Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira (युधिष्ठिर) (yudhiṣṭhira) was the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, king of Hastinapura and Indraprastha, and World Emperor. He was the principal protagonist of the Kurukshetra War, and for his unblemished piety, known as Dharmaraja (Most pious one). Some sources describe him to be an adept warrior with the Spear.
Yudhishthira Era was started in 3100 BC.[1]
Mention by Panini
Yudhisthira (युधिष्ठिर) is mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi. [2]
Birth and upbringing
Yudhisthira's father Pandu, the king of Hastinapura, soon after his marriage accidentally shot a Brahmin and his wife, mistaking them for deer, while the couple were making love. Before he died, the Brahmin cursed the king himself to die at once, the minute he engaged in intercourse with one of his two wives. Due to this curse, Pandu was unable to father children. In additional penance for the murder, Pandu also abdicated the crown to his blind brother Dhritarashtra.
Yudhisthira therefore was conceived in an unusual way. His mother, Queen Kunti, had in her youth been granted the power to invoke the Devas by Rishi Durvasa. Each god, when invoked, would place a child in her lap. Urged by Pandu to use her invocations, Kunti gave birth to Yudhisthira by invoking the Lord of Righteousness, Yama. Being Pandu's eldest son, Yudhisthira was the rightful heir to the throne. However, this claim was contested by the Dhritarashtra's son, Duryodhana.
Yudhisthira's four younger brothers were Bhima, (born by invoking Vayu); Arjuna, (born by invoking Indra); and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva, (born by invoking the Ashwini Gods). If Karna, the son of Kunti born before her marriage by invoking Surya is counted, Yudhisthira would be the second-eldest of five Pandava brothers.
Yudhisthira was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by the Kuru preceptors Kripa and Drona. He was a master of the spear weapon, and a maharatha, capable of combating 10,000 opponents all together at a time.
Yudhisthira is also known as Bharata (Descendant of the line of Bharata) and Ajatashatru (One Without Enemies).
Son of Dharma
Yudhisthira's true prowess was shown in his unflinching adherence to satya (truth) and dharma (righteousness), which were more precious to him than any royal ambitions, material pursuits and family relations.
Yudhisthira rescued Bhima from Yama, and all of his four brothers from death by exemplifying not only his immense knowledge of dharma but also his very own way of understanding the finer implications of dharma, as judged by Yama, who was testing him in the guise of a Crane and a Yaksha.
Yudhisthira's dharma was markedly distinct from that of other righteous kings. He married Draupadi along with his four brothers, he had Bhima marry an outcast Rakshasi, he termed "prayer" as "poison", he saw an uneventful life with no credit and a belly full of food at the end of the day as happiness, he denounced casteism, saying a Brahmin is known by his actions and not his birth or education--thus portraying the real changeable dharma, the dharma that modifies itself to suit the times.
Due to his piety, Yudhisthira's feet and his chariot do not touch the ground, to symbolize his purity.
King of Indraprastha
Yudhisthira and his brothers were favored by the Kuru elders like Bhishma, Vidura ,Kripa and Drona over Duryodhana and his brothers, the Kauravas, due to their devotion to their elders, pious habits and great aptitude in religion and military skills, and all the necessary qualifications for the greatest of the kshatriya order.
Yudhisthira married the Panchali princess Draupadi, who bore him his son Prativindya.
When the Pandavas came of age, King Dhritarashtra sought to avoid a conflict with his sons, the Kauravas, by giving Yudhisthira half the Kuru kingdom, albeit the lands which were arid, unprosperous and scantily populated, known as Khandavaprastha.
But with the help of Yudhisthira's cousin Krishna, a new city, Indraprastha, was constructed by the Deva architect Viswakarman. The Asura architect Mayasura constructed the Mayasabha, which was the largest regal assembly hall in the world. Yudhisthira was crowned king of Khandavaprastha and Indraprastha. As he governed with absolute piousness, with a strict adherence to duty and service to this people, his kingdom grew prosperous, and people from all over were attracted to it.
