Episode # 1174 – Day Eighteen @ Kurukshetra – Sahadeva taunts and kills Sahuni!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the proceedings on Day Eighteen at Kurukshetra wherein Sahuni and Sahadeva came face to face for the first time in the entire war. Till this moment, Sahuni was escaping everybody’s sight, even though he was present in the battlefield. He was dodging the Paandava camp, somehow not being visible to any of the Paandava brothers, including Arjuna. However on the last day, Sahadeva catches sight of Sahuni, who is once again trying to escape. Sahadeva gives a huge warcry to Sahuni, after which he’s unable to run away any further. To add to Sahuni’s woes, Sahadeva kills Sahuni’s son Ulooka in front of his eyes! This infuriates Sahuni, who lets out a cry of frustration. At this time, Sahadeva taunts Sahuni with all the past. He recollects how Sahuni joined hands with Duryodhana, Karna, Guru Dhronachaarya, etc. to kill Abhimanyu in the same fashion. He recollects the past wherein Sahuni was the kingpin behind the entire gambling game episode that took place in the courtroom and taunts him saying that he should have been in the Gaandhaara Desha only! 

Readers might also remember this important point – When Gaandhaari was married to King Dhritarashtra, Sahuni came along with her so as to “be of help” to her because King Dhritarashtra is blind. Gaandhaari had also tied off her eyes once and for all because her husband was blind. Thus, since both of them lacked vision, Sahuni saw this as an opportunity to creep into Hastinapura and wreak havoc. He was very angry that his sister Gaandhaari had to be married off to a blind person, without prior information. The entire onus was on Bhishmachaarya, who never informed the king of Gaandhaara Desha before marriage that King Dhritarashtra was blind. However, after the marriage was fixed, all of them came to know that King Dhritarashtra was a blind person and this irked Sahuni to a great extent! From that moment onwards, Sahuni was under a savage resolution – To wreak havoc at Hastinapura by unleashing his gambling skills and to take revenge on Bhishmachaarya for the blunder that he had done in cheating his sister! So from that time onwards, Sahuni was looking for an opportunity to fuel hatred within the family. Thus, till this moment, Sahuni was like a shadow to Duryodhana in the context of “doing something good” for him, however, what Sahuni had actually done is the opposite – He has ensured that Duryodhana’s life is completely doomed by fuelling hatred against Yudishtra continuously time and again! Sadly, Duryodhana also fell trap to Sahuni’s venomous approach! 

Recollecting all this past, Sahadeva taunts Sahuni that it is only because he came to Hastinapura, the entire family is standing today in the battlefield, trying to kill each other! Sahadeva also says here that it was all King Dhritarashtra’s fault in letting such a traitor live in Hastinapura for this long! A king should know who is whom, when he allows someone to reside in his territory, isn’t it? King Dhritarashtra never judged Sahuni’s intentions! He never thought in his wildest dreams that Sahuni is the kingpin behind the downfall of the entire family! Sahadeva thus continues further – “Oh Sahuni! For all that King Dhritarashtra missed doing in his tenure, I shall complete everything today! You will be history from today, and will pay a heavy price for bringing the entire family to this sad state of affairs! I shall ensure that you’re experiencing the most ghastly death ever! If you have the guts, come and fight with me to save your life!”

As Sahadeva says thus, Sahuni fumes in anger. He immediately goes back to his chariot and gets ready to fight Sahadeva down. A huge battle ensues between the two of them, for the second time within just a few minutes. Initially there was a sword-fight, but that was inconclusive. This is where Sahadeva killed Ulooka and provoked Sahuni more. Now with all these taunts from Sahuni, the anger increases between the two, and a huge war breaks out. Both of them attack each other with arrows initially. However, nothing works out productively! Next-up, both of them attack each other with swords from either side. All the swords get neutralized! Next-up, both of them meet for a round of “Gadhaa-Yuddham” and this also ends in a draw! Finally, a huge one-on-one physical fight ensues between the two of them, and at the end, Sahadeva pushes Sahuni on the ground and stamps his authority over him! Placing his feet on Sahuni’s chest, Sahadeva lets out a huge warcry thus, “Oh Sahuni! Today is your last day in this world! For all that you’ve done to the Kuru Vamsa, you are going to experience a ghastly death under my feet! This should serve as a great insult not only for you, but for your kingdom as well! If you mess up with us, we will mess up with you like this only!” 

Saying thus, Sahadeva tightens his grip upon Sahuni, who still tries to resist – But in vain! Sahuni breathed his last, unable to bear Sahadeva’s strength, and with this, the entire Kaurava army got into a chaos! So for today, we shall understand upto this point and we shall continue this discussion of the aftermath of Sahuni’s demise in the next episode! Stay tuned!

Episode # 1173 – Day Eighteen @ Kurukshetra – Sahadeva Vs. Sahuni – Round one!!!

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!

