The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a critical turnaround moment in the entire Kurukshetra war, wherein on the tenth day afternoon, Bhishmachaarya fell down severely injured by Arjuna’s and Shikhandi’s arrows piercing him. As soon as Shikhandi comes in front of Bhishmachaarya, the latter slowly and gradually starts to refrain from fighting the war and takes arrow after arrow on his body! Shikhandi succeeds in breaking the protective shield of Bhishmachaarya and subsequently upon Bhishmachaarya’s request, Arjuna fires him with multiple arrows all over his body as Bhagawan Krishna actively watches it from Arjuna’s chariot. Bhishmachaarya is finally happy and satisfied that he has had the opportunity to be hit by a great warrior in the form of Arjuna, and in the divine presence of Bhagawan Krishna. Thus, as there is no single inch in his body to be pierced by Arjuna’s arrows, Bhishmachaarya falls down from his chariot and lies on the ground, supported by a “bed of arrows”. 

It is to be noted here that Bhishmachaarya’s body doesn’t touch the ground. He lies on top of a bed of arrows and his head hangs down without support. As this happens, the entire world starts trembling. The Devas look at the ghastly sight with utter shock and disbelief! The Kaurava army could not believe what has just unfolded! As Bhishmachaarya falls down, many people around him think that he has passed away! Thus, all the Maharishis who were there in the vicinity along with the other key warriors rush towards Bhishmachaarya to see what has happened. At this point, Bhishmachaarya’s “Atman” has not separated from his physical body. Bhishmachaarya replies to all of them thus, “Oh! Today I’ve been overpowered by a great warrior called Arjuna and on a given normal day it is impossible. However, due to the presence of Bhagawan Krishna on their side and because of the fact that I stood on the side of “Adharma”, this was bound to happen. Victory is assured for that side with which Bhagawan Krishna is standing by and there’s no second thought about it! Wherever “Dharma” is present, Bhagawan Krishna will always be there! Oh great Maharishis and warriors! Please do not think I’m dead! I’m very much alive! As this is the “Dakshinaayanam” season, I do not want to die during this time. I shall wait till the “Uttharaayanam” season, which will come in a few months time. Once the “Uttharaayanam” arrives, I will pass away from this world once and forever! I have obtained a boon that I can decide on the day when I shall depart from this world!” 

Thus, as Bhishmachaarya has fallen down, the “Hamsa” birds from Manasarovara Kshetra immediately arrive at the place. These “Hamsa” birds are extremely divine in nature and they come and pay their respects to Bhishmachaarya. Even the Devas including Indra, Yama-Dharma-Raja, Varuna, etc. arrive at the spot and make a “Pradakshinam” (Circumvention) around Bhishmachaarya and pay their respects towards the great leader of the “Kuru Vamsam”. As the Maharishis worship Bhishmachaarya, they provide their divine “Anugraha” to him by saying thus, “Oh great Bhishmachaarya! You are definitely destined to reach the “Svarga Lokha” and hence, please continue to wait until the right time arrives for it!” Bhagawan Krishna looks on as all the Maharishis provide their divine “Anugraha”. Bhagawan Krishna doesn’t utter a word here and He is just standing there silently! We might have a question here – While “Maharishis” are blessing Bhishmachaarya, why is Bhagawan silent? Why is He not blessing Bhishmachaarya? The answer is very simple – If the great Maharishis provide their divine “Anugraha”, this itself is enough! Bhagawan doesn’t need to say anything further! It is imperative that Bhagawan has given His “green signal”, the moment the Maharishis bless Bhishmachaarya with the divine Svarga Lokha. Moreover, as we’ve seen earlier too, Bhishmachaarya himself is a great “Aachaarya” and there’s nothing that Bhishmachaarya hasn’t achieved spiritually in this world! Bhagawan Krishna knows all this and hence, He decides to keep silent! 

Moving on further thus, as Bhishmachaarya falls down, both the Paandavas and the Kauravas rush towards him. All of them are in tears! Arjuna is crying profusely and so is Yudishtra too! Duryodhana is shell-shocked! This entire scene is being narrated by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra at Hastinapura palace and upon listening to it, King Dhritarashtra couldn’t believe his ears! How can the invincible Bhishmachaarya fall down so easily like this? Dhritarashtra violently asks Sanjaya this question and for today let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

We’re at an extremely important juncture wherein Bhishmachaarya is being surrounded on all sides by the Paandava brothers and Shikhandi comes in front of Bhishmachaarya for the first time in the battlefield. As we know, Shikhandi is a person who was originally a female but converted herself into a male, exclusively to kill Bhishmachaarya. This incident happened several years ago and Bhishmachaarya also knows this at the back of his mind. The previous night (Day Nine), Bhishmachaarya himself has revealed to Yudishtra that if at all there should be an end for him, it should be through Shikhandi and nobody else. Even Arjuna cannot defeat Bhishmachaarya in any situation. Thus, paying heed to Bhishmachaarya’s advice, Bhagawan Krishna, along with Arjuna and Yudishtra chart out a plan to bring Shikhandi into the battlefield on Day Ten of the war as Bhishmachaarya continues his rampage against the Paandava army. 

