In the previous episode, we were at an important juncture wherein Bhagadatta was killed. As we’ve seen, Bhagadatta employed the “Vaishnava-Asthram” in a bid to kill Arjuna, however, Bhagawan Krishna intervened at the right time to take it upon Himself. Thus, as the “Asthram” hits Bhagawan Krishna, it gets converted into a garland around His divine neck! Running out of weapons after this, Bhagadatta’s time was nearing to a close and with Bhagawan Krishna’s hint, Arjuna started showering Bhagadatta with his arrows around his eyes, so as to remove the cloth that was giving him good vision. Once Bhagadatta’s vision was disturbed, Arjuna easily had him on his plate! It was a mere cake-walk for Arjuna after that and Bhagadatta couldn’t withstand beyond a point. Eventually, Bhagadatta fell on the ground dead!
Thus, Day Twelve of the Kurukshetra war marks the end of a great warrior who fought valiantly for Duryodhana’s cause. Even though Bhagadatta was extremely powerful, Bhagawan Krishna somehow overcame him with His tricks! This is how Bhagawan Krishna tricked each and every warrior of the Kaurava camp to fall prey for Arjuna and Co. Had Arjuna fought this war all by himself, he would have been killed on day one itself. However, the presence of Bhagawan Krishna makes all the difference here. For Bhishmachaarya’s downfall too, Bhagawan Krishna was the one who plotted it by bringing Shikhandi into the battlefield at the right time. Now, when Bhagadatta came up with the “Vaishnava-Asthram”, Bhagawan Krishna neutralized it. Hence, at every stage from now onwards, we’re going to see Bhagawan Krishna playing the role of a “Master Strategist” to thwart all the ploys that Duryodhana is trying to make! The war is now moving towards a very interesting phase now.
Upon seeing Bhagadatta falling dead on the ground, the entire Kaurava army is shell-shocked! This was not expected from Bhagadatta, who had to succumb to Bhagawan Krishna’s sheer brilliance. As Bhagadatta falls, Arjuna quickly makes inroads into the Kaurava army and start destroying it by killing hundreds of people on the trot with his sharp arrows. This onslaught leads Guru Dhronachaarya to stop the war for the day and both the armies start retreating from each other! Thus, Day Twelve saw a great loss to the Kaurava army in the form of Bhagadatta and also, a major chunk of the Kaurava army got eliminated as well. This leads Guru Dhronachaarya into a deep thought. He realizes that mere fighting one-on-one with the Paandava brothers is not going to be enough. There is more that needs to be done. So he calls Duryodhana and says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! By the way in which this war is progressing, we are never going to win it! The Paandava camp is coming out with several plans and strategies to counter us, but we are just clueless about it! It seems to me that we’re just going and falling prey into the traps laid by Arjuna and Co. Bhagawan Krishna of course is spearheading the entire strategy formulation from their side. With this approach that we’re taking currently, it is virtually impossible to counter Bhagawan Krishna’s brilliance. We need to come up with plans and strategies and should make the Paandavas dance to our tunes!”
As Guru Dhronachaarya says thus, Duryodhana gets angry very quickly! He fumes at Guru Dhronachaarya thus, “Oh Guru! Whatever you’re saying makes me laugh! You are the master strategist and you’re talking as if there’s nothing that you can do in the battlefield against them? This shows only one thing clearly – You do not have the intention to win the battle for me. You are giving into Bhagawan Krishna’s and Arjuna’s games. You are only giving excuses for not going for the kill against them. This clearly shows that you are concerned for them and not for me. Only for a name-sake you’re on my side but within your heart, you are in support of them. This is not expected from a high-profile person like you. Hence, it is your responsibility to somehow come up with a strategy to counter Yudishtra. I somehow want Yudishtra to be captured alive and as I had mentioned before, I want to play the gambling game once again with him and I will send him to the forest once more!”
Saying thus, Duryodhana bursts out in anger upon Guru Dhronachaarya and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to witness what is going to happen on Day Thirteen! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 