The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the meaning of “Shalya-Saarathyam”, wherein King Shalya accepted Duryodhana’s request of charioteering for Karna during the seventeenth day of the Kurukshetra war. King Shalya’s acceptance comes with an important condition – Whatever King Shalya thinks, he would say it to Karna without mincing his words! Duryodhana accepts King Shalya’s condition without knowing the nuances behind it. But the point here is that, King Shalya is going to constantly keep demotivating Karna, instead of motivating him to go for an intense fight. Thus, as the dawn of the seventeenth day arrives, Karna gets into the chariot and is about to lead the army to the battlefield. At this point, there are several bad omens that are appearing in front of Karna, including one of the chariot’s horses tripping and falling on the ground, without being able to get up and proceed further. Upon seeing this, King Shalya cautions Karna thus, “Oh Karna! Look! You’ve started on a mission today, but somehow something is preventing you from proceeding forward. This horse falling down is a very unusual thing that has happened. This shows that you’re going to lose this war today!” 

King Shalya continues thus, “Oh Karna! Please think again – Do you still need to fight Arjuna in this war? Several great kings and warriors around you have died. If you proceed with this war today, you are also going to meet the same fate as them. So I would suggest that you refrain from this war and go away from this battlefield. This would be good for you as well as for the others!” To this, Karna replies thus, “Oh King Shalya! You’ve not seen my prowess till date! Today is going to be a decisive day of this war. The world is going to see how Karna is going to emerge victorious. Arjuna might have been instrumental in killing several great warriors from our side. But today he will have to do a lot of answering for the crime that he has committed so far. My sharp arrows are going to make Arjuna answer a lot of tough questions on the battlefield!” 

As Karna makes this bold statement, King Shalya gets irritated. Normally King Shalya only likes those people who keep praising him. But now, Karna is not praising King Shalya here. He’s proclaiming his own prowess, isn’t he? King Shalya gets irked because of this and replies back thus, “Oh son of a charioteer (Raadheya)! You’re talking so much about Arjuna and how you’re going to win over him. However, the moment you see Arjuna on the battlefield, I know how you will start trembling with fear! If Bheemasena gives you one tight slap on your face, all your teeth will start falling down. After this, will you even be able to talk this way? If Yudishtra and Sahadeva come with their swords near you to fight, you will not be able to withstand them! Oh Karna! All your motivational talks are only off the battlefield! When it matters the most, you will start succumbing to Arjuna’s prowess and I’ve seen this happen several times even in these sixteen days of war at Kurukshetra! Hence, rather than proclaiming and talking so much about yourself, think what is practically possible!” 

As King Shalya says thus, this turns into a huge abuse and an insult for Karna! First of all, King Shalya wantedly addresses Karna as “Raadheya” (Charioteer’s son), upon sitting as a charioteer for him! This itself is a great irony! Moreover, rather than giving motivation, King Shalya is only demotivating Karna from advancing further! By looking at all this, Karna thinks within himself thus, “Oh wow! I should have kept my mouth shut! I shouldn’t have asked Duryodhana to go and talk with this Shalya! He is not only a useless brat, but is also trying to pull me down at every occasion! This is not going to be good for me on the battlefield! If this Shalya is talking like this even before the battle begins, I can’t even imagine how he will talk when the battle is going on intensely!” 

We might be wondering why King Shalya is behaving like this, despite him being a very noble person by heart. Readers might remember this – Before the war commenced, Yudishtra met King Shalya and obtained a boon. Actually, King Shalya should have been on the Paandava camp and unfortunately due to Duryodhana’s smart trick, King Shalya had to go into the Kaurava side. However, Yudishtra had requested King Shalya to purposefully demotivate Karna, in order to make Arjuna win, if such a situation unfolds! Now that situation has exactly come and it is the duty of King Shalya to honour Yudishtra’s request! 

So with this, the seventeenth day proceedings at Kurukshetra commence and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂  

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important moment before the start of Day Seventeen of the war at Kurukshetra wherein Duryodhana is making a pitch to King Shalya to perform the role of a charioteer to Karna. We’ve seen earlier that Karna had requested for an able charioteer, just like how Bhagawan Krishna does the same for Arjuna. Realizing the importance of the role of an able charioteer, Karna suggests King Shalya’s name for the job. Duryodhana too goes with this proposal to King Shalya with a bit of hesitation, and as expected, King Shalya immediately fumes with anger by replying that he wouldn’t even think of being a charioteer for a person like Karna! However, Duryodhana is not an easy nut to crack! He knows the art of convincing individuals, which is very important as a leader. Duryodhana knows that King Shalya will fall for some nice and affectionate words of praise. Hence, Duryodhana praises King Shalya that he’s perhaps the greatest warrior and a strategist of all times, surpassing even Bhagawan Krishna! In other words, Duryodhana heaps praise on King Shalya that he is better than Bhagawan Krishna in terms of crafting and executing strategies as a leader! 

Now the question here is whether King Shalya will fall for this heap of praise from Duryodhana, and as expected, the moment Duryodhana says that he’s better than Bhagawan Krishna, King Shalya’s ego gets a huge morale booster! Till this time, nobody has ever given him such a great compliment! To be praised in a way that he’s better than Bhagawan Krishna Himself, is enough for King Shalya to nod his head and do whatever Duryodhana asks for! Thus, King Shalya replies back – “Oh Duryodhana! Fine! I’m indebted to you and you were the one who saved my life with food and drinks on that fateful day when I was almost dying of hunger! Hence, I’m ready to do whatever you want me to do! If you want me to be the charioteer to Karna, I shall definitely obey your words! However, I only have one condition to make here – Whatever comes to my mind, I shall bluntly tell Karna! I will not mince my words!” As King Shalya says thus, Duryodhana is also fine with it. Of course, it is the duty of a great charioteer to effectively guide the warrior with all the important pieces of advice without mincing his words! The deal is done! Duryodhana succeeds in his attempt of persuading King Shalya to take over as Karna’s charioteer! He comes back to Karna and conveys the happy news as well! 