The moment Bhishmachaarya spots Shikhandi’s arrival in front of him, he turns his eyes away from Shikhandi and starts fighting with the rest of the people who are trying to surround him. Arjuna motivates Shikhandi to fight with Bhishmachaarya, and accordingly, Shikhandi hits Bhishmachaarya with his arrows. Even as this happens, Bhishmachaarya is unmindful of this and he continues to ignore Shikhandi. At a point, Shikhandi’s arrows start piercing through Bhishmachaarya’s protective shields and slowly start hitting his body! As this happens, Bhagawan Krishna motivates Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Now this is the best opportunity for you to hit Bhishmachaarya! Go for it! If you hit now, Bhishmachaarya would not be able to attack you back, as his body is full of arrows from Shikhandi. Now hit him with more arrows so that he is completely paralyzed!” 

As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, Arjuna is in two minds – On one hand, he gets reminded of his “Pratignya” that he would be the one to kill Bhishmachaarya and all that happened on that fateful gambling episode runs in his mind. Whereas, on the other hand, Bhishmachaarya being his beloved grandfather is getting hit and upon seeing this scene, Arjuna is wanting to shed tears of sorrow! Balancing both these feelings thus, Arjuna obeys Bhagawan’s words and starts hitting Bhishmachaarya with his sharp arrows. A helpless Bhishmachaarya drops down his weapons slowly one after the other as he is being hit! Finally as Bhishmachaarya is about to fall down from his chariot, he has a request to Arjuna! Bhishmachaarya says to Arjuna thus, “Oh my dear Arjuna! Today your “Pratignya” is coming true and I appreciate it! I only have one request for you – Pierce me with more of your arrows! I would like to fall on the ground with your arrows piercing my body from all sides. I should not fall on the ground with those arrows that Shikhandi let on me. Please go ahead and let more of your arrows pierce me and with this, I would be proudly falling down with the thought that I’m getting overpowered by a great warrior on the battlefield!” 

As Bhishmachaarya says thus, a teary-eyed Arjuna starts piercing Bhishmachaarya with more and more arrows, even as Shikhandi is trying to attack him. Unmindful of Shikhandi, Bhishmachaarya tries to move away and away from him, even as Shikhandi follows him! However, Ajruna is smart enough to manoeuvre these things and he hits Bhishmachaarya repeatedly with his arrows! Now there’s a point wherein Bhishmachaarya’s body is completely pierced with Arjuna’s arrows and there’s not even a single inch of space in his body for another arrow to pierce him. Finally, as everyone around looks with shock and disbelief, Bhishmachaarya slowly falls on the ground, clamped with all the arrows that have pierced him. In fact, Bhishmachaarya’s body does not touch the ground. He is “embedded” upon the arrows that have pierced him. Thus, as many of us might be aware, Bhishmachaarya falls on the “bed of arrows”, right in the middle of the battlefield at Kurukshetra! 

Upon seeing Bhishmachaarya fall down slowly onto the ground, the entire world is in shock! The Devas including Indra, Vaayu, Varuna, etc. are in utter disbelief upon looking at what had just happened! Until that point, Bhishmachaarya was an invincible warrior in any battlefield and there’s no history wherein Bhishmachaarya has lost a battle against someone! However, here, an unusual event has unfolded wherein Bhishmachaarya has fallen down to Arjuna’s prowess! Was it Arjuna’s prowess that brought the downfall of Bhishmachaarya or was it because of Bhishmachaarya’s own wish that he wanted to be killed by Arjuna in front of Bhagawan Krishna? So for today, Bhishmachaarya has fallen down on the ground and let us understand up to this point. We shall continue this discussion further in the next episode as well! Stay tuned!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the Day Ten proceedings at Kurukshetra wherein Bhishmachaarya on one side is continuing from where he left on the previous day. He’s running riots into the Paandava army, which is once again scrambling and dwindling by the minute. Bhishmachaarya’s rigour is clearly unmatchable on Day Ten as well, however, on the other side, we’ve witnessed Guru Dhronachaarya seeing some bad omens around him, indicating a great disaster that’s going to unfold very soon. Perhaps this disaster might be centred around Bhishmachaarya? As Guru Dhronachaarya sees a renewed Bhishmachaarya fighting the brains out of the Paandava camp, he instructs his son Ashwatthaama to mobilize the Kaurava army around Bhishmachaarya in a bid to protect him if any disaster takes place. However, we’ve to remember here that Bhishmachaarya had clearly instructed Duryodhana and Co. during the starting of the ninth day that he doesn’t need anybody’s protection from the Kaurava army and he would go into the war as a one-man army! 

