In the previous episode, we had witnessed a marquee battle emerging between Arjuna and each of the veterans lined up in the Kaurava camp! First in the list was Guru Dhronachaarya! As he picked up a fierce battle with Arjuna, Guru Dhronachaarya couldn’t withstand the relentless pressure inflicted by Arjuna upon him and at the end, he had to succumb! Same was the case with Bhishmachaarya, Sage Kripachaarya, Karna and finally Duryodhana himself! Now comes the interesting part – As Duryodhana succumbs to Arjuna’s prowess, he realizes that there is no point in fighting against Arjuna. Hence, as we had mentioned earlier, Duryodhana has a “Plan B”, wherein he could do something so that he can corner the Paandavas. Now what is he going to do? Let us witness today!
Duryodhana’s plan is very simple here – To proclaim to the world that he has spotted out the Paandava brothers before the “Agnyaata Vaasam” period is over! Now, readers might remember the rule very clearly – If the Paandava brothers are spotted out within this one-year-period of the “Agnyaata Vaasam”, they would have to once again go to the forest for the next twelve years, followed by the thirteenth year of “Agnyaata Vaasam”! Sensing this as an opportunity, Duryodhana wants to use this to his benefit! Now Duryodhana proclaims thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya! Oh Guru Dhronachaarya! Oh Sage Kripachaarya! Listen here! I’ve spotted Arjuna even before the one-year-period of the “Agnyaata Vaasam” is over! Five more days are remaining for the one year period to get over! Now, as per the rule, the Paandava brothers have to once again go to the forest for the next thirteen years! Winning or losing today’s battle isn’t a great thing for me! My sole agenda was to spot these people during this one-year-period, and I’ve successfully done that! Hence, the Paandavas have no way out now! Let them descend back to the forest!”
As Duryofhana claims thus, Bhishmachaarya is quick to revert back! He replies to Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Till today I was thinking that you did not know only the “Dharma”, but today I came to know that you do not know arithmetics too! Oh Duryodhana! Now let me tell you one important finding that I have – I do not know why… But the Paandavas have spent five months more in the “Agnyaata Vaasam”! In other words, the actual stipulated “Agnyaata Vaasam” period for the Paandavas was over five months back, and they had been spending time in the disguised form for more time than required! Oh Sage Kripachaarya! You may please confirm this statement of mine with your knowledge on astrology! There are two “Panchaangams” that we follow – One is according to the path of “Chandra Bhagawan” (Moon) and the other is according to the path of “Surya Bhagawan” (Sun). As per the path of Surya Bhagawan, one year period spans for around 365 days and as per the path of Chandra Bhagawan, one year period spans only for around 352 days! As per my arithmetic, when the Paandava brothers left Hastinapura for the first time, they followed the “Chandra-Panchaangam”, wherein the number of days per year is 352. Now, if they’ve spent twelve years according to this, there will be around 156 days of difference, as compared to the “Surya-Panchaangam”. Now, during the thirteenth year, for some strange reason, they’ve switched over to the “Surya-Panchaangam” and they’ve spent another thirteen days in the disguised form! This accounts to 156+13 = 169 days, which is more than five months than the original “Chandra-Panchaangam” that they started with! Hence, I say that the Paandavas have spent 169 days more than the stipulated time frame in the forest and because of this, their “Agnyaata-Vaasam” period is over long back! Thus, the Paandavas can rightly stake claim on the Indraprastha kingdom and they can officially end their “Vana-Vasam” today!”
This claim from Bhishmachaarya stuns Duryodhana! Now what is his reaction going to be? Is he going to accept Bhishmachaarya’s claim? Or, is he going to stick to his original claim? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 