Now we’ve to understand one very important thing here. We’re going to see what “Shalya-Saarathyam” is. Normally, the duty of a charioteer is to keep motivating the warrior every now and then, so as to increase his confidence and make the attack more intense. Bhagawan Krishna also does this for Arjuna and we’ve seen this several times. Even during the fight between Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya, we’ve seen on several occasions wherein Bhagawan Krishna kept pushing Arjuna to go for a more intense battle. There were three occasions wherein Bhagawan Krishna wasn’t satisfied with Arjuna’s counter attack, and He Himself got down from the chariot to fight with Bhishmachaarya, didn’t He? So, the point here is that, “Saarathyam” (Charioteering) involves giving a lot of “pep talks” and motivation to the warrior. However, when we look into the “Shalya Saarathyam”, things are quite different here with respect to King Shalya! Rather than motivating Karna, King Shalya keeps on saying thus. “Oh Karna! You’re making a bad decision to fight with Arjuna! Please refrain from this battle! You’re not going to gain anything from this! You’re going to die in this battle!  The time at which you’re making a start for the battle is inauspicious!…..” These are highly demotivating talks, aren’t they? Thus, throughout the period of the battle, King Shalya is going to talk like this, so as to demotivate Karna from advancing forward towards Arjuna! This is what we refer to as “Shalya-Saarathyam”. 

So with this prelude, let us commence the proceedings of Day Seventeen of the Kurukshetra battle. As the sun rises in the east, all of them are getting ready to go to the battlefield. Karna readies himself up and gets into his chariot, which has extremely good horses to pull it effortlessly and efficiently. King Shalya also takes his place behind the horses and holds the ropes of the chariot that controls the horses. However, when Karna is about to commence his journey towards the Kurukshetra battlefield, there are several bad omens that start showing up! However, Karna and Co. did not mind any of them and decided to commence the journey. There was an unusual instance wherein one of the horses in the chariot slipped and fell on the ground and was struggling to get up and start running! This is the greatest bad signal for Karna that had shown up! Unmindful of all this, Karna makes a statement thus, “Oh King Shalya! Just witness the war that I’m going to fight with Arjuna today! Arjuna might be extremely powerful! He might be someone who has fought with Bhagawan Shiva Himself and won over Him! However, today is going to be different for him! He’s going to face defeat for the first time in his life! I’m going to ensure that Arjuna is unable to advance towards me for even a single inch!” 

Saying thus, Karna asks King Shalya to proceed forward with the chariot. Now the “Shalya-Saarathyam” is going to commence in full swing! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness this “Shalya-Saarathyam” in detail! Stay tuned! 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the conversation between Sanjaya and King Dhritarashtra. The latter is of the opinion that Bhagawan Krishna should have favoured Karna, rather than Arjuna at Kurukshetra, while the former is against this opinion. Sanjaya slams King Dhritarashtra for being opportunistic and against “Dharma”. He reiterates once again that Bhagawan Krishna will always favour the side of “Dharma” and unfortunately, Duryodhana is on the other side, along with Karna. Hence, there is no point in telling that Bhagawan Krishna should favour Karna. Moreover, Sanjaya also slams King Dhritarashtra that it is all because of his ignorance, the entire country along with several great kings have died on the battlefield today. He singles out King Dhritarashtra for all the mess that had taken place and quickly moves on with the proceedings of Day Seventeen at Kurukshetra. In fact, Sanjaya himself says that he doesn’t want to waste further time in explaining such things, because he would be forced to explain several aspects of “Dharma”, which anyway are going to be rejected by King Dhritarashtra! So what’s the point in explaining all these? 

Saying thus, Sanjaya narrates what happens next at Kurukshetra. We’ve seen that Karna is taking a pledge in front of Duryodhana that he would somehow kill Arjuna during the upcoming battle. This conversation happens during the sixteenth night. However, Karna is of the opinion that he is missing something very important. Karna asks Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! I can single-handedly defeat the Paandavas, but I want something important from you – Just like how Arjuna has an able charioteer in the form of Bhagawan Krishna, I too need one! Amongst all our available resources currently, I feel King Shalya would be the right person to be my charioteer. King Shalya is a very able and a great strategist. Just like how Bhagawan Krishna is effectively guiding Arjuna by taking him to the right places at the right time, I’m confident that King Shalya can also do a similar job for me if he’s my charioteer. Hence, Oh Duryodhana! Please request King Shalya on my behalf to take the role of my charioteer for tomorrow’s battle!” 

As Karna says thus, Duryodhana too feels that his suggestion is wise. However, Duryodhana had a small thought in his mind thus, “Oh! How can I ask King Shalya to do the job of a charioteer? He’s a very senior person and is a great king! Moreover, King Shalya is like a father-in-law for him and how would he go and request King Shalya to ride the chariot of someone else? Anyway, now that Karna has asked for it, we shall go and request King Shalya. Let us see what he says!” Thinking thus, Duryodhana approaches King Shalya and says thus, “Oh Madra Naresh! (King Shalya)! I have a request to be made to you!” King Shalya replies thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Please tell me! I’m ready to do anything for you! To be frank, I should have been representing the Paandava side, but because of the timely help that you did to me on that day, I’m on your side. Hence I’m indebted to you. Please tell me what I should be doing!” 

