The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the conclusion of the discussion between Sage Vyaasa and Yudishtra, wherein Sage Vyaasa tries to cheer Yudishtra with a few important anecdotes regarding “Maranam”. For this, he invokes the conversation between Sage Naarada and King Akampana, wherein Sage Naarada talks about how Mrithyu Devata took birth from Bhagawan Brahma to perform the task of destruction by inducing something called “death” in living beings. As we’ve witnessed, Mrithyu Devata induces death faster into those living beings who are jealous about others, who do not follow the path of “Dharma”, who unleashes anger upon others unwantedly, who cheats someone, who breaks the trust of others, etc. However, having said that, death is inevitable in this world and Sage Vyaasa advises Yudishtra to move on from the sadness of Abhimanyu’s demise. Of course, Abhimanyu was young in age and he had a good life in front of him, however, his life was cut short by the Kauravas’ unethical warfare and even though Abhimanyu tried his best to defend, he was brutally murdered by Duryodhana and Co. Sage Vyaasa explains to Yudishtra that even though Abhimanyu was killed, he had played his heroic role in the battlefield and his name and fame will remain forever! 

Moving on thus, as this happens on one end, Yudishtra becomes somewhat mentally strong after Abhimanyu’s demise. Now on the other side, Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna make their way into Kurukshetra once again. This is after they’ve destroyed the Trigatthas completely. Arjuna enters the battlefield of Kurukshetra victoriously once again and as this happens, we move into the next “Upa-Parva” called “Pratignya Parva”. All these instances are being witnessed under the main “Dhrona Parva” as we’ve mentioned earlier, wherein Guru Dhronachaarya has taken over as the prime Senapati of the Kaurava army. All those instances that take place under the leadership of Guru Dhronachaarya come under this main “Dhrona Parva”. Now, as we move into the “Pratignya Parva”, we are going to witness the next important event here. Arjuna is going to take a huge “Pratignya” and all these events unfold during the thirteenth night of the Kurukshetra battle. We’ve seen that the war on the thirteenth day culminated with the demise of Abhimanyu. 

As Arjuna enters Kurukshetra once again, he experiences some negative vibrations. Arjuna thinks within himself thus, “Oh! Normally whenever we come victorious after a battle, there will be a rousing welcome for me everytime! However, today I’m not able to see anything of that sorts! Moreover, I’m seeing a lot of bad omens all through my way. Is there something wrong with my brothers? Is Yudishtra safe? Are all my relatives safe? Has Guru Dhronachaarya captured Yudishtra as planned?” Having all these queries, Arjuna looks at Bhagawan Krishna, who consoles him with a quick answer – “Oh Arjuna! I’m sure Yudishtra would be safe. However, something else might have happened. Let us go inside and check out!” 

Thus, as Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna enter the scene, all the Paandava brothers are sitting there with a glum face. Nobody is talking even a single word. King Drupada, Saatyaki, Drishtadhyumna, etc. are also seated nearby and all of them have sadness written all over their faces. Upon having a glimpse around, Arjuna finds Abhimanyu missing! With this, Arjuna somehow derives a conclusion within his mind as to what had happened! Sensing it correctly, Arjuna asks all of them a series of questions thus, “I heard that Guru Dhronachaarya had formed the “Chakra-Vyuga” today morning. To break open that “Chakra-Vyuga”, only four people are capable enough and out of those four, three aren’t with you! Only one person was there, isn’t it? Also, if that person enters into the “Chakra-Vyuga”, he will not be able to come out on his own, as I had not taught it to him as yet! If such is the case, did any of you go behind and protect him? If this had been done, that person would be there amidst all of you now. Where is he?” 

The way in which Arjuna judges what has happened is something that all of us should admire about! Nobody had told him even a single word about Abhimanyu’s demise – But connecting all the dots together, Arjuna himself senses that his son Abhimanyu is no more! As Yudishtra confirms Arjuna’s thought process, Arjuna bursts into tears! He weeps inconsolably in front of everyone! His emotions are bursting out through his crying and immediately Arjuna gets up with immense anger and frustration. Arjuna says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Oh Bhagawan Krishna! Oh Bheemasena! I’ve had enough now! If my son has been brutally killed this way, I’m not going to spare Duryodhana or anyone in the Kaurava camp! I’m going to give it back to them with twice the amount of brutality! Duryodhana has had a free run till now, but I shall make him repent for whatever he has done to us for all these years!” 

Lamenting thus, Arjuna jumps up from the ground and immediately takes his weapons in his hands and is about to rush towards Duryodhana’s camp! All this happens during the night of Day thirteen and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to find out what Arjuna’s reaction is further going to be! Stay tuned!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Mrithyu Devata once again meeting Bhagawan Brahma after her long stint of deep and intense penance at several places, including the abode of Yama-Dharma-Raja himself. After this long stint, Mrithyu Devata’s physical form trims drastically and as she re-appears in front of Bhagawan Brahma, he becomes shocked to see her! As Bhagawan Brahma asks her for such an act of severe penance, Mrithyu Devata explains that even though she is prepared to execute the task of inducing death into living beings, she is not going to do it in such a destructive manner that the entire world will cry. Mrithyu Devata wants to find a balance between birth and death in such a way that the world will not completely delve into death alone. If things are in balance, people will also not feel the pain of death much. 

