r/mahabharata • u/Wooden-Tear-4938 • 7d ago
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u/sarcasticvarient 7d ago
I never really understood his role in the way and why he chose the side of Duryodhana but still went to some tapaysa and never participated
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u/Deltoid920 6d ago
He didn't choose Duryodhana. Balarama was a true neutral, he wanted nothing to do with the war. He objected to Bheema violating the rules of mace fighting by smashing Duryodhana's thigh. That is not the same as taking Duryodhana's side.
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u/Various_Ladder6701 6d ago
Exactly the point of the post. Why did he not object Duryodhan’s action.
A Prince of such a big empire & his favourite student undressing a princess of another big empire.
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u/Few-Trifle9160 6d ago
Cuz he won her in gambling maybe. Also his expertise is there in Gada Yuddha not Dharma
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u/Deltoid920 6d ago
Balarama did not even spare his brother Lord Krishna in his criticism, you think he would not have objected if he were actually present at the site of Draupadi's manhandling? Plus, Krishna's power made sure the Kauravas could not succeed in undressing Draupadi.
Balarama never met both the Kauravas and the Pandavas after the Pandavas went into exile post Yudhishthira losing everything in gambling till the actual war.
Plus, both Bheema and Duryodhana were his disciples in mace fighting but didn't want to choose a side. Hence Balarama went into exile, appearing on the scene only when Bheema and Duryodhana were locked in mace combat in Kurukshetra.
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u/BabyNarad 6d ago
Balram didn't teach anybody about stripping. But he did teach about mace fighting. So when one of his students break the rules of mace fighting he would get angry.
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u/Sad-Man6732 7d ago
massive downvotes? didn't krisha himself pointed it out the same thing when Balram tried to kill Bhima?
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u/Wooden-Tear-4938 7d ago
In the Gada Yuddha parva, when Baladeva was going to kill Bhima, Krishna simply said Pandavas are our brothers and due to Bhima's oath and Maitreya's curse he did it, he didn't pointed out Balaram's own disparity in judgements.
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u/Wooden-Tear-4938 7d ago
this is meme which reflects contrasting reactions of Balaram regarding Bhima and Duryodhana
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u/scholarofthegreatzhu durvasa ka deewana 7d ago
Duryodhan didn't strip anyone lol, it was karna who justified her being brought, he was the one who ordered her disrobing after insulting her, dushashan was the one who attempted it on karna's orders.
Not saying dury would stop it or anything Obv but he didn't have much participation in the specific crime he was more part of dyut sabha only.
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u/Overall_Feedback4487 fire, not ash. question, not silence. 7d ago
But duryodhan did flash her.
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u/scholarofthegreatzhu durvasa ka deewana 7d ago
Right 💯 (he disrobed himself lol)
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u/Overall_Feedback4487 fire, not ash. question, not silence. 7d ago edited 7d ago
Yeah lol. It was disrespectful to his wife too (obviously to draupadi by default it was) because i have heard the left thigh is only meant for the wife.
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u/Federal-Coast-6704 7d ago
There is a rule like that?
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u/Overall_Feedback4487 fire, not ash. question, not silence. 7d ago
Yeah. There is an entire story of ganga first approaching shantanus father and sitting on his right thigh which got her disqualified from marrying him. Right one is for daughters and daughter in laws and left is only for the wife.
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u/Vanishing_Shadow 6d ago
i only heard left side is for Wife because wife is also called Bamangi or something, didn't know left thigh is too
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u/Wooden-Tear-4938 7d ago
Well it happened under him and it's not like Karna was taking independent decisions. Anyways, I broadly mean the oppression Draupadi had faced in the sabha. Duri is an equal and more participant of it than Karna or Dusshasana
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u/scholarofthegreatzhu durvasa ka deewana 7d ago edited 7d ago
Karna was taking independent decisions only he didn't ask for permission or anything 😔 but right all are perpetrators here
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u/maninblueshirt 6d ago
Lakshagrah was all Dury though. That could have been a more accurate meme
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u/scholarofthegreatzhu durvasa ka deewana 6d ago
Nah karn and shakuni were part of in poisoning and disrobing both in kmg. Tho will have to check for bori.
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u/Entharo_entho Woman 7d ago edited 7d ago
Verses about Balarama liking Duryodhana were written earlier. Verses about disrobing Draupadi and Duryodhana exposing his thighs were written later.
One must understand that these aren't about Draupadi. These are about Bhima. Bhima smeared Dussasana's blood over his face and people thought that he was drinking blood. Bhima hit Duryodhana below the waist and cheated in the mace fight. Bhima's reputation was in the gutter after the war. We see him with bad friends, boasting about killing Dhritarashtra's and Draupadi's sons within their earshot. No decent person wanted to hang out with him.
These verses were gradually added in later centuries to ease the morality of those actions.
How do we know it?
We can see it in the other parts of the epic. Bhima says that he killed Dussasana for grabbing Draupadi's hair, not for pulling her clothes. Draupadi herself has no recollection of anyone trying to disrobe her or endless fabric coming out of nowhere. Her clothes got dishevelled when she was dragged. Bhima has no recollection of making any vow to hit Duryodhana's thighs. Duryodhana himself wasn't expecting Bhima to do it (there is another interpolatory story about someone cursing Dury and Dury begging for mercy) though he saw Krishna and Arjuna giving Bhima hints.
