Virāṭa War Council

After twelve years in the forest and one year in hiding, the Pāṇḍavas called a great assembly at Upaplavya, in the kingdom of Virāṭa. Their allied kings came, among them Kṛshṇa, Balarāma, Sātyaki, Drupada and Virāṭa. The question was whether to accept poor terms from Duryodhana or to prepare for war.

The assembly decided to send an envoy to Hastināpura first and, at the same time, to prepare fully for war.

The occasion

The thirteen years of exile were over: twelve years in the forest and one year hidden in the court of Virāṭa. By their agreement with Duryodhana, the Pāṇḍavas could now claim back the kingdom of Indraprastha.

Duryodhana had no wish to give back what he had won at dice. He was known to be strengthening his army and joining new alliances. The Pāṇḍavas, for their part, had been quietly gathering allies all through their exile.

Yudhishṭhira called the assembly at Upaplavya to decide whether a peace by talks was possible or war could not be avoided. This was no empty form. Yudhishṭhira, whose nature is deeply dharmic, looked for every honest way to avoid war, because he knew the ruin it would bring.

The Mahābhārata gives this in the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 1.

The allied assembly

The gathering at Upaplavya was a mighty one. Present were:

  • The five Pāṇḍava brothers: Yudhishṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva
  • Draupadī, the common wife of the Pāṇḍavas
  • Kṛshṇa Vāsudeva, with Sātyaki (Yuyudhāna) and the representatives of the Yādavas
  • Balarāma (Rāma Halāyudha), the elder brother of Kṛshṇa
  • Drupada, king of Pāñcāla and father of Draupadī
  • Dhṛshṭadyumna, son of Drupada and commander of the Pāṇḍava army
  • Virāṭa, king of Matsya and father-in-law of Abhimanyu
  • Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna and Subhadrā
  • Pradyumna, son of Kṛshṇa and a mighty warrior
  • Sāmba, another son of Kṛshṇa

Many other kings and commanders of the Pāṇḍava alliance were there too. This is from the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 1.

Balarāma’s counsel

Balarāma spoke first among the great advisers. He argued for peace by agreement. His reasons came from dharma and from plain good sense. The Pāṇḍavas had bound themselves to an agreement at the time of the dice game. Duryodhana had acted with adharma in the dice game itself, but starting a war was still a grave step.

Balarāma urged the Pāṇḍavas to accept Duryodhana’s terms, even poor ones, and to avoid the disaster of a war between kinsmen. He was most afraid of the destruction of the Kuru line.

His view found little favour in the assembly. Sātyaki and others disagreed sharply. This is from the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 2.

Sātyaki’s argument for war

Sātyaki (Yuyudhāna), the great Yādava warrior and chief, rose to answer Balarāma with force. He said that the time for patience and talk was long past. The Pāṇḍavas had borne thirteen years of exile, shame and wrong, including the public insult to Draupadī. To accept five villages, or any small part of their rightful kingdom, would be cowardice and not dharma.

Sātyaki’s position was this. Yudhishṭhira is the rightful king. Duryodhana holds the throne by fraud. The kshatriya dharma of the Pāṇḍavas demands that they fight to win back what is theirs. He promised the full support of the Yādavas.

This is from the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 2.

Drupada’s counsel: the brāhmaṇa envoy

Drupada, king of Pāñcāla, was the elder with the most experience in affairs of state. He offered the middle path that decided the matter. He said an embassy should be tried. He did not expect peace to come of it. But the stronger side has a duty of dharma to offer peace before it takes up arms. If Duryodhana turned down an honest offer, the blame for the war would rest wholly on him.

Drupada proposed sending a brāhmaṇa as envoy to Hastināpura, his own purohita (family priest). A brāhmaṇa envoy carries safety, dignity and the authority of the sacred. Any ill-treatment of such an envoy would be one more mark of Duryodhana’s adharma.

At the same time the Pāṇḍavas would send messengers to all their allied kings to gather armies.

This is from the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 3.

Kṛshṇa’s agreement and departure

Kṛshṇa fully agreed with Drupada’s plan. He said Drupada was right. The embassy must be sent. War must be prepared for at the same time. The dharma of the Pāṇḍava cause must be kept clear throughout.

His own part was already settled. He would stand with the Pāṇḍavas himself, and his armies would be open to others who came to ask for them.

When the assembly had made its decisions, Kṛshṇa left for Dvārakā. There Arjuna and Duryodhana would come separately to ask for his support.

This is from the Udyoga Parva, Chapter 4.

What the assembly settled

  • The Pāṇḍavas would seek peace by talks and would send Drupada’s purohita to Hastināpura.
  • All allied kings were formally counted as allies, and messengers were sent to gather armies.
  • The Pāṇḍavas would be fully ready for war even while peace was being tried.

The assembly at Upaplavya begins the active phase of talks and war preparation in the Udyoga Parva. What follows flows from its decisions: Kṛshṇa’s peace mission, Sañjaya’s embassy and, at last, Kṛshṇa’s own journey to Hastināpura.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 1 (the occasion and the assembly)
  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 2 (Balarāma and Sātyaki)
  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 3 (Drupada’s counsel)
  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 4 (Kṛshṇa’s agreement and departure)