In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very critical situation unfolding on the Paandava side, wherein Ashwatthama is on a mad rage in the middle of the night. As everyone is asleep, Ashwatthama enters into the Paandava camp, with a savage resolution of doing cold-blooded murders of not only the Paandava brothers, but also the others who are still alive on their side. In this pursuit, Ashwatthama first comes across Drishtadhyumna, who was sleeping alongside Shikhandi. Mad with rage, Ashwatthama sees this as a perfect opportunity to seek revenge on Drishtadhyumna because he was the one who chopped off Guru Dhronachaarya’s head when he was weaponless on the battlefield. Thus, Ashwatthama decides to met out the same treatment to Drishtadhyumna for the cold-blooded act of murdering his father. With simmering anger, Ashwatthama attacks Drishtadhyumna while he is fast asleep and ensures that he doesn’t wake up at all in the dawn! Even while the helpless Drishtadhyumna requests Ashwatthama to kill him with an “Asthram”, Ashwatthama is in no mood to listen to him. Ashwatthama replies in fury that Drishtadhyumna doesn’t deserve that kind of a death with a divine “Asthram”, which might take him to “Veera-Svargam”. Rather, he brutally murders Drishtadhyumna with his sword and chops off his head!
This cold-blooded murder, not just satisfies his anger, but also motivates him to go for more such murders! Next in line is Shikhandi, who is sleeping in the same tent as Drishtadhyumna. Ashwatthama’s target now is to kill Shikhandi, which is going to be a fairly easy task for him. Shikhandi is not as great a warrior as Drishtadhyumna and hence, with one fatal blow, Shikhandi suffers a painful death! Seeing Shikhandi suffering, Ashwatthama roars with anger thus, “Oh Shikhandi! You played the foul game on the tenth day of the war, along with Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna to kill the great Bhishmachaarya, didn’t you? Now the time has come for you to experience the same pain that Bhishmachaarya experienced on that fateful day!” Saying thus, Ashwatthama throws his powerful sword upon Shikhandi and with this, Shikhandi falls on the ground, dead!
Next in the line is Yudhaamanyu! He too meets the same fate as Drishtadhyumna and Shikhandi! Next in the line of Ashwatthama’s fury are the “Upa-Paandavas”. They are five in number and are the sons of Draupati with each of the Paandava brothers. First amongst the five is Suthasoma. Upon seeing Suthasoma fast asleep, Ashwatthama chops off both his shoulders with his sword! Unable to bear the extreme pain, Suthasoma gets up to see what is happening around him. In fact, he is not even able to get up because of the pain of losing both his shoulders. Even as he tries to get up, Ashwatthama is ruthless. He now chops off Suthasoma’s head, the moment he tries to rise up from his bed! With this, Suthasoma breathes his last! Next in the line is Shataanika, who is Nakula’s son with Draupati. Ashawtthama chops off Shataanika’s head too and brutally murders him. Like this, he brutally murders the remaining three Upa-Paandava brothers as well. Upon seeing Suthasoma and Shataanika being killed, the remaining three brothers try to flee away from the tent. However, Krita-Varma and Sage Kripachaarya are standing at the entrance, guarding Ashwatthama, and according to Ashwatthama’s instruction, both of them stop the Upa-Paandava brothers from escaping outside! As Ashwatthama follows them out of their tents, the three Upa-Paandava brothers are also killed by Ashwatthama!
Thus, with this, seven people have been murdered brutally during the wee hours of the night! As the three Upa-Paandava brothers rushed outside with a lot of crying, everybody in the nearby tents wake up! Meanwhile, sensing danger, Ashwatthama picks up Sage Kripachaarya and Krita-Varma in his chariot and hurries away from that place! A huge disaster has just unfolded and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall continue with this discussion in the next episode, to witness how this disaster is going to reflect upon the others in the Paandava camp! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 