As Mrithyu Devata outlines her idea thus, she also reasons out that the trimming of her physical form is to execute death in a slower manner. Had she been in her original huge physical form, death would happen at a much faster rate in the world. Now upon saying this, Mrithyu Devata continues further thus, “Oh Bhagawan Brahma! I shall induce death faster into certain categories of people and will do it very slowly into certain others. For instance, those people who forget the good deeds done by others, those people who desire for others’ property and wealth, those people who constantly keep lying for everything, those who cheat others by giving false assurances, those who have excessive desires in their life, those people who unleash their anger upon others and harm them for their own personal gains, those people who are extremely jealous about others’ growth, development and well-being, those who commit “Droham” (Making people believe and then cheating them) to others, those who are obsessed with “Moham” (Always in wrong understanding about someone or something) and those who do not have even an iota of shyness or inhibition while doing something wrong in this world, will be my prime targets to induce death faster! In other words, I shall target those people who have all the above mentioned “diseases” in them and ensure that they undergo enormous suffering before finally enduring death! Oh Bhagawan Brahma! You should grant me a boon that if I target such people, I should not be affected by the “Paapa Karma” of killing them!” 

As Mrithyu Devata requests thus, Bhagawan Brahma too finds it quite reasonable and immediately grants her this boon. He provides his divine “Anugraha” to Mrithyu Devata, who in turn commences her actions. This “Charitra” is being narrated by Sage Naarada to King Akampana amidst the battlefield. This narrative is being quoted here by Sage Vyaasa to Yudishtra who is mourning the untimely and shocking demise of Abhimanyu. Telling everything thus, Sage Vyaasa also narrates the stories of sixteen kings of the past. All these are also part of Sage Naarada’s lengthy accords at various instances. Many of us might be knowing several of these “Charitras”. For instance, Sage Vyaasa talks about King Ambareesha, King Yayaati, King Maandhaata, King Sagara, Bhagawan Rama, King Nahusha, etc. and highlights the important point that none of them are alive today! Everybody had to meet an end to their life at some point of time in different ways, even though they were great kings who stuck to various aspects of “Dharma” all through their lives. Hence, by saying all these, Sage Vyaasa advises Yudishtra to move on with other things in life, rather than getting stuck with Abhimanyu’s demise. 

As Sage Vyaasa says thus, Yudishtra has another question to him – “Oh Sage Vyaasa! I perfectly understand that death is something that we cannot avoid and is inevitable. However, did any of the kings that you mentioned had a ghastly death like that of Abhimanyu?” For this, Sage Vyaasa consoles him by saying that death may come in any form and none of us can predict it. Even though Abhimanyu has encountered a ghastly end, he has obtained “Veera-Gathi” and he has sacrificed his life for the welfare of the state. Hence, rather than brooding over Abhimanyu’s death, Sage Vyaasa explains that Yudishtra should feel proud of the way Abhimanyu has fought the war so valiantly! Listening to this lengthy accord from Sage Vyaasa, Yudishtra somehow gets consoled and is now ready to move on further. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further to witness how things are going to move forward from here on! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the conversation between Sage Vyaasa and Yudishtra which explained several aspects of “Maranam” (Death). Sage Vyaasa quotes the narrative of Sage Naarada to King Akampana, wherein, Sage Naarada is in turn quoting the conversation between Mrithyu Devata and Yama-Dharma-Raja. As Mrithyu Devata is assigned the task of executing death in this world, she shivers with fear. However, Yama-Dharma-Raja consoles her and explains to her that death in this world is inevitable and everybody who takes birth in this world has to die some day. There cannot be a situation wherein one lives continuously without death. As part of this context, we’ve seen today’s context too – We would have seen our own aged grandparents at the age of 85-90 years. We would see how they suffer with physical ailments during this age. Moreover, people around them, including their own sons and daughters, would start fretting about their existence in this world beyond a certain age. Even though we might say that they are our own parents / grandparents, we would eventually start losing interest in them as they get older. This is the reality of life and we should understand this and move on. 

Moving forward from here thus, Mrithyu Devata leaves the abode of Yama-Dharma-Raja and goes on intense penance in several parts of our Bhaarata Desha. Mrithyu Devata goes to the Himalayas to perform penance and with the intensity of doing it, she loses a lot of body weight. She becomes very slim and thin as she finally returns back to Bhagawan Brahma. As Mrithyu Devata arrives once again at the Satya Lokha, Bhagawan Brahma is shocked to see her new physical form. Bhagawan Brahma asks her thus, “Oh Mrithyu Devata! What happened to you? Why have you reduced your physical form like this? Why did you perform such an intense penance? It wasn’t required wasn’t it?” For this, Mrithyu Devata gives a very important reply to Bhagawan Brahma thus, “Oh Bhagawan Brahma! There’s a reason behind doing this – If I’m in my original fat form, I would be killing more and more people in the world. This would result in a huge death rate, which would exceed the birth rate of living beings. This shouldn’t happen. Hence, if I’m trimming my physical form, I shall induce death into living beings at a slower pace. This would ensure that the balance between birth and death is steadily maintained in the world!” 

