28. KRISHNA'S VOW :

As SOON as the news of the slaying of
Sisupala by Krishna reached his friend
Salva, he became very angry and besieged
Dwaraka with a mighty force.


Krishna having not yet returned to
Dwaraka, old Ugrasena was in charge of
the defence of the city. The sieges
described in the Mahabharata seem very
much like those in wars of the present
day.


Dwaraka was a strongly garrisoned
fortress built on an island and well
provided with means of defence. Ample
barracks had been provided and there was
an abundant supply of food and weapons
and the garrison included many illustrious
warriors.


Ugrasena imposed a stringent ban upon
drinking and amusements generally for
the period of the siege. All the bridges
were demolished and ships were forbidd
enentry into ports in the realm.


Iron spikes were planted in the moats
around the fortress and the city walls kept
in good repair.


All entrances to the city were guarded
with barbed wire and permits and
passwords strictly controlled ingress and
egress. Thus no arrangements were
neglected that could further strengthen the
city which nature had already made
impregnable.


The pay of the soldiers was increased.
Volunteers for service were rigidly tested
before being accepted as soldiers.
The siege was so rigorously pushed that
the garrison suffered great privations.
Krishna, when he returned, was struck to
the heart at the sufferings of his beloved
city and he compelled Salva immediately
to raise the siege, by attacking and
defeating him.


It was only afterwards that Krishna learnt
for the first time of the events at
Hastinapura, the game of dice and the
exile of the Pandavas. At once be set out
for the forest where the Pandavas were
living.


Along with Krishna went many, including
men of the Bhoja and Vrishni tribes,
Dhrishtaketu, the king of the Chedi
country, and the Kekayas who were all
devoted to the Pandavas.


They were filled with righteous
indignation when they heard of
Duryodhana's perfidy and cried out that
surely the earth would drink the blood of
such wicked people.


Draupadi approached Sri Krishna and, in a
voice drowned in tears and broken with
sobs, told the story of her wrongs. She
said: "I was dragged to the assembly when
I had but a single garment on my body.
The sons of Dhritarashtra insulted me
most outrageously and gloated over my
agony. They thought that I had become
their slave and accosted me and treated
me as one. Even Bhishma and
Dhritarashtra forgot my birth and breeding
and my relationship to them. O
Janardhana, even my husbands did not
protect me from the jeers and the ribald
insults of those foul ruffians. Bhima's
bodily strength and Arjuna's Gandiva bow
were alike of no avail. Under such
supreme provocation even weaklings
would have found strength and courage to
strike the vile insulter dead. The Pandavas
are renowned heroes and yet Duryodhana
lives! I, the daughter-in-law of the
emperor Pandu, was dragged by my hair.
I, the wife of five heroes, was dishonored.
O Madhusudana, even you had deserted
me." She stood trembling, utterly unable
to continue, for the grief convulsed her.


Krishna was deeply moved and he
consoled the weeping Draupadi. He said:
"Those who tormented you will be
stricken to death in the bloody quagmire
of a lost battle. Wipe your eyes. I
solemnly promise that your grievous
wrongs shall be amply avenged. I shall
help the Pandavas in every way. You will
become an empress. The heavens may
fall, the Himalayas may split in twain, the
earth may crumble or the boundless sea
may dry up, but, I tell you verily, my
words shall stand. I swear this," and
Krishna took a solemn vow before
Draupadi.


This vow, it will be seen, was in perfect
accord with the purpose of the Lord's
avatars, as declared in scriptures:


"For protecting the righteous, for
destroying the wicked and for firmly
upholding the law, I am born on earth age
after age."


Dhrishtadyumna also consoled his sister
and told her how nemesis would overtake
the Kauravas.


He said: "I will kill Drona, Sikhandin will
cause Bhishma's fall. Bhima will take the
lives of the wicked Duryodhana and his
brothers. Arjuna will slay Karna, the
charioteer's son."


Sri Krishna said: "When this calamity
befell you, I was in Dwaraka. Had I been
in Hastinapur, I would never have allowed
this fraudulent game of dice to take place.
Uninvited, I would have gone there and
stirred up Drona, Kripa and the other
elders to a sense of duty. I would, at all
costs, have prevented this destructive play
of dice. When Sakuni was cheating you, I
was fighting King Salva who had
besieged my city. It was only after I had
defeated him that I came to know of the
game of dice and the subsequent sordid
story. It grieves me that I am not able to
remove your sorrows immediately but you
know, some water must be lost before a
broken dam is restored."


Then Krishna took leave and returned to
Dwaraka with Subhadra, the wife of
Arjuna, and their child, Abhimanyu.


Dhrishtadyumna went back to Panchala
taking with him the sons of Draupadi.