The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Viraata Desha being attacked from both the northern and the southern ends by Duryodhana’s army. Even though the southern end was neutralized by Vallabha (Bheemasena) singlehandedly, danger looms large on the northern end, wherein Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, etc. along with Duryodhana are jointly launching an all-out assault. As this happens, the entire kingdom goes into a frenzy and panic starts spreading. Uttharan (Son of the Viraata Desha king) is determined to go and give a valiant fight against the enemies, but he feels that he needs a good charioteer. This is where Sairandhri (Draupati) gives a suggestion that maybe Brihannala (Arjuna) can be handy! Thus, as Utthara goes and convinces Brihannala, he reluctantly accepts the request as he is scared of his identity being revealed. Thus, Brihannala readies himself to sit upon the chariot and drive it towards the enemy camp. 

As this happens, Uttharan’s assistants come to Brihannala and provide him with the “Kavacha” (Protective equipment) to wear. As Brihannala receives it, he pretends to not know how to wear it, and hence wears it upside down! 🙂 Upon seeing this, all the ladies around Brihannala start to laugh out loud! They make fun of Brihannala that he doesn’t even know how to wear a “Kavacha”! Upon seeing this, Arjuna is internally happy, because till date, there are so many people who get scared even upon hearing his name and run away! But here, people are laughing and making fun as they see him. This is a welcome change, isn’t it? 🙂 Hence, Arjuna takes this opportunity to enjoy this moment of fun and frolic that is going on. Finally, upon seeing Brihannala struggling with the “Kavacha”, Uttharan himself comes directly and helps Brihannala wear the “Kavacha” properly. Thus, with the “Kavacha” on, Brihannala sports a completely different look and even this is being admired by all the women around him! This again makes Arjuna laugh! Thus, we can see here that Arjuna is enjoying this moment, even though he is made fun of! 

Thus, both of them get into the chariot, and Brihannala is about to catch the rope that is tied to the horses. By the way Brihannala is trying to hold the rope, Uttharan is not really convinced. He once again says thus, “Oh Brihannala! Let me teach you how to hold the rope and conduct the horses!” With this, Uttharan gives a big “demo” on how to ride and conduct the chariot during war time. Brihannala listens very carefully to all that Uttharan is teaching him! 🙂 Again, we should understand here that Arjuna is just pretending not to know anything here, and is enjoying all these moments! Meanwhile, as the demo session is going on, all the women in the queen’s “Antahpura” come and meet Uttharan. They put up a request to Uttharan thus, “Oh Utthara Kumara! All of us know how powerful you are and you can take down any enemy with ease! Now as you go and defeat the enemies from the northern end, as a token of victory, please take all the top garments (Vasthrams) of the enemies and bring them to us. We shall use all those clothes for our play every day! 

We should imagine here – Winning over Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, etc. and bringing their top garments – And that too by a small boy called Uttharan! Is this really going to be possible? We might think that these women are so crazy! Or, perhaps, they do not know the might of the enemy cohort which Uttharan is going to fight with! In reply, Uttharan also says thus, “Oh friends! I shall definitely bring their garments to you if they are alive after the fight! I’m determined to finish them off in the war! Perhaps if they are alive, I shall definitely pay heed to your request!” 

This sounds a bit overconfident and arrogant, isn’t it? So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness how the fight unfolded between the two camps! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Vallabha (Bheemasena) once again coming to the rescue of the Viraata King wherein the kingdom is being attacked both from the northern and the southern ends. King Susharma, under the instruction of Duryodhana attacks Viraata Desha from the southern end, taking cue of the Viraata king’s weakness. The plan is not to just defeat the Viraata king, but to expose the identity of the Paandava brothers, so that they can again be sent to the forest for the next thirteen years as per the rule. However, King Susharma did not expect a man (Bheemasena disguised) to directly come and take him down within moments! King Susharma gets caught by surprise and in no time, thrashed on to the ground, tied, and dragged to Yudishtra’s (Kanka’s) feet. As per the instruction of Kanka, King Susharma has an escape of his life by accepting his crushing defeat under the hands of Vallabha. Now, is this incident going to send shock waves in the Kaurava camp? Or, are they going to still pursue further invasion to find out the whereabouts of the Paandava brothers? Let us continue witnessing in our today’s episode. 

