Yudhisthira in Mahabharata

More I read about the character Yudhisthira in Mahabharata, more I am amazed. Perhaps everybody should read the entire Mahabharata atleast once in life just to know intimately about these characters and gain something from them. Its true that Yudhisthira had his weaknesses. He was probably  not a great warrior, was a bit addicted to gambling, although to be fair to him he was merely performing the dharma of a kshatriya by responding to the challenges of Shakuni. Also in Mahabharata war he was a late bloomer. He was defeated and disgraced by Karna who let him go thinking of his promise to mother Kunti, and he vented his frustration on Arjuna. By the grace of Sri Krishna Yudhisthira survived Arjuna's foolhardiness. That was the only instance in the entire Mahabharata where we saw him losing his cool. That was also the only situation where he expressed candidly his fear regarding the outcome of war, esp. the many sleepless nights he spent thinking about how to defeat Karna. However on 18th day he got back his valour, fought bravely and killed Shalya. But then again, true to his character he was almost giving his kingdom away to a defeated and disgraced Duryodhana by offering him to fight with any of the five brothers with any weapon of his choice, a dangerous proposal indeed, for which he was severely reprimanded by Srikrishna. Fortunately Duryodhana was extremely egoistic and he chose Bhima, who was his arch enemy and thus his fate was sealed.

Yudhisthira had reached the peak of his glory during Vana parva. Here we find a calm and composed royal sage who has taken all his troubles with patience, forbears all adverse comments from his brothers and wife, guides them, motivates them, is always surrounded by learned Brahmins and sages, and is full of wisdom.  He saves the rest of his brothers twice, once Bhima from the clutches of king Nahusha metamorphosed into a great serpent, and at another time all the brothers from dharma disguised as a yaksha. His asking for brother Nakula's life is a classic case of how righteousness did not forsake him even during the toughest period of his life. He answered all the questions of the yaksha with aplomb and that establishes his superiority over the other brothers. He forgave Jayadratha, who had transgressed all norms of civility in forcefully abducting Draupadi, and saved him from the wrath of his brothers. He never once complained of the fact that his fortune had left him. However he was concerned about his brothers and esp. about Draupadi who had to endure a lot of hardship. He sent Arjuna in a mission under the advice of the great sages, but was anxious on his account and his joy knew no bound when Arjuna returned after a successful mission of procuring all celestial weapons. Even in Virata Parva he was calm and composed throughout. When Bhima had risked a detection by expressing his outrage when Draupadi was molested by Kichaka, it was Yudhisthira as Kanka whose presence of mind saved the day. He was patient and forgiving to king Virata when the latter had thrown dices at him and hurt him.

During the great battle he lost his cool once, when he was badly insulted by Karna. Yudhisthira had hoped that Arjuna with his might would be able to easily conquer Karna, but when Arjuna returned after vanquishing samshaptakas, without being able to defeat Karna, Yudhisthira the just severely rebuked Arjuna, to the point of asking him to throw away gandiva. Arjuna's reaction was spontaneous and perhaps callous. He wanted to behead Yudhisthira. Once again it was Krishna who saved the day for the Pandavas and in the end the brothers got reconciled. Of course the low point for Yudhisthira was his measured lie to Drona, the only black spot in his otherwise spotless character. But desperate times called for desperate measures and he had to weigh the risk of getting annihilated by Drona against telling a simple lie disguised as a half truth.

However after the war was over we saw a completely different Yudhisthira. Now that the mission was accomplished and the excitement of the battle was over, he was to realize the enormity of the loss and was plunged into grief. That grief was genuine and poignant. esp. he could not accept that he was the cause of the death of Karna, his elder brother. The entire Shanti Parva and Anushasana Parva is devoted to the uplifting of Yudhisthira's spirit mainly by a Bhisma who is on the verge of leaving his body, aided by Krishna, Veda Vyasa and other important rishis. In the end Yudhisthira is convinced but his grief comes back at a later stage to haunt him. Therefore Aswamedha yajna is prescribed for him to wash his sins.

Yudhisthira the just was not only a great and one of the most virtuous kings in the history of India. His 36 year long reign was perhaps one of the best. However the highest point of his character lies in his strong spirit of renunciation and clinging to virtue and truth at the cost of everything. He tenaciously hang on to the promise made during the gambling although he was tempted with every possible ways to go back on his promise. Therefore he was an epitome of truthfulness. In truth, purity, patience, forgiveness, forbearance and wisdom, he was more of a Brahmin than a Kshatriya.  He not only forgave the sins of his eldest uncle who had caused so much misery, but also took utmost care of the old king and served him like his own father. Dhritharastra himself admitted that he was happier with Yudhisthira than he was with his own sons. He gave the old king plenty of wealth to spend as part of Sraddha ceremony of his arch enemies, disregarding his brother Bhima's anger.

His spirit of renunciation is also evident when he was about to leave his mortal coil. He wanted to leave all the pleasures of the heaven for the sake of a dog who had taken refuge with him. Such was his steadfastness that dharma himself had to bow before his beloved son's sense of righteousness and virtue. He even wanted to forego all heavenly pleasures for being in hell with his brothers and others who fought for him. In the end Indra admitted that he created an illusion of hell for him as all kings have to experience hell atleast once. He is truly one of the most remarkable characters.