Perhaps, this is the reason why human beings like us are given an average lifespan of around 90 years! Thus, we can see here that if we’ve to have a greater lifespan in this world, Mrithyu Devata should trim down her physical form, and this is exactly what she has done. Probably if she would have been in her original fat form, she would have induced death much faster and maybe our lifespan would have come down to say 40 years or so! However, Mrithyu Devata continues further thus, “Oh Bhagawan Brahma! Even though I’m tasked to induce death, I’m not going to do it in a fair and an even manner. I’m going to categorise people into different varieties and according to that, I’m going to induce death faster or slower! Oh Bhagawan Brahma! Please grant me a boon in regards to this!” 

As Mrithyu Devata requests thus, Bhagawan Brahma questions her regarding the categorization of people that she intends to do. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness Mrithyu Devata’s important categorization of people for whom she is going to induce death more quickly than others! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂

In the previous episode, we’ve continued with the important discussion between Yudishtra and Sage Vyaasa wherein Sage Vyaasa is quoting a conversation that happened between Sage Naarada and King Akampana, who in turn quotes a conversation that took place between Bhagawan Brahma and Mrithyu Devata. Readers should understand the sequence clearly here – Two people, Sage Naarada and then Sage Vyaasa are talking about the same conversation between Bhagawan Brahma and Mrithyu Devata in different settings and in different time frames. But the story is the same. Mrithyu Devata feels extremely sad upon being given the duty to supervise the death of living beings in this world. However, Bhagawan Brahma consoles her that she will not be held responsible for any death that happens in the world, and that, she is only performing her duty towards the betterment of the world. Moreover, Bhagawan Brahma also assures her that she will not be touched by “Paapa Karma” in this pursuit. Also, Bhagawan Brahma assures her that there will be a time for her to attain “Moksha” too, and she shouldn’t worry too much about it at the moment. 

Even though Bhagawan Brahma convinces her so much, Mrithyu Devata is not very happy. She goes to several “Punya Kshetras” to perform extreme “Tapas”, which helps her build herself physically and mentally to perform this daunting task of inducing death, seeing people cry profusely and to see them suffer. On the way, she meets Yama-Dharma-Raja, who explains a very important point to her regarding death. Yama-Dharma-Raja explains that death is a “temporary phenomenon” wherein people will cry for a day or two and then will move on with it. Nobody will give importance to the person who has passed away, after that brief period of grief. That grief will not be long lasting. As people start seeing death in front of them, slowly and steadily they will start understanding that death is very similar to birth. Just like how we take birth from a mother’s womb, death is also inevitable. In other words, all living beings who take birth in this world, have to die some day. This is the law of the world and as people start seeing death of their own near and dear ones, they will start understanding this point clearly. Hence, the more deaths we see in front of us as we progress in life, the more mature we will become. 

Similarly we might have seen this in many people – They will be undergoing some suffering or the other for a long period of time. After a while, they will get used to the suffering and it will no longer be a pain for them! For instance, if we go and ask someone who has seen three or four consecutive deaths in the family, and if there’s a fifth or a sixth death, they would have learnt to take it lightly! They will never feel this fifth death as a great loss at all! Similarly, a mother who is giving birth to a child for the first time will feel a lot of pain during the process. However, if the same mother is giving birth to three or four children will slowly start getting used to the pain and will not feel it much. In similar lines, there are so many diseases in this world in today’s context which don’t have a cure straightaway. For instance, there are many people suffering from several types of cancer, isn’t there? Do all cancers have treatments to cure it completely? The answer is “No”! However, with medication, we can prolong the lifespan of the person and this is exactly what people are doing. However, even with medication, the pain that is caused by the cancerous growth in the body is not going to come down. But, we get used to the pain, since it is always there in our body! 

As this is the case with diseases and us, similar is the case with death too. As time progresses, people will get used to the “new way of life” without their near and dear ones who might have passed away. Moreover, Yama-Dharma-Raja raises an important question, which is pertinent to our thought process too – If a person is going to live without death for more than a 100 years in this world, what will the other relatives around him / her feel about it? Firstly, will they like us to be alive for that long? Beyond a point, even if we are alive, people around us will start losing interest in us. We ourselves would have seen this in daily life – If a father is more than 90 years old and is still alive, at one point in time, the son / daughter will start talking thus – “Oh! He has finished all his duties! What is the purpose of him being alive now? It is better that he passes away quickly!” It was the same father whom the son and daughter were worshipping all these years. However, we should look at the change in mindset now – Irrespective of whether the father is 40 years old or 90 years old, does the relationship change? Any given day, the father is going to be a father and the son is going to be a son. However, what has changed now? The fact of the matter here is that, as we age, people will not be ready to take care of us anymore. People around us who are near and dear to us will slowly start deserting us. This is the fact of life and we’ve to understand this. If we’re able to grasp this reality of life, we will start welcoming death with ease. Whereas, if we fill our minds with attachments towards all our people around and on materials, we will get more and more scared to face death! 

So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sage Vyaasa explaining to Yudishtra, the intricacies behind “Maranam” (Death) as he is mourning the death of Abhimanyu. Sage Vyaasa quotes Sage Naarada’s words wherein he describes how Bhagawan Brahma creates “Mrithyu Devata” on the recommendation of Bhagawan Shiva. As the “Mrithyu Devata” is created, Bhagawan Brahma entrusts her with the responsibility of maintaining the cycle of death systematically amongst all living beings in this world. However, as the “Mrithyu Devata” sheds tears with this unfortunate duty being assigned to her, Bhagawan Brahma consoles her and declares further that these tears shed by “Mrithyu Devata” will induce both physical and mental diseases in living beings, which would be the reason behind their death when the appropriate time comes. Bhagawan Brahma says that Mrithyu Devata will not be at fault for death happening in the world, and she will just be an instrument to cause it. 