As King Shalya says thus, Duryodhana now breaks the ice. He says with a slight hesitation thus, “Oh Madra Naresh! The request is this – On the other side, as you know, Arjuna is extremely powerful and this is primarily because he has Bhagawan Krishna as his charioteer and guiding him all the way. Here on our side we only have Karna who can match Arjuna in terms of valour and aggression. However, since Karna does not have an able charioteer like Bhagawan Krishna, he is requesting you to take up that role for tomorrow’s key battle with Arjuna! Will you be interested in taking it up and be Karna’s charioteer?” As King Shalya hears thus, he fumes with anger immediately! He replies angrily to Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Don’t you know who I am and what my status is? I’m someone who is equivalent to Bhishmachaarya and the late Guru Dhronachaarya! Do you want someone of such a stature to be a charioteer, and that too for someone called Karna who is nowhere close to what I am?” 

As King Shalya angrily asks thus, Duryodhana replies politely and with some beautiful words – “Oh King Shalya! I understand your point and I know what your stature is. However, performing the “Saarathyam” (Charioteer) role isn’t something wrong! Moreover, see who Arjuna is having as a charioteer – Bhagawan Krishna is a great king and is ruling a great empire called Dwaraka! If He can do the role of a charioteer, why can’t you? Oh King Shalya! I see you as equivalent or even more powerful than Bhagawan Krishna! It is for this reason I want you to take over this role tomorrow. We should somehow focus on defeating Arjuna and make him run for his money! Hence, I came to you for help! Oh King Shalya! Please understand that this is a role that is going to be extremely important for your great stature!” 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and till this moment, King Shalya isn’t very convinced to be the charioteer for Karna. However, after this convincing effort from Duryodhana, the important question here is whether King Shalya is going to accept Duryodhana’s request or not! Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we witnessed Sanjaya and King Dhritarashtra having a conversation with each other towards the end of the Day Sixteen narration. We’ve seen that Day Sixteen virtually ends in a draw with no significant damages on both sides, even though there were several intense one-on-one battles. At this juncture, King Dhritarashtra is all praise for Karna’s valour and wonders why Bhagawan Krishna is not siding with Karna and instead, siding with Arjuna. King Dhritarashtra also praises Karna for his noble heart and for his unending and stubborn friendship with Duryodhana. Given Karna’s noble qualities like these, King Dhritarashtra feels that it would be apt for Bhagawan Krishna to protect Karna, rather than protecting Arjuna. For this, Sanjaya gives a befitting reply with anger. He says that King Dhritarashtra is the greatest opportunist in this world. He would praise only those who are by his son’s side and not those who actually make an effort to follow the path of “Dharma”. Bhagwan Krishna took the side of the Paandava brothers because they stood for “Dharma”. However, did Karna take the side of “Dharma”? The answer is “No”! If such is the case, how can King Dhritarashtra even think of Bhagawan Krishna coming to Karna’s side? Moreover, Sanjaya recalls all the past happenings – There were so many opportunities for King Dhritarashtra to mend Duryodhana’s ways. Bhagawan Krishna Himself came down to broker peace with advice. King Dhritarashtra ignored Him at that point and now when his son’s life is at stake, he wants Bhagawan Krishna to support him! Saying all this, Sanjaya slams King Dhritarashtra’s attitude left, right and centre! 

Moving on further, Sanjaya explains a beautiful characteristic of a leader. He says to King Dhritarashtra thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! There were so many signs and signals from so many Maharishis and great people. However, you chose to ignore all of them just because you did not like what they were trying to tell you. Moreover, please understand – There will be no “Aaakaasha-Vaani” (Divine voice) at all times to keep warning you. You’ve to pick up clues which come from eminent people who are “Dhaarmikas”. Oh King Dhritarashtra! Whenever you’re intending to take a decision, you should think whether this decision would yield good results in the short-term or in the long-term. As a king, you should be able to think long-term and make decisions accordingly. Long-term decisions might give you some unhappiness in the short-term, but if you’re persistent with it, the long-term will be good and safe for you and for your subjects! In the case of Duryodhana, you were more interested in the short-term happiness and in due course, the long-term sustainability of your Kaurava clan has gone for a toss! If you had taken a decision to be strict with Duryodhana and mended his ways earlier, we would have been war-free by today! But, you missed several opportunities, and now there is no point in blaming Bhagawan Krishna or Yudishtra or any “Aakaasha-Vaani”!” 

Saying thus, Sanjaya fumes further thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Because of you, the entire country has lost several good and able kings and warriors on the battlefield! If you would have taken a long-term view of the problem, such a disaster wouldn’t have happened in the first place! Now that the war is almost coming to an end, there is no point in lamenting why Bhagawan Krishna is not coming towards Karna’s side and protecting him. Why should Bhagawan Krishna even think of doing such a thing? Do Duryodhana and Karna follow even a single iota of “Dharma”? I’ve repeatedly told you – This war is between the sides of “Dharma” and “Adharma”, and hence, Bhagawan Krishna will ensure that the side of “Dharma” will always win, no matter how much Duryodhana tries! Hence, I do not want to waste any further time in lamenting about what had happened in the past. Now let me continue with the narrative of Day Seventeen. Listen to me and understand what conspired at Kurukshetra! My Aachaarya, Sage Vyaasa had given me the divine pair of eyes to explain the proceedings of the war only, and not to answer your questions. If you ask me something at this point, I’m forced to explain several aspects of “Dharma”, which is too late for you to understand and implement right now!” 