As King Susharma is defeated, Yudishtra recommends to the Viraata King of a proud proclamation. As this is being done with all grandeur, the danger is not over as yet! We’ve already witnessed that the attack is from two ends and not merely one. On the northern side, danger is looming large as a huge army is marching towards the entrance. This large army comprises of the likes of Duryodhana himself, Duchhaasana, Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, Sage Kripachaarya, etc. At that moment of urgency as the army storms open the northern gate, only the son of Viraata’s king, Uttharan is there to defend the attack. However, just like his father, the son isn’t a great warrior either – Especially against the likes of veterans such as Bhishmachaarya, etc. Moreover, the intentions of this army is quite clear – More than just invading the kingdom, the sole aim is to take away all the cows and calves from the kingdom (Go-Haranam)! With this intention, the army enters into all the cowsheds and start abducting the cows one after the other by either killing or thrashing the people who are taking care of the cowsheds. As this is happening at lightning pace, all the cowshed owners run for their lives and meet Uttharan who is also the overall incharge of the cowsheds. As the representations pour in, Uttharan says thus, “Oh people! I can take on Duryodhana and Co. within a jiffy! That’s never a problem! However, I’m in need of a good charioteer who can help me steer my chariot in such a way that I can launch an intense counter-attack on them. I used to have a charioteer, but now he is no more. Hence, if you can arrange one for me, then I can go ahead in attacking them!” 

As this conversation keeps happening, this goes to the ears of Sairandhri (Draupati), who rushes to the spot. Sairandhri gives an idea thus, “Oh people! Yes! He’s right. Maybe I can give a suggestion – We shall ask Brihannala (Arjuna in disguised form of a transgender), who is currently teaching music and dance to the queen’s daughter. Maybe she can help. I’ve heard earlier that Brihannala had won several wars for the Paandava brothers by efficiently riding the chariot for them. So if she accepts, maybe we shall quickly proceed further!” As this conversation happens, Utthara (Sister of Uttharan) is also present along with Sairandhri, and Utthara is requested to call upon Brihannala for help. Thus, Utthara goes and calls Brihannala and explains the situation to her. At the end of her accord, she requests Brihannala’s help to ride her brother’s chariot, so that the kingdom can be protected from its enemies imminently. 

As Utthara requests thus, initially Brihannala isn’t very interested. On one hand, Brihannala is scared whether such an act would lead to his identity being exposed! On the other hand, Brihannala is wanting to maintain a low profile for himself and not wanting to reveal too much of his capabilities to the outside world. Thus, at first, Brihannala politely refuses Utthara’s request, but upon repeated convincing, Brihannala accepts without any interest. 

So now this is going to be a very interesting part. Uttharan on the chariot and Brihannala as the charioteer – What is going to happen next? Let us wait for the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana going ahead with his plan to invade the Viraata Desha, after zeroing down on the Paandavas’ whereabouts to that kingdom. Even though Bhishmachaarya is wanting Duryodhana to stop all these pursuits and accept Yudishtra as his own brother, Duryodhana is fuming with anger on Bhishmachaarya. Duryodhana asks him as to why he is talking all these like a coward who doesn’t want to win wars and with this, he insults Bhishmacharya in public. Karna too joins Duryodhana and supports his view, thinking of his insult in the Ranga-Bhoomi episode. Karna is waiting for a chance to avenge the insult and with this intention, he supports Duryodhana.King Susharma of the Trivarga Desha decides that he would attack from the southern end of the kingdom and the rest of them through the northern end. 

Thus, the attack begins. King Susharma enters Viraata Desha from the southern end as planned, and he invades the kingdom with a storm! Duryodhana and Co. invade from the northern end of the kingdom and with this, news spreads to the king that the kingdom is under attack! The king of Viraata Desha, as we know earlier itself, is not very capable of fighting big wars. In fact, he doesn’t have that experience to fight intense battles because till that time, Keechaka used to take care of fighting wars. The king was not involving much in fighting wars. Now, this is the first time that the king is fighting a war without Keechaka and the king is a bit jittery on this. As Yudishtra understands that the king is feeling jittery, he assures the king that he along with his three brothers will come along with him to fight the enemies. Yudishtra categorically leaves Arjuna out of this, because he knows that Arjuna is in the form of an “Ali” (Transgender), and there should not be transgenders in the warfield. 

Thus, all of them proceed towards the southern end of the kingdom where King Susharma is invading aggressively. The king of Viraata Desha initially puts up a fight, but he is unable to withstand the prowess of King Susharma. At the end, King Susharma catches the Viraata Desha king as a captive and tries to escape from there. It is at this time, Yudishtra sends an eye-to-eye signal to Bheemasena to go and protect the king of Viraata Desha, as he had given them refuge for the past one year. Yudishtra signals to Bheemasena that they need to be thankful to the Viraata Desha king for the great help that he had done to them, and with this, Yudishtra wants Bheemasena to go and protect him. 

