In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bheemasena unleashing his entire fury upon Ducchaasana and plundering him on the ground! This happens on Day Seventeen at Kurukshetra wherein Bheemasena and Ducchaasana involved themselves in an intense battle with each other. As both of them came in front of each other, all those bad memories of Draupati being molested came flashing in Bheemasena’s mind, even as he was reminded of his own pledge of killing Ducchaasana by his own hands! Thus, enraged with immense anger, Bheemasena was in a savage resolution to take on Ducchaasana single-handedly. Ducchaasana too was determined to fight it out, however, the raw muscle power of Bheemasena was in no match to Ducchaasana’s strength. Eventually, unable to bare Bheemasena’s relentless onslaught, Ducchaasana had to succumb, but the story wasn’t over there itself. Bheemasena seeked revenge by brutally amputating both the hands of Ducchaasana, roaring aloud that these were the same hands which dragged Draupati by her hair and molested her in open public! Unable to bare the extreme pain of losing both the hands, Ducchaasana breathes his last then and there!
With this, Bheemasena roars with anger with a deafening sound, which brings the entire Kurukshetra battlefield to a halt for a minute or two! Duryodhana is stunned to bits, and so is Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna as well! Everybody looks at Bheemasena with a lot of fear, as his fury is unending at the moment! Even as the entire battlefield focuses on Bheemasena, he is now going to do a very ghastly thing which is about to shock everyone even more! As Ducchaasana falls on the ground dead, Bheemasena bends down and tears open Ducchaasana’s chest! Unable to withstand this brutality, blood starts gushing out of Ducchaasana’s body and with this, Bheemasena roars once again thus, “Oh Ducchaasana! Oh Duryodhana! The crime that you had committed against my wife isn’t something that you can scrape through with! Now is the time for you to reap the effects of your crime! Ducchaasana is over! Now it is the turn of Duryodhana to face the wrath next! I shall not let you get away so easily!”
Saying thus, Bheemasena takes a handful of blood from Ducchaasana’s chest and starts drinking it in front of everyone, which stuns people even more! Drinking thus, Bheemasena says – “Oh Arjuna! Oh Bhagawan Krishna! Oh Shalya! Oh Duryodhana! This blood of Ducchaasana tastes so sweet for me, just like the taste of nectar! This blood of Ducchaasana has a special sweetness and taste, which I would not get in any other drink in this world! Oh Duryodhana! Look at your condition now! Ninety-eight of your brothers have died! Only two of you – Sudarshana and yourself are still alive! Whatever happened to Ducchaasana and the remaining brothers of yours, will happen to you as well! The time is not far away! Oh Duryodhana! I might not be an expert in archery like Arjuna or anyone else here! I might not be an expert in employing “Asthras” like Ashwatthama and Arjuna! All I know is to fight through muscle power! Oh Duryodhana! If you really want to win over me, put down your weapons and come and fight with me head-on!”
As Bheemasena roars like this with immense anger, the Kaurava army starts shivering with fear then and there! Nobody knows how to counter Bheemasena’s intense fury at the moment! Upon seeing Ducchaasana being brutally murdered and mutilated like this, Duryodhana faints in his chariot itself! He becomes unconscious – Primarily because he has lost his very close brother Ducchaasana, who stood with him at all times till this date. Also, Duryodhana couldn’t stand the way in which Bheemasena mutilated his brother’s body after killing him! Upon hearing this from Sanjaya, King Dhritarashtra shrieks aloud with utter shock and frustration! How can Bheemasena indulge in such unethical warfare of mutilating someone brutally in front of the entire army? He fumes with anger, even as Sanjaya continues his narration thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! It is now too late for all these lamentings! This was bound to happen anyways! Only time was under question! Had your sons Duryodhana and Ducchaasana not involved themselves in that heinous crime of molesting Draupati, this situation wouldn’t have come! Oh King Dhritarashtra! You never opened your mouth when Draupati and the Paandavas were publicly insulted for no fault of theirs! But now why are you raising your voice and shouting against Bheemasena? So if your son commits a mistake, you wouldn’t ask him, whereas if someone else’s son does, you will have a problem, won’t you? Stop this hypocrisy first and come to terms with reality!”
Saying thus, Sanjaya slams King Dhritarashtra, even as he continues with his narration further. So for today, let us understand up to this point. This seventeenth day is turning out to be extremely fateful for the Kaurava army and we shall continue with this discussion further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 