Rajasuya
Yudhisthira performed the Rajasuya sacrifice to become the Emperor of the World. His motives were not to obtain power for himself, but to establish dharma and defend religion all over the world by suppressing the enemies of Krishna and sinful, aggressive kings.
Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva led armies across the four corners of the world to obtain tributes from all kingdoms for Yudhisthira's sacrifice. At his sacrifice, Yudhisthira honored Krishna as the most famous and greatest personality. This incensed Sisupala, who proceeded to hurl several insults at Krishna and the Pandavas for selecting a "cowherd" for the great honor. When Sisupala's transgressions exceed the hundred pardons that Krishna had promised his mother, Krishna summons the sudarshana chakra to behead him. Following which, the yajna is completed successfully.
Yudhisthira was unable to refuse when Duryodhana's maternal uncle Shakuni, challenged him to a game of dice. Thanks to Shakuni's cheating, Yudhisthira lost each throw, eventually gambling away his kingdom, his wealth, his brothers and finally his wife. Owing to the protests of Vidura, Bhishma and Drona, Dhritarashtra returned all these losses. However, Shakuni challenged Yudhisthira one more time, and Yudhisthira once more lost. This time, he, his brothers and his wife were forced to discharge the debt by spending thirteen years in exile, with the condition of anonymity in the last year, in the forest before they could reclaim their kingdom.
Yudhisthira was criticized by Draupadi and Bhima for succumbing to temptation and playing dice, an art he was absolutely unskilled at, making the Pandavas prey to Shakuni and Duryodhana's evil designs. Yudhisthira reproached himself for weakness of mind, but at the time he argued that it was impossible to refuse a challenge of any nature, as he was a kshatriya and obliged to stand by the kshatriya code of honour.
During the thirteen years, he was repeatedly tested for staunch adherence to religious values in face of adversity.
The conditions of the debt required the Pandavas to disguise themselves and not be discovered during the last year of exile. Yudhisthira learned dice play from Narada Muni and assumed the guise of a brahmin courtier and dice player in the Matsya Rajya of king Virata.
Yaksha Prashna
Yama: What is heavier than earth, higher than heavens, faster than the wind and more numerous than straws?
Dharma: One's mother is heavier than the earth; one's father is higher than the mountains. The mind is faster than wind and our worries are more numerous than straws.
Yama: Who is the friend of a traveler? Who is the friend of one who is ill and one who is dying?
Dharma: The friend of a traveler is his companion. The physician is the friend of one who is sick and a dying man's friend is charity.
Yama: What is that which, when renounced, makes one lovable? What is that which is renounced makes happy and wealthy?
Dharma: Pride, if renounced makes one lovable; by renouncing desire one becomes wealthy; and to renounce avarice is to obtain happiness.
Yama: What enemy is invincible? What constitutes an incurable disease? What sort of man is noble and what sort is ignoble?
Dharma: Anger is the invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes a disease that is incurable. He is noble who desires the well-being of all creatures, and he is ignoble who is without mercy.
Yama: Who is truly happy? What is the greatest wonder?
Dharma: He who has no debts is truly happy. Day after day countless people die. Yet the living wish to live forever. O Lord, what can be greater wonder?
(Source: Chapter 24 of Complete Mahabharatha collection of Amar Chithra Katha)
The War at Kurukshetra
When the period of exile was completed, Duryodhana and Shakuni nevertheless refused to return Yudhisthira's kingdom. Yudhisthira made numerous diplomatic efforts to retrieve his kingdom peacefully; all failed. To go to war to reclaim his birthright would mean fighting and killing his own relatives, an idea that appalled Yudhisthira. But Krishna, Yudhisthira's most trusted advisor (whom he recognized as the Avatara of Vishnu, the Supreme Godhead, Brahman), pointed out that Yudhisthira's claim was righteous, and the deeds of Duryodhana were evil. If all peace efforts failed, war was therefore a most righteous course. There are many passages in the Mahabharata in which Yudhisthira's will to fight a bloody war for the sake of a kingdom falters, but Krishna justifies the war as moral and as the unavoidable duty of all moral warriors.