Episode # 1172 – Day Eighteen @ Kurukshetra – Bheemasena kills Sudarshana (Duryodhana’s only surviving brother)!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of Day Eighteen at Kurukshetra. Here, King Shalya has been crowned as the next “Senapati” of the Kaurava army after the demise of Karna on the previous evening. Thus, the war begins on the morning of Day Eighteen, with Nakula killing several of Karna’s sons, who had survived the previous day of Arjuna’s onslaught. Now, Nakula is on a rampage as he kills all of them one after the other. Similarly, Krita Varma from the Kaurava side, who hasn’t tasted a defeat till date, gets defeated by Nakula and Co. as he runs away from the battlefield, fearing his life. Meanwhile, as Sanjaya comes to the battlefield to find out what is going on, Saatyaki captures him and imprisons him. It is only after Sage Vyaasa explains to Saatyaki that Sanjaya hasn’t come for fighting, but is here to give updates to King Dhritarashtra back at Hastinapura, Sanjaya is released. As all these events keep happening in parallel one after the other, King Shalya is about to show his prowess in the battlefield. 

Moving on further, on the other side of the battlefield, Arjuna is in a huge confrontation with Susharma. Readers might remember that Arjuna is constantly having a fight with the “Trigatthas” or “Samshaktakas” every now and then. Right from the moment Karna came into the battlefield and when Jayatrada was loitering around here and there, Bhagawan Krishna took away Arjuna from Kurukshetra and made him fight with the Trigatthas, headed by this Susharma. Even though Arjuna fights hard, he is not able to eradicate the Trigatthas altogether. On Days Thirteen and Fourteen, for a majority part of the war time, Arjuna was completely absent in the battlefield and this was the time Abhimanyu was also killed. We’ve seen all this earlier. Now, this Susharma is still alive, and he directly comes to the battlefield to fight Arjuna. This Susharma is still alive today because of Yudishtra! During the Paandavas stay at Virata Desha during the “Agnyaata Vaasam” time, Duryodhana, Guru Dhronachaarya, etc. came to fight Yudishtra and Co. upon Susharma’s information that the Paandava brothers are hiding there. During the battle that ensued, Susharma should have been killed by Arjuna. He in fact, captured Susharma alive and was brought in front of Yudishtra. But, Yudishtra thought otherwise – Rather than killing Susharma for allegedly spying on the Paandava brothers’ whereabouts, Yudishtra allowed him to escape. For the heinous crime that Susharma had committed, Yudishtra forgave him and today, this same Susharma is coming once again in front of the Paandava brothers for a war on the Eighteenth Day at Kurukshetra! 

Now again – Arjuna should have finished Susharma during his intense fight with the Trigatthas earlier, but somehow, Susharma kept escaping from Arjuna’s visible sight. Now however, Arjuna is in a savage resolution of not letting Susharma escape like this again and again. He wages an intense one-on-one battle with Susharma and the rest of the Trigattha army, and at the end, Arjuna succeeds in destroying all of them! Susharma also falls on the ground, dead, unable to bear Arjuna’s relentless pursuit against him. 

Meanwhile, as Arjuna kills Susharma and the Trigatthas single-handedly, Bheemasena on the other side is waging a huge battle against Sudarshana, who is Duryodhana’s last surviving brother. An intense “Gadha-Yuddham” ensues between the two of them, but before that, Sudarshana comes with a huge elephant army, knowing that Bheemasna is extremely high on raw muscle power. As Bheemasena sees this, he is also happy because he has got an apt enemy to fight with! We should understand here that just like how Bheemasena is strong with his muscle power, Sudarshana is also well-known for the same prowess. Along with Sudarshana, there are twenty-five thousand foot soldiers for protection on all sides. A huge war breaks out between Bheemasena and Sudarshana’s army! Bheemasena is as usual on a rampage mode, as he single-handedly pierces through Sudarshana’s elephant-army! Arouna a thousand elephants garland Sudarshana’s army and Bheemasena single-handedly kills almost all these elephants by twisting their trunks with his ultra-strong hands! In the process, Bheemasena kills all the twenty-five thousand soldiers single-handedly as well! 

This extreme display of prowess from Bheemasena shocks Sudarshana to bits! He was initially thinking that the huge army would neutralize Bheemasena and he would not have to do anything much! However, the situation now is completely reversed, and Sudarshana is left all alone to defend himself against a rampaging Bheemasena. Finally, Bheemasena brutally kills Sudarshana and with this, all the ninety-nine brothers of Duryodhana are dead! At this time, only a few key warriors are left over on the Kaurava side – King Shalya himself, Sahuni (Duryodhana’s uncle) and Duryodhana himself! So in the next episode, we shall see what happens to the fate of these warriors on the eighteenth day at Kurukshetra! Stay tuned!

