We’re amidst a marquee day of the entire Kurukshetra battle (Day Fourteen) wherein there’s a huge showdown between the Kaurava and the Paandava camps. Arjuna is extremely charged and fired up after Abhimanyu’s demise the previous day and he is of a savage resolution to somehow finish Jayatrada by the end of Day Fourteen. With this agenda point clear, Arjuna advances quickly through the Kaurava army, however, Guru Dhronachaarya has set up several “check points” for Arjuna to clear one after the other. Piercing through the army is not going to be an easy task for Arjuna on Day Fourteen as Guru Dhronachaarya has employed multiple “Vyugams” (Designs based on strategic warfare techniques). Unfazed by all this, Arjuna makes his way through and a marquee battle ensues between him and Guru Dhronachaarya to begin Day Fourteen with. It’s a mammoth battle between the two strongest icons and in due course of time, neither Arjuna nor Guru Dhronachaarya are able to take the lead on the other. Upon seeing the time, Bhagawan Krishna suggests to Arjuna that if this dog-fight continues, the main agenda point for the day might be missed out, and hence, Arjuna has to somehow bypass Guru Dhronachaarya and enter the Kaurava army folds through another possible gateway.
Taking cues from Bhagawan Krishna’s important words, Arjuna bows down to Guru Dhronachaarya and moves away from there, even as Guru Dhronachaarya invites him repeatedly to continue the fight! Subsequently, Bheemasena, who is closely following Arjuna from behind, comes in front of Guru Dhronachaarya. If Arjuna is an icon in the bow and arrow technique, Bheemasena is an equivalent in the “Gadha-Yuddham” technique. A huge battle ensues between Bheemasena and Guru Dhronachaarya, wherein Bheemasena destroys eight of the later’s chariots at a stretch within a flash! This makes Guru Dhronachaarya stand on the ground and continue his fight with Bheemasena. Once again, this fight also ends up in a draw, as both of them are impeccable in their warfare approaches!
Thus, as Bheemasena is engaging Guru Dhronachaarya on this side, Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna are entering the Kaurava army from an entirely new direction altogether! This is a well-thought-out plan from the Paandava camp as they know that Guru Dhronachaarya could be a “thorn in the flesh” for them as they try to advance. Hence, if Guru Dhronachaarya can be engaged on one side, Arjuna can look for a possible entry from a different direction. Thus, the plan succeeds as Bheemasena engages Guru Dhronachaarya! Unable to move here or there, Guru Dhronachaarya gets held up in one end and in the meanwhile, Arjuna breaches through the defence of the Kaurava camp and storms into the “Chakra-Vyuga”. The first person who comes in front of Arjuna now is Karna. A fierce battle ensues between the two “brothers”, as Arjuna and Karna exhibit their extreme prowess in several kinds of warfare techniques. Arjuna employs several “Asthras”, only to be neutralized by Karna. In turn, Karna does the same, only to be overcome by Arjuna! Thus, the battle gets fiercer by the minute and at one stage, Arjuna starts dominating Karna. Once again, Bhagawan Krishna signals Arjuna to move forward rather than getting stuck with one person, and with this, Arjuna leaves the place, bruising Karna all over his body!
Now Arjuna once again proceeds forward and the next obstacle comes in the form of King Shalya. As we know from our earlier episodes, King Shalya was supposed to fight on behalf of the Paandavas, however, owing to Duryodhana’s compulsions, King Shalya had to switch sides. Now, King Shalya is putting up a fight against Arjuna, only to be defeated then and there! King Shalya is also bruised heavily by Arjuna and he makes further inroads into the Kaurava camp. Readers should remember here – The ultimate aim of Arjuna today is not to fight with any of these people and kill them, but to somehow trace the whereabouts of Jayatrada and kill him before sunset. Next in the list is Ducchaasana who comes forward to stop Arjuna. He too meets with the same result as the others! Moving forward still, Arjuna comes in direct contact with Duryodhana now. Once again a brief but intense battle ensues between the duo. It is as if Duryodhana was waiting for such a “golden moment” in his life to have a direct encounter with Arjuna, as he throws the kitchen sink at Arjuna! However, Arjuna – As all of us know, is not someone who’s going to shy away from the wrath of Duryodhana! He gives a befitting reply to whatever Duryodhana throws at him, which leaves Duryodhana battered and bruised heavily! At one stage, Arjuna made Duryodhana fall on the ground unconscious! It is to be remembered that Bheemasena also did the same to Duryodhana during the earlier days of the war and now it is Arjuna’s turn to met out the same result to Duryodhana! In the meanwhile, Guru Dhronachaarya is quick to step in and provides a “golden shield” (Protective armour made of gold) to Duryodhana and asks him to continue the fight. Duryodhana does so, but all his “Asthras”, bow, arrows, chariot, charioteer, etc. are completely destroyed by Arjuna within a flash! This leaves Duryodhana only with the golden armour, and with this, he runs away from the battlefield!
Defeating Duryodhana and making him run away, Arjuna marches forward further. By now it is already afternoon and there are only a few more hours left for the day to conclude. Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna have covered only half the distance now! So what do they do now? How are they going to cover the remaining half the distance within a short period of time? Is Bhagawan Krishna going to spin another surprise on Day Fourteen? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 