In the previous episode, we had witnessed Karna’s heroic battle on Day Seventeen at Kurukshetra. A rampaging Karna defeats Yudishtra in the battle leaving him severely bruised and injured. Unable to bear the onslaught from Karna, Yudishtra quickly leaves the battlefield and goes to his tent to recover from this shocking defeat! Had Yudishtra been in the battlefield for a few more minutes, Karna would have definitely killed him then and there. Similar is the fate with Nakula and Sahadeva as well. Both of them run away from the battlefield, unable to bear Karna’s fiery onslaught! At the same time, Karna single-handedly inflicts heavy damage in the Paandava camp, which leads to a huge panic. Bheemasena and Arjuna are left alone in the battlefield to take care of the Paandava camp. Enraged by Karna’s onslaught, Arjuna wants to give a befitting counter-reply to him, but strangely yet again, Bhagawan Krishna drives Arjuna away from there. Bhagawan Krishna apprises Arjuna that Yudishtra has left the battlefield midway, which is quite unprecedented. Hence, Bhagawan Krishna deputes Bheemasena to take care of the war proceedings and meanwhile takes Arjuna silently away to the tent where Yudishtra is sitting!
Moving on further thus, as Arjuna comes to the tent, Yudishtra is of the assumption that Arjuna has won over Karna and killed him successfuly, and that he is coming to the tent to share the “good news”. It is to be noted here that Yudishtra does not know what is happening on the battlefield as he is away! As Arjuna comes towards him, Yudishtra is also surprised, because Arjuna is not someone who comes back midway, and this is unprecedented as well. Upon seeing Arjuna, Yudishtra asks a series of questions thus, “Oh great Arjuna! I’m so proud of your valour on the battlefield! Have you killed Karna so quickly? If such a thing had happened, it would have been possible only by you, and not by anybody else! I cannot heap more praise than this for the great achievement with which you’ve come here!” Saying thus, Yudishtra heaps praise upon Arjuna, thinking that he has killed Karna already in the war! Upon hearing this, Arjuna doesn’t understand anything! Thinking within himself as to why Yudishtra is talking like this, Arjuna bows down with respect and replies thus, “Oh elder brother Yudishtra! I think you’re mistaken here. I’ve not killed Karna yet. Bhagawan Krishna drove me here to enquire about your well-being. I was apprised by Bhagawan Krishna that you’ve been badly injured and are not keeping well. Hence, we came here in the middle of the battle to ensure that you are alright!”
Upon hearing this, Yudishtra suddenly gets angry, which is quite unwanted at this moment. He shoots back at Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Why did you come in the middle of the battle? I’m a “Kshatrya” and won’t I know how to take care of myself?” Upon hearing this, Arjuna replies back thus, “Oh elder brother Yudishtra! Yes you are right! Now I’m going back to the battlefield and within a few hours I shall come back with the good news that Karna is no more! I shall ensure that I finish him with a fierce battle and the world will come to terms with Arjuna’s prowess today! As Arjuna says thus, Yudishtra suddenly gets irked too much! His anger goes beyond a point and angrily replies back thus, “Oh Arjuna! What are you saying? You’ve been taking several pledges now, and have you lived up to it even once? What is the use of having this big “Gaandeepa” in your hands? Have you done anything with it till now? You’re boasting everytime that you’re the greatest warrior of all times and you can defeat the opposition camp quite easily! Seventeen days have passed, and still you’ve not been able to do anything credibly! Hence, rather than holding the “Gaandeepa”, it is better you give it to Bhagawan Krishna and instead, sit on the chariot’s driver seat and become a charioteer!”
Now, these are some unprecedented and unwanted words of insult that Yudishtra is pouring out on Arjuna! Upon hearing these heated words, Arjuna loses his cool! He replies angrily, “Oh Yudishtra! I’ve taken a pledge that I shall chop off the head of whoever talks ill about my “Gaandeepa”! You do not know the significance of the “Gaandeepa” that I hold! How will you know it? What is your proficiency in warfare? All of us have seen it over the past seventeen days! You are alive because I defended and protected you from all sides. If I or Bheemasena weren’t there beside you, several people would have killed you easily! Now that you’ve insulted and abused my “Gaandeepa” badly, I guess I’ve to live up to my pledge!”
Saying thus, Arjuna quickly pulls up his sharp sword and rushes towards Yudishtra to chop off his head! A huge war of words breaks out between Yudishtra and Arjuna initially and this quickly escalates into a physical fight in no time! Upon seeing this, even Bhagawan Krishna is shell-shocked! He had brought Arjuna here to enquire about Yudishtra’s well-being, but such an unfortunate turn of events happened rather so quickly! Day Seventeen of the war is becoming more and more interesting! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 