Thus, taking the signal from Yudishtra, Bheemasena starts up like a storm and rages towards King Susharma. King Susharma never expected Bheemasena to be in front of him in this aggressive manner, and he starts to run for his life! Bheemasena chases him all the way and with a tree trunk in hand, Bheemasena thrashes King Susharma left, right and centre! Unable to bear the strength and raw muscle power of Bheemasena, King Susharma surrenders to Bheemasena, who in turn ties Susharma and drags him to Yudishtra. Bheemasena tells Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As per your instruction, I’ve brought Susharma as a captive in front of you. Now it is up to you to decide as to what needs to be done to him!” Meanwhile, Bheemasena tells Susharma thus, “Oh Susharma! Now fall on the feet of Kanka and cry profusely to him requesting him to leave you. Else, you will be history in no time!” 

Thus, Susharma cries profusely to Kanka to leave him and with this, Kanka too sets Susharma free of the captive. With this, Yudishtra (Kanka) tells the king thus – “Oh King! Now that you’ve won over Susharma, you should propagate to the entire kingdom that you’ve won the battle and you’ve established supremacy over Susharma! Hence, send a few messengers and ministers of yours and make a big announcement!” As Yudishtra says thus, the Viraata King also feels that this is a valid suggestion. Hence, he obeys Yudishtra’s words and sends all his messengers to all four corners of the kingdom to make the announcement! Meanwhile, Susharma is perplexed as to who are these people who won over him just now! He could not believe that he was defeated so easily by just two unidentified men! So for today, let us understand till this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness the continuation of this! Stay tuned! 🙂 

Episode # 672 – “Why are you talking like a coward?” – Duryodhana slams Bhishmacharya with anger!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana’s think-tank pondering upon how to target Yudishtra and find out his whereabouts. This would enable Duryodhana to send Yudishtra and Co. once again to the forest for the next thirteen years, and Yudishtra would never be able to stake claim for the Indraprastha kingdom. With this, King Sudhanva, Bhishmacharya, Dhronacharya, Sage Sukhacharya, etc. express their opinions, upon the plan that the Viraata Desha should be attacked from all four sides and in this pursuit, the Paandava brothers, especially Bheemasena and Arjuna can be spotted out easily. Bhishmacharya has different ideas – He proposes to Duryodhana that enough is enough! He wants to call truce between the two camps and at the end of the thirteenth year, if Yudishtra is handed over the Indraprastha kingdom, all problems would come to an end. However, the question here is whether Duryodhana is going to accept and pay heed to Bhishmacharya’s proposal or not. Let us witness Duryodhana’s reaction in today’s episode. 

As Bhishmachaarya proposes thus, Duryodhana gets up in great anger! He has an angry look at Bhishmachaarya and replies thus, “Oh Bhishmacharya! Till now, whatever I know about you is that you are an extremely invincible person when it comes to warfare. However, in this matter, why are you talking like a coward? Why are you having a soft corner towards that Yudishtra? What is he doing secretly for you? You are a fighter! You are a great warrior! Please live up to that expectation! Or, maybe you’re feeling that age is catching up with you? Are you feeling that due to old age, you will be unable to put up a fight? Maybe this is the reason you’re talking of compromise everytime! You do not have the strength in you to put up a fight against the Paandava brothers, perhaps! You may say so, but I won’t accept such childish reasons from you. Moreover, myself, Karna, etc. are youngsters and we have a lot of valour in us. If you’re not interested in putting up a fight, then leave it to us. We shall ensure that the Paandava brothers are defeated and killed mercilessly!” 

As Duryodhana fumes thus, Karna gets up with intense anger and talks thus: “Oh Bhishmacharya! Have you forgotten the insult that I’ve been meted out with in the past? Even though I had all the qualifications of being a great warrior, I was not allowed to exhibit myself in that Ranga-Bhoomi event! (We’ve witnessed this earlier as to how Karna was degraded by everyone in public because he was perceived as a charioteer’s son). That insult which I obtained that day remains fresh in my mind till today! I shall go to any extent to prove myself and will stand by Duryodhana in his pursuit against Yudishtra and Co. At a time when the entire Ranga-Bhoomi insulted me, Duryodhana was the only one who stood by me and made me the king of Anga Desha. How do I forget this help that Duryodhana as a friend did to me? Hence, I do not agree to your point of making a meek surrender to Yudishtra and Co. Myself, along with Duryodhana and others will launch a pursuit against them and show who we are and what we are capable of!”