Moving on further thus, Sanjaya continues his narrative on what happens next at Kurukshetra. Karna says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! I have a bow that equals Arjuna’s “Gaandeepa”. In today’s battle, I’m somehow going to meet Arjuna face to face. I’m not going to allow him to escape from my vicinity! However, I only have one small request for you. If I’ve to win over Arjuna, I need this from you!” As Karna says thus, Duryodhana is happy and is ready to give anything that Karna wants. So what does Karna require at this point? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we witnessed the proceedings of a gripping Day Sixteen at Kurukshetra wherein there are marquee battles happening on all parts of the battlefield. Ashwatthama gets into direct confrontation with Bheemasena and Arjuna, only to end in a draw. Further, Nakula was defeated by Karna, but left alone. Sahadeva almost wins over Ducchaasana, but he leaves Ducchaasana to escape without killing him. However, after all these battles, the one between Yudishtra and Duryodhana gains a lot of prominence. A fierce battle endures between both of them and towards the end Yudishtra gains a huge upper hand over Duryodhana! With several fatal blows, Duryodhana falls on the ground unconscious and Yudisthra almost has him killed. However, a divine voice is heard from above, saying that it is Bheemasena’s task to kill Duryodhana, owing to the pledge that he had taken at Hastinapura courtroom during the gambling game event. Hence, Yudishtra should let Duryodhana go away for now and the time will come very soon for Bheemasena to have a direct confrontation with Duryodhana yet again. Hence, Yudishtra leaves Duryodhana and moves away from there. 

Thus, with all these events, the sixteenth day comes to a close. All the warriors are tired after a long day, even though there wasn’t much loss to both the camps. Nobody was killed at the end of the sixteenth day and it ended up in a draw on both sides. Thus, during the night of the sixteenth day, all of them sit for deliberations. Amidst the Kaurava camp, Karna is not very happy with his performance for the day. He anticipated Arjuna to come in direct confrontation with him, but somehow this did not happen. Arjuna was busy fighting with Ashwatthama, and even this did not fructify. With a lot of frustration and tension, Karna declares in front of Duryodhana and Co. thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Somehow I missed the target of fighting with Arjuna and killing him today! However, I’ll not relent tomorrow. At the end of Day Seventeen, only one amongst the two of us (Arjuna and Karna) will be alive! I shall definitely kill Arjuna in tomorrow’s battle. I will not let him escape!” 

Meanwhile, as Karna gives this motivating talk to Duryodhana, we shall now shift the scene from the battlefield to the Hastinapura palace where King Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya are sitting together. Upon hearing the entire proceedings of the sixteenth day, King Dhritarashtra laments to Sanjaya thus, “Oh Sanjaya! Karna is a great warrior, but somehow he is the most underrated person amidst our Kaurava camp. He hasn’t got the due recognition that he should have got till now. Even during childhood days I’ve seen the great talent in Karna in terms of warfare, but somehow he was sidelined in every pursuit. Anyway, now that Karna has a huge opportunity to prove his mettle on the battlefield, what happened on the seventeenth day? Did he manage to win the war for Duryodhana? Did he manage to kill Arjuna as he mentioned in his motivation talk on the sixteenth night?”

Saying thus, King Dhritarashtra laments further about Karna thus, “Oh Sanjaya! Look how noble-hearted Karna is! No matter what happens, he stands like a wall with Duryodhana. Isn’t Karna an epitome of friendship? Duryodhana too knows that Karna is his most trusted aide amidst all the others who are around him. Also, Karna is known for several excellent qualities that a king should possess. Given that Karna is such a noble person, I seriously wonder why Bhagawan Krishna is not siding with Karna. Instead, He is everytime roaming around with Arjuna, who doesn’t even have even an iota of such qualities that Karna possesses! Hence I feel that Bhaagwan Krishna is making a great mistake by going along with Arjuna, rather than being with a noble person like Karna!” 

Now this is a very important and a tricky point that King Dhritarashtra is making here! King Dhritarashtra is all praise for Karna only because Karna is his son Duryodhana’s life saviour. If someone acts in favour of his son, King Dhritarashtra would declare that this person is the most noble in the world! How opportunistic can someone be! Upon hearing King Dhritarashtra’s comments, Sanjaya suddenly rages with anger! Till this point he was calm in explaining the proceedings of all the sixteen days to King Dhritarashtra, but the moment the latter makes such comments on Bhagawan Krishna, Sanjaya’s anger knows no bounds! Sanjaya replies back immediately thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Are you an “Aastika” or a “Naastika” by nature? Do you even realize what you’re talking about? If Bhagawan Krishna acts as per your favour, you will say that He’s great, and if He doesn’t do so, you will go to any extent to talk ill about Him! What kind of an attitude is this? When Bhagawan Krishna came to you before the war to broker peace, what did you conspire with me? You asked me if we can give a few villages to Bhagawan Krishna and somehow pull Him to our side, didn’t you? Now, when Bhagawan Krishna is favouring the side of “Dharma”, you’re not having the guts to question your son Duryodhana for all that he has been doing for so many years. Instead, you’ve started blaming Bhagawan Krishna for what is happening!”