Episode # 1171 – Day Eighteen @ Kurukshetra – Sanjaya held captive by Saatyaki!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important conversation going on amidst the battlefield between Duryodhana and Sage Kripachaarya. We’ve of course seen this conversation in a brief as of now as this happens after King Shalya’s demise. This brief summary is first given by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra, to apprise him as to what has happened on the eighteenth day at Kurukshetra. Now as Sanjaya says thus, King Dhritarashtra, as usual, wants him to detail the events one by one. King Dhritarashtra wants to know how his son Duryodhana was killed, who killed him, what was Bhagawan Krishna’s role in it, etc. in detail. Hence, with this note, Sanjaya begins his lengthy accord of the minute-by-minute description of the eighteenth day at Kurukshetra. 

Sanjaya says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Even after Karna’s demise, your son Duryodhana did not relent from his unwanted stance. He still wants to somehow see the back of Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna, which he doesn’t realize that this is never going to happen. His ego has no bounds! He doesn’t understand the reality. Oh King Dhritarashtra! Sage Kripachaarya advises Duryodhana to relent atleast now. However, Duryodhana is in no mood to listen. He is now making King Shalya the next “Senapati” of the depleted Kaurava army. Now, all of them start the eighteenth day war!” As Sanjaya commences his accord thus, on the other side at Kurukshetra, Ashwatthama gives a suggestion to Duryodhana to make King Shalya as the next “Senapati”. As Duryodhana looks around in search of an able personnel to lead the army forward, Ashwatthama advises Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Now that Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, Karna, etc. are not there with us anymore, the next senior-most person in our ranks is King Shalya. He is very experienced and shrewd on the battlefield and I’ve seen that with my own eyes as well. Hence, I feel that King Shalya would be the apt person to take the lead in a crunch situation like this! He has the full potential to turn things around for all of us. Hence, Duryodhana! Please make King Shalya the next “Senapati” of our army!” 

As Ashwatthama says thus, Duryodhana obeys his words. He calls for King Shalya and expresses his interest in making him the next “Senapati”. King Shalya initially is not very keen to take it up, as he already knows the end result of this pointless war. Even then, just because Duryodhana is requesting him to take it up, King Shalya reluctantly accepts Duryodhana’s request and takes over as the “Senapati” of the Kaurava army. Thus, the entire army, under the leadership of King Shalya starts for the war on Day Eighteen at Kurukshetra. Equally on the other side, the Paandava camp is also ready for perhaps, the final assault on the battlefield! As the two rival camps meet each other, the war begins immediately without wasting much time. The battle that King Shalya wages on Day Eighteen is something that is extremely intense in nature. Firstly, the war begins with a direct clash between Nakula (From the Paandava camp) and Karna’s several sons (From the Kaurava side). We know that Karna is no more now, but Karna’s sons are alive. Only one son of Karna was killed by Arjuna on the previous day. But now, there is a huge confrontation between Karna’s sons and Nakula. As the war progresses further, Nakula manages to kill several of Karna’s sons, while the remaining leftover sons run away from the battlefield! 

Meanwhile, as this happens, Krita Varma also loses the battle on the Kaurava side, and he tries to run away from Kurukshetra. Krita Varma has been extremely victorious on the Kaurava side till date, which is quite rare in occurrence. However, Krita Varma too had to flee the battlefield as he loses his elephant too. On the other hand, as a very important event, Sanjaya is getting caught by Saatyaki (From the Paandava side)! We might wonder where Sanjaya came from all of a sudden! Sanjaya had gone to the Kurukshetra battlefield as a reporter to gauge the war situation on Day Eighteen. As Saatyaki spots Sanjaya roaming around in the battlefield, he catches Sanjaya and holds him captive. As Sanjaya is now held captive, the story is not moving forward for King Dhritarashtra for some time. This is because Sanjaya is the one who goes back to King Dhritarashtra to give live updates, isn’t it? In order to clear this deadlock, Sage Vyaasa immediately comes to the Kurukshetra battlefield. He goes straight to Saatyaki and requests him to free Sanjaya from the captive. Upon Sage Vyaasa’s request, Sanjaya is released and he rushes to Hastinapura straightaway without wasting even a single minute of time! 

Thus, with all these important events, the war on Day Eighteen proceeds at a brisk pace, and with this, we shall wait till tomorrow’s episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂

Episode # 1170 – “I repent for all my blunders – But it’s too late now!!!” – Duryodhana replies to Sage Kripachaarya!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of Day Eighteen of the war at Kurukshetra. A depleted Kaurava army is taking on an equally depleted Paandava army after seventeen days of intense battles. All of them are tired of fighting for such a long time and King Shalya leads the Kaurava army this time, in the absence of Karna. Within just hours of the battle commencement, King Shalya is killed by Yudishtra and with this, the Kaurava army starts running amock here and there with a lot of confusion. At this time, Sage Kripachaarya approaches Duryodhana to convince him for a peace pact with Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna atleast now, before it becomes too late. Sage Kripachaarya explains to Duryodhana clearly that it is impossible for the Kaurava camp to defeat the five Paandava brothers because they possess the “Deiva-Balam” in the form of Bhagawan Krishna. Whereas, this is absent completely in the Kaurava camp and this is the reason behind extremely powerful people like Karna, Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya biting the dust! Sage Kripachaarya warns Duryodhana that he is the only one legal heir left alive at this moment as his ninety-nine brothers have died. If Duryodhana also has to die, there will be nobody to succeed the Hastinapura kingdom after King Dhritarashtra! Highlighting all these important points, Sage Kripachaarya wants Duryodhana to relent atleast now, and broker peace with Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna. 