Thus the plan is made clearly – The Viraata Desha should be attacked from the northern and southern end of the territory and with this, the cows would be abducted by them. In order to protect the cows and take them back, surely the Paandava brothers would come out of their hideouts, in loyalty to the king of Viraata Desha. With this, we will wage a full-strength war against them and either kill them, or we shall simply make a claim that we’ve found out the whereabouts of Yudishtra and Co.! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall commence witnessing how this plan starts to get implemented! Are the Kauravas going to be successful in their pursuit? Let us wait till the subsequent episodes to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana and his think-tank contemplating on how to find out the whereabouts of Yudishtra and Co. As months pass by, Duryodhana is getting tensed that the Paandavas will successfully complete their 13-year Vana Vaasam and once again come and stake claim for Indraprastha. Hence, he wants to somehow quash that attempt of Yudishtra to finish the “Agnyata-Vasam ”. Thus, he sends all his spies to various kingdoms to collect data on their whereabouts, but none of them are able to get any information on the Paandava brothers. However, as the news of Keechaka’s demise reaches Duryodhana’s ears, he suddenly starts connecting the dots. If an invincible man of Keechaka’s stature has to be singlehandedly killed along with his 105 brothers, none other than Balarama or Saatyaki or Bheemasena would have done this! As Balarama and Saatyaki aren’t in the picture right now, it should have been none other than Bheemasena himself who would have killed Keechaka! Duryodhana thus narrows down on these lines and somehow traces the whereabouts of the Paandavas to the Viraata Desha and its surroundings. 

Now Sudhanva, the king of Thrigathra Desha charts out a plan thus: “Oh Duryodhana and Co.! I have an idea here – Till now, as far as I know, Keechaka was the only man who was protecting the Viraata Desha from all problems and wars, as he was extremely difficult for anybody to defeat. He was also on a killing spree and people used to get scared of him. It is with this power, Keechaka even dominated the king of Viraata Desha. As far as I know, the king of Viraata Desha is a powerless person and cannot win anything on his own. Till today, he was depending upon Keechaka for everything. Now that Keechaka is dead, the king of Viraata Desha stands exposed and he is extremely vulnerable. Hence, let us plan an attack on the Viraata Desha, and this attack should be from all the four directions. The king should be cornered from all sides. I hereby suggest that one section of our army including Duryodhana, Karna and the others go from the southern end of the Viraata Desha and Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, Sage Kripachaarya and the other seniors enter from the northern end. As the attack intensifies, the King of Viraata Desha should somewhere come out and defend himself. Meanwhile, even if he doesn’t come, he would be sending some of his able messengers to defend the kingdom. Amongst those messengers, I’m sure that atleast Bheemasena and Arjuna would be part of it! This is Plan-A!” 

King Sudhanva continues thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Now listen to my Plan-B as well. As this attack is happening and if the king is not coming out, one section of our army can abduct all the cows from the kingdom (Go-haranam). Now, as per the “Raaja-Dharma”, if the cows are being abducted, it is the primary duty of the king himself to come in person and take them back by fighting a war against the enemy. With this, we can definitely bring the king out and expose him in the open! Now, in order to defend the king, I’m sure atleast one of the Paandava brothers would come, and with this, we shall claim that we’ve found out their whereabouts, which would again lead them to go to the forest for another twelve years!” 

As King Sudhanva says thus, obviously there are debates from all sides of the think-tank. Guru Dhronachaarya gives his suggestions. Sage Kripachaarya gives his feedback. Bhishmachaarya too joins the discussions and he expresses his opinions too. Bhishmachaarya says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! You’re absolutely having the right to search for the whereabouts of the Paandavas. However, if the thirteenth year period is over, and if you find them after that, then Yudishtra has every right to stake claim of Indraprastha and you’ve to give the kingdom to him. So, you need to be very careful with the time period here. Moreover, please think in this way too – For the past twelve-odd years, you were the one trying to destroy Yudishtra and Co. whereas, Yudishtra never intended to destroy you at any cost. He respects you as his own brother, however, you have so much of vengeance against him. So, even now it is not too late. Why don’t you think of a compromise with Yudishtra and patch up with him? Yudishtra stands for “Dharma” even during the toughest period of his life. Going on a “Vana-Vaasam” for twelve long years is not an easy task. Even in that, if he is able to safeguard his “Dharma”, please realize that Yudishtra is not an ordinary person by any means. So, rather than blowing this up any further, please call it a truce and let us finish this off, instead of taking the war route!” 

Now that all of them in the think-tank have given their suggestions, it is now upto Duryodhana to take the call! Now what is Duryodhana’s decision going to be? Is he going to pay heed to Bhishmachaarya’s words of wisdom, or is he going to go by the words of King Sudhanva? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the conclusion of the “Keechaka-Vadha Parva” wherein, Bheemasena successfully neutralized Keecahaka and the Upa-Keechakas. With this, there was both joy and panic in the Viraata Desha, which prompted the queen Sudehsna Devi to issue a “Diktat” to Sairandhri (Draupati) to leave the country immediately. However, Draupati requests a month’s time to leave Viraata Desha and without much of an option, the queen accepts Draupati’s proposal. With this, we come to the end of this Parva and now we move into the crucial “Go-Harana Parva”, wherein Duryodhana is planning a plot to find out the whereabouts of the Paandava brothers through hook or crook. This is because, Duryodhana wants to impose the rule that if Yudishtra’s whereabouts are found out during the one-year-”Agnyaata-Vaasam”, they’ve to once again go for the “Vana-Vaasam” for the next twelve years and followed by one more year of “Agnyaata-Vaasam”. So if Duryodhana is able to succeed now, he can once again rule the Hastinapura undivided kingdom for the next thirteen years as well. This would mark the end of Yudishtra’s ambitions to become a king of Indraprastha once again. 

