In the previous episode, we had commenced witnessing the next important event, wherein Ghatodgaja enters the Kurukshetra battlefield for the second time in fifteen days. Initially he had come once and wreaked havoc with the Kaurava army and went back. At that time, Karna was not in the battlefield and the army was being led by Bhishmachaarya. However, now the equations have changed and Guru Dhronachaarya is the leader and Karna is in the battlefield. I’m specially mentioning the name of Karna here for a specific reason, which we will understand as we move further. Thus, as per Guru Dhronachaarya’s words, the war continues post sunset for the first time in fourteen days! We’ve witnessed that Jayatrada was killed before the fourteenth day’s sunset, and post that, there was a short break wherein the mourning of Jayatrada and Duryodhana’s conversation with Guru Dhronachaarya happened. Now, Guru Dhronachaarya has an innovative plan and proposes that the war continues into the wee hours of the night as well. Guru Dhronachaarya plans this to avenge Jayatrada’s demise, and assures Duryodhana that during this night’s war, he will kill yet another “Maharati” from the Paandava camp.
Moving on thus, as we’ve witnessed, from the Paandava side, Ghatodgaja is sent to lead the Paandava army from the front. As we know, Ghatodgaja is a “one-man army” and he doesn’t need anybody’s support! This is Bhagawan Krishna’s idea to send Ghatodgaja in the front, primarily because Ghatodgaja is basically a “Raakshasa” even though he’s fighting for the Paandava camp. As Bhagawan Krishna proposes this idea to Bheemasena, he calls out for his son Ghatodgaja, who had earlier promised that he would be of service to his father at any given point in time if his father calls him. Thus, Ghatodgaja comes to the battlefield, taking the entire Kaurava camp by surprise! A fierce war ensues and none of the Kaurava personnel are able to stand in front of Ghatodgaja’s onslaught! Several “Maharathis” are being casually killed by Ghatodgaja. This sends the entire Kaurava camp into a panic mode and with the way in which Ghatodgaja is toying around, it seems that none of the Kaurava “Maharathis” will be alive by the fifteenth morning!
At this point, there is an important reference which is being made by Sage Vyaasa – All of us know that Karna was not on the battlefield for the first ten days. This is because of his pledge that if Bhishmachaarya is on the battlefield, he would not enter! However, after Bhishamchaarya falls on the tenth day, Karna enters the battlefield from the eleventh day onwards. He wages one-on-one wars with several people from the Paandava camp, but there is no much altercation between Karna and Arjuna till now! Even if Arjuna and Karna come face to face with each other, Bhagawan Krishna is continuously driving Arjuna away from that vicinity! Maybe there might be a few minutes of altercation between the two, but there’s nothing significant that’s happening. Why is Bhagawan Krishna driving Arjuna away from Karna’s vicinity everytime and seemingly avoiding this altercation? There is a fascinating and important reason for this – Karna has the “Indra-Asthram” with him, which he had obtained earlier directly from Indra. If Karna employs this “Indra-Asthra” on Arjuna, there is no way that Arjuna would survive! He does not have an alternative to neutralize Karna’s “Indra-Asthram”. Knowing this, Bhagawan Krishna is purposefully moving Arjuna away from Karna, because if there is a huge altercation between the duo, Karna will definitely employ the “Indra-Asthram” and even Bhagawan Krishna cannot protect Arjuna!
Thus the ploy is this – Bhagawan Krishna sends Ghatodgaja, who is now going to get into a severe altercation with Karna. Unable to withstand the onslaught from Ghatodgaja, Karna will be forced to employ the “Indra-Asthram” on him. Of course, Ghatodgaja will also not be able to escape the wrath of the “Indra-Asthram”, but given the context of the war, Arjuna’s life is more important than Ghatodgaja’s. Hence, this is the greatest sacrifice which Ghatodgaja is going to do for the sake of his father – He is going to take the “Indra-Asthram” upon his chest and sacrifice his life, in order to protect Arjuna! It should be noted that the “Indra-Asthram” can only be employed once and Karna uses it to kill Ghatodgaja. Once this is done, Karna is going to run short of his main “Asthrams” when he is going to face Arjuna for a one-on-one battle!
Yet again, this is an excellent strategy that is being employed by Bhagawan Krishna here, and for today, let us understand up to this point. I’ve given a prelude to the “Ghatodgaja-Vadha-Parva” today, and we shall continue with the in-depth details of it in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 