In this episode of Mahabharata, Krishna arrives as a “Messenger of Peace” to Hastinapur.
After some of the usual fretting from Bhishma about the inevitability of war between the cousins, they go to see Dhritharashtra. Dhritharashtra suggests offering Krishna a huge bribe of wealth, servants, chariots and elephants but Vidhur shoots down that idea. Duryodhan suggests that Dushasan put Krishna up as a guest.
When Krishna arrives at the Hastinapur palace, he is invited to dine at Duryodhan’s palace and then retire to Dushasan’s palace. But Krishna refuses, stating that he only visits the homes of and dines with those he considers friends. And he doesn’t consider those two as friends. This pisses Duryodhan off.
After a little discussion Karna and Bhishma realize that they aren't that different.
Krishna then meets with Kunti at Vidhur’s House. Although Kunti is weeping over the prospect of family dying, Krishna reassures her that her five sons will survive.
Tropes found here are
- Bribe Backfire: Vidhur uses this as the reason to preemptively shut down an attempt by Dhritharashtra to bribe Krishna.
- I Choose to Stay: Kunti is invited to return with Krishna to reunite with her sons. She chooses to remain in Hastinapur for Gandhari’s sake.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Bhishma realizes that Karna isn’t that different from him - both bound into service of Duryodhan because of loyalty oaths.
- Shocking Defeat Legacy: Karna starts fretting about the fact that Arjun has defeated him twice. The first time, at Draupadi’s swayamvar, Karna used the excuse of “not being alerted” but realizes he has no excuse for the defeat in Mathsya. And this has deeply shaken him.
- Tastes Like Friendship: Duryodhan tries to rope in Krishna this way. Krishna sees right through this attempt and flat out refuses, claiming that he only “dines with friends” and that “Duryodhan is no friend of his”.
- Sacred Hospitality: A similar offer to retire for the night as Dushasan’s guest is similarly rebuffed.
