We’re at an extremely important juncture of Day Fifteen wherein Guru Dhronachaarya is at his fiery best on the battlefield at Kurukshetra. Right from the word “Go”, he is on a rampage mode and is virtually unstoppable by anybody, including Arjuna. Hence, to combat this huge onslaught, Bhagawan Krishna thinks of an “out of the box” strategy and calls Bheemasena towards Him. With His impeccable eye-to-eye sign language, Bhagawan Krishna makes Bheemasena kill an elephant by name “Ashwatthaama”. After this, Bhagawan Krishna asks Bheemasena to go to the vicinity of Guru Dhronachaarya and shout that he has killed Ashwatthama. Incidentally, since Ashwatthama is also the name of Guru Dhronachaarya’s son, this sends shock waves to Guru Dhronachaarya, as he puts down his weapons and sits on his chariot then and there. Unable to believe Bheemasena’s words, Guru Dhronachaarya now does a gross “Adharmic” act by sending in a powerful “Asthra” that kills around 20,000 foot soldiers of the Paanchaala Desha. This act of Guru Dhronachaarya comes because of his immense anger and frustration that his son is no more!
Even though Guru Dhronachaarya doesn’t believe that Bheemasena could have overpowered his son, he had no other option at that point in time. With this immense grief and frustration, Guru Dhronachaarya commits this gross “Adharma”. Now we might be confused here as to what was so “Adharmic” in Guru Dhronachaarya’s act. We should understand here that if a warrior is employing an “Asthra”, it should be done only against those who have some knowledge about it. The opponent may or may not be able to neutralize that “Asthra”. This is different. But, the “Asthra” should not be employed on foot soldiers, who do not know anything about it. All that they know about is a mere arrow coming from a bow, and a few other weapons like swords, armours, etc. However, these innocent soldiers will be completely unaware of powerful “Asthras” as they aren’t employed normally upon them. Hence, if a powerful “Asthra” is employed upon innocent foot soldiers, it is a gross “Adharma” that a Kshatrya warrior commits and such acts are to be avoided. However, in this case, Guru Dhronachaarya, out of sheer anger and frustration of “losing” his son, employs this powerful “Asthra” upon 20,000 innocent foot soldiers, which is a gross act of “Adharma”. Moreover, is Guru Dhronachaarya a Kshatrya warrior? The answer is “No”! He is a Brahmana. He is not supposed to be on the battlefield at all and fighting wars is not his job. This is yet another huge “Adharma” that he is doing!
As this is happening at the Kurukshetra battlefield, the wind starts to blow in a very unusual fashion. Bhagawan Surya dims his light and he doesn’t want to shine bright as usual. All these happen because of this gross “Adharma” of mass killing by a Brahmana. At this juncture, several great Maharishis assemble at the Kurukshetra battlefield. Notable Maharishis who come here are Sage Vishwamitra, Sage Jamadagni, Sage Kashyapa, Sage Bharadwaja, Sage Vasishtachaarya and Sage Gautama. All these people are well-known for their extreme and intense “Tapas”. Thus, all of them assemble in the Kurukshetra battlefield in front of Guru Dhronachaarya. Now all of them ask Guru Dhronachaarya in unison thus, “Oh Guru Dhronachaarya! Are you even fit to be called as a Brahmana, after the heinous crime that you’ve committed just now? Do you even realize the level of “Adharma” that you’ve committed just now?”
As this happens, Guru Dhronachaarya breaks down then and there! Till now we’ve seen a strong man in Guru Dhronachaarya and we’ve never seen his eyes in tears! Now, Guru Dhronachaarya asks the Maharishis back thus, “Oh great Maharishis! I know I’ve committed this gross “Adharma” and I shouldn’t have done this! However, what other options do I have? My son Ashwatthama is dead! I cannot believe that such a thing has happened, and that too from a person like Bheemasena. How can Bheemasena even think of killing my son in his wildest dreams? My mind refuses to accept this message!” As Guru Dhronachaarya says thus, he weeps bitterly. But this is not going to unfaze the Maharishi team. They again reply to him thus, “Oh Dhronachaarya! It is not the question about whether your son is killed or not. On the battlefield, anything might happen. If you’re unable to bare the separation of your son from you, at that moment itself you’ve become unfit to fight the war any further! Oh Dhronachaarya! Even though you might have taken the weapon in hand and have come to a battlefield as a “Kshatrya”, you’ve proved your “Brahmana” side of yours. Only a “Brahmana” can have the “Putra-Shokham”. A “Kshatrya” is not supposed to have it. Hence, from this moment onwards, you are ineligible to fight the war any further! So please put down all your weapons!”
Now this is a very important phase here – On one hand, Guru Dhronachaarya has to obey the words of the Maharishi team and has to put down the weapons. If he continues fighting henceforth, it would become a gross disobedience to the Maharishis’ words. However, Guru Dhronachaarya is unable to digest the message that his son has been killed. His mind wants to somehow avenge the killer of his son. Thus, this is a clear “Catch-22” situation for Guru Dhronachaarya here! So what does Guru Dhronachaarya do from here on? Is he going to put down his weapons once and for all? Or, is he going to continue avenging his enemies? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 