Sanjaya continues further thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! There were so many opportunities given to you to mend Duryodhana’s ways. Vidura tried his best to make you understand. I tried it on several occasions as well. Bhagawan Krishna Himself came to talk with you! Even Sage Vyaasa made several trips to Hastinapura to talk with you and explain the situation. But you never paid heed to any of their words. If you’re performing an action and if you see positive signals from nature, it means that you can proceed with it. However, if you’re seeing negative signals (in this case, several peoples’ advice to mend Duryodhana’s ways), you should have been alert and changed course. Rather, you never wanted anybody to tell anything against your son and you literally turned deaf ears to all of them! Now why are you blaming Bhagawan Krishna for the mess that you’ve created for yourself and your son?” 

Saying thus, Sanjaya slams King Dhritarashtra left, right and center for his comments on Bhagawan Krishna! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this further! Stay tuned! 

In the previous episode, we had commenced the proceedings of Day Sixteen at Kurukshetra. Here, Karna has officially taken over as the “Senapati” of the Kaurava camp after Guru Dhronachaarya’s demise. The “Karna Parva” has begun on the note wherein Sanjaya announces Karna’s demise and King Dhritarashtra asks him to narrate event by event which led to Karna’s fate. Thus, the sixteenth day proceedings begin and there are several one-on-one battles that take place simultaneously at the same time. Bheemasena first enters into a direct confrontation with Ashwatthama, which ends in a draw. Subsequently, Arjuna meets Ashwatthama and manages to defeat him, but fails to kill him. Ashwatthama escapes! On the other side, Karna enters into a direct confrontation with Nakula and the latter loses to Karna’s prowess. However, owing to the promise that he had given to Kunthi Devi, Karna lets Nakula escape without death. On the other hand, Ducchaasana enters into a confrontation with Sahadeva and gets defeated. Ducchaasana runs away to safety! 

Thus, several key battles mark the beginning of Day Sixteen as we move further into the proceedings. Now it is time for yet another key battle – This time it is going to be a direct confrontation between Yudishtra and Duryodhana, perhaps for the first time in these entire sixteen days of war. As Duryodhana comes in front of Yudishtra, the entire battlefield is looking in awe. All of them are waiting for a marquee battle to commence. Till now we’ve seen Duryodhana fighting with Arjuna and Bheemasena many times and getting defeated. However, for some reason, Yudishtra has been avoiding a direct confrontation with Duryodhana. But today, all the shackles are broken and the duo come in front of each other. As Duryodhana’s chariot advances forward and as Yudishtra sees him, all the past instances run through Yudishtra’s mind – The abuses and insults that he had to bear ever since childhood days, the gambling game instance and how he was abused openly by Duryodhana in front of the entire courtroom, Draupati’s molestation, his brothers’ pledge in front of the Hastinapura courtroom, going on exile, the “Agnyaatavasam” period, etc. This makes Yudishtra charged up to take on Duryodhana. 

Thus, a huge battle breaks out between the two. Yudishtra and Duryodhana attack each other with several arrows and “Asthras” but both of them are resilient to all this. However, after a while, Duryodhana starts gaining upper hand, as he continuously thrashes Yudishtra with a rain of arrows. Yudishtra gets wounded very badly in this pursuit, but continues to put up a valiant fight. Now as Yudishtra shows astute resilience, the scene starts to change gradually. Yudishtra takes his sharp sword in his hand and throws it upon Duryodhana from a distance. The sword attacks Duryodhana and penetrates his body deeply! Blood starts flowing all over, and Duryodhana gradually loses his strength to fight! This is the moment that Yudishtra was waiting for. He lets out a huge roar like thunder and attacks Duryodhana even more. Now as Duryodhana is very badly injured, he is unable to counter Yudishtra’s fury. Thus, Duryodhana is about to fall on the ground and as this happens, the entire Kurukshetra battlefield is stunned to bits! How come Yudishtra was able to defeat Duryodhana so easily like this? Everybody in the battlefield is in awe of Yudishtra’s prowess in the war! 

As Duryodhana falls on the ground and almost faints, there is a sudden divine voice thundering from above the skies! The divine voice says to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Your fury over Duryodhana is quite understandable. However, the onus of killing Duryodhana lies upon Bheemasena. Do you remember that day of gambling when Bheemasena took a pledge? He thundered in front of the entire courtroom that he would tear Duryodhana into pieces, didn’t he? Hence, as an astute follower of “Dharma”, you should allow your brother Bheemasena to fulfil his long-pending pledge. Hence, it is better to leave Duryodhana in this state and not kill him!” As Yudishtra listens to the divine voice, he understands the situation and leaves Duryodhana without killing. Subsequently, Duryodhana wakes up from his unconscious state and the Kaurava army helps him to get back on his feet once again. 

Thus, with this marquee battle, the sixteenth day comes to an end and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall continue this discussion forward into the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we witnessed the commencement of the “Karna Parva”, after we’ve completed the “Dhrona Parva”. From here on, these “Parvas” are quite small as compared to the previous “Bhishma Parva” and “Dhona Parva”, as we’ve already entered Day sixteen of the war at Kurukshetra. We’re left with only two more days in the war and here we’ve commenced with Sanjaya’s narrative that Karna has been killed by the end of Day seventeen. This sends shock waves to King Dhritarashtra – Everyone around Duryodhana is dying left right and centre and his son Duryodhana is being left all alone in the battlefield! If nobody is there to protect Duryodhana, how will he defend himself? Such questions run through King Dhritarashtra’s mind continuously as he asks Sanjaya for more details of what happened during Days Sixteen and Seventeen at Kurukshetra. King Dhritarashtra wants to know how Karna was killed. This same question is being asked by King Janame-Jaya as Sage Vaishampayana is narrating the entire Mahabharata story to him. Just like how Sanjaya gave the jist of the proceedings of the war, Sage Vaishampayana also adopted the same strategy and paused for a while. This triggers the interest of King Janame-Jaya to know what happened to Karna and how Arjuna went ahead to kill him. Thus, Sage Vaishampayana continues his accord into the “Karna Parva”, which Sanjaya also explains. 