Now as Sage Kripachaarya advises him thus, Duryodhana is silent for a few moments! He doesn’t know what to reply! On one hand, Sage Kripachaarya is a very senior “Maharishi” who is fighting for his cause and hence, he cannot straightaway reject his words. On the other hand, whatever Sage Kripachaarya says is true. His words are golden pieces of advice. So what does Duryodhana do here? Is he going to relent from his stance atleast now? As Duryodhana is silent for a moment, Sage Kripachaarya thinks that this is a good opportunity for Duryodhana to understand the gravity of the situation. After a few minutes of silence, Duryodhana composes himself and says thus, “Oh Sage Kripachaarya! Whatever you’re saying doesn’t seem too appealing to me! If I go and broker peace with Yudishtra now, all of them who are dead right now might be happy. However, this act would constantly keep pricking my conscience. Oh Sage Kripachaarya! You’re saying that all these people who are dead, will be happy if I rule the kingdom by brokering peace with Yudishtra. But I feel otherwise – Had I brokered peace with Yudishtra on Day One itself, none of them would have died, isn’t it? Now that I did not do the peace brokering then and if I’m going to do it now, all those people who are dead will see me as an opportunistic individual, won’t they? All of them will feel that Duryodhana made all of us die and finally he became the king at the last moment, without having the guts to face the battle against Yudishtra and Co.! My conscience also will prick me in this way, saying that I’ve unnecessarily given all my brothers, friends and relatives in sacrifice to become a king! Thus, Oh Kripachaarya! I understand what you’re saying too! I agree with your words. However, think from my perspective as well – If I broker peace now, the world will view me as an opportunistic person who is merely hungry for power and nothing more! People will say that Duryodhana can do anything and everything to grab power! I do not want to live with this name in this world!”

Saying thus, Duryodhana continues further with a very important confession – “Oh Sage Kripachaarya! Having said thus, please do not think that I’m ignoring your words. I know that you’re advising me on the right path. But now it is too late! If I look back at what I’ve done in my past, all those incidents are haunting me now. On that fateful day when the gambling game was played, I cheated Yudishtra. Ducchaasana pulled Draupati by her hair to the centre of the courtroom! He even went to the extent of molesting her in public! Draupati cried helplessly! Her cries haunt me today! I tried to burn down the Paandavas in the “Laaksha Griham” and that fire is now burning me down! I tried to kill Bheemasena with poison, and now that poison is coming and haunting me! Abhimanyu was killed in an “Adharmic” way by all of us on the battlefield a few days ago when he was completely weaponless. All of us teamed up to attack Abhimanyu from his back, which was against “Yuddha-Neethi”. All of us beat him down his waist, which is against “Yuddha-Neethi”. All these instances are coming back to my memory and haunting me! Hence, Oh Kripachaarya! After doing all these blunders in my life, I do not want to live in this world any further! I repent for all my mistakes. The best way to go about it from now on is to continue the fight and get killed in this battle. After losing all my relatives, friends and brothers, there is no point in ruling this Hastinapura kingdom anymore! Hence, I’m firm in my stance that I’ll continue to fight this war, even though I know that I’m going to be killed. Let it happen!” 

Saying thus, Duryodhana sheds tears to Sage Kripachaarya. Till now we’ve seen the “Samkshepam” of how Day Eighteen proceeded forward. But now, before we go into the marquee battle, we shall first witness what happened to King Shalya and how he was killed. We shall commence this discussion in detail in the next episode! Stay tuned!

Episode # 1169 – Day Eighteen @ Kurukshetra – “Even now it is not too late!” – Sage Kripachaarya advises Duryodhana to relent!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sanjaya giving his customary prelude to King Dhritarashtra about Duryodhana’s demise and how Bheemasena killed him. This comes at the beginning of the “Shalya Parva”, which also marks the beginning of the eighteenth day of the Kurukshetra war. As Sanjaya sees through the eighteenth day proceedings, he is shell-shocked to see how people were fighting with each other randomly! Whoever got a sword in hand, started to attack the others and it was a complete chaos at Kurukshetra! Finally as King Shalya was killed, Duryodhana got inside a huge lake and with his “Maya-Shakti”, he went deep inside it and sat there without coming out! Finally when he comes out, a huge war breaks out between Bheemasena and Duryodhana at a one-on-one level with the “Gadha” and finally Bheemasena manages to kill Duryodhana. This marks the end of the 18-day-long battle at Kurukshetra. Thus, at the end, hardly six people survive in the Paandava camp and three of them survive on the other side! 

