Yuyutsu
September 8, 2020

The only Kaurava who survived:

By Nilakhi Banerjee

Yututsu is such a character in Mahabharata who followed Dharma. He can be equated with Vivishan of Ramayana. Though a Kaurava, he remained on the path of righteousness. He never betrayed his consciousness and stayed where the light was.

He was one of the 102 children of Dhritarashtra:

Yes, contrary to a popular belief, Dhritarashtra had more than 100 children. The tale of this Kaurava’s birth is as unique as himself. Yuyutsu was a half-brother to the rest of the Kuru brothers. When the trials of Gandhari were failing at producing a child, a fearful Dhritarashtra produced a child with a Vaishya daasi named Sugadha, and so was born Yuyutsu. He was born on the same day as his other 100 Kuru brothers and a sister Duhsala.

A righteous Kaurava, he chose to play it smart:

While there was a handful of Kauravas who were aware of the evil brewing on their side; in the name of dharma, friendships, and favours, they didn’t act on their inner calling. Yuyutsu, however, was a little different.

Since Mahabharata was called the righteous war, both sides (Pandavas and Kauravas) were given absolute freedom to choose any side they wished. Yuyutsu could see Kauravas going down. He didn’t turn a blind eye towards the fraudulent and evil practices of Duryodhana. He, very smartly, did what had to be done.

An Informant:

He provided them crucial information centering around Duryodhana’s cunning plotting and schemes, thereby helping Pandavas substantially. One significant way he helped them definitely has to be of saving Bhima’s life. One of the many Duryodhana’s evil plans included poisoning of water to kill Bhima; a plan that didn’t work out, thanks to Yuyutsu alarming the Pandavas about it.

 He sided with Pandavas before the onset of the Kurukshetra War:

Possessing the ability to fight 60,000 warriors simultaneously, he was one of the Atirathis among the Kauravas. But, he chose to fight for the right with the right, and hence, took part in the Kurukshetra war from the Pandavas’ side.

His ideologies did bore fruit and eventually, he became the supervisor of Hastinapur.

Yuyutsu was one of the 11 who managed to survive the war.

Years after the war and prior to the Yadava crisis, Yuyutsu found the city falling apart. The citizens would pick up fights with each other and live in depravity. When Yuyutsu desired to know the cause, they would hurl abuses at him and call him a traitor and a kinslayer. But, who said the right path was easy anyway?

At the start of Kali Yuga, when the Pandavas chose to retire and Krishna departed; Yudhishthira, the lead Pandava and a former king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapur, handed over the charge of supervising the kingdom of Hastinapur to Yuyutsu. Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna, on the other hand, was made the king.

Both Yutsu and Vikarna knew of Duryodhana’s evil scheming. However, what set them apart was Vikarna’s decision to remain loyal to his brother. Whereas, Yutsu’s take on Dharma forced him to stay on the right path. He was regardless of the adversities.

Hence, left behind an epic example of morals and righteousness through the world of mythology.

So remains an unsung warrior in the history of times. We will come back with such important articles.