This is the reason why we see people dying all around us with various diseases at different periods of time. Recently we’ve just passed through a disastrous phase of “Covid-19” pandemic and if we’ve to connect the dots with whatever Bhagawan Brahma is saying here, we can understand the bigger picture, can’t we? Even apart from this, we see people getting into various other diseases as they get older and because of these diseases complicating with time, death occurs. Hence, this is the rule of this world that death is inevitable and all we can do is to face it bravely without any fear. Thus, moving on further, Mrithyu Devata asks another question to Bhagawan Brahma – “Oh Bhagawan Brahma! Whatever you’ve said to me till now are all fine! However, please clarify one thing to me – Does this “Mrithyu Devata” have death for herself? I’m going to be instrumental in ensuring that death happens for everyone in this world. However, is death inevitable for me also?” 

At the onset of this question, we might not be able to understand this clearly. Mrithyu Devata is the “Goddess of death”. For this “Goddess of death”, is death inevitable? Mrithyu Devata continues her question further thus, “Oh Bhagawan Brahma! If I keep on alleviating people from this world in the form of death, I’m accumulating so much sin within myself in the process, isn’t it? If such is the case, when am I going to alleviate my sins and proceed to attain “Moksha”?” For this question, Bhagawan Brahma consoles her with the answer thus, “Oh Mrithyu Devata! Please do not worry on this. This is a duty that is assigned to you and do it with your utmost sincerity. Everybody has their own duty. For example, Yama-Dharma-Raja has a big duty of rendering punishments for those people who enter the “Naraka Lokha”. Does this mean that Yama-Dharma-Raja will not get ‘Moksha’? Not at all! If Yama-Dharma-Raja starts thinking like this, people in the “Naraka Lokha” will start enjoying without any punishment, won’t they? Hence, this is also an important duty which somebody should do. Similarly, your duty is also as significant as anybody else’s. Hence, do not worry about the repercussions. By performing your duty, you will not accumulate any sins upon yourself!” 

Even as Bhagawan Brahma consoles her this way, Mrithyu Devata still doesn’t seem to be convinced. She now decides that there’s no point talking with Bhagawan Brahma and Bhagawan Shiva anymore as they are not going to alleviate her from this state of mind. Hence she starts travelling to several “Punya Kshetras” around the world and performs intense “Tapas”. This is because, as Mrithyu Devata begins with her assigned task, she sees that if a father dies, the son cries profusely. If the son dies, the parents mourn the child’s death profusely. If someone is getting killed, severe legal repercussions galore. Thus, at every place where Mrithyu Devata is performing her task of unleashing death, she encounters only sadness everywhere. Upon seeing people getting sad and unconsolable, Mrithyu Devata could not bear it! Her emotions take over and she becomes fatigued and weak. Hence to come out of it and make herself mentally and physically strong to combat this, Mrithyu Devata undertakes immense “Tapas” and with this, she develops an extremely strong will power within her and is able to keep all her emotions in check. 

Thus, as Mrithyu Devata travels to one place after the other, she meets Yama-Dharma-Raja on the way. As Mrithyu Devata pours out her frustration thus, Yama-Dharma-Raja is now going to give a very important answer here. He says thus, “Oh Mrithyu Devata! Please do not worry too much about people crying! They will cry for a maximum of two days. After that they will wipe off their tears and start looking into their other works. Please understand that death is something that is temporary in nature. People will be sad initially about it, but they will move on with life. So please do not give so much importance into people’s sad emotions! Continue doing your duty!” 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion further into the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂

We’re amidst a very interesting explanation given by Sage Naarada to King Akampana as to how the entire concept of “Destruction” commenced in this world. This story is being narrated by Sage Vyaasa to Yudishtra, who is currently in the Kurukshetra battlefield at the end of Day Thirteen, mourning the untimely demise of the highly-talented Abhimanyu. We’ve witnessed how Abhimanyu was brutally thrashed and murdered in a very “Adharmic” way by the Kaurava camp and as a result, Yudishtra is deeply pained. He contemplates of giving up the battle midway and is even on the verge of committing suicide upon seeing what’s happening around him. At this crucial juncture, Sage Vyaasa makes his way into the battlefield to meet Yudishtra and render him a few words of advice. Thus, he explains how Bhagawan Brahma gets extremely angry on how the world is progressing and without any destruction, the world is going to grapple with a huge population explosion. In this situation, Agni Bhagawan comes out of Bhagawan Brahma in the form of a huge ball of fire to destroy the entire world. However, Bhagawan Shiva stops this at the right time because the entire world was at the verge of getting destroyed. Bhagawan Shiva intervenes and takes over the responsibility of “Selective destruction”, which means that the destruction happens in a cycle and not at once. Thus, every living being in the world starts to have a definitive lifespan and at the end of it, destruction becomes inevitable. This ensures that everyone gets an opportunity to live in this world for a considerable period of time and then encounter death to leave a way for the next generation to take over. 

