Krishna Counsels Yudhishthira After the War

The war was over. The Pandavas had won. But Yudhishthira sat alone in an empty tent, refusing to eat, refusing to speak, refusing to be crowned.

Krishna: "Dharmaraja, your kingdom awaits."

Yudhishthira: "Don't call me that. Dharma? What dharma? I killed my own teacher. My grandfather lies on a bed of arrows because of me. My brothers are soaked in the blood of their cousins. What kind of dharma is this?"

Krishna: "The dharma of a Kshatriya. You did what had to be done."

Yudhishthira: "Had to be done? Eighteen days of slaughter. Millions dead. Children orphaned. For what? This throne? I don't want it. It's covered in blood."

Krishna: "Every throne is covered in blood, Yudhishthira. The question is whether the blood was spilled for adharma or to end it."

Yudhishthira: "Don't give me philosophy, Keshava. I've had enough of it. I stood on that battlefield and gave the order to kill. I watched Abhimanyu die surrounded by seven warriors. I heard Drona's scream when I told him Ashwatthama was dead — a half-truth that made me a liar. Where is the dharma in any of this?"

Krishna: "Do you remember what I told Arjuna before the war began? The soul cannot be killed. These people you think you killed — you killed only bodies. The souls continue."

Yudhishthira: "Cold comfort for the widows."

Krishna: "Yes. Philosophy is cold comfort for the grieving. But let me ask you this — if you had not fought, what would have happened?"

Yudhishthira: "I don't know."

Krishna: "I do. Duryodhana would have ruled. Dushasana would have been his right hand. Shakuni would have whispered in his ear. Every righteous man would have been crushed. Every woman would have feared ending up like Draupadi. The adharma you witnessed in that court would have become the law of the land. Is that what you wanted?"

Yudhishthira: "I wanted none of this. I wanted to be left alone in Indraprastha."

Krishna: "But you weren't left alone. Evil doesn't leave good alone. It hunts it down. And when it comes for you, you have only two choices — submit or fight. You chose to fight. The blood is terrible, yes. But it was the blood of a surgery, not a murder. You cut out a disease."

Yudhishthira: "And now? What do I do with this guilt?"

Krishna: ""Rule. Rule so well that every life lost becomes worth it. Give such justice that Duryodhana's victims finally rest in peace. Create such prosperity that the orphans are cared for, the widows are honored, the wounded are healed. That is your penance, Dharmaraja — not starving in a tent, but building a kingdom so righteous that it justifies every drop of blood spilled."

Guilt that leads to paralysis serves no one. Guilt that leads to right action honors the dead."

Yudhishthira was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he stood.

Yudhishthira: "Will you stay? Help me rule?"

Krishna: "For a while. Then I must return to Dwaraka. But remember — I am always just a thought away. Call, and I will answer. That much will never change."