Thus, with this prelude, we commence the proceedings of Day Sixteen of the Kurukshetra war. Ashawtthama somehow returns back to Duryodhana’s fold and he recommends the coronation of Karna as the next “Senapati” after Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya. Accordingly Karna becomes the next leader and he gives a motivational talk to the entire Kaurava army that by the end of the sixteenth day, he is going to destroy all the five Paandava brothers and bring this war to an end. By doing so, Karna says that he will bring glory to his friend Duryodhana! Thus, the war begins and the Kauravas come up with the “Makara Vyugam” on the sixteenth morning. In return, the Paandava camp comes up with the “Artha-Chandra Vyugam”. The day starts with a direct clash between Bheemasena and Ashwatthama. As we know, Ashwatthama is fully charged up after his father’s demise and he knows that Bheemasena has played a crucial role in the heinous crime! Hence, Ashwatthama comes up with a savage resolution to take on Bheemasena’s might and prove a point against him! Ashwatthama is not an ordinary person to tackle in the battlefield. He throws the kitchen sink at Bheemasena, who in turn tackles it with his brute muscle power! Just like Ashwatthama, Bheemasena is extremely powerful! Buoyed with a lot of confidence gained from defeating Guru Dhronachaarya, Bheemasena is charged up as well! A long fight between the duo ensues, and both of them do not understand how to neutralize each other! Thus, at a point, both Bheemasena and Ashwatthama call off the fight and move away from each other! 

Even though the war with Bheemasena ends up in a draw, Ashwatthama is in no state to give up! He now picks up a fight with the incoming Arjuna from the other direction. A huge battle breaks out between Arjuna and Ashwatthama, which is several times bigger than the previous Bheemasena vs. Ashwatthama battle. Arjuna is extremely powerful with his “Gaandeepa” and the sound of the powerful arrows being exchanged between the duo is like huge thunder rolling in the skies while raining! Both of them are extremely powerful warriors with secrets of several “Asthras” known to both of them! It should be remembered that these two are the finest students of Guru Dhronachaarya as well! Finally as the war progresses beyond a point, Arjuna gains an upper hand, as Ashwatthama becomes tired of fighting! He has already fought a huge war with Bheemasena earlier and with this, Ashwatthama loses his capability due to extreme fatigue! Fighting two back-to-back wars isn’t an easy task at all and Ashwatthama moves away swiftly from that place before Arjuna could aim a shot to kill him! In return, Arjuna too leaves Ashwatthama without killing as Bhagawan Krishna moves him away from that place. 

Similarly, on the other end of the battlefield, there is a war going on between Sahadeva and Ducchaasana, which Sahadeva manages to win. Meanwhile, Karna and Nakula engage in a brief battle, however, Karna proves to be more powerful than Nakula. At the final stage of this battle, Karna brings Nakula under his knees, puts his bow’s thread around Nakula’s neck and drags him all along the ground! However, Karna doesn’t kill Nakula and tells him thus, “Oh Nakula! Beginners and amateurs like you should not come into the battlefield! I’m leaving you alive because I’ve promised to our mother that I’ll not kill her sons in this war. I’ve promised her that five of her sons will be alive by the end of this war. My main battle will be with Arjuna and by the end of this day, either Arjuna or myself will be alive. Hence, I’m leaving you unscathed! Run away from here!” 

Saying thus, Karna lets go of Nakula, who runs away in fear! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a timely intervention of Sage Vyaasa, as a dejected Ashwatthama is leaving the Kurukshetra battlefield. Shattered by the death of his father in an unethical and an unexpected fashion, Ashwatthama tried to counter attack Yudishtra and Co. with the “Narayana Asthram” and the “Aagneya Asthram”, but those attempts also ended up in a failure! At this stage as Ashwatthama leaves the battlefield, Sage Vyaasa advises him to shun this revengeful attitude as Bhagawan Krishna will never allow the Paandavas to lose this battle. No matter whatever Duryodhana and Co. strategise to win this war, they are going to end up in failure, as it is a question of “Dharma” vs. “Adharma”. Duryodhana, unfortunately has landed up on the side of “Adharma” and because of this, he is going to end up being on the losing side. Hence, Sage Vyaasa gives important advice to Ashwatthama to shun this “Adharma” path atleast now, so as to avoid further destruction and disaster to the Kaurava clan. 

With this, we come to the end of the main “Dhrona Parva” and moving on further, we now enter into the next main “Parva” called “Karna Parva”. Here again, we start with the introduction given by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra, just like the previous “Parvas” which describe the war at Kurukshetra. Sanjaya says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! As Guru Dhronachaarya is dead, Ashwatthama leaves the battlefield! Sage Vyaasa has rendered important pieces of advice to Ashwatthama, and with this, Duryodhana strategized what to do next! The entire group decides that Karna should lead the army on Day Sixteen at Kurukshetra. Accordingly, Karna takes over the responsibility. Day Sixteen and Seventeen witnessed huge fights and marquee events, but towards the end, Karna gets killed by Arjuna as his head is chopped off! King Shalya too had to breathe his last! Now Duryodhana is left with very little manpower as everybody around him are dead! Now what is your son going to do? He is left alone by all his people! This is the situation I dreaded for years now, and it has come true! Oh King Dhritarashtra! For all the “Adharma” that happened at Hastinapura courtroom, Bhagawan Krishna has given a befitting reply on the Kurukshetra battlefield!” 