Thus, as Bhagawan Shiva proposes this idea, Bhagawan Brahma understands the point clearly. Bhagawan Brahma realizes that there is no point in destroying a beautiful creation completely and thus “takes back” his anger within him. Doing this, Bhagawan Brahma explains to Bhagawan Shiva thus, “Oh Bhagawan Shiva! I’ve acted as per your request. From now onwards, destruction becomes your responsibility. You may destroy whomever you want at an appropriate time. However, the fire of destruction that I’ve taken back, should take birth as someone who can assist you. Thus, I’m creating someone called “Mrithyu Devata” who will be in a feminine and will be called the “Goddess of Death”!” 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Brahma manifests the “Agni Bhagawan” from within his body and creates a woman out of it. From now, she is referred to as the “Mrithyu Devata” and Bhagawan Brahma advises her thus, “Oh Mrithyu Devata! From now on, there is going to be a new concept called “Maranam” (Death) in this world. You are the one who will be responsible for this to happen. It is your prerogative from now onwards to time every living being’s life on the earth. Once the time of life for the living being is over, it is your responsibility to destroy him / her!” As Bhagawan Brahma instructs Mrithyu Devata this way, she starts crying profusely! She replies to Bhagawan Brahma thus, “Oh Bhagawan! I thought for a moment that I was created for something good and auspicious in this world. However, you’re giving me such a bad responsibility! How will I destroy the happiness of a living being? How do you even want me to do it? Isn’t this unfair to me?” 

As Mrithyu Devata asks thus, she sheds tears profusely. As she does so, Bhagawan Brahma carefully collects all the drops of her tears and declares thus, “Oh Mrithyu Devata! Please do not worry. There will be no blame on you for this destruction. It is not your fault. Please understand one thing clearly – If only creation keeps happening without destruction, how will the world hold all the living beings at a time? Thus, creation and destruction should be a cyclic process, which is what we are trying to design here. Hence, please remember one thing clearly – You will not be directly responsible for anybody’s death – The tears of yours that I’m holding in my hand are going to manifest into two types of “Vyaadhis” (Diseases) – “Mano-Vyaadhi” (Mental illness / diseases) and “Deha-Vyaadhi” (Physical diseases). Living beings in this world, including humans, are going to face death from either or both of these two categories of diseases. They are going to die of diseases and not because of you! So you do not need to worry about this at all! Your only responsibility is to ensure that the living beings are injected with these diseases at an appropriate time!” 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Brahma consoles Mrithyu Devata and with this, we can now understand why we are suffering from several types of diseases in this world today! In turn, we can also understand how several diseases are fatal in nature and how people and other living beings die due to them! 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! 🙂

We’re currently in a mourning phase of the Kurukshetra war – Day Thirteen wherein Abhimanyu has breathed his last. Thanks to some unethical and “Adharmic” warfare techniques spearheaded by none other than Guru Dhronachaarya himself, Abhimanyu was trapped inside the “Chakra-Vyugam” and was attacked from all four sides by the key Kaurava warriors. Towards the end, Ducchaasana’s son inflicted the killer blow on Abhimanyu’s head even before he got up to give a fight once again. This led to Abhimanyu passing away after an excellent show of strength! Thus, as Abhimanyu is dead, Yudishtra is crying inconsolably! He even goes to the extent of having a thought that he doesn’t need the kingdom anymore and also to refrain from fighting this war any further! In fact, Yudishtra also has a suicidal thought in his mind as he thinks about how Arjuna will react to this shocker. It is at this time, Sage Vyaasa suddenly makes his way into the Kurukshetra battlefield to meet Yudishtra. He provides some important words of wisdom to Yudishtra, in a bid to cheer him up and motivate him to continue his pursuit. Sage Vyaasa explains that as a great “Kshatrya” prince, Yudishtra should not shed tears like this. Rather, he should have the mindset to appreciate Abhimanyu’s contribution and move on from here. Such things happen in a battlefield and there is no point fretting over it! Just like Yudishtra has Bhagawan Krishna’s unending “Anugraha” with him at all times, Jayatrada also had Bhagawan Shiva’s “Anugraha” in the form of the boon that He had given. Thus, success and failure are part and parcel of life and Sage Veda-Vyaasa highlights this important point to Yudishtra in a bid to cheer him up! 

As Sage Vyaasa says all these points, Yudishtra has an important doubt! This doubt arises from one important point that Sage Vyaasa raises here. He says, “Oh Yudishtra! Death is something which a “Kshatrya” prince should completely discard and not feel scared of. If you’re in a battlefield and fighting against an enemy, at the end of the battle only one of you can be alive, isn’t it? This is the law of the world! Hence, mourning for the death of one person doesn’t really make sense. You’ve to get up and move on. You know very well that the “Atman” and the “Deham” are two different entities. No matter Abhimanyu’s “Deham” might have been destroyed today, his “Atman” is still alive. Moreover, Abhimanyu’s great contribution should be appreciated by you and you should take pride out of it and move on further!” Now upon hearing this from Sage Vyaasa, Yudishtra asks – “Oh Sage Vyaasa! What is the meaning of “Death”? Why did Bhagawan create something called “Death” for a Jeevatma? Everytime we see this in a battlefield – Someone or the other passes away! Why are people around the person who is dead feeling very sad and why are people who are alive feeling very happy? What is the secret behind this? ” 