Thinking thus, Duryodhana quickly convenes a meeting with his think-tank composed of Sahuni, Ducchaasana, Karna, and the others! Meanwhile, Duryodhana had sent several spies to monitor the Paandavas’ movements. However, ever since the Paandavas began their “Agnyaata-Vaasam”, none of Duryodhana’s spies are able to trace their whereabouts for some strange reason. This is what Bhagawan’s divine “Anugraha” can do. As we’ve witnessed earlier, Yudishtra and Co. have the divine “Anugraha” of Bhagawan Krishna, Goddess Kaali, and the Devas (Celestial Beings). Hence, wherever they go, Yudishtra and Co. would be marred of their reality, in such a way that none including the best of the spies in this world can trace them out! Thus, Duryodhana’s spies come back to Hastinapura empty-handed everytime for the first ten months or so. However, now that Keechaka has been killed, this news spread through one of the spies to Duryodhana. As Duryodhana hears this, he discusses with his think-tank thus, “Oh people! It is extremely surprising that we’re unable to trace the whereabouts of Yudishtra and Co. however, I’m hearing that Keechaka is no more! I know the strength of Keechaka and what kind of havoc he can create. I’ve seen his track records in the past too. He is one of the most invincible fellows I’ve ever come across. If Keechaka should have been killed by someone, then who is that someone? As far as I know, only my Guru Balarama or Saatyaki or Bheemasena can defeat Keechaka and kill him. I know where Balarama and Saatyaki are and I’m in constant touch with both of them. So, I’m sure that they haven’t killed Keechaka. Hence, the only possibility now is that Bheemasena should have killed Keechaka. I think so because, Bheemasena is the only other person who can neutralize such a heavy-weight person! Moreover, the way in which Keechaka has been killed suggests that only Bheemasena could have committed such a ghastly act using raw muscle power! I’ve earlier seen Bheemasena killing many people in this way. By looking at the way Keechaka was killed, I’m pretty sure that Bheemasena is the one who would have committed the act. Hence, the Paandava brothers might be seeking refuge at Viraata Desha only, or maybe in some nearby territories!” 

As Duryodhana justifies his reasoning thus, he continues further: “Oh people! Now here is where we’ve to act a bit smart – From all evidence that we have till now, it is quite possible that Yudishtra and Co. are at Viraata Desha. Now, we’ve to take a decision and plan the next move. Should we send some more spies to the Viraata Desha and find out the real story from the ground? Or, should we openly announce that we’ve found out the whereabouts of the Paandavas with all that we know till now? What is your opinion on this? How do we proceed?” 

As Duryodhana asks thus, the think-tank listens carefully and starts contemplating. Guru Dhronachaarya who is present amongst the thinking group is now consulting with the king of Thrigartha Desha, Sudhanva, who had incidentally come to visit Duryodhana and Co. Now, this Thrigartha Desha is one of the neighbouring territories of Viraata Desha, and Duryodhana sees this as a chance to grab some vital information from King Sudhanva. So what is King Sudhanva going to tell the gathering? How is the plan going to shape? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bheemasena single-handedly killing Keechaka and the 105 Upa-Keechakas for the alleged misbehaviour of Keechaka towards Draupati (Sairandhri). As all these 106 people are killed overnight without the knowledge of anyone, news spreads rapidly that Sairandhri’s “invisible Gandharva” husbands are solely responsible for this mass killing. This brings both cheer and shivers in people’s minds as Sudeshna calls up Sairandhri to express her opinion. She says that ever since Sairandhri came into the kingdom, all sorts of strange happenings and deaths have been taking place, which is detrimental for the kingdom. Hence, Sudeshna Devi orders Sairandhri to immediately vacate the palace and leave Viraata Desha once and for all. Sudeshna Devi takes this decision hastily because her brother had been killed and this is attributed to Sairandhri’s “invisible” husband. Now Sairandhri has to make a decision whether to leave or not. She still has only one more month of “Agnyaata Vaasam” left, and somehow eleven months have passed by already. Hence, what is Sairandhri going to reply to Sudeshna Devi? Let us witness in today’s episode. 

