In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra obtaining blessings from his Guru Dhronachaarya who is also unfortunately standing on the opposite side. If the war has to be won, Guru Dhronachaarya has to be killed and Yudishtra asks the “Upaayam” to kill him to none other than Guru Dhronachaarya himself. For this, Guru Dhronachaarya explains that even thought there might not be a way for Yudishtra to kill him by any means, there is a different approach that he can follow. We’ve witnessed this approach being described by Guru Dhronachaarya as a clue to Yudishtra. Even though it was a mere hint or a clue, Bhagawan Krishna who is by Yudishtra’s side, makes note of it with a small laugh! He knows how to connect the dots, doesn’t He? Hence, after this, Yudishtra makes his way to Sage Kripachaarya to obtain his blessings. Sage Kripachaarya assures him of victory in this war, however, none of the Paandava brothers would be able to kill him. In fact, as we’ve seen yesterday, amongst the ten survivors after the eighteenth day of the war, Sage Kripachaarya is also one among them. Moving on thus, Yudishtra now comes to King Shalya to obtain his blessings, as King Shalya has been a senior friend to him for a long time. Now what is King Shalya going to say? Let us witness today!
As Yudishtra bows down to King Shalya, he requests thus, “Oh great King of Madra Desha! I seek your blessings and a favour along with it – Of course I know that you are not in a position to fight alongside us in this war because Duryodhana tricked you into his side. However, I foresee an event during the war when Karna will fiercely attack Arjuna at some point in time. When he does so, you try to be Karna’s charioteer and ensure that the intensity of attack on Arjuna comes down. Please ensure that Arjuna does not get killed by Karna! This is my only request I have for you!” As Yudishtra explains thus, King Shalya replies back – “Oh my dear Yudishtra! I shall do whatever you say. I’m indebted to you in many ways and just because I’m unable to fight on your side, please do not take me wrong! I shall ensure that none of you are killed when I’m on the battlefield! Oh Yudishtra! Go now and take your position quickly! Let the war begin! Please fight the war and fight it for the sake of Dharma’s victory!”
Taking cue from King Shalya’s words, Yudishtra turns back and starts his march towards his position. As Yudishtra walks back, Bheemasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva also follow suit and with this, all of them take up their pole positions. Bhagawan Krishna too is all set and the calculations are made in His mind already! With this, the eighteen-day war is going to commence at Kurukshetra and we are still in the first day of the proceedings. Of course Sage Vyaasa has given a huge accord on the war that took place each day here, and he has accurately mentioned who fought with whom at several occasions. We shall not go into too much of details of the war, but of course I shall make a mention of important events and turn of events that took place during these eighteen days. Moreover, what is more important here is the list of various “Vyugams” (Strategies) that both the camps adopted for each day of the war. This will be a great lesson on “Strategic Management” and how the Mahabharata is an exceptional text in describing how a leader should adopt various strategies to ensure success! We shall commence the discussion on the first day of the war proceedings in the next episode, but for today, let us understand up to this point! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 