In the previous episode, we had witnessed Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna being in the spotlight wherein, Arjuna is in a hurry to advance further into the Kaurava army and Bhagawan Krishna on the other hand is letting the horses of the chariot relax a bit and alleviate themselves from their tiredness! This consumes a good 45-minutes to one hour of time and after this, Arjuna’s onslaught continues and as we’ve seen till now for the past few episodes of Day Fourteen, his vigour is of an entirely different level! Whoever comes in front of Arjuna are bearing the brunt of his renewed aggression, post Abhimanyu’s demise. Arjuna is of a savage resolution to somehow kill Jayatrada and avenge Abhimanyu’s unethical killing in the battlefield on the previous day!
Moving forward thus, Arjuna still has a long way to go and Bhagawan Krishna too realizes that they are not at all close to where Jayatrada is. However, the evening time has set in and there’s no way that Arjuna is going to reach the vicinity of Jayatrada before sunset if this speed of advancement continues. Whichever direction Bhagawan Krishna takes Arjuna, several warriors stand in queue to create a stumbling block. Winning over those warriors might not be a difficult task for Arjuna, but that is not important here. The main agenda for the day is to find out the whereabouts of Jayatrada and to kill him then and there. Still in the queue to cross are Sage Kripachaarya and Krita Varma. Both of them are expert warriors and if Arjuna has to pick up a fight against them, he is not going to reach Jayatrada on time. Hence, it is up to Bhagawan Krishna now to take over with divine intervention! So what does Bhagawan Krishna do here?
As the duo keep advancing further, Bhagawan Krishna charts out a quick plan. He tells Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! It seems we’ve come only half the distance and if we proceed like this, we’re never going to reach Jayatrada’s vicinity before sunset. So let us do one thing – Let us station ourselves in this place only. I shall use my “Chakra-Aayudham” to temporarily block the sun’s rays from coming into the earth. Thus, when the sunlight doesn’t reach us, it is going to become dark and after that, Jayatrada will assume that the war for the day is over and he will be assured that he cannot be killed any further today. Thinking thus, Jayatrada will come towards us and the moment he comes, I shall remove my “Chakra-Aayudham” from its position and the sunlight will be restored! Now he will get trapped and at this time, you may fight with him and possibly kill him!”
As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, Arjuna agrees immediately and both of them keep advancing a bit slowly now. This advancement is just to create an illusion to the Kaurava army, in a bid to hide the secretive plan. As Arjuna advances, the sound of his “Gaandeepa” bow is being heard by Jayatrada at some distance. Upon hearing the thundering sound, Jayatrada quickly realizes that Arjuna has somehow come into his vicinity and is not far off. He shakes with fear and is almost certain now that he is going to be killed by Arjuna before sunset. However, at this point, something on the contrary happens – Bhagawan Krishna immediately thinks of His “Chakra-Aayudham” and it comes in His divine hands. Thus, Bhagawan Krishna lets the “Chakra-Aayudham” and it straightaway goes and stands in between the sun and the earth! Thus, all of a sudden, the entire place becomes completely dark in no time! None of them in the Kaurava camp anticipated such an early sunset! As the fight is going on for the past thirteen days now, everyone precisely knows the time of sunset. However, today, the entire place becomes unusually dark rather quickly!
As this happens, the war has to come to an end due to “bad light”! 🙂 All the warriors start blowing their “Shankam” in a signal to bring the war to an end. Upon seeing this happening, Jayatrada is surprised, and at the same time heaves a huge sigh of relief! The sun has set and with this, Arjuna has lost his “Shapadham” (Pledge). Hence, Arjuna is now going to jump into the fire and kill himself in a while! Thinking thus, Jayatrada’s happiness knows no bounds! He jumps with joy as his plans have worked perfectly in his favour! Thinking thus, Jayatrada dances in joy and celebration as he slowly comes in front of Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna! Jayatrada says to Ajruna aloud thus, “Oh Arjuna! I’m so sorry to see you in such a pathetic state of affairs! Now what are you going to do? Are you going to jump into the fire and sacrifice your life? Please do it! I would love to see this happening right in front of my eyes! Now that the sun has set, you do not have an option to kill me any further, do you? Hence, live up to your pledge now! Let the fire be created in the centre of the battlefield and let the entire Kaurava army including Duryodhana and the others see this spectacle happening!”
Saying thus, Jayatrada keeps taunting Arjuna more and more, even as Bhagawan Krishna is seeing all these and laughing within himself! Arjuna also knows that Jayatrada has fallen into a clear trap laid by Bhagawan Krishna! So he too pretends and plays along with Jayatrada with a sad-looking face! So for today, let us allow Jayatrada to enjoy himself in this situation and in the next episode we shall find out whether this enjoyment of Jayatrada is going to be long-lasting or a short-lived one! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 