[Ind-Arch] Yuyutsu

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

Yuyutsu is one of the interesting characters of Mahabharat. He was son

of Dhritarashtra, born to a Vysya handmaid, thus said to be a Suta. He was half

brother of the Kauravas, being younger to Duryodhana but younger to

Dusshasan. He was a result of the

amorous adventure of the blind king

Dhritarashtra when Gandhari was pregnant.

 

He is also called Karan since he was the son of a Vysya

mother and a Ksatriya father.

According to Manu Smriti (10:12), the son of an uninitiated

Ksatriya from an endogamous marriage is called Karan. But Nilakantha says that

the son of a Ksatriya father from Vaisya mother is called Karan. This

definition seems more appropriate for the occasion.

 

Irawati Karwe in her Yuganta thinks that it is Yuyutsu who

has acted as a spy to the Pandavas, at great risk to his life, leaking the

strategies of the Kauravas. Mahabharata a modern rendering by Ramesh Menon also

speculates similarly. At the call of

Yudhistir minutes before the beginning of the war, he changes side

challenging Kauravas to stop him, if they could.

 

He was the only son of Dhritarashtra to survive the war and

it was he who had arranged for the protection of the wives of Duryodhana ,

after his fall and brought the bad

news to the Capital city.

 

There is one legend that says he has committed suicide, not

being able to bear the

traunts of Bhima. But it is widely accepted that he had survived Pandavas.

 

He was either given the city of Indraprastha, when Pandavas left Hastinapur

for their final destination ( The History of India from the Earliest Ages by

James Talboy Wheeler) or was appointed

the guardian administrator for the young king , Parikshit. Irawati Karwe thinks the story of Vajra, the grand son of Lord Krishna being given the Indraprastha is more likely to

be true and ' Yuyutsu, the son of Suta, was left with nothing'.

 

According to Warder, Yuyutsu never partook in war in spite

of his name (which means one who is much enthusiastic for war) and he had

submitted his stake for a kingdom. (Indian Kâvya literature by Anthony Kennedy Warder)

 

 

 

I hope the learned members of the group will post any information that

they are aware of in this regard.

 

regards,

 

Kishore patnaik