As Sanjaya conveys the facts of the matter in a brief, King Dhritarashtra could not take the bad news! He faints on his chair upon hearing that his son Duryodhana is no more! Upon comforting himself once again, King Dhritarashtra tells Sanjaya with a choked voice thus, “Oh Sanjaya! I don’t know what to say any further! My son Duryodhana is no more! Please tell me how Duryodhana was killed. What happened on the eighteenth day of the battle? As King Dhritarashtra asks thus, Sanjaya commences his detailed accord. Till now we’ve only seen the “Samkshepa” (Brief accord) of the eighteenth day proceedings. Now Sanjaya starts his accord from where King Shalya has already been killed. This is because, King Shalya did not last very long and he was killed within minutes after the war had begun on Day Eighteen. Hence, Sanjaya is not going deep into King Shalya’s demise. Now after King Shalya has been killed, there is nobody to lead the Kaurava army. Now, only three people are remaining – Sage Kripachaarya, Krita Varma and Ashwatthama. Sensing the grave danger that is looming large on the Hastinapura kingdom, Sage Kripachaarya now takes the initiative to convince Duryodhana to stop this war from happening any further. Sage Kripachaarya approaches Duryodhana and says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Now that King Shalya is also killed, there’s nobody left to lead the army! Atleast now, isn’t it time that you call off this war? Oh Duryodhana! Please understand one thing – All your ninety-nine brothers have been killed. You are the only one who is left. If you are also killed, who will be the next legal successor of your father, King Dhritarashtra to rule the Hastinapura kingdom? Your entire Kaurava clan has been destroyed! Only you are remaining! This should never happen to a kingdom. Hence, Oh Duryodhana! Please relent from your stance atleast now. If Yudishtra has to be given his due share, please do so and resolve this conflict right away. Look at the long-term happiness and do not get carried away by the short-term gains that you’re striving for!”


Saying thus, Sage Kripachaarya continues further – “Oh Duryodhana! Please think in this way – Do you really feel that the Paandava brothers are single-handedly capable of killing this many people from our camp? Do you think Arjuna is 100% capable of killing Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, and other veterans like Karna? Of course, he has the famed “Gaandeepa” in his hands and he is a great warrior! However, there were several people in our camp who were greater than Arjuna in terms of valour and strength! If all of them are destroyed, please understand that Arjuna is having the “Deiva-Balam” and “Dharma-Balam” with him in the form of Bhagawan Krishna! It is only because of this, the Paandavas are tasting victory every time. Hence, Oh Duryodhana! Even now it is not too late! Please go and patch up with Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna atleast now. Please obtain some “Dharma-Balam” from Bhagawan. He will definitely pay heed to your words of surrender. This is the only way that I can see, through which you can protect your Hastinapura kingdom!” 

Saying thus, Sage Kripachaarya tries to convince Duryodhana to make a “Sandhi” (Peace accord) with Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna. But is Duryodhana ready for it? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned!

Episode # 1168 – “Your son Duryodhana is no more!” – Sanjaya informs King Dhritarashtra!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an introduction to the “Shalya Parva”, which talks about the eighteenth day of the war. Now that Karna has died, the next “Senapati” of the Kaurava Army is going to be King Shalya. So in this “Shalya Parva”, there are three “Upa-Parvas”, starting from “Shalya-Vadha-Parva” wherein King Shalya is going to be killed. He’s not going to last very long as the others like Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya and Karna did. Thus, the very first “Upa-Parva” itself is going to talk about how King Shalya is going to get killed. Subsequently, we are going to see the next “Upa-Parva” called “Hrada-Pravesha Parva” wherein Duryodhana is going to enter into a lake and hide inside it. Third and the final one is the “Gadha-Yuddha Parva” which is going to talk about the “Grand Finale” of this entire Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra – Bheemasena vs. Duryodhana. Both of them are going to engage in an intense “Gadha-Yuddham” and towards the end of it, Duryodhana is also going to be killed. With this, the “Shalya Parva” is going to come to an end. So with this prelude, we shall enter into the main “Shalya Parva” and witness the continuation of what happened after Karna’s demise. 

Now as usual, Sanjaya commences his accord to King Dhritarashtra. We can see this happening during the beginning of every “Parva” that describes the war at Kurukshetra. Sanjaya is the one who is giving the updates of what is happening on the battlefield to King Dhritarashtra, isn’t he? So he says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! As the eighteenth day of the war commences, King Shalya is made the “Senapati” and he leads the army (whatever is left over after seventeen days of heavy destruction). The Paandava army is also equally depleted. However, the five Paandava brothers are as fresh as they were during the first day of the war. During the course of the fight, King Shalya is not able to withstand the intensity and is getting killed by Yudishtra by the afternoon itself! After King Shalya’s demise, the Kaurava army is devoid of a leader! People started fighting with each other randomly and it is a ghastly sight at the Kurukshetra battlefield! Oh King Dhritarashtra! Let me tell you even more a ghastly truth to you – Duryodhana is now left alone to defend himself! Now that King Shalya is also dead, the remaining people who are alive are Sage Kripachaarya, Krita Varma, Ashwatthama and Sudarshana along with Duryodhana himself!” It is to be remembered that Sudarshana is one of Duryodhana’s brothers who has managed to escape all these days during the war. There is one more person by the name Yuyutsu, and he has escaped too! Yuyutsu was not born to Gaandhaari and hence Bheemasena did not want to kill him. As per the pledge, Bheemasena had vowed to kill only those hundred brothers of Duryodhana, isn’t it? Hence, Yuyutsu is not in Bheemasena’s hit-list and he escaped. 

