In the previous episode, we witnessed the proceedings of Day Eighteen at Kurukshetra wherein, Bheemasena and Arjuna are on a rampage mode, similar to the previous episode. They are starting off from where they left on the evening of Day Seventeen, wherein Bheemasena is on a killing spree. He is single-handedly neutralizing thousands of elephants, more than ten thousand foot soldiers and in the midst of all these, he kills Sudarshana who was Duryodhana’s last surviving brother. With this, all ninety-nine brothers of Duryodhana are killed single-handedly by Bheemasena, as per the pledge he had taken on that fateful day when the gambling game happened at Hastinapura. Meanwhile, Arjuna kills Susharma, who is the leader of the Trigattha army. Arjuna also destroys the remaining Trigatthas along with Susharma at one go!
As these events are unfolding rather quickly, Duryodhana’s arsenal is only left with one major person – Sahuni! All of us know that Sahuni was the mastermind behind the entire gambling episode, the Paandava brothers are looking out for him right from day one. However, Sahuni has constantly been on the run and he wasn’t very active on the battlefield all these days. Now on the eighteenth morning, Sahadeva spots Sahuni roaming around here and there on the battlefield. Looking at Sahuni, Sahadeva decides that this should be Sahuni’s last day in this world, after all that he has done! As we’ve seen till now, the mastermind is still roaming around freely, while all the others who had no much role during that fateful day are dying left right and centre! With a savage resolution thus, Sahadeva starts chasing Sahuni. Upon seeing Sahadeva coming towards him, Sahuni tries to escape and flee away from the battlefield. At one point, Sahadeva is unable to follow Sahuni, who is extremely swift to escape from that place. Thus, Sahadeva realizes that there’s no point in merely chasing Sahuni, and he has to think of another plan. As Sahadeva rides his chariot swiftly, he sees Sahuni’s son, Ulooka, fighting with the rest of the Paandava army.
Now, Sahadeva calls Ulooka for a battle thus, “Oh Ulooka! What are you doing there, simply fighting with foot soldiers and elephants? If you have the guts, come and fight with me!” Hearing this war cry, Ulooka picks up a fight with Sahadeva! A fierce battle ensues between both of them in front of Sahuni’s eyes. At the end of the battle, Ulooka is being killed by Sahadeva quite easily, as he’s unable to keep up with Sahadeva’s intensity! Upon seeing his son Ulooka dying in front of him, the Soubala Desha’s army (One section of the Kaurava army) started running here and there out of confusion and chaos. Sahadeva goes after the chaotic army and destroys it completely! Now Sahuni is left alone to defend himself! Thus, as Sahuni sees his son Ulooka dying in front of him, he could not withstand his grief and frustration. He thus takes out his sword and comes for a direct confrontation with Sahadeva. A huge battle ensues between Sahadeva and Sahuni as both of them are experts in the usage of swords. As the battle begins, Sahadeva talks to Sahuni as part of his warcry thus, “Oh Sahuni! Why are you sulking now upon seeing Ulooka on the ground? This is the same way you destroyed our Abhimanyu and our rest of the army, isn’t it? Now why are you feeling bad? Oh Sahuni! You are from Gaandhaara Desha (Today’s Afghanistan), which is very far from here. You should have been ruling your country, rather than coming into our territory and fighting. What is your job at Kurukshetra? The moment you gave your sister Gaandhaari in marriage to King Dhritarashtra, your foul play started. It is only because of you, the entire Kuru Vamsa is in this state today! Before you came, everything was fine between King Dhritarashtra and Paandu. But the moment you stepped into Hastinapura, all equations changed. You were the kingpin behind the demise of our entire family! Oh Sahuni! It is not your fault! The blame should squarely on King Dhritarashtra! He should have judged what kind of a person are you, and he should have deported you right on day one! It is all because of King Dhritarashtra’s carelessness, the entire family is in this sad state of affairs today!”
Saying thus, Sahadeva attacks Sahuni with his sharp sword. A huge battle ensues between the two, and for today, let us understand up to this point! We shall continue this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 