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! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 