"In veneration, the preceptor excels ten sub-teachers, the father a hundred preceptors, and the mother a thousand fathers." (Manava Dharmashastra, Verse 2.145)

Mitra struggled to keep her focus intact, as Yudhishthira enlightened her about verses from the Manava Dharmashastra and their interpretations. She had just completed her breakfast with the family and was about to dash to her room and fall asleep again, before Uncle Nakula found her for sword practice. That's when she remembered she had her morning lessons with Uncle Yudhishthira.

Yes, she was no longer the small girl whom the Pandavas had adopted as their own post the Kurukshetra war. She was now an aspiring teenage princess of the Kuru clan. Which meant she could not mollycoddle her way through escaping her lessons anymore. Arjuna had made sure of that and entrusted each Pandava brother to instruct Mitra on a specific form of education. Yudhishthira would give Mitra lessons on the Dharma Shasthras and wielding of the spear. Bhima would teach her how to use the gada, Arjuna would teach archery and Nakula and Sahadeva would focus on sword training.

When Mitra had complained to her Baba that he was piling on too many lessons for her, Arjuna with paternal pride in his eyes had told her something that would always resonate with her.

"You are the Princess of Kuru dynasty. Your father was a mighty archer, but I promise you, I will make you a champion, that even your father watching from above will be mind blown. Not only will you be a splendid archer, but I'll ensure that you will be the first princess to have excelled in all forms of art, dharma and war strategies."

Mitra had been awestruck by the love her family showered her with daily. She imagined how lucky the five children of Draupadi and Brother Abhimanyu must have been to have been loved and trained under the shadow of the mighty Pandavas. As much as she loved them and wanted to prove their words true with her training, she just could not disagree with the fact that her education sessions, especially physical training, were not so easy. Walking into the training arena smelling like a fresh flower, and leaving with multiple bruises and smelling like a rat was not exactly every girl's dream routine.

The downsides of being the only princess raised by mighty warriors she sighed as she let her mind steer back to the present – seated in the royal library with Yudhishthira.

"Tell me Putri, how do you interpret this verse from the Manava Dharmashastra?" asked Yudhishthira with a smile on his face.

"It is addressing the order of the provision of great respect or reverance, Uncle. The preceptor is superior to the sub-teacher, the father to the preceptor and the mother to the father."

Yudhishthira smilingly replied, "Very good, dear. I'm proud of your understanding of this verse."

Mitra looked intently at Yudhishthira with mild curiosity in her gaze.

"Does this statement hold true in all circumstances, Uncle?"

Over the last few years, she had really started to settle in well with the Pandavas at Hastinapura. Relationships were slowly mended between each other, and the atmosphere was beginning to return to how it had been prior to the battle, despite the scars of the wounds that will always remain etched in the hearts, as a memory of the happenings. The relationships between the Pandavas and Mitra, Kunti and the Pandavas and the Pandavas and their wives, had all grown stronger than it was initially. The only broken bond that went unnoticed to all, except the intelligent eyes of Daanveer Putri was the mother-son bond between Kunti and Yudhishthira. Yudhishthira, being Dharmaraja's son himself, would never disrespect or speak harsh words to his mother. Yet, the hurt he carried, as a result of his elder brother's death, and his mother's actions, were expressed by his sorrow-filled eyes and limited conversations with his mother. Being a staunch follower of dharma, Mitra can tell her uncle suffered greatly between his love for his mother and his inability to justify the adharma he witnessed in her action of abandoning her eldest son.

"Uncle, you haven't answered," Mitra gently called out, shaking Yudhishthira out of his thoughts.

Yudhishthira was just about to answer in the affirmative, but became at a loss for words when the thoughts regarding his mother's actions swamped his mind again.

"Yes... but, Putri- "

He was cut off mid-sentence, as Bhima walked into the room, with a big smile on his face.

"Brother! Maatha said to call everyone for lunch. You two better come quick before I finish most of the food!" he roared with laughter.

He then turned his attention to Mitra with a broad grin on his face.

"Don't worry, Mitra! I will give you one of my laddoos! But I will finish up your portion of the meal if you don't hurry up!"

Mitra huffed knowing Uncle Bhima was fully capable of not only finishing his food, but everyone else's share as well. She pleadingly looked at Yudhishthira to grant her permission to leave her lesson, to which he nodded with a smile.

"We can finish up in the evening, Putri," Yudhishthira smiled as he patted her cheek.

"Thank you, Uncle! Wait up, Uncle Bhima!" Mitra called out loudly as she dashed after Bhima, who was sprinting towards the dining room.

The smile on Yudhishthira's face faded away as he became lost in his thoughts again regarding Mitra's question before her departure. "Does this statement hold true in all circumstances, Uncle?" If this question were asked by anyone prior to the great battle, his answer would have been immediate. Of course! A mother is definitely superior to both the preceptor and father, as she not only guides us throughout life, but also is never capable of acting in adharma. A mother was the pure definition of dharma. Yet, his own mother's actions which were revealed during the closure of the battle, had shaken his core belief regarding a mother's dharma. How could someone as sweet and righteous as Maatha Kunti, perform such an unrighteous action by abandoning her first born and failing to acknowledge him as her son for so many years? The love and respect he held for his mother were immense in nature, but it was now hopelessly caged behind an iron railing, which was his apprehension of forgiving her unrighteous action. Yudhishthira leaned his head back against the chair, completely succumbing to the turmoil in his mind, as a lone tear escaped his eye.

"I wonder why Brother Yudhishthira hasn't come for lunch yet," mentioned Subhadra as she finished scooping a pile of curried potatoes on Bhima's plate.