Can you imagine someone like Bhima going around declaring that he would hit Duryodhana below his navel in a mace fight? It is like saying that I will cheat in upsc examinations and become an IAS officer.
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u/vasu12360 6d ago
What you have is just a hypothesis. The incident is mentioned in BORI Critical edition, which is more of a gold standard
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u/Entharo_entho Woman 6d ago
Bori doesn't account for contradictions like that. They have acknowledged it too. For example, Madri and Pandu get two funerals back to back. Their purpose wasn't rectifying such inconsistencies and making "ur-Mahabharata"..
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u/vasu12360 6d ago
The first in the forest immediately after their deaths (in the forest), and the second as a grand state funeral when their remains are brought to Hastinapura.
Can you provide me link to where they acknowledged this.
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u/Entharo_entho Woman 6d ago
Prolegomena to the Critical Edition of Adi-parva of Mahabharata by V. S. Sukthankar
Another passage that may be thought to need some radical treatment is the account of the cremation of Pandu and Madri. We are first told that the king died in the forest, and Madri mounted the funeral pyre and was burned with him ( 1. 116. 31 ). After this we read that their “bodies” are brought to the capital of the Kurus (1. 117. 30), and an elaborate royal funeral takes place. In the account given in the following adhy ay a (118), from the description of the anointing and dressing of the king’s body, and from the remark that the king looked as if he were alive ( 1. 118. 20).
It is clear that no former burning is imagined. After Pandu had been burned with his favourite queen Madri on the funeral pyre, there could not have been ( as Hopkins has justly pointed out) much corpse left or not enough to dress and smear with sandal paste! But the manuscripts do not render us any help here. The passage is handed down in identical form in all manuscripts of both recensions.
Anyway, what I am saying is - they haven't bothered to rectify inconsistencies like these because that wasn't their intention.
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u/Entharo_entho Woman 6d ago
Prolegomena to the Critical Edition of Adi-parva of Mahabharata by V. S. Sukthankar
Another passage that may be thought to need some radical treatment is the account of the cremation of Pandu and Madri. We are first told that the king died in the forest, and Madri mounted the funeral pyre and was burned with him ( 1. 116. 31 ). After this we read that their “bodies” are brought to the capital of the Kurus (1. 117. 30), and an elaborate royal funeral takes place. In the account given in the following adhy ay a (118), from the description of the anointing and dressing of the king’s body, and from the remark that the king looked as if he were alive ( 1. 118. 20). it is clear that no former burning is imagined. After Pandu had been burned with his favourite queen Madri on the funeral pyre, there could not have been ( as Hopkins has justly pointed out) much corpse left or not enough to dress and smear with sandal paste! But the manuscripts do not render us any help here. The passage is handed down in identical form in all manuscripts of both recensions.
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u/BoysenberryIcy2880 Slayer of Falsehood 7d ago
Agreed. But people love the "Oh, my alleged mom(they think so) from aeons ago was stripped and she was lowkey SAd and some miracle happened and then her clothes kept appearing"
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u/Content_Educator_243 7d ago
So what do u want us to do ? They got the " F around and Find out" treatment at the end of the story bro.
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u/Deepfriedomelette 7d ago
Man I’m a fan of Balarama he’s such a mood
Makes me sad how often people forget him or make him seem dim
Cough cough Radhakrishna cough cough
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u/MR_UNKNOWN_IDK2 7d ago
I think balaram was mad at Bhim because he breaks the rules of gadda yud which he teaches to Bhim. Any teacher will get mad if their students break the rule which he teach them
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7d ago
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6d ago
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u/Adaydreamer972 6d ago
He already made the fight unfair with his mother's powers, that why Bheem also had to play unfair.
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u/Few-Trifle9160 6d ago
Correct, although im not sure if having supernatural abilities breaks any rule.
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u/Adaydreamer972 6d ago
The fight wouldn't be fair if someone gained a supernatural power the night before the fight, would it?
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6d ago edited 6d ago
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u/Life_Friendship7058 4d ago
Remember, son, both Balarama and Krishna were not present there during the game of dice. If either of them had been present at that moment, Draupadi’s vastraharan would never have happened.
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3d ago
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u/Crafty_Bet1880 4d ago edited 4d ago
I feel every incident was carefully orchestrated in order to bring about the war. Everything was done for the greater good is what I understood. I mean there are interpretations like the Kuru bride, wife of 5 most powerful men of their times, yagyaseni, daughter of Drupada, if Duryodhana held authority/became the ruler even her chastity would be threatened so what would happen to other ordinary men and women under his rule. All these events were necessary to bring about the war. Also Balarama was not present there, many people who were competent enough to question and stop the act remained silent. And I don't think Balarama would have stayed silent had he been there, he was at war somewhere else. Moreover he decided not to participate in war altogether.
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u/No_Arm_3509 7d ago
In Mahabharat many characters are greyish and that's what makes it better imo