Studies in the Mahabharata. Wilfried Huchzermeyer

      2.

      Śrī Kṛṣṇa – The Ritual of Departure

      From the viewpoint of most Indian readers, Kṛṣṇa is regarded as a great personality of key importance in the Mahābhārata, but he is judged differently by some critical scholars in the West. In fact, the tricks employed by Kṛṣṇa in the Great War induced the German scholar Adolf Holtzmann (Sr.) in the 19th century to believe and propagate that the Pāṇḍavas were originally the bad people and the Kauravas the good ones. This ‘inversion theory’ which was further elaborated upon by A. Holtzmann (Jr.) has fallen into discredit since long, but it is remarkable that it could ever have come about at all.

Other Western scholars had a somewhat better opinion of the avatāra and rejected the theory of the two Holtzmanns. But they too often provide a picture of Kṛṣṇa which has little resemblance with that of the Indian tradition. Thus the German Indologist Walter Ruben believed that Kṛṣṇa’s role in the epic was non-essential. However, his colleague Alf Hiltebeitel objected sharply: “In my view it is not that Kṛṣṇa is non-essential but that Ruben has missed what is essential in these episodes.”24

The Russian Indologist V.I. Kalyanov even painted a very negative picture of Kṛṣṇa. In an essay titled On the Military Code of Honour in the Mahābhārata25 he argued that Kṛṣṇa used unfair means in order to defeat invincible Kaurava heroes like Droṇa and that therefore his action was immoral. Even though the facts and quotations given by Kalyanov cannot be doubted, we have to note that his interpretation has become too narrow by overlooking Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual dimension. Since it is his object to defend dharma in a global way, he has necessarily to devise means in order to eliminate a few very powerful Kaurava warriors, because – in spite of their individual nobility – they are on the wrong side. He does not break the military code of honour due to any lower motivation, but just to fulfill the object of his mission on earth, namely to repel forces of adharma and to reestablish those of dharma.26

      It was the Indian scholar Sukthankar who defended the Indian position on the scholarly level. In his book On the Meaning of the Mahābhārata he writes:

I may add, there is to my knowledge not a single passage in the Mahābhārata which does not presuppose the divinity or the cosmic character of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; or, to put it more precisely, which does not assume that he is an Avatāra or incarnation of Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa, in the peculiar sense in which the word “Avatāra” is used in Indian philosophy or metaphysics.27

      We believe that Sukthankar’s observations are correct, at least with reference to the first five Books of the epic which we have scrutinized closely in this respect.

      Several of the following chapters will deal with the personality of Kṛṣṇa and describe his specific role in various situations and circumstances. In this present chapter his role as close and beloved friend of the Pāṇḍavas will be analyzed. We will do this by means of a verse-by-verse interpretation of the second adhyāya of the Sabhāparvan which describes in beautiful poetry Kṛṣṇa’s departure after a long stay with the Pāṇḍavas. It gives deep insight into some special features of Indian culture, some highlights of the ancient tradition. However, before we turn to this scene, we will offer a very brief survey of Kṛṣṇa in the Ādiparvan.

Kṛṣṇa in the Ādiparvan

Right at the beginning Viṣṇu is identified with Kṛṣṇa Hṛṣīkeśa, “the guru of all creatures, Hari”. Viṣṇu is the primeval puruṣa, the true, the one-syllabled brahman, everlasting, manifest and unmanifest, existent and nonexistent.28

      Another early verse illustrates the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas through the image of a tree:

The righteous Yudhiṣṭhira is the great tree, Arjuna its crotch, Bhīmasena the branches, Mādrī’s two sons the rich blossoms and fruits, and Kṛṣṇa, brahman and the Brāhmins the root.29

The first appearance of Kṛṣṇa, the Yādava chieftain, in the text of the Critical Edition is at Draupadī’s Bridegroom Choice where the Pāṇḍavas took part disguised as Brāhmins. Only Kṛṣṇa sees through the disguise and mentions this to his brother Balarāma, who confirms this discovery with a smile.30

When Arjuna had won Draupadī through his skill in archery, the other competitors grew jealous and attacked Drupada. Arjuna and Bhīma fought a successful battle against the aggressors, but it was Kṛṣṇa’s intervention which finally brought about peace and the recognition of the Pānḍavas’ claim of Draupadī. He “restrained all the kings”, telling them that “she was won according to dharma”.31

      When the marriage of Draupadī with the five Pāṇḍavas was performed, Kṛṣṇa is reported to have sent many precious gifts. Meanwhile the Kauravas grew aware of the new constellation of forces and recognized that the Pāṇḍavas were now backed by Drupada and Kṛṣṇa. Karṇa therefore proposes a surprise attack on the Pāṇḍavas before they would become too powerful to be defeated. Kṛṣṇa’s potential role as a reliable supporter of the Pāṇḍavas, prepared to make any sacrifice for bringing them back to power, is clearly perceived by him.

      Another important scene with Kṛṣṇa is the abduction of Subhadrā, in which he had a leading hand (see previous chapter). The Ādiparvan ends with the burning of the Khāṇḍava forest in the course of which Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna kill numberless innocent creatures in a terrible feast of destruction at the behest of Agni. The meaning of this episode eludes us entirely, it does not appear to be genuine; probably it was added later by some author with an unknown intention, or else we are simply not able any more today to understand its significance. Only seven creatures survived the fire, among them the asura Maya who then becomes the link to the next Book, the Sabhāparvan.

      Maya is the chief architect of the Dānavas, a powerful and efficient master builder who offers his services to Arjuna now for having been protected by him from the fire as well as from Kṛṣṇa’s discus. But Arjuna refers the asura to Kṛṣṇa who suggests that Maya should build a big Assembly Hall for Yudhiṣṭhira, and the asura gladly accepts this proposal. Soon after this scene Kṛṣṇa gets ready for his departure from the Pāṇḍavas, and it is this particular scene which is of special interest in this chapter.

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