VaraaliYou just opened a whole another can of worms, 😆 but one that I've been wanting to see opened for a while, 😈 but never really got the opportunity, since none of the current shows, from DBSK onwards ever got to that stage.
I don't consider Krishna a villain, but too many of his decisions were incredulous, given the moral arguments that he presented against the Kauravas. For instance, if the Kauravas were the core of all that was evil - sans his earlier enemies who had been decimated by him or Bhima - then it begs the question - why was he practically neutral during the war?
After all, when Duryodhan & Arjun both approached him, he saw Arjun first, and gave him the first choice of what he wanted. But he could just as easily have said that he'd throw his entire lot w/ the Pandavas, and offer any dissenters the option of joining the Kauravas. There were his familial relationships w/ the Pandavas, all of which trumped his cross-dressing son Samba's marriage to Duryodhan's little girl who was abducted from her swayamvara. (Speaking of which, did Krishna support that marriage to prevent Duryodhan from getting another ruler as an ally from the matrimonial alliance w/ Lakshmanaa?) Besides, Duryodhan too could have had the same sort of emotional heartache that Arjun had fighting Bheeshma had he been torn b/w widowing his daughter & risking defeat of his army at the hands of Samba.
It was not self preservation of his clan, b'cos at the end of it all, they were all destroyed, as a result of the cursen of rishis Durvasa, Kanva, Vishwamitra & Gandhari. I don't see what that extra 36 years got them. He might as well have asked Pradhyumna, Samba, Bhanu and others to simply fight on the Pandava side (Samba would not have been obligated to fight for Duryodhan - that obligation only worked one way - for a jija's side to be supported, but not the bahu's maayka's side.) If Bheeshma, Drona, Kripa, Ashwatthama, Karna knew that they were fighting on the side of evil, make it even more painful for them by making them fight Krishna himself. Krishna was never one to mince words, so why couldn't he bluntly tell Duryodhan that he considered him evil, and therefore, the thought of supporting him simply didn't arise? Instead of letting him have the Shamshaptakas and Kritavarma? Had Krishna been at battle w/ Ashwatthama, Pradhyumna w/ Bheeshma & Arjun w/ Drona much of the time, then the war would have been more balanced, or in favor of the Pandavas.
If Krishna wanted the Pandavas to survive, why just them? Since they were all aging anyway, and the next generation - Abhimanyu, Draupadi's sons, Virata's sons and so on were all coming of age. If he kept the Pandavas out of the camp that 18th night so that they don't get slaughtered by Ashwatthama, why not save Draupadi's sons as well? Had he fought in the war, there would have been 2 more warriors aside from Arjun & Abhimanyu who'd have known how to destroy a chakravyuha - himself and Pradhyumna. Had he & his family fought on the Pandava side, they could have made this war largely one sided, and seen to the annihilation of the Kauravas, w/o Drona & Ashwatthama killing every major warrior that fought on the Pandava side. As it is, the Pandavas were miserable for their 36 remaining years. Saving their sons and allies would have made it more than a pyrrhic victory, and Krishna could also have had Yudhisthir lead a transitional government until Abhimanyu, Prativindya & whoever else was crowned, and then have the Pandavas retire for heaven, while he too could have made arrangements for the Yadavas as well.
Also, in the process, it's perfectly likely that a good portion of the Yadavas would have been destroyed, and the arrogance that descended on Dwaraka over time would have been tempered had Dwaraka too experienced war losses. Combating the divine weapons of Bheeshma, Drona, Ashwatthama, Karna & Kripa, it's very likely that a lot of Krishna's sons and other warriors would have gotten killed, and that would have forced a sobriety on the part of the Yadavas as well. And it's not even necessary for Krishna to have broken the vows of Bhima & Arjun - Bhima still could have massacred all the Kauravas, maybe sparing Vikarna, while Arjun could still have slain Karna (this part I still hold against Kunti, and to a lesser degree, Krishna himself).
Also, Bhulok would still have been rid of more than half its kshatriyas, which would have eased things a lot (since one of the reasons Krishna wanted this war was to rid the earth of its kshatriyas). As it is, after the war, Yudhisthir asked Arjun not to kill enemies of the yagna, since he didn't want more bloodshed, so it's not like Yudhisthir/Krishna (I'm conflating the 2 here for this analysis) wanted all Kshatriyas destroyed, the way Parashurama did. A situation where the Kauravas lost everything and the Pandavas some would have been more stable for Bhulok too. Also, warriors on the Pandava side who were immoral, such as Drupad, could still have been killed, w/o having to destroy all Pandava allies as a result.
I think the point is that in Kurukshetra, one loses whether Krishna was human or divine. Why would someone who defeated Banasura despite the latter being supported by Mahadev & Guha as well as slew the likes of Narakasura & Shalva and defeated Jarasandha 18 times in battle have to figure out ways of the Pandavas surviving? He was the most powerful warrior on earth, make it count. Confront Duryodhan in the same manner that he confronted Kansa, Jarasandha, Sishupala, Shalva, Dantavatra, Narakasura, Paundrak, Sudakshina, and oversee their defeat. Bhima could still have destroyed Duryodhan's thighs in battle and drank Dushashan's blood, Arjun could still have slain Karna, but Krishna's participation in the war would have seen to a comprehensive, emphatic victory, not a pyrrhic one that the Pandavas ultimately achieved.
Absolutely 😡
Edited by .Vrish. - 10 years ago
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