Mahabharata – 122

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

But the four orders, with the Brahmanas as their head, approached  the king  'Oh king! how shall you bestow the kingdom to Puru, depriving your eldest son Yadu born of Devayani, & the grandson of the great Sukracharya? Indeed, Yadu is your eldest son, after him there is Turvasu. And there are the sons of Sarmishtha,Drahyu, Anu &  Puru. How does the youngest inherit the throne by passing all his elder brothers? This we express to you. Please be virtuous

Yayati then said,You the  four orders with Brahmanas as their head, hear my words as to why my kingdom should not be given to any of my eldest son.My commands have been disobeyed by my eldest son,Yadu. The wise say that he is no son who disobeys his father.That son, who obeys his parents,who look for their good, who is agreeable to them, is indeed, the  son. I have been disregarded too much by Yadu,Turvasu,Drahyu &  Anu also ignore.

Puru only obeyed me.He has obliged me very much. Therefore, the youngest shall be my heir.He took my old age & debility.Indeed,Puru is like my friend. He did what was acceptable to me.

Also  Sukracharya blessed me by saying, that the  son of mine who should obey me will become king after me.I, therefore,beseech you,let Puru be installed on the throne.

The people then said,True it is,Oh king!, the son who is accomplished and who seeks the good of his parents,deserves the fortune  even if he be the youngest. Therefore,Puru,who has done the good, deserve the crown.And as Sukracharya himself  commanded it,we have nothing to say to it.

 Thus addressed by the contented people,Yayati then installed  Puru,on the throne. And having bestowed his kingdom to Puru,soon after, Yayati  left his capital,followed by Brahmanas and ascetics to the woods as he decided earlier.

The present episode is also very educative. True that the king in the state is rather absolute, although, he must observe the dictates of dharma. But the person who is nominated as king should be after liking of the people. Sree Rama was chosen by Dasaratha as a crown prince only because of the fact that the people of the Ayodhya loved him. Besides Rama was chosen the king only because they were sure that he would hasten the development of Ayodhya. If the people do not agree with the king as to who should be king next they had the right to question the decision of the king. And surely the people had the access to the king. This should be kept in the mind when we read the Mahabharata society.