Saying all these in the introduction itself, Sanjaya continues further thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Unable to withstand all these killings around him, Duryodhana got scared for the first time in these eighteen days. He doesn’t have anyone else in the kitty, to take the lead as the “Senapati” anymore. Hence, he decides to hide himself from the rest of the people. Thus, with the help of his “Maya-Bhalam” (Illusionary power), he jumps into a huge lake, goes to the depth of it and sits there without coming out!” As Sanjaya says thus, King Dhritarashtra asks back – “Oh Sanjaya! What happened after Duryodhana jumped into the lake? Did he manage to escape? Is he safe now?” As King Dhritarashtra asks thus, Sanjaya doesn’t know how to give an answer. He musters up his courage and says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Duryodhana did come out of the lake upon Bheemasena’s call for a grand “Gadha-Yuddham”. Duryodhana was not able to resist Bheemasena’s call. He came out and had an intense fight with Bheemasena, but in the end, Bheemasena was able to get the better of your son Duryodhana! Thus, Duryodhana died in the hands of Bheemasena and with this, Bheemasena fulfilled his pledge that he had undertaken on that fateful day when the gambling game took place in this very courtroom!” 

Saying thus, Sanjaya continues further thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! The destruction was not restricted only to your son. Others like Shikhandi, Drishtadhyumna, Upa-Paandavas, etc. are also dead! Nobody is alive right now, except for three people on the Kaurava side and the five Paanndava brothers on the other side! This is a complete annihilation that has happened at the Kurukshetra battlefield! Saying thus, Sanjaya could not hold back his tears from his eyes! So with this, we shall conclude Sanjaya’s introduction to the “Shalya Parva” and in the next episode, we shall continue witnessing what happened during the eighteenth day of the war in detail! Stay tuned!

Episode # 1167 – The all-important “Shalya Parva” – An Overview!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna coming back to the tent victoriously after defeating and killing Karna. With Karna’s demise, the war on the seventeenth day at Kurukshetra comes to an end. On one hand, the Paandavas are celebrating their victory over the great Karna, whereas on the other hand, the Kauravas are mourning Karna’s death. Duryodhana is in a state of irreparable shock and distress over the loss of Karna, who has been his good friend and trusted aide at all times. He could not digest the fact that Karna is no more with him. Same is the case with King Dhritarashtra too – When Sanjaya narrates Karna’s demise, King Dhritarashtra almost collapses and faints on his chair itself. Now Duryodhana is left to fend for himself after his best friend Karna is no more! This shatters King Dhritarashtra completely into pieces! 

Moving on further from this part, we shall now discuss the “Shravana Mahima” for all those people who are listening / reading the “Karna Parva”. Sage Vyaasa says thus, “For those who read this “Karna Parva” with a lot of devotion towards Bhagawan Krishna, they will get the “Punya Karma” which is equivalent of donating a thousand cows, taking bath in the “Punya-Theertham” (Holy water) of the River Ganga, etc. If Brahmanas read through this “Karna Parva” with devotion, they will obtain the “Veda Dhanam” (The greatest wealth of the Vedas). If Kshatryas read through this, they will definitely get victory in whatever pursuit they are in. If the remaining sects of the society read through this “Karna Parva” with devotion, they will be blessed by Bhagawan Krishna with a lot of wealth and “Deha-Aarogyam” (Good physical health and well-being)! Hence, this “Karna Parva” is something that all of us have to read with a lot of devotion. Of course, more than Bhagawan Krishna, Karna is also someone who is an epitome of “Dharma” in several ways. He is well known for his “Dhaanam” and other “Dharma-Kaaryas”. However, the only problem with Karna was that he allied with a wrong friendship and company, and this had to cost his life in the end. Hence, this “Karna Parva” assumes a lot of significance in the entire Mahabharata.

Thus, with this, the “Karna Parva” officially comes to an end. Now as we move into the further proceedings at Kurukshetra, Duryodhana is still not in a mood to relent from his stance and ego. He still wants to have a go at Yudishtra and Co., even after all his brothers and Karna have been killed. It was widely believed amidst the Kaurava Army that after the seventeenth day of the war, Duryodhana would change his ways. However, Duryodhana is still unchanged in his attitude – He now decides to make King Shalya the next “Senapati” after Karna to continue with the war! Now this is one of the biggest embarrassments – On the eighteenth day of the war, when the entire army is tired and bruised, performing a leadership role is not going to be easy! The Kaurava army is already demotivated completely! More than just being demotivated, almost three-fourth of the army has been destroyed during the past seventeen days of the war! Now whatever is left over is something which is very meagre! Hence, King Shalya had to manage with whatever is leftover resources. 

