In the previous episode, we had witnessed a huge discussion being done amidst the Paandava camp, as Bhishmachaarya unleashes his heroics on Day Nine on the battlefield to make them run for their money! Yudishtra asks Bhagawan Krishna the way to move forward in this war and if Bhishmachaarya continues in this fashion for the next one or two days, none of the Paandava brothers and their army is going to sustain the onslaught. Bhagawan Krishna too understands the helplessness of the Paandavas and suggests Yudishtra to go and talk once again to Bhishmachaarya himself to seek guidance as to how to stop his aggression. Accordingly, Yudishtra approaches Bhishmachaarya for the second time to seek advice. We’ve already seen him approaching Bhishmachaarya on the first day of the war before commencement and Bhishmachaarya sending Yudishtra back by saying that the time has not come as yet to reveal certain secrets about his weaknesses. Now that nine days have passed by without any concrete end-result, Bhagawan Krishna feels that the time has come for Bhishmachaarya to reveal a few things to Yudishtra.
Accordingly, Bhishmachaarya too accepts that the time has come for him to reveal a few things, and he says to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I had sent you back on Day One by refusing to share a few pieces of information, but now let me tell you something very clearly – Unless and until I’m there on the battlefield, you cannot taste victory. Even Indra cannot win over me. This is confirmed. However at the same time I’m not saying that you won’t taste success. You will definitely win – But when I’m not there on the battlefield! So now, let me tell you a few pointers with regards to the situation(s) in which I’ll not fight on a battlefield!” Bhishmachaarya says thus,
“Imam me shrunu raajendra sankalpam purva chintitam!
Amangalyam tvajam drishtvaa na yudhyeeyam kadaachana!!”
So Bhishmachaarya says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Even though I’m a great warrior, I have a certain set of rules and regulations / do’s and don’ts for myself when it comes to fighting with people. For instance, if a warrior comes in front of me in a chariot which has a flag that spells doom or negativity, I won’t fight with that person!” Bhishmachaarya continues further thus,
“Ya esha draupado raajan tava sainye mahaa rathaa!
Shikandi samaraamarshi soorasya kavichiinjayaha!!”
Bhishmachaarya says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If a person comes in front of me who has lost his mother or his son, I wouldn’t fight with him. If someone doesn’t talk the truth and if he fakes himself, I wouldn’t fight with him. Similarly if a person is not a true warrior and if he comes in front of me to fight, I wouldn’t fight. I will fight only with a person who is a trained “Kshatrya” with a definitive level of expertise in warfare. Similarly, if a person who is disabled physically comes in front of me, I wouldn’t pick up a fight with him. I won’t fight with women. I fight only with men who have the valour and strength in him. Moreover, there is a person by name “Shikandi”. By birth, he was a female, however, due to certain reasons, she transformed herself into a male!”
Bhishmachaarya continues thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Arjuna has taken a pledge that he will be the one to defeat and kill me. However, if he is alone in his chariot and fighting against me, he will never be able to win over me. However, if Arjuna takes Shikandi along with him in his chariot, I shall refrain from fighting against him and this is the only time wherein Arjuna can hit and defeat me! So try to bring Shikandi to the battlefield as quickly as possible and with this, things will move further for you!”
So for today, let us understand up to this point wherein Bhishmachaarya has revealed an important secret to Yudishtra. Now it is up to Yudishtra to go back and find Shikandi and bring him into the battlefield the next day. How is he going to manage this? An important and interesting accord awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 