Drona's death
In the war, the Kuru commander Drona was killing hundreds of thousands of Pandava warriors. Krishna hatched a plan to tell Drona that his son Ashwathama had died, so that the invincible and destructive Kuru commander would give up his arms and thus could be killed.
The plan was set in motion when Bhima killed an elephant named Ashwathama, and loudly proclaimed that Ashwathama was dead. Drona, knowing that only Yudhisthira, with his firm adherence to the truth, could tell him for sure if his son had died, approached Yudhisthira for confirmation. Yudhisthira told him: "Ashwathama has died". However Yudhisthira could not make himself tell a lie, despite the fact that if Drona continued to fight, the Pandavas and the cause of dharma itself would have lost and he added: "naro va kunjaro va" which means he is not sure whether elephant or man had died.
Krishna knew that Yudhisthira would be unable to lie, and had all the warriors beat war-drums and cymbals to make as much noise as possible. The words "naro va kunjaro va" were lost in the tumult and the ruse worked. Drona was disheartened, and laid down his weapons. He was then killed by Dhristadyumna.
When he spoke his half-lie, Yudhisthira's feet and chariot descended to the ground. However, Yudhisthira himself killed Shalya, the king of Madra and the last Kuru commander.
Emperor of the World
At the end of the war, Yudhisthira and the Pandava army emerged victorious, but Yudhisthira's children, the sons of Draupadi, and many Pandava heroes like Dhristadyumna, Abhimanyu, Virata, Drupada, Ghatotkacha were dead. Millions of warriors on both sides were killed.
Yudhisthira performed the tarpana ritual for the souls of the departed. Upon his return to Hastinapura, he was crowned king of both Indraprastha and Hastinapura.
Out of his piousness, Yudhisthira retained Dhristarashtra as the king of the city of Hastinapura, and offered him complete respect and deference as an elder, despite his misdeeds and the evil of his dead sons.
Ashwamedha
Yudhisthira later performed the Ashwamedha yagna (sacrifice) to re-establish the rule of dharma all over the world. In this sacrifice, a horse was released to wander for a year, and Yudhisthira's brother Arjuna led the Pandava army, following the horse. The kings of all the countries where the horse wandered were asked to submit to Yudhisthira's rule or face war. All paid tribute, once again establishing Yudhisthira as the undisputed Emperor of the World.
Retirement and Ascent to Heaven
Upon the onset of the Kali yuga and the death of Krishna, Yudhisthira and his brothers retired, leaving the throne to their only descendant to survive the war of Kurukshetra, Arjuna's grandson Parikshita. Giving up all their belongings and ties, the Pandavas made their final journey of pilgrimage in the Himalayas.
While climbing the peaks, one by one Draupadi and each Pandava in reverse order of age fell to their deaths, dragged down by the weight of their guilt of few, but real sins. But Yudhisthira reached the mountain peak, because he was unblemished by sin or untruth.
The true character of Yuddhisthira is revealed at the end of the Mahabharata. On the mountain peak, Indra, King of Gods, arrived to take Yudhisthira to heaven in his Golden Chariot. As Yudhisthira was about to step into the Chariot, the Deva told him to leave behind his companion dog, an unholy creature not worthy of heaven. Yudhisthira stepped back, refusing to leave behind the creature who he had taken under his protection. Indra wondered at him - "You can leave your brothers behind, not arranging proper cremations for them...and you refuse to leave behind a stray dog!"
Yudhisthira replied, "Draupadi and my brothers have left me, not me [them]." And he refused to go to heaven without the dog. At that moment the dog changed into the God Dharma, his father, who was testing him...and Yudhisthira had passed with distinction.
Yudhisthira was carried away on Indra's chariot. On reaching Heaven he did not find either his virtuous brothers or his wife Draupadi. Instead he saw Duryodhana and his evil allies. The Gods told him that his brothers were in Naraka (hell) atoning their little sins, while Duryodhana was in heaven since he died at the blessed place of Kurukshetra.