With this, we commence the “Shalya Parva”, which is the main “Parva” here after the “Karna Parva” is completed. Under this Parva, the first “Upa-Parva” itself is “Shalya-Vadha Parva”! From this, it is very clear that King Shalya did not live long enough to put up a fight against the Paandava army. King Shalya knows the outcome of this war already and is just going to fight for the sake of Duryodhana and nothing else. Apart from this Upa-Parva, there are two more. The second “Upa-Parva” is the “Hrada-Pravesha Parva”, wherein Duryodhana is going to sit inside a huge pond. Third one is the “Gadha-Yuddha Parva” wherein Bheemasena and Duryodhana are going to perform an intense “Gadha-Yuddham” with each other, which is going to be the grand finale of the entire Kurukshetra war! So we shall see all these three important “Upa-Parvas” one by one. So for today, let us understand up to this point, with the “Shalya-Parva” overview, and in the next episode, we shall witness what happened post Karna’s demise at the Kurukshetra battlefield on Day Eighteen! Stay tuned!

Episode # 1166 – Day Seventeen @ Kurukshetra – Yudishtra & Arjuna celebrate Karna’s downfall!!!

We’re at a crucial juncture of Day Seventeen at Kurukshetra wherein Karna has breathed his last! The intense battle that lasted for several hours together on the seventeenth day comes to a culmination wherein Arjuna brings down the flag on top of Karna’s chariot, which completely makes the latter lose interest in fighting the war any further. Till that point, Karna was relentless in his approach, even though he internally knew that he was going to be on the losing side. Karna attacked Arjuna with all his prowess, only for everything to be neutralized with Bhagawan Krishna’s timely intervention. This clearly indicates that “Deiva Balam” and “Deiva Sankalpam” were against Karna at all times during the war. Hence, even though Karna had several weapons in possession that could have easily killed Arjuna on any given day, Karna was not able to succeed in his pursuit. Thus finally, with one powerful arrow, an already demotivated and deflated Karna breathes his last as his head is chopped off! This sends shock waves across the Kaurava army, which runs amok and haywire with a lot of confusion and fear! Nobody knows what to do now, as their Senapati has been killed! 

Moving on further thus, amidst the chaos, King Shalya comes back near Karna’s chariot once again. It is to be noted that he had deserted Karna a while ago and he left Karna to fend for himself all alone. Now he comes back to see Karna dead. With teary eyes, King Shalya moves Karna’s chariot with some effort and takes it back to Duryodhana. By the time this happens, the war has already come to an end on Day Seventeen. With a heavy heart, King Shalya takes the empty chariot to Duryodhana’s dwelling place. At this time, Duryodhana doesn’t know that Karna has died. King Shalya reaches Duryodhana’s tent and says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! You seem to be quite upbeat, but I’ve not come here to convey any good news. Rather, I’m going to convey something that can upset you to bits! You can even faint upon hearing what I’m going to tell you! Karna has died! Arjuna has killed him along with Bhagawan Krishna’s help! Karna’s chariot got stuck into the ground and he had to fend himself till the end without much support. Finally, Arjuna got the better of Karna and he killed Karna mercilessly!”

As King Shalya says thus, Duryodhana is stunned! He did not expect this to happen! He was so confident that Karna would turn it around for him single-handedly. Moreover, Karna was the last ray of hope for Duryodhana to somehow get the better of Yudishtra and Co. But now Karna has been killed too, Duryodhana is completely shattered! He replies thus, “Oh King Shalya! Oh Ashwatthama! I think there’s no point in fighting this war any further today! If Karna is not there with us any further, who else on this earth is going to defend me? So let us call off the war for today and we shall come back tomorrow afresh with something else!” Saying thus, Duryodhana instructs the war to be called off for the day from his tent itself. With this, the war on Day Seventeen is also over, along with the “Karna Parva” and the “Karna-Vadha Parva” within it. 

Moving on further, as the war for the day is over, a satisfied Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna make their way to their respective tents. After freshening up for the evening, all of them once again assemble together. Yudishtra is extremely happy with Arjuna’s accomplishment of killing Karna. Yudishtra proclaims thus, “Oh Arjuna! Oh Bhagawan Krishna! On that fateful day when Draupati was publicly insulted and molested in front of everyone, it was Karna who was one of the chief architects for such an “Adharma” to unfold. He was the one who initiated the dialogue with Draupati in asking her to come and sit on Duryodhana’s lap as a “Daasi” (Servant). Today, it gives me immense satisfaction that Karna has got a befitting lesson for what he had committed earlier! Oh Bhagawan Krishna! It is only because of your divine presence with us, Arjuna was able to accomplish this feat. Without you, I’m sure Arjuna would have been powerless and killed by Karna and several others by now. However, your divine “Anugraha” and interventions ensured that victory is ours!” 

