Philosophy of Five & Hundred and Five

During the vanavasa of the Pandavas, Duryodhana, Karna, Shakuni and their friends wanted to go to the forest with all their entourage to tease the Pandavas. They thought that the Pandavas will burn with jealousy and anger. They also calculated the Draupadi would be furious to see the women folk of Kauravas. Though the seniors of the court discouraged this attempt, Duryodhana found an excuse of inspecting their cow-sheds to visit Dwaitavana close to the base of Pandavas. But all hell broke loose when Duryodhana and his men tried to enter a lake which was already occupied by some Gandharvas. This resulted in a battle between the Gandharvas and the Kuru army. The Kurus were no match for the Gandharvas. Karna fought for a long time, but in the end with his chariot and bow broken, he had to run away from the battlefield.

Duryodhana, Dussasana and their women were taken prisoners by the Gandharvas. Duryodhana’s soldiers ran to the Pandavas who were nearby to seek help. Bheema heard about the events and commented that Duryodhana deserves such treatment and that the Gandharvas had done what Pandavas ought to have done long back.

Yudhishtira heard Bhima’s remarks and immediately reprimanded him. He explained to Bheema that friction within the family is nothing unusual. But when an external element confronts the family, it is time to unite and defend the honour of the family. It is wrong on the part of Pandavas not to help Duryodhana when he, his brothers and women are in trouble. Kauravas are bitter enemies of Pandavas, but against a third person they had to stand united. “We are five against a hundred. But against a common enemy we are a hundred and five”.

The Pandavas took on the Gandharvas and freed Duryodhana and his people.

Narada humbled

Narada was a great musician and he was proud of that. There were times when this pride slipped into arrogance. He felt that there were no musicians at par with him. Vishnu sensed this and wanted to teach Narada a lesson. He induced Narada to meet Hanuman to hear him sing.

Hanuman was a great exponent of music and accepted Narada’s request to sing. He kept his veena on a rock while listening to Hanuman. The great vanara rendered a piece which was so enthralling that the hard rock melted. After enjoying the song, Narada tried to pick his veena only to find the instrument embedded into the rock which hardened once the singing stopped. Hanuman suggested that Narada could sing and melt the rock to get his veena. In spite of several attempts, Narada’s rendering never affected the rock. Hanuman sang again to soften the stone and allow Narada to retrieve his veena.

A humbled Narada was thankful to Hanuman for helping him get the veena back. Narada’s arrogance vanished and after the incident, he never considered himself the greatest of all.