Yudhisthira loyally went to Naraka (hell) to meet his brothers, but the sights and sounds of gore and blood horrified him. Tempted to flee, he mastered himself and remained on hearing the voice of his beloved brothers and Draupadi...calling out to him, asking him to stay with them in their misery. Yudhisthira decided to remain, ordering the Divine charioteer to return..preferring to live in hell with good people than in a heaven of evil ones. At that moment the scene changed. This was yet another illusion to test him on the one hand, and on other hand to enable him to atone for his sin of using deceit to kill Drona. Indra and Krishna appeared before him and told him that his brothers were already in Heaven, along with his enemies, for earthly virtues and vices don't hold true in heavenly realms. Krishna yet again hailed Yudhisthira for his dharma, and bowed to him, in the final defining moment of the epic where divinity bowed down to humanity.
राजा गज द्वारा ग़ज़नी की स्थापना: युधिष्ठिर संवत् 3008
ग़ज़नी - अफ़गानिस्तान की प्राचीन राजधानी ग़ज़नी है जो कि अपभ्रंश है गजनी का। इस नगर को श्रीकृष्ण जी के वंशज राजा गज ने बनवाया था (टॉड राजस्थान)। जब राजा गज की यादव सेना का युद्ध असुरों की सेना से हो रहा था और असुर सेना अपना बल बढ़ा रही थी तो इस दशा में एक किला बनाने की आवश्यकता पड़ी। तब राजा गज ने अपने मंत्रियों की सलाह से उत्तरी पहाड़ों के मध्य एक किला बनवाया तथा उसका नाम गजनी रखा। संवत् धर्मराज (युधिष्ठिर) 3008, रोहिणी नक्षत्र, वसन्त ऋतु, वैसाख बदी तीज, रविवार को राजा गज, गजनी के सिंहासन पर आसीन हुआ और यदुवंशियों के नाम को कायम रखा। (टॉड राजस्थान, पृष्ठ 1057, 1059) (पृ० 40)।
नोट - 1. आज युधिष्ठिरी संवत् 5088 है जो कि ईस्वी सन् से 3100 वर्ष पहले चालू हुआ था तथा राजा गज, गजनी के राजसिंहासन पर ईस्वी सन् से 1020 वर्ष पहले आसीन हुआ था। 2. श्रीकृष्ण जी के वंशज राजा गज एवं उसके वीर सैनिक जाट थे।[3]
जाटों का विदेशों में जाना
ठाकुर देशराज[4] ने लिखा है .... उत्तरोत्तर संख्या वृद्धि के साथ ही वंश (कुल) वृद्धि भी होती गई और प्राचीन जातियां मे से एक-एक के सैंकड़ों वंश हो गए। साम्राज्य की लपेट से बचने के लिए कृष्ण ने इनके सामने भी यही प्रस्ताव रखा कि कुल राज्यों की बजाए ज्ञाति राज्य कायम का डालो।
सारे यदुओं का एक राष्ट्र हो चाहे वे भोज, शूर, अंधक, वृष्णि, दशार्ण आदि कुछ भी कहलाते हों। इसी तरह सारे कुरुओं का एक जाति राष्ट्र हो; पांचाल, पौरव, गांधार, मद्र, पांडव सब मिलकर एक संघ कायम कर लें। किन्तु इसको कोई क्या कहे कि कम्बखत कुरु लोग और यादव लोग आपस में ही लड़कर नष्ट हो गए। यदि वेदो के पंचजना:, कहे जाने वाले, यदु, कुरु, पुरू, आदि संगठित हो जाते तो आज सारे संसार में वैदिक धर्मी ही दिखाई देते। किंतु ये तो लड़े, खूब लड़े। एक दो वर्ष नहीं, सदियों तक लड़े। यही कारण हुआ कि अनेकों समूहों को देश छोड़ विदेशों में भटकना पड़ा। कौनसा खानदान भारत से बाहर (उस बृहतर भारत से बाहर जिसमें काबुल, कंधार, उद्यान और मानसरोवर
