We’re at the midst of an interesting Day Fourteen of the Kurukshetra war wherein Jayatrada is at the centre of attraction today. By now all of us know that Arjuna had taken a pledge to finish Jayatrada by the end of Day Fourteen, in a bid to seek revenge for illegally killing Abhimanyu in the previous day’s battle. Arjuna is in a savage resolution and to stop him from advancing further, Guru Dhronachaarya arranges the Kaurava army in multiple “Vyugams”. However, Arjuna is resolute like never before and is determined to make early inroads into the Kaurava army and to wreak havoc. A super-charged Arjuna, along with an even more super-charged Bhagawan Krishna storm into the battlefield at Kurukshetra and make their way into the middle – Only to see several layers of the Kaurava army standing in unison to protect one man – Jayatrada! Surprised by the several layers of security, Arjuna requests Bhagawan Krishna to keep riding the chariot more and more towards the Kaurava army without stopping even for a moment. Bhagawan Krishna does the same and whoever comes in front of Arjuna becomes history at that very moment itself!
Moving in further, the first challenge that Arjuna has to face now is none other than Guru Dhronachaarya himself! Without defeating Guru Dhronachaarya, it is nearly impossible for Arjuna to make inroads into the Kaurava army to see Jayatrada. A marquee battle begins between the two of them! This is a spectacle in itself, as Arjuna’s vigour on the battlefield knows no bounds on Day Fourteen! Guru Dhronachaarya on the other side is not an easy enemy to tackle as well! A huge war breaks out between the two as both of them show their extreme prowess with the bow and arrow technique! The contest ends in a draw as both of them do not understand how to win over each other!
Now Arjuna tries different “Asthrams” to neutralize Guru Dhronachaarya’s prowess, however, as all of us know, Guru Dhronachaarya was the one who taught Arjuna most of these “Asthrams” and their “Prayogams” (Usage). Hence, Arjuna’s “Asthrams” are easily being neutralized by Guru Dhronachaarya and yet again, Arjuna is on the backfoot! Meanwhile, time is running out and Bhagawan Krishna is sitting and watching this marquee battle. At one stage, Bhagawan Krishna cautions Arjuna about the time that is left over, and suggests to him thus, “Oh Arjuna! Leave this Guru Dhronachaarya alone today! Let us take care of him some other time. Let us move on from here. If you’re going to continue fighting him now, you’re wasting your time. He is not going to be neutralized today as he is in great vigour! Our today’s target is not him, but someone else, and hence, let us move away from him for the time being!”
As Bhagawan suggests thus, Arjuna replies back – “Oh Bhagawan! If we let him loose now, how are we going to advance further? How do we tackle him if he comes from behind and attacks, just like how he did for Abhimanyu?” For this, Bhagawan Krishna gives a clever reply here! He says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Do one thing! Get down from the chariot, go towards Guru Dhronachaarya and pay your respects to him by bowing down! He will let you go! He will not stop you!” As Bhagawan says thus, Arjuna is both amused and surprised at the same time! However, since Bhagawan is asking him to do it, Arjuna obeys! He immediately puts down his Gaandeepa amidst the fight, gets down from the chariot and starts walking towards Guru Dhronachaarya! This act of Arjuna takes Guru Dhronachaarya by surprise! Because Arjuna has dropped his weapon, Guru Dhronachaarya also reciprocates by dropping down his bow! As Arjuna comes forward, he bows down and pays his respects towards the great Guru! Doing thus, Arjuna tells Guru Dhronachaarya thus, “Oh Guru! I’m hereby saluting you and your extreme prowess in the battlefield! Out of respect, I’m ceasing from fighting with you today and hence I’m moving away from you!”
As Arjuna says thus, Guru Dhronachaarya is puzzled! He doesn’t understand why Arjuna’s demeanour has suddenly changed! Until a minute ago, Arjuna was at his highest level of fury, but now, he has drastically changed! Even as Arjuna bows down to Guru Dhronachaarya, Bhagawan Krishna quickly pulls the chariot, takes him in and starts driving him away! Upon seeing this, Guru Dhronachaarya shouts at Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Continue fighting with me! Don’t run away like a coward!” As Guru Dhronachaarya teases Arjuna thus, Arjuna replies back – “Oh Guru! It’s perfectly fine for a student to give up the fight in front of his Guru and move away! There’s nothing wrong with this!”
Saying thus, Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna flee away from that place swiftly and start looking for another entrance into the Kaurava army! Meanwhile, Bheemasena comes next in front of Guru Dhronachaarya, but with the fury of his Gadha-Yuddham, Bheemasena makes Guru Dhronachaarya run for his money! He destroys Guru Dhronachaarya’s chariot with one blow, which makes Guru Dhronachaarya hop into the next chariot! As he does so, within the next fraction of a second, Bheemasena destroys the second chariot of Guru Dhronachaarya! This makes Guru Dhronachaarya hop on into the third, only to be destroyed by Bheemasena within a flash! Thus in this way, Bheemasena destroys eight such chariots of Guru Dhronachaarya, and at one point, the fight between the two continues with Guru Dhronachaarya standing on the ground! Finally, Bheemasena too leaves from Guru Dhronachaarya’s vicinity after he gives a befitting counter-attack to Bheemasena!
Thus till this moment, the Day Fourteen proceedings at Kurukshetra are almost “neck-to-neck” and things are getting heated up between both the camps! So for today let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 