"I know, I can't wait much longer!" cried Bhima as he and Mitra had their eyes glued to the plate of laddoos, while simultaneously giving each other warning glares not to touch them.

"He must be attending to something important, Son. I'm sure he will be here soon," replied Kunti.

"There he is!" Nakula exclaimed as both Bhima and Mitra snapped their heads up in joy at finally being able to eat their laddoos.

Yudhishthira walked into the dining room with a small smile on his face. He took his seat at the head of the table and gestured everyone to start their meals.

Mitra smiled happily and looked down to her plate, only to see that it had disappeared. Flabbergasted, she looked up when she sensed someone sitting beside her now, in between Bhima and her. She turned her head to meet the gaze of her Draupadi Maa who was holding her plate and was busy ripping a piece of chappathi to scoop the potato.

"Maa! I'm not 10 years old anymore. I can eat by myself, you know!" sighed Mitra, embarrassed that she was being hand fed at this age as well.

Draupadi smiled at her child, who despite being fourteen years old now, still resembled the child on the battlefield to her. She raised her hand up, holding the food to her lips.

"10 years or 50 years old. You will still be the same baby to this Maa."

Arjuna laughed as he heard Mitra groaning beside him as she succumbed to her mother's wishes and ate from her hands. He reached out and pinched her cheeks, causing Mitra to turn her attention to him with a death glare on her face. This only made Arjuna smile more widely as he pulled her head closer and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

Mitra was too busy trying to squirm herself free from Arjuna's arms, and Draupadi was busy laughing, to see the second Pandava's hand sneaking onto her plate and stealing one of her laddoos.

Yet it was not missed by Raja Maatha Kunti.

"Bhima! What is this?"

Mitra whipped her head around to see her uncle holding one of her laddoos with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Uncle!! That's my laddoo! Give it back!" she screamed.

Bhima looked at the laddoo and then at her.

"What laddoo?" he asked just as he popped it into his mouth. "I don't see any laddoo."

Mitra with a pout on her face turned to Kunti. "Grandmother look what Uncle Bhima did. He stole my laddoo!"

Arjuna picked up two of his laddoos and put them on Mitra's plate.

"Here my baby, you can have both of mine."

"I will get you more laddoos, my darling," Draupadi patted Mitra's hair as she shook her head at Bhima, silently reprimanding him with a small smile on her face.

Kunti narrowed her eyebrows at Bhima, who sunk himself in his seat, causing the elderly woman to smile.

"Son, you are much older now! You should be more mature and focused on helping your brother with stately affairs. Not stealing laddoos like a child!"

Bhima finished munching on his laddoo and then smiled broadly at Yudhishthira.

"That's why we have our elder brother! He will take care of everything!"

As everyone laughed at Bhima's innocent reply, Yudhishthira smiled on the outside. Yet his heart cried at its unvoiced desire, which Bhima's words had re-stimulated. All have witnessed the immense love he holds for his younger brothers, yet none knew of the desire he harbored in his heart all his life. The desire to be in their shoes for once. In times of trouble, whenever his brothers would lay their heads on his shoulder, seeking to be comforted, he would be there for them. He would be there to support them, to hold them, caress their heads and tell them that he would take care of everything. Oh, how he always wished he had someone who would take his head on their shoulder and tell him the same. Oh, how he dreamed all his life, how it would have been like to have an elder brother whom he could look up to. One who would caress his hair as he laid on his lap. One whom he could let take over all his trouble while he slept peacefully on his lap. And life had given him such a brother, yet destiny had kept him away from them. In the name of his mother's actions.

"Did some important task come up, Brother?" Sahadeva questioned Yudhishthira, catching the attention of Mitra who shifted her gaze to her eldest uncle.

"Yes Sahadeva. A new case that needs to be provided with justice tomorrow morning."

"What is it about, Aarya?" Draupadi questioned as Mitra stared at Yudhishthira's reaction with utmost curiosity.

Yudhishthira looked down at his plate, catching his thoughts for a minute.

"It's related to an issue faced by one of the families living in our kingdom. The mother of the family has been accused by her husband's family for giving birth to a child prior to her marriage. Her husband is now deceased. The first born of that mother, now a grown teenager had been living in our kingdom as well, but has only found out recently that he is the son of the same mother. The son is upset with his mother for not accepting him earlier, and the other children are upset with her for hiding the truth about their eldest brother from them."

Silence prevailed in the dining room as everyone was at a loss for words, as they were taken back to a similar situation that had occurred in their own family on the battlefield some years ago. Mitra, from the corner of her eyes, saw her grandmother put down the piece of chappathi that she had raised to her lips.

Being the one who somehow always maintained his calm composure in all situations, Sahadeva spoke up breaking the chilling silence in the room.

"This is a complicated case, Brother. How will you provide justice to this, and who will you provide it to?"

Yudhishthira heaved a sigh which displayed the frustrating turmoil he was currently caged in. He abandoned his food, unable to focus on eating anymore, as he stood up.

"I'm not sure, Sahadeva. But justice must be granted. And mistakes as such cannot by any means keep repeating."

Kunti's eyes snapped up to meet Yudhishthira's, who stared at his mother, with a mixture of both pain and sorrow. He then took a deep breath, averting his gaze away from his mother's and walked out of the dining room, as a lone tear made its way down Raja Maatha's cheek. 

To be continued in Part II

That's Part I of Chapter 5! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please do comment your thoughts on what you feel about it so far - I'd love to hear them :) Also, please vote if you feel it's worthy!

I'm still working on Part II of the chapter - it will be up as soon as I'm finished!

Thank you for all your patience, love and support :)

Geitha