Sensing the danger thus, Guru Dhronachaarya proceeds ahead as Drishtadhyumna comes in front of him quickly from nowhere. A huge war breaks out between the two of them and Guru Dhronachaarya, as all of us know, is impeccable with his warfare tactics. Drishtadhyumna is made to run for his money within no time and in the meanwhile, the inevitable thing starts unfolding. Bhishmachaarya comes in front of Arjuna and there’s yet another round of huge war between the two of them! As the war goes into an unprecedented and an uncharted zone, Bhagawan Krishna silently motivates Arjuna and gives an idea to him thus, “Oh Arjuna! Call Shikandi immediately. He is somewhere at a short distance only. Ask him to come to this spot in his chariot and make him stand in front of Bhishmachaarya! Upon seeing Shikandi, Bhishmachaarya will refrain from fighting. At that time, you keep motivating Shikandi from behind to go for the kill. Your role here is very simple – Keep motivating Shikandi to such an extent that he doesn’t run away from the battlefield. Shikandi is a scared person at times, and hence, possibility is very high that he might tend to run away. But do not allow that to happen. You keep pushing him again and again so that he is getting enraged more and more to go for the kill! Let us see what happens!” 

Thus, a message is being sent to Shikandi to assemble here immediately from wherever he is. In the meanwhile, the four Paandava brothers slowly start surrounding Bhishmachaarya’s chariot from all directions. Upon seeing this, Duryodhana senses that Bhishmachaarya is getting cornered and thus tries to pick up a fight with Bheemasena and the others – Only to be chased away! Saatyaki takes care of King Shalya, who also tries his bit to break the bid of the Paandavas to surround Bhishmachaarya. Bhagadatta comes and attacks the Paandava fortress, however, Ghatodgaja takes care of him with a befitting reply. Thus, the Paandavas ensure that none of them from the Kaurava army come near Bhishmachaarya in a bid to protect him or pull him away from the spot. Finally as this keeps happening, Shikandi arrives! As Shikandi comes into the scene, Arjuna talks to him thus, “Oh Shikhandi! Go in front of Bhishmachaarya and try to pick up a fight with him. I shall protect you from behind! Don’t worry about anything! You go in front of Bhishmachaarya and do your best!” 

As Shikandi is slowly advancing towards Bhishmachaarya, Duryodhana realizes the great danger into which Bhishmachaarya is getting trapped into gradually! He immediately mobilizes a huge army to somehow break the deadlock here! Shikhandi now starts fighting with Bhishmachaarya by aiming one arrow at him straight. This arrow splits into nine different arrows and attacks Bhishmachaarya! Immediately his protective shield starts giving up and falls off onto the ground! Even though Shikhandi has hit Bhishmachaarya now, Bhishmachaarya is not looking at Shikhandi even for a minute. He continues to fight with several others who are trying to surround him. As we know, Bhishmachaarya will not fight against Shikhandi and he lives up to this expectation without an iota of doubt! Without giving Shikhandi any importance, he keeps fighting with the others and in the meanwhile, Shikhandi attacks him with more and more arrows. Blood flows out of Bhishmachaarya’s chest as Shikhandi’s arrows pierce his body directly now! Even without minding that, Bhishmachaarya continues to fight along! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode we shall see what happens to Bhishmachaarya next! Stay tuned for an important accord! 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna beautifully highlighting the importance of a Guru or an Aachaarya, through the lens of Bhishmachaarya. When Bhishmachaarya asks Yudishtra as to why Bhagawan Krishna hadn’t revealed the secret behind his weakness and why should Bhishmachaarya himself talk about it to him, Bhagawan Krishna immediately gives a reply that whatever teachings and guidelines that should come to Yudishtra should be through the Guru and not from Bhagawan directly. Thus, Bhagawan establishes the fact clearly that the Guru is the source of all knowledge and wisdom. Bhagawan will only facilitate the learning process between the Guru and the Sishya and as such, He would not be involved in it directly. Here we’re seeing that Bhagawan Krishna facilitated Yudishtra’s learning process from his Guru, Bhishmachaarya and thus, bringing out the significance of the Guru’s role in imparting knowledge and wisdom. 

