In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the marquee battle between Arjuna and Karna. After dodging for nearly six to seven days, Arjuna and Karna come in front of each other for one final assault. Both of them are raring to go at each other and as Arjuna arrives in front of Karna, King Shalya tries once again to demotivate Karna and make him mentally weak. Unfazed by such repeated attempts from King Shalya, Karna advances forward to take on Arjuna. The battle commences as both of them exhibit extraordinary prowess with their “Asthras” and arrows upon each other. As the battle goes on, the entire “Aakaasha” (Sky) gets murky with intensity. The “Devas” stop and view this interesting and intense battle between the two of them. As the battle progresses, both of them do not know how to neutralize each other. However, Arjuna quickly thinks of a plan and turns his guns towards Vrishasena, who is Karna’s son. Vrishasena is also a great warrior, however, he had to succumb to Arjuna’s prowess. Upon seeing Vrishasena dead in front of his eyes, Karna’s confidence and motivation starts breaking down into pieces! Unable to bear the separation of his son, Karna breaks down into tears, even as Arjuna is standing in front of him, calling him for a fierce show of strength. Arjuna laments Karna in due course that he also had undergone the same pain when Abhimanyu was killed a few days ago in a ghastly manner, especially when he was weaponless. This taunt re-energises Karna and his ego gets hurt as Arjuna continues to abuse him.
Thus, backing himself up, Karna gets up and gets ready for the ultimate round of battle. A huge war breaks out between the two, with a greater level of intensity now. Karna is pumped up to somehow kill Arjuna, as a token of revenge for Vrishasena’s demise. On the other hand, Arjuna is also pumped up, thanks to Bhagawan Krishna’s constant motivation from the side. Both of them engage in a huge exchange of arrows, even as the “Devas” (Celestial Beings) and the others gather above the skies to watch this marquee event. On one hand, the Devas want Arjuna to win this battle, and the others want Karna to win. So who is going to ultimately have the last laugh? The battle continues further! Karna now decides that normal arrows with high speeds aren’t going to serve the purpose. He turns to some of his powerful “Asthras” that he has in his kitty. One such powerful “Asthra” is the “Naaga-Asthra”, which is extremely poisonous in nature, just like how a snake bite can be! Karna decides that the only way to kill Arjuna is through the “Naaga-Asthra” and he takes out his arrow for this purpose.
Realizing the intensity and the danger in the form of the “Naaga-Asthram” approaching Arjuna, Bhagawan Krishna has to now act fast, yet again. The “Naaga-Asthram” doesn’t have many counter options and hence, Arjuna wouldn’t be able to neutralize it. As Karna is about to release the “Asthram”, King Shalya plays a key part here – In fact, this is the moment that Yudishtra was wanting King Shalya to act swiftly! As Karna is aiming the “Naaga-Asthram” to hit Arjuna’s head, King Shalya mocks Karna and says thus, “Oh Karna! Look at the irony! A great warrior should know the proper methodology to employ “Asthrams”, and you seem to be completely clueless about the same! Does any good warrior aim any “Asthram” on to the head of the enemy? You should instead try and hit Arjuna on his chest and this will create more impact! I’m very surprised that you do not know even this basic lesson. Didn’t Parasurama teach you all these? Maybe he would have taught you, but your “Mandha-Buddhi” (blemish & lack of intelligence) did not grasp it properly from him!”
In fact, the message that King Shalya conveys to Karna is extremely correct! Karna is making a mistake here by targeting Arjuna on his head and King Shalya is rightly pointing out his mistake. However, the way in which King Shalya is putting forth his argument hurts Karna’s ego once again. Irritated by King Shalya’s earlier demotivating narratives as well, Karna fails to grasp this important message hidden in this sarcastic narrative! His ego is being hurt and King Shalya clearly wins this mind-game here! Thus, Karna ignores King Shalya’s words and gives back a mouthful of banter to King Shalya! Now Karna is going to aim the “Naaga-Asthram” on to Arjuna’s head and on the other side, Bhagawan Krishna gets tensed up! He hasn’t probably anticipated Karna to take this “Naaga-Asthram” out of his kitty to attack Arjuna! Now what does Bhagawan Krishna do? He has to act extremely quickly here! Karna is now releasing the “Naaga-Asthram” and is coming towards Arjuna with great speed!
Upon looking at the “Naaga-Asthram” approaching, Arjuna is scared too! He doesn’t have a counter to it, and tells the same to Bhagawan Krishna by once again surrendering to His divine lotus feet, seeking protection! Now the onus is on Bhagawan to protect Arjuna! Stay tuned for the next episode to witness what Bhagawan Krishna is going to do next!
The Indian Dharma 