In the previous episode, we had witnessed a huge chaos happening amidst the Pandava camp, wherein Ashwatthama had just unleashed a huge horror. As this is going on, meanwhile, Sanjaya is narrating all these instances to King Dhritarashtra at Hastinapura. As King Dhritarashtra comes to know of what has happened on the eighteenth night, he immediately quips to Sanjaya that what was stopping Ashwatthama from doing this on Day One of the war itself! Without thinking of any consequence of asking such a question, King Dhritarashtra once again exposes his double standards in front of Sanjaya. This very question from King Dhritarashtra clearly shows how biassed he was all these years towards Yudishtra & Co. and how he wanted only his son Duryodhana to prosper every time!
As Sanjaya listens to this question from King Dhritarashtra, he doesn’t say anything for a moment! It is not that Sanjaya is shocked – He knows King Dhritarashtra’s thought process right from the early years, however, Sanjaya is aggrieved of the fact that even after so many disasters have unfolded, King Dhritarashtra is again and again failing to understand “Dharma” and is unwilling to be on the side of it. Mustering up his emotions a bit, Sanjaya now talks to King Dhritarashtra thus, “Oh Raajan (King)! You’ve asked a very important question here – Now let me try and answer this. If at all Ashwatthama would have tried something unethical like this on Day One, he wouldn’t have even survived for a minute! On Day One, Yudishtra and everyone were fresh and bubbling with energy to fight the war. All of them were at their peak of anger upon Duryodhana and they were waiting for this opportunity to give it back to him. Now, instead of fighting the war, if Ashwatthama would have done such a ghastly thing, Arjuna and Bheemasena would have strangled him to death then and there! Oh King Dhritarashtra! Let me tell you one thing clearly – If Ashwatthama fights a direct war with the Pandava brothers, he will not be able to win over them for sure! It is only because of this fear that he has within himself, Ashwatthama has done such an “Adharmic” act of killing people in sleep! Moreover, Oh King Dhritarashtra! Let me tell you one more thing – At the start of the war, all the seniors like Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, Karna, etc. were alive and active. Do you think any of them would have endorsed such a cowardly act? At the beginning of the war, Bhishmachaarya laid down clear rules and regulations before the war commenced. Ashwatthama was also there as part of that meeting. After Bhishmachaarya has defined everything so clearly, will Ashwatthama have the guts to go against his words? Now that none of them are alive, Ashwatthama is acting this way! Moreover, now after eighteen days of fighting, all of them are tired and exhausted. Also, not many people are left! The damage on both sides is extremely heavy. Given this situation, Ashwatthama wanted to use people’s inability and tiredness to his advantage and orchestrated such a heinous crime. Hence, Oh King Dhritarashtra! Please shun this thought that Ashwatthama has done something great! It is purely an act of cowardliness! He has done this out of fear for Yudishtra & Co. on the battlefield. If he really had the guts of fighting the Pandava brothers and seeking revenge on them in the name of his father’s demise, he should have called them for a battle on the nineteenth day! Ashwatthama knows very well that with Bhagawan Krishna’s divine presence, the Pandava brothers are invincible! Hence, the whole episode of this mass murder will go down in history as one of the most deadliest and cowardly acts of a warrior! Now you will see Ashwatthama reaping the consequences of what he has done and that day is not far off!”
Saying thus, Sanjaya continues thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! You’re still not realizing the amount of damage that your bad intentions are creating to your own people! Firstly, your entire “Vamsam” (Generation) is destroyed completely, and you are slowly losing significance amongst the people who are remaining after this ghastly war! Oh King Dhritarashtra! Please try and mend your ways atleast now!” As Sanjaya says thus, he has tears in his eyes. He too becomes emotional upon seeing the fact that King Dhritarashtra is still unrelenting from his stance! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue with this discussion in the next episode as well! Stay tuned!
The Indian Dharma 