Saying thus, Sanjaya sheds tears, and this breaks King Dhritarashtra’s heart as well, upon hearing the fact that his son Duryodhana is left alone to defend himself! This is just the introduction that Sanjaya has given here. We’ve already witnessed in our previous episodes that Sanjaya has a unique way of narrating events. He first starts with the end-result and then goes into the details of how things unfolded! Here too, we’re witnessing the same thing. Now, as Sanjaya explains what happens to Karna, King Dhritarashtra requests Sanjaya to narrate things in detail, as to what exactly happened during Day Sixteen and Day Seventeen, along with all the circumstances that led to Karna’s demise on the battlefield. 

This similar question is being asked by King Janame-Jaya to Sage Vaishampayana as well. Readers should carefully remember our earlier episodes here – This entire Mahabharata story is being narrated by Sage Vaishampayana to King Janame-Jaya, who is King Parikshit’s son. As we know, King Parikshit was the grandson of Arjuna, who ascended to the throne as Yudishtra’s successor, after the death of the Upa-Paandavas. Every incident in the Mahabharata story is important to be remembered and readers should make note of them to ensure continuity in understanding. Hence, King Janame-Jaya asks Sage Vaishampayana thus, “Oh Sage! Why have you finished the proceedings of Days Sixteen and Seventeen so quickly? Please explain how Karna fought the battle on these two days and how he was cornered to death? Who killed Karna and how?” 

This question leads to the narrative of what conspired on Day Sixteen to begin with! So for now, the Kauravas and Paandavas are getting ready to commence the battle on Day Sixteen. Karna marks his attendance on the battlefield with a huge army, and a super-charged Arjuna is rearing to have a go at him. Now there is no Bhishmachaarya or Guru Dhronachaarya or Jayatrada or Ashwatthama to protect Duryodhana. The dynamics of the war has completely changed. How is Karna going to handle this deft situation? Let us wait till the next episode to commence proceedings of Day Sixteen at Kurukshetra! Stay tuned! 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Ashwatthama’s plan to kill the Paandava brothers with the “Narayana-Asthram” being completely shattered – Thanks to Bhagawan Krishna’s timely intervention yet again! As the “Narayana-Asthram” approaches with its full fury towards the Paandavas, Bhagawan Krishna quickly instructs all of them to get down from their chariots, put all their weapons down and stand with folded hands of respect. The “Narayana Asthram” never harms people who bows down with respect towards it, and hence, Bhagawan Krishna uses this secret to protect the Paandava brothers. Annoyed by the flopped plan, Ashwatthama is fuming with anger, and Duryodhana too is clearly irked! Duryodhana asks Ashwatthama if this “Asthram” can be employed once again at some point in time, but Ashwatthama explains that the “Narayana-Asthram” is one amongst the most powerful “Asthras” and it cannot be employed once more at any point in time! Hence, Ashwatthama says to Duryodhana that they’ve to somehow move on from here and think of another alternative plan to square up the Paandava brothers. 

As this happens, a dejected Ashwatthama leaves his chariot and puts all his weapons down and starts walking away from the battlefield. All his plans got foiled and his father is also no more with him now. Hence, Ashwatthama is completely shattered and heart-broken and he slowly strides away from the Kurukshetra battlefield, only to be intercepted by Sage Veda-Vyaasa. Now this is going to be a very important event, which is happening towards the end of Day Fifteen at Kurukshetra. Upon seeing Ashwatthama completely dejected, Sage Vyaasa asks him thus, “Oh Ashwatthama! Why are you leaving the battlefield? What happened in today’s war?” As Sage Vyaasa asks thus, Ashwatthama replies back – “Oh great Sage! My father, Guru Dhronachaarya was cheated and killed by the Paandava brothers today! They hatched a conspiracy behind my father about me and made him believe that I’m dead! This led to the demise of my father in a very unethical way. I wanted to avenge the Paandava brothers for their heinous crime with my “Narayana Asthram” and the “Aagneya Asthram”. Both these powerful “Asthrams” were rendered powerless by Bhagawan Krishna! This is a clear partial game that is being played by Bhagawan Krishna and I’m totally fed up! Hence, I’ve decided to leave this place once and forever!” 

As Ashwatthama says thus, Sage Vyaasa gives an important reply here. He says thus, “Oh Ashwatthama! Please understand one thing clearly – Bhagawan Krishna is the savior of this entire world! He is the ultimate supreme “Paramatma”! He has incarnated in this world to destroy the “Adharma” and to establish the “Dharma” here. For this, He would do anything possible. Oh Ashwatthama! The Paandavas have “Dharma” by their side, and this is why Bhagawan Krishna is always standing by them. In this war, even if you employ the most powerful “Asthrams” like the “Naryana-Asthram” and the “Aagneya-Asthram”, it is not going to work against the Paandavas. Please understand – How can the “Narayana-Asthram” work against the divine will of Bhagawan Narayana Himself who is standing on the opposite side? Hence, it is you, along with Duryodhana and Co. who have to understand that the Paandava brothers can never be won over, unless and until Bhagawan Krishna is by their side! Oh Ashwatthama! Please understand that the one who is the ultimate destination of surrender for all Maharishis like us, Yogis, Saadhus, people who seek “Dharma”, etc. is Bhagawan Krishna alone! He is the one who gives refuge to the whole world single-handedly! You, along with Duryodhana and Co. are falling into an unwanted trap of getting into the bad looks of Bhagawan Krishna for your petty politics. Please stop this atleast now. I’ve also told Duryodhana several times. I’ve also advised King Dhritarashtra several times on this. However, till now all my words of wisdom have gone into deaf ears!” 

