crowned the king of Kuru.
Vidura was married to the
daughter of King Devaka from a Sudra
woman. She was a wonderful woman, and Bhishma thought she was a worthy match to
Vidura. Not only because she was intelligent, but also the fact that she wasn’t
a pure royal either. Despite Vidura’s qualities, it wouldn’t have been easy to
find a match for him. No royal would have allowed their daughter to
marry him. A sad reality indeed for the most intelligent and righteous man on
earth.
Vidura
was devastated by the carnage at the Kurukshetra was. Although Dhritrashtra
appointed him the prime minister of his kingdom and wanted him to have
unbridled power Vidura wanted to retire to the forest. He did not want to be
part of the court anymore because he was so tired and crestfallen.
Apparently
when he retired to the forest Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti also followed
him. He practised extreme penance and died a peaceful death. He came to be
known as Mahachochan, someone who
has attained extreme ascetic qualities.
Vidura will always be remembered by
later generations as the man who never left the path of Dharma despite being
thrown into the most adverse situations.
0 comments