[पृ.148]: आ जाते हैं) कब गया, यह तो हम 'जाट शाही' अथवा विदेशों में जाट साम्राज्य नामक पुस्तक में बताएंगे। यहां तो थोड़े से खानदानों का ही जिक्र करना है।
द्वारिका के जाट-राष्ट्र पर हम दो विपत्तियों का आक्रमण एक साथ देख कर प्रभास क्षेत्र में यादवों का आपसी महायुद्ध और द्वारिका का जल में डूब जाना। अतः स्वभावतः शेष बचे जाटों को दूसरी जगह तलाश करने के लिए बढ़ना पड़ा। वज्र को तो पांडवों ने ले जाकर मथुरा का राजा बना दिया। लेकिन स्वयं भगवान श्रीकृष्ण के आठ पटरानियों से 17 पुत्र थे। पुराण अन्य रनियों से 80800 पुत्र बताते हैं। खैर हम 17 को ही सही मान कर चलते हैं। इनमें से दो चार तो बच्चे ही होंगे। ये लोग पूर्व-दक्षिण की ओर तो बढ़ नहीं सकते थे। क्योंकि साम्राज्य का हौआ दक्षिण से ही बढ़ रहा था। दूसरे उधर आबादी भी काफी थी। अतः पश्चिम उत्तर की ओर बढ़े।
उधर पांडवों में भी परीक्षित को इंद्रप्रस्थ का राज्य देने के बाद भीम, नकुल, सहदेव के कई पुत्र शेष रह जाते हैं। स्वयं युधिष्ठिर के भी यौधेयी रानी से पैदा होने वाले यौधेय बाकी थे। अतः उन्हें भी नए देश खोजने के लिए उत्तर पश्चिम की ओर बढ़ना पड़ा। यदि हम हरिवंश, यादव दिग्विजय और महाभारत तथा पुराणों के वर्णन में से सच्चाई को छांट लेने की कोशिश करें तो हमें ज्ञात होता है कि पेशावर से ऊपर उद्यान
[पृ.149]: में जहां तख्तेवाही अथवा भीम का तख्त है वहां भीम के पुत्र आबाद कर दिए गए। और मुगलों के आने तक वे लोग वहां पर आनंद से पीढ़ी-दर-पीढ़ी आबाद रहे। भीम का गल जाना वहीं माना जाता है। कहा जाता है कि युधिष्ठिर नहीं गले थे। इस तरह युधिष्ठिर के साथी कैस्पियन सागर के किनारे तक पहुंच जाते हैं।वे यौधेय ही धेय, धे और यूनानी लेखकों की भाषा में (Dahae) ढे और ढहाये हैं। कुछ लोग ऐसे ही जेन्थोई कहने लगे। यह शब्द जाट यौधेय का अपभ्रंश है, जो केवल भाषा भेद से जेन्थोई हो गया है। इन ढे लोगों को लेकर ही स्ट्रेबो और हेरोडोटस आदि ने भारतीय जाटों को विदेशी समझा है। इस्लाम के जोर के समय इनका एक समूह है भारत में आकर फिर आबाद हो गया जो आजकल ढे नाम से प्रसिद्ध है। यौधेयों का एक समूह आरंभ में पंजाब में ही रह गया था जो आजकल जोहिया कहलाता है।
शिविओं का एक समूह उद्यान को छोड़कर चीन की पूर्वी हद पर पहुंच गया, जो वहां की भाषा में श्यूची कहलाने लगा। कुशान लोग ही श्यूची (शिविची) लोगों की एक शाखा थे जो कि तुर्क देश में बसने के कारण तुरक नाम से भी याद किए हैं। वास्तव में यह वैसे ही तुरक थे जैसे मुंबई के रहने वाले पारसी, हिंदुस्तानी हैं। अर्थात रक्त से तुरक नहीं थे हालांकि पुराणों के कथनानुसार तुरक (तुरुष्क) यदुवंशी की संतान हैं।
[पृ.150]: ईसा की पहली शताब्दी में फिर ये भारत में आ गए और पुरुषपुर अथवा पेशावर को अपनी राजधानी बनाया।
यदुवंश में एक गज हुआ है। जैन पुराणों के अनुसार गज कृष्ण का ही पुत्र था। उसके साथियों ने गजनी को आबाद किया। भाटी, गढ़वाल, कुहाड़, मान, दलाल वगैरह जाटों के कई खानदान गढ गजनी से लौटे हुए हैं।