Saying thus, Sage Veda-Vyaasa walks away in sadness, leaving Ashwatthama even more dejected. He learns and understands from Sage Vyaasa’s golden words of wisdom that Yudishtra and Co. can never be killed. So what is going to change now? With this burning question, we come to the end of the main “Dhrona Parva” and in the next episode, we shall witness the commencement of the next important “Parva”. Stay tuned!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed one of the most important events in the entire Kurukshetra war, wherein Ashwatthama aggrieved by the loss of his father, is employing the “Narayana-Asthram” on the Paandava brothers in a bid to kill them all at once! However, Bhagawan Krishna, being on the side of Yudishtra and Co. is guiding them beautifully to come out of the impact of the “Narayana-Asthram”. As Bhagawan Krishna is Bhagawan Vishnu Himself, who can know the counter to the “Narayana-Asthram” better than Him? Thus, Bhagawan instructs all the Paandava brothers to get down from their chariots, remove their armours, drop down their weapons and stand in front of the incoming “Narayana-Asthram’ with folded hands, as a token of respect for the great “Asthram”. The “Narayana-Asthram” will not harm anyone who is without weapons and who is surrendering in front of it. This is the secret! This is what Swami Vedanta Desika beautifully brings out in his “Anjali-Vaibhavam” work wherein he explains how surrendering to Bhagawan unconditionally leads to protection, rather than destruction! We’ve also seen to this effect, an analogy of Vibhishana in the Ramayana, wherein Bhagawan Rama accepted Vibhishana immediately after he surrendered himself to His divine lotus feet! Vibhishana was a Raakshasa all his life, however, when he bowed down to Bhagawan Rama, there is no looking back! Bhagawan Rama’s never-ending compassion protected Vibhishana from the wrath of destruction. 

Similarly here also, Bhagawan Krishna asks Arjuna and Co. to stand in front of the incoming “Narayana-Asthram” with folded hands, as a token of surrendering unconditionally. As all the Paandava brothers get down from the chariot, Bheemasena is not willing to do so! This is where Bheemasena tried to do something disastrous! While Arjuna and the others stand on the ground with folded hands, the “Narayana-Asthram” comes close to all of them with a huge intensity, only to do a “Parikrama” around each of them and pass by without harming anyone. However, Bheemasena loudly proclaims from his chariot thus, “Oh! As a Kshatrya warrior, why should I fear for any kind of “Asthram”? It is my duty to counter it and if I’m not able to do so, I shall lay down my life for it! But I will not do a cowardly act of putting down my weapon amidst a battlefield and get down from the chariot!” Upon seeing Bheemasena’s loud proclamation, Bhagawan Krishna calls Arjuna near Him and jokingly says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Please ask Bheemasena to stop his unwanted rhetoric and step down from his chariot! All of us know what he’s trying to say! Tell him that this is not the time to beat around the bush!” As Bhagawan says thus, Arjuna replies back – “Oh Bhagawan! If I say all this, he will not accept! He has a huge ego! He will not listen to my words! If you’ve to say something, do it directly to him! Why’re you calling me for it? If you tell him, he will listen!” 

As Arjuna says thus, Bhagawan Krishna rushes towards Bheemasena and says thus, “Oh Bheemasena! Enough of your proclamation! You should do it where it is required and not at all times! Now get down from the chariot immediately!” Even as Bhagawan Krishna says thus, Bheemasena is not willing to pay heed! He instead readies his bow and arrow to counter the incoming “Naryana-Asthram”! At this moment, Bhagawan Krishna gets angry with Bheemasena, rushes towards him, gets on to his chariot and pulls him down with a great hurry! The way in which Bhagawan Krishna pulls, Bheemasena topples down from the chariot and falls on the ground! By the time Bheemasena falls on the ground, the “Narayana-Asthram” storms past his chariot and completely destroys it on its way! Had Bheemasena been on the chariot for a minute more, he would have been blown away by it! Thus, Bhagawan Krishna protects Bheemasena at the right time from the “Narayana-Asthram”! 

Thus, with this, Ashwatthama’s plan is completely shattered and the “Narayana-Asthram” does not attack anyone who is standing on the ground! Upon seeing this, Ashwatthama’s anger knows no bounds! Duryodhana is shocked to bits! He immediately steers his chariot towards Ashwatthama’s and says to him thus, “Oh Ashwatthama! Yet again, the illusionary Krishna has spoilt our plot! He is thwarting everything that we plan! We’ve to do something immediately to stop Yudishtra and Co.! With the “Naryana-Asthram”, I was quite confident that Yudishtra and Co. will be finished! However, this is also gone now! Can you employ the “Narayana-Asthram” once more?” As Duryodhana asks angrily, Ashwatthama replies in deep pain from his heart – “Oh Duryodhana! I really wish I could employ it once again, but certain things can be done only once in a lifetime! This “Narayana-Asthram” is one such thing! It is extremely powerful and one of the most significant “Asthras” in the world, and such things can only be used once! Thus for now, the “Narayana_Asthram” is gone and we’ve to forget it and move forward with whatever we have in our hands right now!” 

So for today, we shall understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness what is going to Ashwatthama’s next strategy. Is he having other “Asthras” to try? Stay tuned! 🙂