परैः परिभवं प्राप्ते वयं पञ्चोत्तरं शतम्।
परस्परविरोधे तु वयं पञ्च शतं तु ते॥
महाभारते वनपर्वणि २४३-३
paraiḥ paribhavaṁ prāpte vayaṁ pañcottaraṁ śatam|
parasparavirodhe tu vayaṁ pañca śataṁ tu te||
mahābhārate vanaparvaṇi 243-3
A very interesting situation in the epic Mahabharatham, Vanaparvama.. Ghoshayatra Parvam
After being defeated in a game of Dice
The Pandavas along with Draupadi are having their sojourn in the forest called Dvaita Vana..
Even there, by virute the power of their own great qualities and by the Grace of Krishna they are leading a frugal but very nice life, and people from all walks of life and sages visited them and they received the hospitality of the Pandavas in a befitting manner.
Meanwhile, Duryodhana, who had usurped the kingdom, is still not very confident about retaining the standards set by Yudhistira.
Once a brahmin, who had visited Yudhistira in Dvaita forest and has been his guest, paid a visit to Hastinapura and during his talks with Duryodhana,
He described the grand style of living of the Pandavas and the hospitality of Dharmaputra, even while the brothers were in exile..
This kindled the jealousy of Duryodhana, and prodded by Shakuni and Karna he set out on a forest expedition, ostensibly with a view to visit his own forest areas and tame the wild animals by hunting, but with the intention of causing as much damage to Pandavas as possible.
A big retinue of vassals, friends, ministers, armed soidiers, tradesmen and even some ladies accompanied the king in this expedition which was named Ghoshayatra..
While entering the forest, very near the camp of Yudhistira and his brothers, Duryodhana and his men were accosted by a celestial group of Gandharvas, who challenged them for fight..
First Karna fought them and was defeated and held in captivity by them..
Subequently Duryodhana himself with all his men, women and belongings was captured and kept under arrest..
Some soldiers who had sneaked away from Duryodhana's camp fled to where Yudhistira was living, and informed Bhimasena of the pathetic plight of Duryodhana and company..
Bhimasena was rather pleased and stated that Duryodhana got only what he deserved..
But the King Yudhistira overheard the conversation and was very disturbed..
He was all the more worried that the ladies of the clan were also captured...
He felt that the honour of the Kuru Race to which the Pandavas too belonged was at stake and he told Bhima that He, Arjuna and the Twins Nakula and Sahadeva should immediately act and ensure the release of Duryodhana and his people..
The above sloka states exactly what Dharmaputra told his younger brother Bhima..
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" When we are challenged and under attack by others, we are one hundred and five..( hundred kauravas and five pandavas together) ..
Maybe we are inmical to each other as a group of five against another group of one hundred.. as far as that family feud is concerned."
(this is the meaning of the slokam quoted at the top)
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Of course, the Pandavas waged a fierce battle with the Gandharvas and secured the release of Duryodhana and his retinue..
But the Kaurava cousins and their henchmen , true to their character, were thankless..
Later on a fierce battle, Mahabharata war occured and the Kauravas were decimated and Pandavas were restored to power.. That is history.
But the lesson here is that in the matter of unequivocal allegience to one's own race and country all persons belonging to the race and all the subjects and citizens of the nation should rally together forgetting all the inernal squabbles and stand as one man against the disruptive forces and secure victory too...
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"We may fight as five on one side and hundred on the other side,, but when outsiders attach, we are hundred and five.. "
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This spirit projected by the epic Mahabharatham is worth emulation by any patriotic group..
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