We’ve been at an important juncture as part of Day three at Kurukshetra wherein Bhagawan Krishna for the first time gets angry and advances towards Bhishmachaarya, in a bid to put an end to his rampage and also to the entire war as a whole. As Bhagawan Krishna does so, on one hand Bhishmachaarya is very happy that he’s getting an opportunity to be killed by Bhagawan Himself, but on the other hand, Arjuna stops Bhagawan from advancing further. Arjuna reminds Bhagawan of the “Pratignya” that he’s the one who’s supposed to kill Bhishmachaarya and notably, Bhagawan’s “Pratignya” that He will not lift a weapon in this war. Even then, Bhagawan Krishna is ready to sacrifice all these, so as to give an opportunity to His ardent devotee, Bhishmachaarya to attain “Moksha” through His divine hands. However, Bhagawan stops advancing at one stage because of two reasons – Bhishmachaarya’s boon that he is the one to decide when to die, and secondly, Arjuna’s “Sharanaagathi”. Hence, Bhagawan has to balance between all these reasons and decides to retreat from His approach.
With this, the war on the third day comes to an end, with the Kaurava Army having a slight upper edge – Thanks to Bhishmachaarya’s relentless attack, which sent the Paandava army scampering for shelter! Now as we begin the fourth day proceedings, the Kaurava army comes up with the “Vyaana Vyuham” and tries to pierce the Paandava army. Today too, there’s a huge confrontation between Bheemasena and Duryodhana right at the beginning. In fact, the fourth day proceedings commence with “Round two” of Bheemasena versus Duryodhana only and this is one of the marquee events that take place. Now, unlike the previous day when the fight started with the bow and arrow, this time, both of them realize that the only way to neutralize each other is through raw muscle power and through the “Gadhaa-Yuddham”. Accordingly, Bheemasena gets down from his chariot, the moment he sees Duryodhana in front of him. Duryodhana too is prepared today, more than he was yesterday! A huge fight breaks out and Bheemasena brutally attacks Duryodhana, who is also giving a befitting reply to Bheemasena. The entire battlefield at Kurukshetra is looking at this marquee fight with awe! However, as the fight proceeds longer and longer, Bheemasena is proving to be more relentless as compared to Duryodhana! At one stage, Duryodhana gets tired and Bheemasena decides that this is the time for him to capture Duryodhana’s weakness and kill him. Unlike the previous day wherein Bheemasena let Duryodhana get away, he decides that there should be no mercy for Duryodhana today! With this savage resolution, Bheemasena inflicts blow after blow upon Duryodhana and at one stage, Duryodhana is again about to fall on the ground unconscious!
However, this time, things happen quite dramatically on the Kaurava side – As the Kaurava army sees that Duryodhana is slowly drifting towards being killed, Bhishmachaarya immediately sends Jayathrada to protect Duryodhana and to divert Bheemasena’s attention from him. Accordingly, Jayatrada rushes towards Bheemasena and picks up a fight with him. As Bheemasena is in the peak of his anger, he trains his guns towards Jayatrada, and sends him packing within minutes! In the flow, Bheemasena starts wreaking havoc with the Kaurava army, killing fourteen of Duryodhana’s brothers at a stretch! Readers might remember that the Kauravas are 100 in number with Duryodhana being the eldest amongst all of them. As Bheemasena is on rampage mode, he kills 14 out of the 100 brothers of Duryodhana, thus, creating a huge fear in the minds of the Kauravas!
Thus, for the first time during this war, the Kaurava army is starting to understand the meaning of what Bheemasena is capable of! If this goes on like this, Bheemasena is going to single handedly win the battle in no time! It is to be remembered that Bheemasena has taken a “Pratignya” during that infamous gambling day proceedings while Draupati was being publicly molested that he will be the one who will kill all the hundred Kaurava brothers for the heinous act that they did. Hence, for the Kauravas, the worst fears are slowly starting to come true!
As this happens on one side, the war continues to fuel on the other side. Bheemasena’s son, Ghatodgaja arrives at the battlefield, with the request of his father. We’ve to remember this – Earlier when Ghatodgaja was born to Hidimbi and Bheemasena, Ghatodgaja had promised to his father that he will be readily available for any kind of help whenever his father would call him. Thus, the time has arrived for Ghatodgaja to chip in, and here he comes with a massive form! Upon seeing Ghatodgaja itself, the Kaurava army starts shaking with fear, and Ghatodgaja starts destroying a vast section of the Kaurava army effortlessly and easily! If anyone comes in front of Ghatodgaja, he will be killed for fun! Such is the might of Ghatodgaja! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue to witness what kind of havoc did Ghatodgaja unleash and who tried to fight him back from the Kaurava side! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 