Thus moving forward, we’ve seen Bhishmachaarya himself revealing the secret behind how he can be defeated in the battlefield to Yudishtra and now as we go into the tenth day, things start taking a turn. Bhishamchaarya is on his usual rampage mode as he was for the past nine days, killing scores of army men from the Paandava camp. In similar lines, on the other side, Guru Dhronachaarya also launches a scathing attack on the Paandava camp and on the tenth day, both these two veterans start dominating the war scene! However, as the battle progresses further and further into the day, Guru Dhronachaarya has a thought at the back of his mind that something is not going as per the plan. He has an intuition that something disastrous is going to happen for the Kaurava army on this day. Thus, as Guru Dhronachaarya passes closer to his son Ashwatthaama’s chariot, Guru Dhronachaarya says to him thus, “Oh son! It seems to me that something is wrong big time today! I’m seeing a lot of bad omens around me! Oh Ashwatthaama – See towards the sky – All the eagles are revolving in an anti-clockwise direction, which indicates a disaster in the making! The sun is also not that bright today and it is quite gloomy! I see the entire surrounding so reddish in colour all of a sudden! The sun’s intensity has fallen drastically and it is still not even afternoon time. Moreover, I’m feeling as if the earth below us is slightly trembling. Therefore by looking at all this, I can firmly say that there’s a great danger for all of us that is upcoming! There’s definitely going to be a great loss today!” 

Guru Dhronachaarya continues further thus, “Oh Ashwatthaama! I repeatedly hear the sounds of the “Paanchajanya” of Bhagawan Krishna and that of the “Gaandeepa” bow of Arjuna. This means that Arjuna is on a fiery mode today and giving a befitting reply to someone! This someone might be Bhishmachaarya because Arjuna was bruised yesterday by him. Perhaps, in today’s battle the danger is going to be around Bhishmachaarya and Arjuna might have come up with a revised strategy to take him on! We should somehow ensure that Bhishmachaarya is protected from all directions today. Of course, Bhishmachaarya is single handedly capable of defending himself, but something within me tells that he is going to slip somewhere! Moreover, Duryodhana has also triggered him with a lot of negative words and an angry Bhishmachaarya has taken a pledge to finish off all his debts to Duryodhana! I do not know the meaning of these words from him. So I’m somehow scared that Bhishmachaarya might be in great danger today! Oh Ashwatthaama! My mind is pretty unstable at this point. I’m feeling very uncomfortable for the first time in these ten days of war. If Arjuna comes back with a renewed rigor and intensity, Bhishmachaarya may collapse today and I can foresee this happening somehow!”

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness the continuation of the tenth day war at Kurukshetra with a special focus on Bhishmachaarya and Arjuna. Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya revealing an important secret to Yudishtra as to how he could be killed in the battle. Bhishmachaarya explains that he has created a certain set of rules and regulations for himself in any battlefield, and accordingly, he will not fight with people who are physically challenged, people who are women, people who are not professional in warfare and people who have done a “gender change” and falsely project themselves as men. This is where the catch is – The last category of people which Bhishmachaarya mentions is the ploy which has to be taken in hand – Shikandi is someone who was a woman earlier and subsequently changed into a man, especially to kill Bhishmachaarya. We’ve seen this story earlier itself in our previous episode as to how Shikandi took birth in this world. All those back-dated events come to haunt Bhishmachaarya right now during the Kurukshetra war, and with this, Bhishmachaarya hints to Yudishtra that Arjuna should bring Shikandi along with him to fight the war and that is the only way through which Bhishmachaarya can be stopped. 

Now as Bhishmachaarya says thus, the onus is on Yudishtra and Co. to bring Shikandi into the battlefield. So how early is this going to happen? As this question lingers, Yudishtra is now going to return back to the camp and have a discussion. At the time when Yudishtra is about to leave, Bhishmachaarya once again says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I do not understand one point here – Why did you come all the way to me and ask all these things? One person who is with you knows everything, and he is none other than Bhagawan Krishna! I do not understand why He’s not saying this to all of you and why I should do!” This was a slightly sarcastic remark made by Bhishmachaarya on a lighter note and as he makes it, Bhagawan Krishna is by the side of Yudishtra only. Bhagawan replies even more sarcastically thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya! No matter whoever I am, certain things are best told by great Aachaaryas only! Hence, rather than me telling certain things to Yudishtra, I always feel that an Aachaarya (Guru) should tell them!” 

Now this is a very important point that Bhagawan Krishna is making. Even if it might have been on a lighter note, there is an important message in it – A “Guru” or an “Aachaarya” is always one step even higher than Bhagawan Himself, and this concept is being illustrated here beautifully by none other than Bhagawan Krishna Himself. All of us know that Bhishmachaarya is the first “Guru” to all the Paandava brothers in terms of teaching several warfare techniques. Guru Dhronachaarya came in much later and until his arrival, it was Bhishmachaarya who was teaching all these children the art of bow and arrow and other techniques. We’ve seen this in our earlier episodes clearly. Bhagawan Krishna wants Bhishmachaarya to do his duty as a Guru to the Paandava brothers and hence, He wants Bhishmachaarya himself to teach them how to overcome him, rather than Bhagawan stepping in. 

