In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the proceedings of Day Eighteen, wherein all of Duryodhana’s trusted aides are no longer with him. This includes his uncle Sahuni, Krita Varma and his “Senapati”, King Shalya himself. Dejected and heart-broken thus, Duryodhana doesn’t know what to do at the moment, even as the Paandavas headed by Arjuna and Bheemasena are wreaking havoc amidst the clueless and chaotic Kaurava army. All the remaining warriors in the Kaurava camp are being killed mercilessly by the duo and upon seeing this ghastly sight, Duryodhana could not stand anymore in the Kurukshetra battlefield. He slowly shrugs off, unable to understand what to do next. It is at this point, Sanjaya meets Duryodhana. We’ve seen that when Sanjaya was earlier on the battlefield, Saatyaki had imprisoned him, but later on with Sage Vyaasa’s advice, Saatyaki released Sanjaya. Soon after he is freed, Sanjaya rushes back to Hastinapura and on the way he meets a completely dejected Duryodhana.
At this moment, Sanjaya asks Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! It’s pretty sad to see you in such a state of affairs! Had you listened to my words of advice, such things could have been easily avoided. However, you never wanted to change your attitude even an inch and you stuck to your stand of “Adharma”! It is so painful to see you in such a state! Oh Duryodhana! I’m on my way to Hastinapura to meet your father now. Till this moment, I was imprisoned by Saatyaki and with Sage Vyaasa’s timely intervention, I’ve got myself freed. So what should I convey to your father?” As Sanjaya asks thus, a dejected Duryodhana replies back with a trembling voice – “Oh great Sanjaya! I realize that I’ve done several blunders in my life. However, it is too late to repent now. Nobody is with me and I’m completely orphaned today! So what am I going to tell my father specially? I do not have anything left in this world! I do not have anything to tell my father! Oh Sanjaya! Please tell King Dhritarashtra that I’m no more, and his son Duryodhana has also died in this war along with all the others!”
Saying thus, an emotional Duryodhana walks away in uncontrollable grief! Not knowing what to do, Duryodhana spots a huge lake by the side of the Kurukshetra battlefield and with the power of his “Maya-Shakti”, jumps into the lake and settles down at the bottom of the water table! Now this is what is the main crux of the next “Upa-Parva”, called “Hrada-Pravesha Parva”, wherein Duryodhana hides himself beneath the waters of the huge lake. Unable to trace the whereabouts of Duryodhana, Sage Kripachaarya, Krita Varma and Ashwatthama (The only three remaining warriors on the Kaurava camp) launch a huge search operation to find him out! They are scared whether Duryodhana has also died in the onslaught that is currently happening on the battlefield. However, the three of them, while searching their way through to find Duryodhana’s whereabouts, come across Sanjaya on their way. Upon expressing their concern that Duryodhana is not to be seen anywhere for sometime now, Sanjaya tells the truth – Duryodhana is hiding inside the waters of the lake! As the trio hears this, they immediately rush towards that pond in search of Duryodhana.
Now the situation is three-fold. Firstly, Duryodhana is inside the lake, which we’ve seen now. Secondly, the trio from the Kaurava camp is in search of Duryodhana and meanwhile, Yuyutsu from the Kaurava army rushes to the Hastinapura kingdom to calm things down. The entire kingdom is chaotic at the moment. Thirdly, Yudishtra and the Paandava brothers search the entire battlefield for Duryodhana and, unable to find him anywhere, they return back to their respective tents! So we should remember these three situations firmly in mind as they are important for the future events to unfold! We shall understand up to this point for today and in the next episode we shall continue further! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 