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Krishna's story - Truth and Dharma

In Mahabharata, Krishna is often the saviour of the Pandavas. At one point of time, in Karna Parva, we found him saving the lives of both Yudhisthira and Arjuna. He saved Arjuna from committing a terrible deed, of killing his elder brother for the sake of keeping a stupid vow. The story goes like this. Yudhisthira was badly bruised in a battle with Karna and was taking rest in his camp. He was injured not only by the terrible shafts of Karna, but also by his poisonous words that humiliated him deliberately.  He was hurt physically and mentally. He was waiting for a revenge and he hoped and prayed that Arjuna had killed Karna as he had promised to do. When Arjuna and Krishna heard that Yudhisthira was injured, they came to visit him. Yudhisthira was surprised to see Arjuna and Krishna and he had high hopes that perhaps they had killed Karna and came to him to convey the good news. However when he heard that Arjuna could not kill Karna, he was mad with rage. He accused Arjuna of being a despicable coward and asked him to give his Gandiva bow to Krishna. He said that Arjuna had many chances to fight Karna and yet he avoided him deliberately. Arjuna became extremely angry and he lost his head completely. He drew his sword from the sheath. At this Krishna, who had understood everything, was quick to jump to the occasion. He asked Arjuna as to why was he taking out his sword? He did not see any enemy around. Arjuna said that he had taken a vow that anybody who would ask him to give up the Gandiva bow would be killed by him. He now wanted to kill Yudhisthira. At this Krishna rebuked him sharply saying that he had lost his mind. He said that dharma was more important than truth and he told Arjuna about the story of the stupid sage Kaushika. A group of robbers was chasing a few people and they had taken refuge in a bush near that hermit's ashrama. Now that hermit had the reputation of telling only the truth. The thieves knew it and they asked the hermit about their victims. Kaushika replied truthfully that they were hidden behind the bush. The robbers killed every one of those victims. Later when he died Kaushika went to the deepest darkest hell despite his truthfulness as he was directly responsible for the slaughter of so many innocent people. Therefore sometimes untruth is virtuous than truth, esp. if it results in saving lives. Arjuna should give precedence to the fact that he would incur a great sin by killing his elder brother, over his keeping a stupid vow. Krishna also told them that how adharma and dharma - virtue and sin, can be misconstrued by people who are not aware of the subtle nuances. He told them about the hunter who had killed a terrible blind animal who was drinking water and by that act of killing went to heaven. This was because that animal was itself a terrible killer. To kill it therefore was a great meritorious act as it saved the life of so many people (Gandhi should have read this story - He should have known that the British Empire was a greater evil than a few violent protests). Therefore sometimes supposed adharma is a greater virtue than supposed dharma (of non violence). He advised Arjuna that insulting one's elder is equivalent to killing him. Therefore he should insult Yudhisthira by addressing him as "thou" (tvam) instead of the customary honourary address (Bhavan in Samskrit). Arjuna did just that and much more. He accused Yuthisthira of being a gambler, who shied away from fighting and depended on his brothers to get back his kingdom. After hurling these insults Arjuna was full of remorse and he wanted to commit suicide. Krishna again prevented him from doing so. He said that now that he had kept his vow there was nothing more to do and they must both take leave and fight the battle. Arjuna begged of Yudhisthira's forgiveness and the latter wholeheartedly blessed him.