As Sudeshna Devi instructs thus, Sairandhri replies back politely after a thought – “Oh Sudeshna Devi! I understand your pain of losing your dear brother. However, please note that your brother had to meet this fateful end only because of his wrong act of misbehaving with me. I had already warned you and your brother that if someone harms me or if someone allegedly misbehaves with me, he would be killed on the spot by my Gandharva husbands who are invisible in nature. However, inspite of this warning, if Keechaka had to behave like this, who else is responsible for this mishap other than himself? I had already warned Keechaka too, not to misbehave with me, but he did not pay heed to my words. Hence, Keechaka had to meet a ghastly end to his life. So, how can you squarely blame me for Keechaka’s death? I’m no way responsible for it! However, if you still want me to leave the palace, I shall do so, but if you ask me to leave immediately, where will I go now to seek fortune? Hence, please give me a month’s time and within this time period, I shall leave Viraata Desha completely. I request you to grant me permission to stay here for just one more month and in the meanwhile, I shall seek fortune in some other place!” 

As Sairandhri requests thus, Sudeshna Devi goes into a thought process – “Oh! This lady is quite dangerous! Now if I do not pay heed to her request, maybe some other danger might crop up. Moreover, Keechaka’s death is not her fault. It is his misbehaviour that cost him his life. Even though I had warned him not to touch Sairandhri, he never listened to my words either. Keechaka deserved this end anyway! Hence, let Sairandhri live with her for some more time until she herself wants to leave!” Thinking thus, Sudeshna Devi conveys her decision to Sairandhri that she can continue living here as much as she wants. With this, we come to the end of this “Keechaka-Vadha-Parva”. 

Next, we move into the important “Go-Harana-Parva”. Here, we are going to witness how the cows of Viraata Desha are going to be stolen and how they are going to be recovered. We had commenced with the “Paandava-Pravesha-Parva” and then we moved into the “Keechaka-Vadha-Parva”. Now we move into the “Go-Harana-Parva”, wherein, Duryodhana and Co. are sitting and planning the next course of action. Duryodhana is concerned that the thirteenth year is already going on, and if the Paandavas finish their “Agnyaata-Vaasam” successfully, then they would come back to Hastinapura and claim their Indrapastha kingdom again. Duryodhana wants to somehow stop this from happening and hence, he once again calls up all his aides including Sahuni, Ducchaasana, Karna, etc. for a meeting to plan the next course of action. He somehow wants to find out the whereabouts of Yudishtra and Co. and claim that he had seen them! This would once again lead the Paandavas to the next round of “Vana-Vaasam” isn’t it? 

So for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall formally commence the “Go-Harana-Parva” in the next episode. Stay tuned for an interesting update! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Vallabha (Bheemasena) crushing Keechaka to death with his raw muscle power. This was done as part of a plot planned by both Bheemasena and Draupati to kill Keechaka for his alleged misbehaviour. Since the king did not want to take any action on Keechaka for obvious reasons, Bheemasena took it upon himself to punish him. Of course, Bheemasena had the vengeance burning him upon Ducchaasana for a similar misbehaviour with his wife during the infamous gambling game at Hastinapura, and at that point in time, he was not able to do anything. However now, since that sort of a restriction wasn’t there, Bheemasena decided to teach Keechaka and his detractors a befitting lesson as to what would be the dire consequences if women are manhandled in a wrong way. Thus, Keechaka fell to the ground dead, and subsequently the next day, news started spreading about it. It was widely believed that the five “Gandharva” invisible husbands of Sairandhri (Draupati) had killed Keechaka for his alleged misbehaviour with her! 

Moving on further thus, as Keechaka’s last rites are being prepared the next day, the “Upa-Keechakas” who are the brothers of Keechaka come to know of his death. The “Upa-Keechakas” are 105 in number! This means that Keechaka had 105 brothers, who were as strong and invincible as him. Hearing the story that Keechaka was murdered by Sairandhri’s invisible husbands, they decided to hold Sairandhri responsible for this cold-blooded killing! However, rather than confronting Sairandhri in public, the Upa-Keechakas plan a plot. They decide to attack her straightaway, tie her to Keechaka’s pyre and burn her alive along with Keechaka’s dead body! Thus, without anybody knowing, the Upa-Keechakas rush to the Viraata Desha, catch Sairandhri by her hands and as she squeals aloud helplessly, they lift her up, tie her to Keechaka’s pyre secretly and take it along to the burial ground as a procession. 