खांडवप्रस्थ
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[5] ने लेख किया है कि....खांडवप्रस्थ (AS, p.255) हस्तिनापुर के पास एक प्राचीन नगर था जहां महाभारतकाल से पूर्व पुरुरवा, आयु, नहुष तथा ययाति की राजधानी थी. कुरु की यह प्राचीन राजधानी बुधपुत्र के लोभ के कारण मुनियों द्वारा नष्ट कर दी गई. युधिष्ठिर को, जब प्रारंभ में, द्यूत-क्रीडा से पूर्व, आधा राज्य मिला तो धृतराष्ट्र ने पांडवों से खांडवप्रस्थ में अपनी राजधानी बनाने तथा फिर से उस प्राचीन नगर को बसाने के लिए कहा था. (महाभारत आदि पर्व, 206 दक्षिणात्य पाठ) तत्पश्चात पांडवों ने खांडवप्रस्थ पहुंच कर उस प्राचीन नगर के स्थान पर एक घोर वन देखा. (आदि पर्व: 206, 26-27). खांडवप्रस्थ के स्थान पर ही इंद्रप्रस्थ नामक नया नगर बसाया गया जो भावी दिल्ली का केंद्र बना. खांडवप्रस्थ के निकट ही खांडववन स्थित था जिसे श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुन ने अग्निदेव की प्रेरणा से भस्म कर दिया. खांडवप्रस्थ का उल्लेख अन्यत्र भी है. पंचविंशब्राह्मण 25,3,6 में राजा अभिप्रतारिन् के पुरोहित द्दति खांडवप्रस्थ में किए गए यज्ञ का उल्लेख है. अभिप्रतारिन् जनमेजय का वंशज था. जैसा पूर्व उद्धरणों से स्पष्ट है, खांडवप्रस्थ पांडवों के पुराने किले के निकट बसा हुआ था. (दे. इंद्रप्रस्थ, हस्तिनापुर)
खांडववन
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[6] ने लेख किया है कि....खांडवप्रस्थ के स्थान पर पांडवों की इंद्रप्रस्थ नामक नई राजधानी बनने के पश्चात अग्नि ने कृष्ण और अर्जुन की सहायता से खांडववन को भस्म कर दिया था. इसमें कुछ अनार्य जातियाँ जैसे नाग और दानव लोगों का निवास था जो पांडवों की नई राजधानी के लिए भय उपस्थित कर सकते थे. तक्षकनाग इसी वन में रहता था और यहीं मयदानव नामक महान यांत्रिक का निवास था जो बाद में पांडवों का मित्र बन गया और जिसने इंद्रप्रस्थ में युधिष्ठिर का अद्भुत सभा भवन बनाया. खांडववन-दाह का प्रसंग महाभारत आदि पर्व 221 से 226 में सविस्तर वर्णित है. कहा जाता है कि मयदानव का घर वर्तमान मेरठ (मयराष्ट्र) के निकट था और खांडववन का विस्तार मेरठ से दिल्ली तक, 45 मील के लगभग था. महाभारत में जलते हुए खांडववन का बड़ा ही रोमांचकारी वर्णन है. (आदि पर्व 224,35-36-37). खांडववन के जलते समय इंद्र ने उसकी रक्षा के लिए घोर वृष्टि की किन्तु अर्जुन और क़ृष्ण ने अपने शस्त्रास्त्रों की सहायता से उसे विफल कर दिया.
References
- ↑ Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter IV,p.338
- ↑ V. S. Agrawala: India as Known to Panini, 1953, p.340
- ↑ Jat History Dalip Singh Ahlawat/Chapter IV (Page 337-338)
- ↑ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Utpatti Aur Gaurav Khand)/Navam Parichhed,pp.147-150
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.255
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.256
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