In the previous episode, we had witnessed Ashwatthama taking yet another initiative to try and convince Duryodhana to relent from his stance. Ashwatthama makes this attempt at a critical juncture wherein almost all brothers of Duryodhana have been killed brutally on the seventeenth day battle. This day is turning out to be a very decisive one wherein several of Duryodhana’s brothers including Ducchaasana have been killed. At the same time, Karna is also at a stage wherein things are going to go downhill for him from here on. Bhagawan Krishna has had enough of this now and He’s slowly going to start unleashing His divine “Leela” to trap Karna into his own “Karma Phalam”. At this time, Ashwatthama approaches Duryodhana for one more round of talks in a bid to convince him that the war has to come to an end atleast now, before it becomes too late. Ashwatthama is also concerned about the dwindling army strength and if Karna loses the battle against Arjuna, there’s nobody who can defend Duryodhana. Ashwatthama wants Duryodhana to broker peace with Yudishtra and seek refuge under Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet atleast now. Ashwatthama assures Duryodhana that Yudishtra will definitely accept the peace pact even now if he is ready to part with the five villages that Bhagawan Krishna initially asked for. Ashwatthama explains that both Duryodhana and Yudishtra can be happy as kings for their own territories if this pact comes to reality.
So now, the ball is in Duryodhana’s court. Will he accept Ashwatthama’s words atleast now? Duryodhana replies to Ashwatthama thus, “Oh Ashwatthama! I completely understand what you say. Your points are very valid, given the context of the situation that I am in right now. However, my mind is not in sync with what you are saying. Oh Ashwatthama! At the beginning of this war, I was steadfast in my stance because everybody was there to defend me from all sides. Now also my mind is not in sync with your words because nobody is there with me right now! Hence, what is the point in relenting from my stance right now? When Guru Dhronachaarya and Bhishmachaarya were there with me, I was very confident that I could win over Yudishtra. However, when both of them are not there right now, if I go to Yudisthra for a peace agreement, what will everybody tell of me? Won’t they make fun of me for letting the entire set of senior people sacrifice their lives and then coming and making the peace agreement? Hence, Ashwatthama! There is no use of me coming for a peace pact right now. Even if I do so, what will I do as a king of Hastinapura when nobody is there around me? Hence, let this war take its own course. I shall keep fighting till there is a logical end to this.”
Saying thus, Duryodhana declines Ashwatthama’s words of advice once again. As Duryodhana says thus, all the kings and warriors who are surrounding Duryodhana appreciate his stance. This happens as there is another bout of war that is happening fiercely between Arjuna and Karna. In between there is a lull for a while and now it again starts with an unprecedented rigour. Karna and Arjuna once again start attacking each other and in this “Adhyaayam” that we’re discussing, Sage Vyaasa is going to describe the “Naaga-Asthra- Prayogam” of Karna, which is almost going to kill Arjuna. We’ve of course seen this as a summary in our earlier episodes, but here we shall look at it in more detail as to how Karna aims for Arjuna’s head, inspite of King Shalya’s advice, and how Bhagawan Krishna is going to save Arjuna by unleashing an important divine “Leela”. We shall wait till the next episode to commence a detailed accord on this! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 