We should remember that this conversation is happening amidst a battlefield wherein the war for the day is yet to come to a halt. Yudishtra is not asking these questions to Sage Vyaasa with a bid to learn something. He is asking these questions with extreme anger and frustration! Thus, in order to bring down Yudishtra’s anger, Sage Vyaasa is going to narrate a small story here. He says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! There’s a story which Sage Naarada had once narrated to King Akampana!” We might have heard this person before in some context – King Akampana was a great king and he once had a similar doubt, for which, Sage Naarada is giving an answer. Sage Vyaasa is narrating this particular story to Yudishtra to pacify him. Sage Vyaasa continues thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Once upon a time, as King Akampana was fighting a battle along with his son, a similar incident happened to him as well. In due course of the war, King Akampana had to lose his son to the enemy’s wrath. As this happens, just like how you are crying today, King Akampana too cried out with extreme grief! At this time, Sage Naarada comes in front of King Akampana and talks to him. Sage Naarada explains thus, “Oh Akampana! When Bhagawan Vishnu created this world, He had given the responsibility to create more and more Jeevatmas in this world to Bhagawan Brahma. As per Bhagawan Vishnu’s instruction, Bhagawan Brahma too starts creating several Jeevatmas in this world, but at that point in time, he forgot to create something called as “demise” or “death” to these new living beings who are taking birth! Hence, after a point in time, the population in this world started to increase manifold and there was a scarcity of place for all the living beings to live here. It is at this time, Bhagawan Brahma thinks thus – “Oh wow! We’ve only been creating everything till now. But what about destroying whatever we’ve created? Only then there will be a cycle that is created and this will ensure that there will be adequate space in this world for everyone, isn’t it? If we are only creating everything and if we’re not destroying anything, what is the point after some time?” 

Thinking thus, anger builds within Bhagawan Brahma, which manifests itself into “Agni Bhagawan” (A huge ball of fire). Thus, Agni Bhagawan who comes out of Bhagawan Brahma is now starting to engulf the entire world and with this, something called “Destruction” starts for the first time! Upon seeing this, Bhagawan Shiva (Bhagawan Rudra) immediately realizes a great threat and a danger to the world’s existence and thus rushes towards Bhagawan Brahma to bring down his anger. However, Bhagawan Brahma is firm on his point, even as Bhagawan Shiva is trying to convince him to stop this mass destruction. But after a point, Bhagawan Brahma realizes that destruction should not be his role anymore and he should depute Bhagawan Shiva to do it based on certain rules and regulations. Bhagawan Brahma takes this decision because, if he continues to destroy, the entire world would be destroyed completely within seconds! This should not happen. There should be a cycle of birth and death and it should be smooth. Thus, for the first time, Bhagawan Brahma requests Bhagawan Shiva to take over the role of destruction in this world!” 

So for today, let us understand this explanation of Sage Vyaasa to Yudishtra up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this further! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Abhimanyu’s sad and shocking demise in the midst of the “Chakra-Vyugam” at Kurukshetra. Thanks to Guru Dhronachaarya’s gross unethical idea, and thanks to the implementation of the idea by Karna, Ducchaasana and his son, Abhimanyu was killed in the most unethical way possible. As we’ve seen, Karna first attacked Abhimanyu from behind, which itself was grossly against “Yuddha-Neethi”. Secondly, even as Abhimanyu gave a valiant fight after that, Ducchaasana’s son orchestrated the most unethical thing by hitting Abhimanyu on his head, without even giving him time to compose himself and get up. This leads to a huge celebration from the Kaurava camp and their real intention of fighting this war is out in the open for all of them to see! Their intention is not to fight the war in the ethical way. Duryodhana’s only intention is to somehow win this by hook or crook and put Yudishtra to further turmoil. 

Now moving on further thus, as Yudishtra comes to know of Abhimanyu’s demise, he understands the truth behind what had exactly happened! Abhimanyu was purposefully trapped by Guru Dhronachaarya and Duryodhana and he succumbed to it! Yudishtra also realizes that Jayatrada had played spoilsport by preventing the Paandava brothers to follow Abhimanyu! This leads Yudisthra to a huge frustration as he understands that he has been cheated grossly yet again! Yudishtra weeps bitterly thinking that he has lost a young warrior and more than that, how is he going to answer Arjuna and Subhadra Devi (Arjuna’s wife)? How is Arjuna going to digest this news of Abhimanyu’s death? How is he going to be emotionally strong from here on to fight this war? Yudishtra says to his brothers who are by his side thus, “Oh! It is all because I took this foolish decision of going ahead and fighting this war! Now look at the end result! We’ve lost our next generation child! Now who will rule the kingdom after me? Looking at this grave situation, I should give up fighting this war any further! I do not want this kingdom anymore! Without Abhimanyu, how am I going to rule this kingdom? Oh my God! What do I tell about Abhimanyu’s valour? On one hand, I feel like celebrating Abhimanyu’s exceptional talent, but on the other hand, the thought that he is no more, breaks my heart! Looking at all this…. Oh Bheemasena! Oh Nakula! I do not feel like living in this world any more! It is not worth it! This is the price that I’ve to pay for following the path of “Dharma” at all times! I do not want any happiness associated with being a king! I’m fed up with everything that is happening around me! I’m totally unfit to even live in this world!” 

