Read THE MAHABHARATA: A Modern Rendering, Vol 2 for Free Online Page A

walk the way of evil. You are the most honest and steadfast man on earth and you are born into a great house. You know that the noblest thing a man can do is to give up his life for the sake of his kin. Yudhishtira, I implore you, abandon the shameful thought that has entered your heart, of having war with your cousins. If you spill the blood that unites you, that sin will ruin your taintless dharma forever. It will be a stain upon your character that can never be erased. Yudhishtira, it seems you have decided to destroy the very world, as we know it! What matter, then, who wins or loses the war you want to fight?
    I concede that you, your brothers and your allies might well prove stronger than my sons. Even if you succeed, how will you ever have peace of mind after killing your cousins? Just think, my child, however powerful the kshatriyas you have with you may be, the Kuru army is not a force you can trifle with. Bheeshma, Drona, Kripa, Aswatthama, Karna and a host of others, who are like Gods upon the earth, will face you in battle. Blood will flow, as we have not dreamt. Yudhishtira, by your dharma, isn’t that a sin?
    What good can come of this dreadful war? Win or lose, it will be the same. There are no victors in such a war, only the vanquished and the dead. The Pandavas have been righteous all these years; they have walked the path of truth unflinchingly. You must not ruin your fame with such a terrible crime. O Krishna, O Drupada, I pray you listen to me and advise Yudhishtira against the calamity he is plotting. I speak not just for the good of the House of Kuru, but of kshatriya kind, why, of the very earth.
    Bheeshma and I both beg you, think only of peace!”
    Surprisingly, now Yudhishtira lost his composure. He cried, “This is intolerable! My uncle is accusing me of wanting this war, of the enormous sin of wishing millions dead. Why does he speak as if I need to be persuaded to peace? Our messenger came to Hastinapura to offer peace. If I wanted war, I could have waged it thirteen years ago. The sons of Kunti have always walked the way of dharma and the world knows this.
    Why does Dhritarashtra accuse me of being a warmonger, when it is to his own son he should look for the cause of the war that will be? Duryodhana’s heart is a dark fire; feed a fire and it wants more and more fuel. Perhaps my mistake was to feed it in the first place, with our exile. Now he wants more, because his greed is insatiable. He wants everything, all that is ours, as well.
    As for my uncle, he is not innocent. Didn’t he stand with his son when the Pandavas were exiled? Did he raise his voice to stop the shame Panchali suffered in his sabha? Did Bheeshma, for that matter? No, Dhritarashtra does not care for me or mine, but now he is afraid. He sent us to Varanavrata and then gave us a wilderness in Khandavaprastha to be our patrimony. He is as guilty as Duryodhana.”
    None of them had seen Yudhishtira like this before. Bheema and Draupadi had feared he might accept any beggarly terms Dhritarashtra offered, but they saw another Yudhishtira today. This was no longer the infinitely patient Yudhishtira of their exile; and he had not finished what he had to say.
    “Our uncle Vidura was the only one who told Duryodhana the truth, that he was wrong. Vidura was the only friend we had and the Kauravas had. Even on the day of the dice, the most evil day of my life, Vidura warned them of the consequences of what Duryodhana was doing. Did Dhritarashtra listen to him then? Did Drona or Bheeshma?
    When it comes to his son, Dhritarashtra is blind in not only his eyes, but also his spirit. No price is too high for him to pay to secure whatever Duryodhana wants, even if it is the suffering or the kingdom of his brother’s sons. And Duryodhana has no thought for dharma. He is wanton and selfish and his tongue is as vicious as his heart is evil. Does he give the elders of the most ancient sabha on earth the respect they deserve? No, he merely