As nobody hears Sairandhri’s appeals, it is Bheemasena once again who hears it! In fact, he is the only one to know that such a disaster is happening to Sairandhri again! So what does Bheemasena do now? He quickly thinks of another plan and rushes towards the burial ground. He ensures that he reaches that same burial ground much earlier than the Upa-Keechakas. Thus, as the Upa-Keechakas arrive there, Bheemasena is ready with a huge tree trunk in his hands! Even before the Upa-Keechakas could realize who is standing in their way, Bheemasena unleashes his attack on them! He starts smashing each of the “Upa-Keechaka” brothers with the huge tree trunk and unable to bear the heaviness of it, they start falling on the ground dead! Thus, within minutes, all the 105 Upa-Keechakas are on the ground! With this, Bheemasena releases Sairandhri from the pyre and takes her out of it! This also happens secretly without anybody knowing and with this, all those who had tried to misbehave with Sairandhri are dead! 

As this news starts spreading amongst the kingdom, on one hand, people are happy that all the evil heads are finally starting to roll! However, on the other hand, since these deaths are extremely mysterious in nature, people have a sense of fear in them as well! Meanwhile as Draupati walks free once again, Arjuna comes in the front and enquires what had happened. Brihannala (Arjuna), as we know, is amidst the king’s daughter and her servants and is teaching music and dance to them. Upon hearing what had happened to Sairandhri, Arjuna is shell-shocked! However, he is happy that atleast this time, Bheemasena had come forward to protect her, although feeling bad that he couldn’t do anything at that time, given his role. 

Meanwhile, Sudeshna Devi, who is the queen of Viraata Desha calls Sairandhri for a discussion. She is now terrified that her brother, who was a terror for everyone till now, had been easily killed by Sairandhri’s invisible husbands! Now, Sudeshna decides that Sairandhri is a huge danger for her and her kingdom and decides to send her off! With this intention, Sairandhri is called in, and Sudeshna Devi speaks thus, “Oh Sairandhri! Whatever happened till now with my brothers are extremely unfortunate! With this, I’m now having a huge fear that if you’re staying put here any longer, there would be a huge danger for our entire kingdom! Hence, I order you that you should leave the Viraata Desha kingdom with immediate effect! I do not want you anymore here. You may go somewhere else and seek fortune!” 

As Sairandhri listens to this, tears flow down her eyes! She initially doesn’t know what to reply! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness what Sairandhri’s reply is going to be! Stay tuned for more updates! 🙂 

We’re at an important juncture wherein Bheemasena and Draupati plan a plot to somehow trap and kill Keechaka for his alleged misbehaviour. As Sairandhri (Draupati) represents her case in front of the king of Viraata Desha, he refuses to act on it immediately. Following this, even Kanka (Yudishtra) is on the defensive mode and requests Draupati to adjust and move on, rather than blowing it up and revealing her real identity to everyone. Even though Yudishtra’s words made sense for Draupati, she isn’t quite ready to let go of her anger and frustration. Of course, this is the second time that Draupati had to undergo a similar problem and even if she has five husbands, none of them came forward to defend and protect her! This infuriated Draupati more because, whatever happened at Hastinapura twelve years ago is still fresh in her mind! Draupati isn’t going to forget that infamous episode any sooner! Now as a similar episode happens once again in the form of Keechaka, Draupati wants stern action to be taken and with this, she approaches Bheemasena, who is more than ready to offer help this time. The trap is made and Draupati goes and conveys to Keechaka that she is ready to accept him, and with this, as Keechaka gets convinced, Draupati invites him to the nearby dance room. 

As Keechaka comes inside the dance room, he sees someone lying down on the cot and with this, Keechaka assumes that it is none other than Sairandhri. Hence, Keechaka starts expressing his desire towards her in all forms and tries to touch her. As this happens, the person who is sleeping, suddenly turns towards him, and Keechaka is surprised to see a male lying down, instead of Sairandhri! This male is none other than Vallabha (Bheemasena). As Keechaka sees Vallabha on bed instead of Sairandhri, he gets terribly angry. Vallabha now invites Keechaka for a fight and with this, a fierce one-on-one battle rages between the two. Keechaka did not expect Vallabha to be in the dance room and he was not prepared for a fight at that point in time. However, Vallabha attacks him and Keechaka has no other option but to defend himself! Thus, a huge wrestling fight emerges and at the end, Vallabha proves to be extraordinarily powerful as compared to Keechaka! As Keechaka gives up slowly due to Vallabha’s fatal blows, Vallabha not only blasts Keechaka on to the ground to die, but also starts taking out all his bones, muscles and flesh out of his body, in such a way that there is no trace of Keechaka at all anywhere! 