Moreover, it is very clear here as to when Bhagawan Krishna would step in and when He would not involve himself much. Bhagawan has a clearly defined boundary with which He operates – If it is between a Guru and a Sishya (Disciple), Bhagawan will never intervene in between. He will leave the entire responsibility to the Guru to guide the Sishya in the way he wishes to. However, if someone comes to Bhagawan in terms of Bhakti and Sharanagati, He would step in. Even for granting “Moksha”, Bhagawan does not do that everytime. He does it only by a case-to-case basis. For instance, we’ve seen how Bhagawan empowered Shrimad Ramanujachaarya to grant “Moksha” to whomever he wanted to. Here we can see that a highly qualified Aachaarya like Bhagawad Ramanujachaarya has been given the highest power of granting “Moksha”, which otherwise, only Bhagawan can do. Hence, we can see from all these examples, the significance of a Guru or an “Aachaarya” and this is exactly why Bhagawan asks Bhishmachaarya to teach a few important things to Yudishtra and Co. 

In fact, to go one step further, Bhagawan Krishna seemingly wasn’t satisfied with the entire Bhagawad Gita that He gave to all of us. It is only when this same Bhishmachaarya elucidates His significance through the Vishnu Sahasranamam (We’re going to witness this in detail later on), Bhagawan gets satisfied. Thus, even when it comes to talking about His own significance, Bhagawan wants it to take place through a Guru or an “Aachaarya” and once again, Bhishmachaarya is the person Bhagawan selects for this purpose. Through this, we can understand the significance of Bhishmachaarya in the entire Mahabharata text. Even though he might have been on the wrong side during the war and even if he might have had a few shortcomings, Bhishmachaarya is someone who occupies the highest position according to Bhagawan Krishna! So for today, let us understand this important point that Bhagawan is stressing upon and let us wait till the next episode to witness the strategy planning that is about to take place post this accord from Bhishmachaarya! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a huge discussion being done amidst the Paandava camp, as Bhishmachaarya unleashes his heroics on Day Nine on the battlefield to make them run for their money! Yudishtra asks Bhagawan Krishna the way to move forward in this war and if Bhishmachaarya continues in this fashion for the next one or two days, none of the Paandava brothers and their army is going to sustain the onslaught. Bhagawan Krishna too understands the helplessness of the Paandavas and suggests Yudishtra to go and talk once again to Bhishmachaarya himself to seek guidance as to how to stop his aggression. Accordingly, Yudishtra approaches Bhishmachaarya for the second time to seek advice. We’ve already seen him approaching Bhishmachaarya on the first day of the war before commencement and Bhishmachaarya sending Yudishtra back by saying that the time has not come as yet to reveal certain secrets about his weaknesses. Now that nine days have passed by without any concrete end-result, Bhagawan Krishna feels that the time has come for Bhishmachaarya to reveal a few things to Yudishtra. 

Accordingly, Bhishmachaarya too accepts that the time has come for him to reveal a few things, and he says to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I had sent you back on Day One by refusing to share a few pieces of information, but now let me tell you something very clearly – Unless and until I’m there on the battlefield, you cannot taste victory. Even Indra cannot win over me. This is confirmed. However at the same time I’m not saying that you won’t taste success. You will definitely win – But when I’m not there on the battlefield! So now, let me tell you a few pointers with regards to the situation(s) in which I’ll not fight on a battlefield!” Bhishmachaarya says thus, 

“Imam me shrunu raajendra sankalpam purva chintitam!

Amangalyam tvajam drishtvaa na yudhyeeyam kadaachana!!”

So Bhishmachaarya says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Even though I’m a great warrior, I have a certain set of rules and regulations / do’s and don’ts for myself when it comes to fighting with people. For instance, if a warrior comes in front of me in a chariot which has a flag that spells doom or negativity, I won’t fight with that person!” Bhishmachaarya continues further thus, 

“Ya esha draupado raajan tava sainye mahaa rathaa!

Shikandi samaraamarshi soorasya kavichiinjayaha!!”

Bhishmachaarya says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! If a person comes in front of me who has lost his mother or his son, I wouldn’t fight with him. If someone doesn’t talk the truth and if he fakes himself, I wouldn’t fight with him. Similarly if a person is not a true warrior and if he comes in front of me to fight, I wouldn’t fight. I will fight only with a person who is a trained “Kshatrya” with a definitive level of expertise in warfare. Similarly, if a person who is disabled physically comes in front of me, I wouldn’t pick up a fight with him. I won’t fight with women. I fight only with men who have the valour and strength in him. Moreover, there is a person by name “Shikandi”. By birth, he was a female, however, due to certain reasons, she transformed herself into a male!”

