Mahabharatham in Thiruppugazh (Part 1)

In most of the songs in Thiruppugazh, Lord Murugan is referred to as Vishnu's nephew. And Vishnu could be referred to by many of His avatars --- the matsyavatara, the Ramavatara or the Krishnavatara. In Ramayana, the protagonist is Rama, there is no doubt. In Mahabharata, who is the protagonist? The Pandavas? The Kauravas? Bheeshma? No, they are all mere actors. The real sutradhari is the wily Krishna. The stage is His. He has the script. He calls the shots. And He has a purpose! Yato Dharma Tato Krishnah, tato Jayah. And Krishna exemplifies Karma Yoga. For establishing Dharma, he is ready to break the rules, to dispense justice speedily. Right here and now. Not in the next janma. Not just that. He is ready to accept the results of His own Karma. He accepts happily Gandhari's curse. Free will is merely maya, an illusion. We have no control over our birth or death. If we contemplate, we don't choose our offsprings also, let alone plan their lives. The thoughts (that we control our thoughts and actions) that appears as the ground for free will is the result of past karmas. Those who recognize the idea of free will to be an illusion, pray for guidance for righteous thoughts and voluntarily surrender to His will, break out of the clockwork of cause and effect. Two stories from Mahabharata illustrate the complex web of cause and effect. One is how Jayadratha gets killed and the other, how Krishna himself is killed.

Mahabharata was dictated by Sage Vyasa and written by Vinayaka on the Meru mountain. Enjoy the following lines from gugaiyil navanaathar

பகைகொள்துரி யோத னன்பி றந்து
படைபொருத பார தந்தெ ரிந்து
பரியதொரு கோடு கொண்டு சண்ட வரைமீதே
பழுதறவி யாச னன்றி யம்ப
எழுதியவி நாய கன்சி வந்த
பவளமத யானை பின்பு வந்த முருகோனே

The enmity between the Pandavas and the Kauravas come to the fore in the burning of the house of lac at Varanavata. The Pandavas live incognito for sometime after they escape from the lakshagriha and later marry Draupadi, thus forging an alliance with the Panchala king Drupada. Jealous of the growing popularity of Yudhishtra and his kingdom at Indraprastha, Duryodhana arranges for a game of dice. With the assistance of his cunning uncle Shakuni, Duryodhana drives the pandavas to live for twelve years in forests and later live incognito for a year in the Virata kingdom. Here are the succinct lines from Ettin vithippadiye

வீட்டி லடைத்தெரி யேயிடு பாதக
னாட்டை விடுத்திட வேபல சூதினில்
வீழ்த்த விதிப்படி யேகுரு காவலர் வனமேபோய்
வேற்றுமை யுற்றுரு வோடியல் நாளது
பார்த்து முடித்திட வேயொரு பாரத
மேற்பு னைவித்தம காவிர மாயவன் மருகோனே

From the time of Rajasuya sacrifice at Indraprastha, Krishna has been a friend to the Pandavas, and Saint Arunagirinatar refers to this in ibamaanthar

உபசாந்த சித்த குருகுல
பவபாண்ட வர்க்கு வரதன்

During the Pandavas' stay in disguise in the Virata kingdom, Duryodhana schemes to bring them out in the light. He drives away herds of cows from the royal stable. Arjuna helps to bring them back. Since their identity has now been revealed, the Pandavas are asked to go back forests in exile. Pandavas explain that the one year of exile has just been over, so Duryodhana has to give back their kingdom. Here's the story expressed concisely in mothu maRali

சூது பொருதரும னாடு தோற்றிரு
வாறு வருஷம்வன வாச மேற்றியல்
தோகை யுடனுமெவி ராட ராச்சிய         முறைநாளிற்
சூறை நிரைகொடவ ரேக மீட்டெதி
ராளு முரிமைதரு மாறு கேட்டொரு
தூது செலஅடுவ லாண்மை தாக்குவ         னெனமீள
வாது சமர்திருத ரான ராட்டிர
ராஜ குமரர்துரி யோத னாற்பிறர்
மாள நிருபரொடு சேனை தூட்பட         வரிசாப
வாகை விஜயனடல் வாசி பூட்டிய
தேரை முடுகுநெடு மால்ப ராக்ரம
மாயன் மருகஅமர் நாடர் பார்த்திப         பெருமாளே.

Read Part 2 by clicking the underlined link.