Did PANDAVAS win the MAHABHARATA WAR BY ADHARMA?

Do means matter when it comes to defending righteousness?

An in-depth analysis

(An elaborate analytical thread)
#Hindus

Shakuni wasn't happy to see his sister Gandhari marrying Dhritrashtra so Bhishma became his immediate enemy who brought the proposal of a blind man for his sister. This was the reason why Shakuni vowed to end the entire Kuru line.(1)

The earliest incident of cheating in Mahabharat was when Duryodhan on the behest of Shakuni took Bhimsen into confidence, mixed poison in his pudding (kheer), threw him into Ganga river after the latter had fallen asleep due to poison's effects.(2)

Bhimsen was saved but then this act of Duryodhan was despicable. Karna learnt “dhanurvidya” from guru Parshuram on the basis of a lie. The great guru wouldn't have taught Karna had he told him the truth about himself being a son of a charioteer.(3)

It's true that Karan was unaware about his real identity at that time but given the circumstances he tricked his teacher.(4)

Duryodhan along with Shakuni tried to finish of all the Pandavas by trapping them in a “Lakshagrah.” A highly inflammable chamber which once put on fire could turn all its occupants to ashes.(5)

Pandavas were again on the receiving end of Kauravas deceit when Shakuni used his magical dice while playing “chausar” during “yuddh kreeda” leading to Pandavas losing the dice game incurring heavy costs.(6)

Costs in the form of wealth, kingdom as well “Draupadi”, let alone further humiliation at the hands of Kauravas.
So treachery by the Kauravas was nothing new and Pandavas only paid them back in the same coin.(7)

Just before the war started, lord krishna went to Kaurava camp with an aim to broker peace to avoid a confrontation. There too Duryodhan tried to imprison lord krishna forcing the lord to display his “vistaar” swaroop or massive form.(8)

Death of Abhimanyu proved to be the final straw as far as playing fair from the Pandavas side was concerned. Abhimanyu was surrounded and attacked by 7 “maharathis”.(9)

According to rules of war (laid down by none other than Bhishma) only one warrior was to engage the other. Also, Abhimanyu was attacked when he was unarmed.(10)

Lord krishna had declared that he won't wield weapons in war. Arjun had vowed against use of “divyastras” he had received from Indra.(11)

Both these conditions rendered Pandavas low on fire power to overwhelm Kaurava warriors like-(12)

Bhishma: He had the boon of deciding as and when he wished to die. The best shishya of sage parshuram who had performed the impossible feat of defeating his guru in a battle.(13)

Dronacharya: Almost equal to lord parshuram himself in all aspects.(14)

Karna: He had Indra's noble phantasm or “vasvi shakti” which could destroy any enemy. Equivalent to Arjun in archery skills.(15)

Kripacharya: An able warrior.
Ashwathama: Dronacharya’s son. A great warrior himself possessing the knowledge to summon divine astras like “narayan astra” and “brahmsheer astra”.(16)

Duryodhan: Master of mace fighting like Bhimsen.
Shakuni (Gandhar Naresh): Adept at war strategy.(17)

Given the force Pandavas were up against in addition to their own deficit of options to take on these battle hardened veterans it became imperative for lord krishna to play in a shrewd manner beating the Kauravas at their own game.(18)

Moreover as Kauravas were the first ones to employ deception in war. Whatever Pandavas did can be aptly termed as a counter measure.(19)

These countermeasures were:
Jayadrath vaddh using maaya
Rendering barbarik useless
Bheeshm vaddh using shikhandi
Drona vaddh faking ashwathamas death
Karan vaddh when he was off his chariot
Bhims strike on Duryodhan hips which was prohibited in a mace fight.(20)

For “dharma” to prevail it was necessary to do “chhal”. Otherwise Kauravas using both power and deception would have easily emerged victorious.(21)

The entire counter strategy of Pandavas reaffirms two facts:(22)

You can smash fraudsters, immoral people, only by being deceptive yourself thereby beating them at their own game.(23)

Everything is fair in war. Especially when it's a war between right and wrong. All options should be on the table to defend dharma as the wrong side won't hesitate to play unfairly.(24)