In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of proceedings on Day Seventeen at Kurukshetra. We’ve witnessed Ashwatthama making a “last ditch” attempt to convince Duryodhana to broker peace with Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna, however, Duryodhana is still reluctant to accept Ashwatthama’s proposal. Duryodhana is steadfast in his mindset to somehow try and capture Yudishtra till the end, even though several people have warned him that such a thing is never going to be possible for him. Meanwhile, the war continues, and now the direct confrontation of Arjuna and Karna is reaching unprecedented levels. Both of them attack each other with several rounds of “Asthrams”, but everything gets neutralized! The “Surya Putra” is at his best on Day Seventeen, even though he loses his son Virochana to Arjuna. This doesn’t deter Karna and he increases the intensity of his onslaught against Arjuna. In return, the “Indra-Putra” is also determined to have the last laugh over Karna. Now we are going to enter the “Adhyaayam” wherein Karna is going to unleash his last lethal weapon – The “Naaga-Asthram” upon Arjuna. We shall see this in detail as to how Karna did it and how Arjuna is going to tackle it.
As we go into the “Naaga-Asthra-Vaibhavam”, there is an interesting background to it. In our earlier episodes, we’ve witnessed how Arjuna destroyed the “Kaandava Vanam” and Bhagawan Krishna was also there with him. This happened very early in the Mahabharata, wherein all the seniors including Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, etc. decided to give Yudishtra his due portion of the Hastinapura kingdom and Duryodhana reluctantly gave this “Kaandava Vanam” portion to Yudishtra. This was a completely barren land with a lot of poisonous snakes inside it. If Yudishtra has to build his empire here, this forest has to be destroyed. Thus, Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna took it upon themselves to destroy the entire forest area along with all the poisonous snakes within. This area was later built as “Indraprastha” by Mayan and it was an exceptional empire. We’ve seen all this earlier. However, the twist in the story comes here – As Arjuna went on a spree of destroying (burning down) all the snakes with Indra’s “Asthram”, one such snake somehow escaped from Arjuna’s wrath and seeked refuge somewhere else. This snake, known as “Ashwasena” now comes to Kurukshetra battlefield with a resolution of seeking revenge against Arjuna, who destroyed all its family earlier.
Now this is the right time for this snake to seek its revenge. As the Arjuna-Karna war is going on at full throttle, this Ashwasena approaches Karna and says thus, “Oh Karna! I’ve been waiting for so many decades now to seek revenge against Arjuna, who had earlier destroyed my entire family at Kaandava-Vanam. He used Indra’s “Asthram” to burn all of us down instantly. I somehow managed to escape from that place and survive till today. However, I’ve got an agenda to fulfil and I think it can be done through you. Oh Karna! Please take me and pin me on to your bow along with one of your arrows. I shall go towards Arjuna and bite him to death with my poison. With this, both our agendas will be fulfilled – You can also win over Arjuna and I will also be happy that I obtained justice for the decades-old crime that Arjuna had committed!”
Upon hearing this from Ashwasena, Karna is extremely happy and delighted! He was looking for something like this and an opportunity has presented itself beautifully in the form of Snake Ashwasena! So why should Karna let go of this golden opportunity? He immediately replies Snake Ashwasena thus, “Oh Ashwasena! I’m extremely happy and pleased to meet you at this crucial juncture! I was running out of weapons and “Asthrams” to counter Arjuna and now you’ve come from nowhere as a blessing! Please get over my bow immediately and with you, I shall ensure that Arjuna is finished today!”
Thus, Karna takes out his arrow, and Snake Ashwasena coils himself around it. Karna locks the arrow in his bow and he’s ready to employ it over Arjuna. Now Karna has to aim the “Naaga-Asthram” on Arjuna, isn’t it? So how is he going to do it? A critical juncture awaits us in our next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 