Bhishmachaarya continues thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Arjuna has taken a pledge that he will be the one to defeat and kill me. However, if he is alone in his chariot and fighting against me, he will never be able to win over me. However, if Arjuna takes Shikandi along with him in his chariot, I shall refrain from fighting against him and this is the only time wherein Arjuna can hit and defeat me! So try to bring Shikandi to the battlefield as quickly as possible and with this, things will move further for you!” 

So for today, let us understand up to this point wherein Bhishmachaarya has revealed an important secret to Yudishtra. Now it is up to Yudishtra to go back and find Shikandi and bring him into the battlefield the next day. How is he going to manage this? An important and interesting accord awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya’s two costly misses with regards to attaining the highest “Moksha” through the divine hands of Bhagawan Krishna Himself! We’ve seen that during the third day of the war, Bhagawan Krishna advanced towards Bhishmachaarya to kill him, only to be stopped by Arjuna. Now, during the ninth day, the same incident happens and once again Arjuna stops Bhagawan Krishna from advancing further. Even though Bhishmachaarya was ready to accept Bhagawan Krishna’s advancement, his boon that he could determine when to die prevented Bhagawan Krishna to do the needful. This is where most of us go wrong as well – Even if Bhagawan is ready to come to us, we are not ready most of the time to receive Bhagawan. For instance, if we go to a temple and worship Bhagawan and what if suddenly Bhagawan’s heart melts with our prayer and says, “Oh my ardent Bhakta! I’m so impressed with your prayers and hence, why don’t you stay with me here itself in this temple forever?” Will we be ready to accept Bhagawan’s offer straight away without thinking for a moment even? In many cases, we will start thinking – Oh! We have so many things to do back home! We’ve to take care of our son, daughter, parents, etc.! We will reply to Bhagawan that we shall finish all our duties and then come to Him, isn’t it? This is where we’re not ready to embrace Bhagawan’s divine love and affection, even if He’s ready to give them to us! This is exactly where Bhishmachaarya got stuck as well – His family, children, grandchildren came as a first priority and Bhagawan came second and hence, Bhishmachaarya lost both the opportunities to be granted the highest “Moksha” by Bhagawan Krishna directly! 

Moving on further thus, at the end of the ninth day, all the Paandava brothers come together for a discussion and strategic planning. Bhagawan Krishna is also present with all of them, and Yudishtra asks Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Bhagawan Keshava! Looking at the way Bhishmachaarya fought today’s battle, I’m afraid that the war will end tomorrow itself, resulting in the destruction of all of us! We’ve to find a way to control Bhishmachaarya’s renewed aggression. Is there a way to do it?” As Yudishtra asks thus, Bhagawan Krishna replies – “Oh Yudishtra! You had gone and asked Bhishmachaarya on the first day of the war to understand the methodology to kill him, didn’t you? Bhishmachaarya had replied to you that the time hasn’t come for him to reveal the same, didn’t he? Now I think the time has come. I would suggest you to go back to Bhishmachaarya and ask the same question to him once again, and now he would tell you the “Upaayam” (Way) how to go about things tomorrow!” 

As Bhagawan says thus, Yudishtra doesn’t talk a word back, and he quietly proceeds to Bhishmachaarya’s chamber to seek advice. As Yudishtra comes to meet Bhishmachaarya, he falls on Bhishmachaarya’s feet to seek his “Anugraha”. Bhishmachaarya’s body is full of wounds and injuries as he is tending to all of them by himself. In turn, Yudishtra’s body is also full of bruises. The intensity of the war on the ninth day was extreme in such a way that people on both camps sustained severe injuries. Now Yudishtra asks Bhishmachaarya thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya! Looking at the way things are going, I’m not too sure whether we will be able to win this war! Your valour today on the battlefield was explicable and your fortress was nearly impossible for all of us to breach through. If this goes on, we are never going to win this war. Hence, you’ve to tell us how we will win this!” 

As Yudishtra says thus, Bhishmachaarya replies back – “Oh Yudishtra! I already told you on day one itself that unless and until I’m there on the battlefield, you will never be able to win the war. Even Indra cannot win over me. I’m not an ordinary person to fight with. However, I’m not saying that you will never win this war. You will definitely taste victory – But for that, I should not be there on the battlefield. Hence, you’ve to eliminate me from the battlefield before you will start tasting victory!” Yudishtra asks back thus, “Oh great Bhishmachaarya! I’m totally in sync with whatever you’re saying. However, the biggest question here is how will we be able to eliminate you?” For this, Bhishmachaarya slowly starts revealing some secrets to Yudishtra. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness what Bhishmachaarya has to say to Yudishtra with regards to how he can be prevented from fighting the war on the battlefield! A hugely important accord awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we were witnessing the proceedings of Day Nine of the Kurukshetra war wherein Bhishmachaarya was showing his full prowess to weed out the entire Paandava army. With his heroics, Bhioshmachaarya created utter chaos in the Paandava camp and even an equally powerful Arjuna couldn’t stop his rampage. At one stage, Bhagawan Krishna once again got furious and rushed towards Bhishmachaarya in a bid to kill him then and there, however, Arjuna stopped Him once again. Bhagawan Krishna was visibly angry with Arjuna for the reason that he’s not showing his full might to take on Bhishmachaarya and because of this, He decides to shoulder Arjuna’s responsibility to fight with Bhishmachaarya and stop his rampage. However, thanks to Arjuna’s intervention, Bhagawan goes back to the chariot. 