Lamenting thus, Yudisthra almost comes to the decision of committing a suicide! He is completely fed up with everything as he cries out loud! It is at this time, Sage Veda-Vyaasa suddenly makes his way into the Kurukshetra battlefield! All this is happening towards the end of Day Thirteen, wherein the war has been called off for the day after Abhimanyu’s demise. However, Yudishtra and the entire Paandava camp is still in the battlefield, mourning the heavy loss of Abhimanyu. Arjuna is still yet to come back and nobody has an idea about his whereabouts. As Sage Vyaasa comes, he addresses Yudishtra thus, “Oh great son of Kunthi Devi! You are a great Kshatrya prince! Why are you getting upset like this? This heartbreak that you’re experiencing isn’t a great sign of your courage and valour!” 

As Sage Vyaasa says thus, Yudishtra replies back – “Oh Great Sage! Isn’t Abhimanyu’s demise a great loss for all of us? I did not know that Jayatrada would do such a thing! It was extremely unfortunate that I misjudged Jayatrada and his inhumane behavior!” As Yudishtra laments thus, Sage Vyaasa replies – “Do not think about Jayatrada’s inhumane behaviour! It is the boon that he has obtained from Bhagawan Shiva. It is bound to come true at some point in time! Oh Yudishtra! None of us can stop boons from fructifying! As in your case, aren’t you protected well by several boons given to you by Bhagawan Krishna? Why aren’t you thinking about all that? Just like how you’ve succeeded all this while with Bhagawan Krishna’s divine “Anugraha”, Jayatrada has succeeded this time, thanks to Bhagawan Shiva’s boon! It’s as simple as that! In this world, both good and evil things will happen. It is up to you to be patient and tolerate all of them!” 

Saying thus, Sage Vyaasa tries to console and motivate Yudishtra. But will this work? Or, is it too late to console Yudishtra any further after all that he has gone through in his life? We shall wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned!

We’re amidst a very important juncture during Day Thirteen at Kurukshetra wherein we’re witnessing one of the most marquee battles that is being fought – Abhimanyu vs. the entire Kaurava army! Abhimanyu is on fire as he swirls 360-degrees to fight from all directions single-handedly. The intensity of Abhimanyu is extremely severe that even Guru Dhronachaarya was given a run for his money! All the main “Maharathis” including Karna, Duryodhana, Ducchaasana, etc. are having a tough time with Abhimanyu, even as he finishes several great “Maharatis” effortlessly! This sends shockwaves amidst the Kaurava camp, which now strategizes to finish off Abhimanyu by hook or crook, even if it is not through the path of “Yuddha-Dharma”. As per the suggestion given by Guru Dhronachaarya, Karna  hits Abhimanyu from behind, which shocks Abhimanyu! Till this moment, Abhimanyu backed himself up even if he was trapped alone, because he expected the Kauravas to fight with him legitimately. However, now, the Kauravas are showing their real “Adharmic” face – They will go to any extent to finish him off! This sends shockwaves into Abhimanyu, but that is not going to deter the brave youngster from putting up a huge show of strength! 

As he is attacked from all sides now, Abhimanyu loses one weapon after the other. Finally he is now fighting with his “Gadha”, which again sends several people packing! During this time, the famed “Kaalakeyas” from the Shubala Desha and great warriors from the Gaandhaara Desha meet their ends in the hands of Abhimanyu! Now it is time for Ducchaasana to have a go at Abhimanyu, however, Ducchaasana is no match to Abhimanyu’s fortress! Abhimanyu, with his “Gadha”, is almost at the verge of killing Ducchaasana single-handedly, however, his son comes in the middle and rescues him. However, when Ducchaasana’s son attacks Abhimanyu with his “Gadha”, a brief fight ensues and Abhimanyu is now tired and bruised by several arrows that have pierced his body for all this while! He couldn’t live up to the expectation during this final phase of the fight! Upon seeing Abhimanyu sulking for the first time, Ducchaasana’s son sees this as an opportunity to inflict a heavy blow on him, which makes him fall on to the ground. As per the “Yuddha-Neethi” (Rules and regulations), if a person is falling on to the ground, he has to be given a few minutes to compose himself and get up before giving the next blow. However, Ducchaasana’s son is not willing to give that split of a second to Abhimanyu to get up and compose himself. He progresses forward and hits Abhimanyu on his head, which becomes a fatal blow for him!

Thus, as Ducchaasana’s son hits Abhimanyu in this “Adharmic” way, Abhimanyu could not get up any further as he starts bleeding heavily from his head! Unable to bear this fatal blow, poor Abhimanyu falls down – Once and forever! Ducchaasana’s son should not have done this. Abhimanyu should have been given time to get up and once again take his “Gadha” in his hand before restarting the fight. However, he wanted to kill Abhimanyu by hook or crook and hence, he resorted to the path of “Adharma” to kill Abhimanyu on the spot, without even giving him an opportunity to stand up and compose himself! 

