Geethartha Chinthane 59: Unity among Pandavas, crisis among Kauravas

The kingdom was already in the hands of Duryodhana. He didn’t need to provoke the war himself. If he had simply said, “I will not give up the kingdom, take it if you can,” then the Pandavas would have had to initiate the war. However, it was Duryodhana who started the war first, showing his foolishness in this context.

In criminal cases, the first action is considered a major offense, while the reaction is not. India follows a policy of “No First Use” concerning atomic weapons. If we retaliate after someone else uses the bomb, it is not considered wrong. Similarly, the Kauravas were the first to sound the conch, and then Krishna and Arjuna sounded their conches on behalf of the Pandavas.

“Tatah svetair hayair yukte mahati syandane sthitau, Madhavah Pandavas chaiva divyau shankhau pradadhmatuh” (Gita 1-14). Here, the mention of Madhava is significant. Why is this? Goddess Lakshmi, the presiding deity of the conch, is invoked. Therefore, Krishna is referred to as Madhava, the consort of Lakshmi. Both Krishna and Arjuna were the representatives of the Pandavas, which is why they sounded the conches together.

From all this, we can deduce that there was unity and a shared vision among the Pandavas, whereas the Kauravas lacked such unity.

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