Kṛṣṇa in Hastināpura: Duryodhana's plot and the cosmic form

Classical

Kṛṣṇa reached Hastināpura after a night at Vṛkasthala and entered the city with Bhīṣma, Droṇa and Kṛpa walking out to meet him. Dhṛtarāṣṭra had planned splendid gifts for the envoy, but Vidura told him bluntly that Kṛṣṇa could not be bought, and Duryodhana added that the gifts were pointless. Kṛṣṇa himself went first to Vidura's house and then, in the afternoon, to see his aunt Kuntī. Kuntī wept as she remembered her sons' sufferings, and sent them a message of fierce resolve. That night Vidura warned Kṛṣṇa that the trip was unwise, because Duryodhana would never listen. Kṛṣṇa answered that he had come so that no one could say he had not tried everything.

The next day the sages Nārada, Paraśurāma, Kaṇva and others came to hear him, and Kṛṣṇa spoke before the whole court. He asked Dhṛtarāṣṭra to make peace, to restrain Duryodhana, and to give the Pāṇḍavas back their share, saying that if the old king restrained his sons, he would set the Pāṇḍavas right, and that with the Pāṇḍavas as his allies Dhṛtarāṣṭra would be unconquerable. The sages added their own warnings, with long stories about arrogance and ruin. Bhīṣma and Droṇa urged Duryodhana to obey, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra begged him in front of everyone. Duryodhana answered coldly. He said that Kṛṣṇa was biased towards the Pāṇḍavas, that he would not surrender even as much land as the point of a sharp needle could cover, and he stalked out of the hall with his brothers and friends.

Outside, Duryodhana, Karṇa, Śakuni and Duḥśāsana put their heads together. Their plan was to seize Kṛṣṇa, tie him up and hold him prisoner, believing that if he were taken the Vṛṣṇis would give up and the Pāṇḍavas would collapse. Satyaki, who could read hearts from their gestures, understood at once. He slipped out and told Kṛtavarman to arm his troops and wait at the door, then went back into the hall like a lion entering a cave and told Kṛṣṇa, then Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Vidura, what was being planned. Vidura told the old king that his sons were behaving like insects before a flame, that they were trying to capture Kṛṣṇa, and that he could destroy them all in a moment if he wished.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra had Duryodhana brought back and scolded him hard. Vidura reminded him of what Kṛṣṇa had done in the past: the demon Naraka, the thousands of Asuras in Nirmochana, Kaṃsa, Śiśupāla and Jarāsandha. Kṛṣṇa looked at Duryodhana and said, with a smile, that the foolish prince believed him to be alone. Here before him, he said, were all the Pāṇḍavas, the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, the Ādityas, Rudras and Vasus and the great sages. And he laughed aloud. From his body, which seemed like a blazing fire, there came forth myriads of gods, no bigger than a thumb. Brahmā stood on his forehead and Rudra on his chest; the world guardians were on his arms; fire, the Ādityas, the Sādhyas, the Aśvins and Indra issued from his mouth. Arjuna and Balarāma stood at his right and left; Bhīma, Yudhiṣṭhira and the twins stood behind him. In his many hands were the conch, discus, mace, bow and plough. Sparks of fire and smoke flew from his eyes and ears and every pore.

All the kings closed their eyes in terror. Only Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Vidura, Sañjaya and the sages kept their sight, because Kṛṣṇa gave it to them for that moment. Celestial drums sounded, flowers rained, and the earth shook. Then he withdrew the form, took leave of the rishis, and walked out of the hall with Satyaki and Kṛtavarman at his sides. Dhṛtarāṣṭra stopped him at the door to say he had done all he could and that Kṛṣṇa must not suspect him. Kṛṣṇa answered that all had seen what happened, and went to take leave of Kuntī. When he told her what had passed she gave him a message for her sons and for Arjuna, sealing the war.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Kṛṣṇa, Duryodhana, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Vidura, Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Sātyaki, Kuntī, Karṇa, Śakuni, Duḥśāsana

Bound to

Kṛṣṇa sets out as peace envoy: the Pāṇḍava councils origin

Kṛṣṇa and Karṇa: the offer of the throne origin

The Bhagavad Gītā mirror

Where Krishna's disc came from mirror

Vidura-nīti mirror

Places: Hastināpura, Vṛkasthala

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (read via archive.org copy of the sacred-texts text) Udyoga Parva, Sections LXXXV–CXXXII (the plot is in Section CXXX; the cosmic form in Section CXXXI)

See it on the tree · All stories

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