As Bheemasena does this, he makes sure that nobody traces who killed Keechaka. He takes a bath, applies some sandalwood paste on his body and goes back to his room to sleep. The next morning, news starts spreading that Keechaka is dead! Nobody had a clue as to who killed Keechaka and the way in which he was killed, left a lot of mystery to be pondered about for all of them! This led people to believe that Sairandhri’s “Gandharva” husbands would have been responsible for Keechaka’s death and as they were considered to be “invisible”, nobody can take any action on them! With this, a deep sense of fear also started gripping everyone in the Viraata Desha. People started talking thus, “Oh! It is only after the arrival of these five people and the mysterious woman, all hell started breaking loose! We’ve to be very careful in dealing with these people. If Keechaka can be killed by Sairandhri’s husband, then who else cannot be killed?” Talks like these started surfacing all over the Viraata Desha and upon hearing the news of Keechaka’s death, the queen, Sudeshna is shell-shocked! She had anticipated this to happen and had warned Keechaka not to go near Sairandhri. However, he took a huge risk and this cost him his life! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

We’re at an important juncture wherein Sairandhri (Draupati) is being physically harassed yet another time in the public courtroom – This time by Keechaka at Viraata Desha. Even as Sairandhri sounds an alarm, the king of Viraata Desha is reluctant to take any action on Keechaka, as he is a very powerful and an influencial person in the kingdom. Rather than giving a stern reply to Draupati’s appeal, the king says that he would “investigate” into the matter and then take a call on this! Upon hearing this diplomatic answer, Sairandhri is furious and warns the king of dire consequences for his gross inaction for such heinous crimes happening in broad daylight. She quotes how Draupati had a similar experience at Hastinapura and how the entire kingdom is at a brink of grave danger. As Sairandhri talks about all these, Yudishtra gets a bit alarmed. He realizes that Sairandhri is going a bit too much overboard, which might result in revealing her identity in front of the entire courtroom. Thus, Yudishtra issues a veiled warning to Sairandhri, not to talk any further and instead, just go back to her chamber and mind her own business. Even if this infuriates Sairandhri, she did not have an option but to go back. She realizes that Yudishtra’s words, even though they are harmful to her at that point, are beneficial in the long run. 

As Sairandhri returns back hastily to her room, she issues a curse as she walks along. Sairandhri says thus, “Oh King of Viraata Desha! Whomsoever is responsible for this crime, will be taught a befitting lesson by my five “Gandharva” husbands at some point in time. Maybe this might not be the time they can actually come and attack, but there will definitely be a time wherein their invincibility will be shown to this world!” As Draupati walks back thus, people around her start shaking with fear! Already, many people are feeling that the time from which these six of them entered into the Viraata Desha, all inauspicious things are happening in the kingdom. Moreover, with Sairandhri cursing thus, the fear only adds up even further in all of them! Unable to bare this torture any further, Sairandhri secretly approaches Vallabha (Bheemasena) and cries to him thus, “Oh Bheemasena! Isn’t your blood boiling upon seeing your wife being insulted publicly for the second time? Aren’t you feeling bad upon seeing me suffer like this? If you’re not, then what kind of a husband are you? Why can’t you take some action?” 

As Draupati appeals to Bheemasena thus, Bheemasena makes out a plan quickly. He replies to Draupati thus, “Oh Draupati! I’m just keeping quiet upon seeing all this for two reasons – Firstly, if Yudishtra says something, it is as per the principles of “Dharma” and we’re bound to follow his words. Secondly, if we over-react at this point, we might end up revealing ourselves, and the consequences of that would be another twelve years of Vana-Vaasam and another year of Agnyaata Vaasam. We are almost at the fag end of the Agnyaata Vaasam and it is just a matter of a few more months. Hence, we should be extremely careful here. Of course, I’m not justifying that we should be quiet when such gross “Adharma” is happening. Now let us make a plan – You now go to Keechaka and say that you’re ready to accept him and you’ve changed your mind now. Slowly you draw him into the room where dance and other art forms are being performed and I shall dress like you and lie down at the entrance of that room. You do not come there, but you ask him to come. I shall take care of the rest!” 

This plan excites Draupati immediately and she accepts it. Accordingly, Draupati goes to Keechaka and explains that she had changed her mind and she is now willing to accept him. Moreover, she invites him to the dance room wherein she is waiting for him after a few minutes! Draupati says all these things in a very convincing and in a way wherein Keechaka’s desires are kindled. Keechaka too accepts Draupati’s words, unaware of the dire consequences that he is going to face! Thus, as per the plan, Keechaka comes to the dance room and meanwhile, Bheemasena pulls up a long skirt-like dress upon him, covers himself and sleeps on the floor, in a way that a woman would sleep! Keechaka enters inside the hall and upon seeing a “woman” lying down, he thinks that it is Sairandhri who is lying down there! Thus, Keechaka expresses his desires with all the wrong words possible and tries to touch the person who is sleeping! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness what happened next! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