Saying thus, Yudishtra hugs both Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna along with him with a lot of joy and satisfaction. This entire episode is being narrated by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra at Hastinapura palace. As King Dhritarashtra hears that Karna has been killed, he lets out a huge cry and literally falls on the ground! Why does King Dhritarashtra cry a lot upon hearing Karna’s demise? It is solely because Karna was the one who stood alongside Duryodhana at all times, wasn’t he? If Duryodhana could trust one person in this world for anything, it was Karna and not anybody else! Thus, if Karna has been killed, who on earth is going to protect Duryodhana anymore? With this thought, King Dhritarashtra almost collapses on the ground! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂

Episode # 1165 – Day Seventeen @ Kurukshetra – KARNA FALLS!!!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the marquee battle between Arjuna and Karna. After the conversation between Karna and Bhagawan Krishna comes to an end, Bhagawan Krishna orders Arjuna not to show any mercy on Karna and continues attacking him relentlessly. This infuriates Karna even more and he retaliates every arrow of Arjuna with counters. At one stage, Karna’s fury knows no bounds and he once again starts attacking Arjuna with several “Asthrams” that he remembers at this point. In return, Arjuna also retaliates with several “Prathya-Asthrams” (Counters to Karna’s “Asthrams”) and the war goes on and on unabated. Infuriated  more, Karna directs one powerful arrow towards Arjuna’s chest and this arrow makes him fall down on his chariot, completely unconscious! As Arjuna composes himself again, in the meanwhile, Karna is trying to re-adjust his chariot’s wheels, so that he could get over it and start fighting again with full force. 

However, even as Karna tries his best, the chariot wheels refuse to come back to the ground in the normal state. This, if it would have been an ordinary day, given Karna’s extreme prowess, he could have lifted the chariot to normalcy single-handedly within minutes! However, now the situation is different – He doesn’t have the “Deiva Balam” with him right now. Bhagawan Krishna is sitting right opposite to him and He’s ensuring that Karna’s prowess doesn’t play a role here in lifting up the chariot. Hence, even though Karna tries his best, he is unable to lift the chariot even for a few inches above the ground. Now in the meanwhile, even as Karna is trying his best, Arjuna regains consciousness after a few minutes and looks at Karna with intense fury. He thinks now that there’s no point in leaving this Karna alive any further. He feels that if he leaves Karna alive for more and more time, this war is not going to come to an end anytime sooner. The only task now in Arjuna’s hand is to somehow finish Karna off as soon as possible. 

Thus, as Bhagawan Krishna is also constantly motivating him from the side, Arjuna’s first task now is to destroy Karna’s flag which is flying high on top of his chariot. Normally in those days, if the flag was destroyed, it meant a lot of demotivation for the warrior who was on that chariot. Hence, Arjuna decides that the only way to bring down Karna’s motivation is to destroy the flag that is over his chariot. We know that the chariot has already got stuck and Karna is already struggling with it. Now Arjuna, with his sharp arrow, targets Karna’s chariot flag and destroys it completely! As the flag falls down, Karna is shocked to bits! This flag destruction signifies a warrior’s loss! Thus, upon seeing his flag falling down on the ground, burnt to pieces, Karna loses his motivation completely to fight any further! 

Finally, Arjuna takes the next sharp arrow, pledges it in front of Bhagawan Krishna and locks it in his Gaandeepa. Arjuna pledges thus, “Oh! If my “Bhakti” towards Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya etc. are true; If my ardent devotion and surrender towards Bhagawan Krishna who is seated by my side at all times is true, let this one arrow go and pierce Karna to death! Saying this aloud in front of everyone, Arjuna releases the arrow. It now travels towards Karna with fire in its tips. As Karna sees this arrow with a lot of power behind it, Karna decides to surrender! He has had enough! He doesn’t have anything more to fight! Thus, the arrow comes and hits Karna on his head, chops it off and puts it on the ground! With this, a great warrior called Karna falls on the ground dead! Upon seeing Karna falling on the ground, Surya Bhagawan is aggrieved! We should remember here that Karna is none other than Surya Bhagawan’s son. Upon seeing his son dead, Surya Bhagawan weeps bitterly, however, this has happened for the good of the world. Indra and the other Devas console Surya Bhagawan and at this point, meanwhile, King Shalya comes back to see what happened! Upon seeing Karna dead on the ground, tears roll down King Shalya’s eyes! 

Meanwhile, the Kaurava army is scampering around with a lot of grief, chaos and confusion as Karna falls on the ground dead! This is a very emotional scene in the Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra, wherein a fierce warrior has been sacrificed for one person’s ego. So for today, let us understand up to this point and let us join hands with everyone to mourn Karna’s demise. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this further! Stay tuned!