In the meanwhile, we’ve also seen that Bhishmachaarya puts down his weapons as Bhagawan Krishna rushes towards him. Bhishmachaarya, as we’ve seen earlier, had taken a pledge to make Bhagawan Krishna take the weapon in His hands. Bhagawan Krishna on the other hand, had taken a pledge not to take the weapon in His hands during this war. Now, whose pledge is winning? It is Bhishmachaarya’s, isn’t it? Now we’ve seen that Bhishmachaarya has succeeded not once but twice in making Bhagawan Krishna take the weapon in His divine hands! We should see this in two ways – One way is that, Bhagawan Krishna lets go of His pledge to make His disciple’s pledge come true. This is Bhagawan’s biggest compassion that He has towards His disciple. Secondly, Bhishmachaarya was attacking Bhagawan Krishna’s ardent Bhakta (Arjuna), and if the Bhakta is attacked, Bhagawan will not keep quiet. He will definitely counter-attack and through that, He will protect His ardent Bhakta. 

We’ve seen this not only here, but also in several other places as well. Even in the Ramayana, when Ravana was attacking Bhagawan Rama continuously, Bhagawan Rama never got angry. But the moment Ravana attacked Hanuman, Bhagawan Rama’s fury knew no bounds. When little Prahlaada was repeatedly under attack from Hiranya Kashibu, Bhagawan Vishnu couldn’t bare it any further. At a crucial point when Prahlaada was in extreme danger, Bhagawan incarnated as Bhagawan Narasimha to protect Prahlaada, didn’t He? Similar is the case here too – When Arjuna was badly injured by Bhishmachaarya’s prowess and at a point when there’s no space in Arjuna’s body where the arrows can pierce, Bhagawan Krishna decides to take it upon Himself and fight. It should be remembered here that while Bhishmachaarya and Arjuna were fighting, several arrows fell on Bhagawan Krishna too. He was bleeding profusely and was in immense pain when Bhishmachaarya attacked Him. However, Bhagawan Krishna did not get angry even for a moment. He was taking everything upon Him with a beaming smile. But, the moment Arjuna had the same pain as Him, Bhagawan could not stand it anymore. He launches an all-out attack upon Bhishmachaarya, bypassing Arjuna. 

Another way of looking at it is this – When Bhagawan Krishna advanced towards Bhishmachaarya, He wanted Bhishmachaarya to attain “Moksha” then and there, for all the good deeds that he had performed till now. Bhishmachaarya too acknowledged it and became ready to be killed by Bhagawan, however, the boon that he could decide the time and date of his demise came in the front! Even though Bhishmachaarya wanted to die in the hands of Bhagawan, somewhere at the back of his mind, he was not ready. He was still having the thought that he is the one who is protecting the entire family and that he had a lot of debts to be repaid to Duryodhana. Hence, these thoughts were preventing Bhishmachaarya to be completely open to Bhagawan Krishna, even at a time when Bhagawan Himself approached him, not once but twice! What a golden opportunity wasted by Bhishmachaarya! So for today, let us understand this point clearly and there’s a big lesson for all of us here – Obtaining “Moksha” is one of the toughest things ever for a “Jeevatma”, however, if Bhagawan Himself is ready to come towards us and give it to us, shouldn’t we be ready to accept it with both hands? So let us ponder over this point for today and let us wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂

We’re amidst the ninth day of the Kurkushetra war wherein we’ve witnessed Bhishmachaarya’s full fury and strength on display! As Duryodhana pokes Bhishmachaarya on the wrong side, Bhishmachaarya’s ego gets hurt very badly. This brings out the best from Bhishmachaarya and as a result, the ninth day of the war sees a huge chaos amidst the Paandava army. Bhishmachaarya unleashes his true potential and all of us know that even Indra cannot contain him if Bhishmachaarya is in full flow! Thus we’ve seen Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya coming in front of each other for the second time and even Arjuna struggled to contain him. With this, Bhishmachaarya wreaks havoc and kills thousands of armymen on the Paandava side. This results in a heavy loss for the Paandava army and at the end of Day nine, Bhishmachaarya’s heroics literally pulls down the morale of the entire Paandava camp. Now they are clearly on the backfoot and are clueless as to how to control Bhishmachaarya’s renewed aggression on the battlefield. 

