In the previous episode, we had commenced the proceedings of Day Sixteen at Kurukshetra. Here, Karna has officially taken over as the “Senapati” of the Kaurava camp after Guru Dhronachaarya’s demise. The “Karna Parva” has begun on the note wherein Sanjaya announces Karna’s demise and King Dhritarashtra asks him to narrate event by event which led to Karna’s fate. Thus, the sixteenth day proceedings begin and there are several one-on-one battles that take place simultaneously at the same time. Bheemasena first enters into a direct confrontation with Ashwatthama, which ends in a draw. Subsequently, Arjuna meets Ashwatthama and manages to defeat him, but fails to kill him. Ashwatthama escapes! On the other side, Karna enters into a direct confrontation with Nakula and the latter loses to Karna’s prowess. However, owing to the promise that he had given to Kunthi Devi, Karna lets Nakula escape without death. On the other hand, Ducchaasana enters into a confrontation with Sahadeva and gets defeated. Ducchaasana runs away to safety!
Thus, several key battles mark the beginning of Day Sixteen as we move further into the proceedings. Now it is time for yet another key battle – This time it is going to be a direct confrontation between Yudishtra and Duryodhana, perhaps for the first time in these entire sixteen days of war. As Duryodhana comes in front of Yudishtra, the entire battlefield is looking in awe. All of them are waiting for a marquee battle to commence. Till now we’ve seen Duryodhana fighting with Arjuna and Bheemasena many times and getting defeated. However, for some reason, Yudishtra has been avoiding a direct confrontation with Duryodhana. But today, all the shackles are broken and the duo come in front of each other. As Duryodhana’s chariot advances forward and as Yudishtra sees him, all the past instances run through Yudishtra’s mind – The abuses and insults that he had to bear ever since childhood days, the gambling game instance and how he was abused openly by Duryodhana in front of the entire courtroom, Draupati’s molestation, his brothers’ pledge in front of the Hastinapura courtroom, going on exile, the “Agnyaatavasam” period, etc. This makes Yudishtra charged up to take on Duryodhana.
Thus, a huge battle breaks out between the two. Yudishtra and Duryodhana attack each other with several arrows and “Asthras” but both of them are resilient to all this. However, after a while, Duryodhana starts gaining upper hand, as he continuously thrashes Yudishtra with a rain of arrows. Yudishtra gets wounded very badly in this pursuit, but continues to put up a valiant fight. Now as Yudishtra shows astute resilience, the scene starts to change gradually. Yudishtra takes his sharp sword in his hand and throws it upon Duryodhana from a distance. The sword attacks Duryodhana and penetrates his body deeply! Blood starts flowing all over, and Duryodhana gradually loses his strength to fight! This is the moment that Yudishtra was waiting for. He lets out a huge roar like thunder and attacks Duryodhana even more. Now as Duryodhana is very badly injured, he is unable to counter Yudishtra’s fury. Thus, Duryodhana is about to fall on the ground and as this happens, the entire Kurukshetra battlefield is stunned to bits! How come Yudishtra was able to defeat Duryodhana so easily like this? Everybody in the battlefield is in awe of Yudishtra’s prowess in the war!
As Duryodhana falls on the ground and almost faints, there is a sudden divine voice thundering from above the skies! The divine voice says to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Your fury over Duryodhana is quite understandable. However, the onus of killing Duryodhana lies upon Bheemasena. Do you remember that day of gambling when Bheemasena took a pledge? He thundered in front of the entire courtroom that he would tear Duryodhana into pieces, didn’t he? Hence, as an astute follower of “Dharma”, you should allow your brother Bheemasena to fulfil his long-pending pledge. Hence, it is better to leave Duryodhana in this state and not kill him!” As Yudishtra listens to the divine voice, he understands the situation and leaves Duryodhana without killing. Subsequently, Duryodhana wakes up from his unconscious state and the Kaurava army helps him to get back on his feet once again.
Thus, with this marquee battle, the sixteenth day comes to an end and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall continue this discussion forward into the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 