This incident of “Adharma” sends shockwaves across the entire Kurukshetra battlefield! The Kauravas start celebrating in a big way, which makes the alarm bells ringing in Yudishtra’s mind. As Yudishtra comes to know that Abhimanyu is no more, he is stunned to bits and slowly gets to know the truth of how the Kauravas spearheaded by Guru Dhronachaarya have trapped Abhimanyu unethically and killed him! On one hand, Yudishtra could not control his emotions, as he let out a loud cry of shock, frustration and pain! On the other hand, Arjuna hasn’t come back yet! If Arjuna comes back and understands that his son is no more, what will he answer to Arjuna? Yudishtra is now clearly caught in a fix! So for today, let us understand up to this point. Along with Yudishtra and Co. let us join to mourn the death of a great wearrior called Abhimanyu! Meanwhile, we’ve to also remember that Abhimanyu has been killed in the most unethical way possible. Given that such a thing has happened, what is the approach that the Paandavas are going to take? What is going to be Bhagawan Krishna’s next move from here on? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned!

In the previous episode, we’ve witnessed Abhimanyu in absolute beast mode while he single-handedly takes on stalwarts like Karna, Duryodhana, Ducchaasana and Guru Dhronachaarya himself! The hallmark battle to be mentioned here is the one between Abhimanyu and Guru Dhronachaarya, wherein Abhimanyu gives Guru Dhronachaarya a run for his money! Upon seeing Abhimanyu’s prowess and shrewdness in the battlefield, Guru Dhronachaarya is stunned to bits! At the same time, he’s admiring the youngster for his exceptional talent of exhibiting 360-degree warfare! Now, as Abhimanyu advances inside the several layers of the “Chakra-Vyugam”, we’ve seen in the previous episode that Yudishtra and Co. who were supposed to follow Abhimanyu inside the “Chakra-Vyugam” getting stalled by Jayatrada. We’ve seen that Jayatrada had once obtained a boon from Bhagawan Shiva that he can hold the Paandava brothers (except Arjuna) as captives for a brief period of 24 hours. Thus, Jayatrada uses this boon given by Bhagawan Shiva to perfection and he manages to capture the Paandava brothers, in a bid to isolate an overly-aggressive Abhimanyu! 

Moving on further thus, Abhimanyu, unmindful of the fact that he’s isolated and nobody is there to defend him, continues his aggression towards the Kaurava army. A total of six important people including Duryodhana’s son are killed by Abhimanyu effortlessly, along with tens of thousands of army men being massacred at the same time! The way in which Abhimanyu is advancing further and further sends alarm bells ringing across the Kaurava camp, with Duryodhana expressing his fear to Guru Dhronachaarya that the war will come to an end by this evening itself if things go this way! As Duryodhana says thus, Karna too joins the conversation with immense anger and frustration. Karna says to Guru Dhronachaarya thus, “Oh Guru Dhronachaarya! Do you remember your pledge that you’ve taken before today’s battle? You’ve promised that you will kill an important person! Is this the way you will keep fighting and prolonging things? It now seems that Arjuna is not even necessary in the battlefield anymore and Abhimanyu can single-handedly take all of us down within the next few minutes! What are you doing? Please act before it’s too late!” 

As Duryodhana and Karna express their anguish thus, Guru Dhronachaarya too gets frustrated! He replies thus, “Oh Duryodhana and Karna! Both of you are talking as if you do not know anything! If we fight the war in the straightforward way like this, we are not going to win against him. Now let me tell you one “Upaayam” – Attack him from the back. Destroy his chariot from his backside. Destroy his bow from the backside. Oh Duryodhana and Karna! The only way to stop Abhimanyu is to attack him from behind him and not from the frontal end. With the way he’s fighting, even the Devas cannot win over him easily!” Taking cue from Guru Dhronachaarya’s words, Karna decides to now take the lead. What is going to happen next is gross “Adharma”! Normally a war should be fought under certain rules and regulations, and one of the most important rules is to always fight the war head on and not from the back! This indicates cowardliness and this is exactly what Guru Dhronachaarya is propagating! Thus, we can see how “Adharma” and “Unethical behavior” takes over from here on in the Kaurava camp as they somehow want to target and win over Abhimanyu by hook or crook! 

Thus, Karna quickly goes behind Abhimanyu and attacks him from the back! This was something that Abhimanyu would have least expected from a great “Dharma-Atma” like Karna! Unable to bear the pain of Karna’s sharp arrows piercing him, Abhimanyu falls on the ground! Even then, Abhimanyu composes himself and gets up to fight with his bow and arrow once again from the ground. However, Karna was quick enough to break Abhimanyu’s bow, as he has become weak by now. After the bow was plucked off his hands, Abhimanyu takes his sword to fight, only to be plucked away by Guru Dhronachaarya’s sharp arrows targeting his hands! Notwithstanding this blow, Abhimanyu now plucks the wheel of his chariot and rushes towards Guru Dhronachaarya. He now wants to use the chariot’s wheel as a lethal weapon to target the opposition. We can see the “never-give-up” attitude of young Abhimanyu here and his relentless effort to give a fight till the end, no matter whether he loses his life or not! This is something that all of us should applaud Abhimanyu for and learn from his life! As Abhimanyu advances further thus, Guru Dhronachaarya destroys and breaks the Chakra with which he’s trying to fight! Now, Abhimanyu takes his “Gadha” to fight – This time, Abhimanyu puts up a great fight once again and finishes hundreds of armymen and a couple of “Maharathis” in the Kaurava camp. Particularly those who got hit by Abhimanyu were the warriors from Gaandhaara Desham (Present-day Afghanistan), Shubala Desham, etc. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode we shall continue to witness the spectacular warfare exhibited by Abhimanyu and how he had to meet an unfortunate end to his life! Stay tuned!