Yuyutsu - Of Conscience

This is part of my ongoing series on the Mahabharat, an epic poem of ancient India. For links to all previous Mahabharat posts go here. Or you can simply click on the Mahabharat page link above.

I have another post for you to read. I know! I can't believe it either.

Today's post is about a little known character of the Mahabharat called Yuyutsu. His part is small but very significant.

This is his story:


The Pandavas and the Kauravas were gathered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Their armies appeared as two oceans that threatened to engulf each other, separated only by a plain of dusty barren earth.

The Pandava army contained such heroes as the five undefeated Pandavas of whom the greatest was Arjuna - charioteered by Krishna himself. Their close allies were such strong warriors as Dristridyumna, Drupad, and Satyaki. Draupadi's five sons and Abhimanyu boosted the ranks of the Pandava commanders along with many kings of distant lands who'd come to join their cause.

Yet as great as the Pandava army appeared, the Kauravas army appeared greater. It was larger, harder, and carried the weight of Bhishma's might, Drona's experience, and Kripa's knowledge. Duryodhan and his ninety-nine Kaurava brothers swelled the ranks of their commanders, along with Karna, Shakuni, and Ashwattama. Their allies were much more in number than the Pandavas and the legions of their soldiers went on and on like a never-ending thunderstorm.

There was one other mighty warrior on the side of the Kauravas. He was a son of Dritrastra and brother to Duryodhan and yet he was not a Kaurava.

During Gandhari's long pregnancy, Dritrashtra had a fall from grace with a maidservant he concieved a child with. Forgiven by Gandhari, Dritrastra openly acknowledged the son born to the maid as his own. The boy was named Yuyutsu.

Yuyutsu was raised alongside Gandhari's hundred sons. He was younger than Duryodhan and older than Dushashan so he was in fact Dritrastra's second eldest child. Gandhari, in her kindness, never treated him as any different than one of her own sons and the Kauravas, led by Duryodhan, included him as one of them.

But as Yuyutsu stood alongside his brethren, looking out at his cousins the Pandavas, he knew he was different. He knew he was not a Kaurava.

It wasn't that he didn't love his family. He loved each and every one of them. Especially Duryodhan. For all his ego and temper, Duryodhan was a protective elder brother who never failed to stand up for those he considered his own.

So Yuyutsu loved Duryodhan. But he couldn't be blind to Duryodhan's destructiveness. He hadn't followed Duryodhan in every conspiracy and plot the way the rest of the Kauravas had. Duryodhan's greed and caprice repulsed Yuyutsu.

He tried to keep his own counsel. He was, after all, the son of a maidservant and was only called prince as a curtesy. He had no real power in his family. Yet there were moments when his conscience pricked him too deeply and he had to speak up.

One such time was when the Pandavas had gone into exile after the gambling match. Duryodhan, Dushashan, Karna, and Yuyutsu had been sitting in Duryodhan's chamber and Duryodhan had started complaining about the Pandavas' treachery in planning for war.

Yuyutsu had been disgusted. The Pandavas' treachery?

For Duryodhan to talk like that when it was he who'd used loaded dice to rob the Pandavas of all they owned-! And when he'd abused Sister-in-law Draupadi the way he had-! And when he'd sent the Pandavas into exile away from their own homeland-!

Yuyutsu had stood and said: "If you didn't want war, Elder Brother, then you should never have tried to strip Draupadi naked."

Duryodhan had looked at Yuyutsu with fury, then lunged. Yuyutsu was only unharmed because Karna had come between them.

Now standing there on the field of the Kurus, Yuyutsu looked out at his cousins' smaller army and felt his conscience slice into him. They were on the side of right. And all the while Yuyutsu was there to fight for Duryodhan's greed.

The eldest Pandava, Yudhistira, spoke in the silence of the battlefield. "If there are any on our side who feel that truth is with the Kauravas then they may leave us now. And if there are any on the side of the Kauravas who feel that truth is in our camp then they are welcome here." His voice echoed around the vast field of Kurus.

Yuyutsu gripped the side of his chariot. He looked forward, to his left, where Duryodhan's massive black chariot was. That was his elder brother who he loved. And who was wrong. So wrong.

Yuyutsu looked down at his charioteer. "Take me to my brother Yudhistira's side."

The charioteer gaped up at him. "My Prince-"

"Do it now."

In the silence of that battlefield, Yuyutsu's chariot rolled towards his cousins. The Kaurava infantry gaped at him as he drove away from them and the commanders of both armies were stupefied at they watched.

"Yuyutsu!" Duryodhan roared and Yuyutsu's charioteer pulled the horses to a stop.

Yuyutsu turned and looked at his elder brother's furious face. Then he looked at his Grandsire Bhishma, who was standing near Duryodhan. But Bhishma was not angry. As Duryodhan raged, Bhishma raised his hand in blessing, telling Yuyutsu what he needed to know.

Yuyutsu faced his cousins once more and told his charioteer to keep going. "Don't stop until we're on the Pandava side."

He'd never had much power in his family. He'd never wanted it. But at this time and in this place he had the power to follow his conscience.


It's one thing to talk about what's right and what's wrong and debate the issues but to actually follow through with action is another matter entirely. Especially when to follow through would compromise our relationships or our standing in society. That would take character and strength and courage and not everyone has these virtues. In fact, very few do.

Yuyutsu, despite all the emotional turmoil within him, was the one person in the entire Kaurava army who did the right thing. He admitted where truth resided and he joined it, even though it was at great personal cost to himself. He did what no one else had the courage to do.

He was a person of true conscience.

Click here for last week's Mahabharat post entitled Choices.