In the meanwhile, we should also note an important point here – As Bhishmachaarya is on full rampage mode on Day Nine against Arjuna, he makes sure that Arjuna is unable to attack him back even with a single arrow! Bhishmachaarya fires arrow after arrow upon Arjuna, which hurts him very badly. At one point, there is no space on Arjuna’s body for Bhishmachaarya to pierce his arrows upon! Until this time, Bhagawan Krishna is patiently watching the war proceedings between the duo. However, at a point where Arjuna cannot withstand any further, Bhagawan Krishna jumps out of the chariot with immense anger and rushes towards Bhishmachaarya with His “Chakram” in His divine hands. Now this is the second time that Bhagawan Krishna is rushing towards Bhishmachaarya. We’ve already seen such an event happening during the third day of the war itself. As Arjuna sees Bhagawan running towards Bhishmachaarya with great fury, he tries to stop Bhagawan. However, Bhagawan Krishna is with a savage resolution this time. He says thus, “Oh Arjuna! I’ve lost my patience now! I’ve given you enough time to prove your mettle! But I realized one important point today – You’re just unfit to take Bhishmachaarya down! So if you cannot do it, let me do it by myself! I do not need anybody’s help for doing this!” 

As Bhagawan Krishna is advancing towards Bhishmachaarya in great fury, Arjuna once again runs towards Him and falls on His divine lotus feet! He holds Bhagawan’s feet tightly onto his chest! The moment Bhagawan’s feet touch the chest of His ardent “Bhakta”, His heart starts to melt again! He stops His advancement right there. In turn, Bhishmachaarya also gets ready to be killed by Bhagawan Krishna, as he once again puts down his weapons upon seeing Bhagawan advancing towards him. Thus, to balance both the Bhaktas’ wishes, Bhagawan refrains from moving forward, and with this, we conclude the ninth day event at Kurukshetra. Now as Bhagawan Krishna advanced for the second time, this makes Bhishmachaarya thoughtful, and with this, he calls the ninth day of the war to an end. 

Thus, as the ninth day war comes to a close, it is as if the Paandavas are merely waiting for this to happen. They are battered and bruised from all directions and with this, the Paandava brothers along with Bhagawan Krishna sit down for a strategic meeting that night. As Yudishtra, Bheemasena and Arjuna assemble in front of Bhagawan Krishna thus, none of them are able to talk anything. Bhagawan Krishna finally breaks the ice with a sarcastic remark thus, “Oh Arjuna! What did you tell me before the war began? You said that you will finish the entire Kaurava army within 20 minutes or 30 minutes! Now nine days have passed by! What has happened? What is the end result?” As Bhagawan Krishna asks thus, Arjuna feels ashamed of himself. He replies back thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Yes, it is true that I pledged before the war that I shall finish off the entire Kaurava camp within a short time duration, however, that has not happened. I’ve tried everything that is there in my arsenal! However, nothing has worked in my favour till now! So I’m clearly struggling! Perhaps I underestimated the opponent’s strengths and capabilities. Little did I expect Bhishmachaarya to unleash such a scathing attack on us today! Oh Bhagawan! I accept my failure! Now tell me why this has happened and what should be our future course of action!” 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness what is Bhagawan’s reply going to be! Stay tuned for an interesting accord ahead! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya getting into an ego clash with Duryodhana, as the latter is somehow not convinced with the performance of the Kaurava army for the past eight days. Till now, nothing significant has been achieved by the Kaurava army, which prompts Duryodhana to change the strategy a bit. Thus, he wants to bring in Karna to fight the battle alongside Bhishmachaarya, which both Bhishmachaarya and Karna would not agree to because of a prolonged rivalry between the duo. Hence, Duryodhana makes a pitch that Bhishmachaarya should rest for a day or two and allow Karna to take over his position. As Duryodhana proposes this, Bhishmachaarya is shrewd enough to understand Duryodhana’s intention and thus takes a strong pledge that he would show his complete might on the battlefield the next day. 

Thus, after all these heated conversations, Day Nine of the war commences the next day. This day is going to be an extremely decisive one for both the camps and let us see how. The Kauravas come up with a Vyugam called “Sarvatopatram”. The intensity of attacks from either side multiply several folds all of a sudden. Bhishmachaarya comes in front of Arjuna for the second time now. A huge war breaks out between the duo as Bhagawan Krishna is keenly watching this evenly-matched contest. We should remember that earlier when Bhishmachaarya confronted Arjuna, neither of the two could breach each other’s fortress and Bhishmachaarya’s fury turned towards Bhagawan Krishna, inflicting Him with several blows! Subsequently, when Bhagawan Krishna got furious with the approach from both of them, He Himself takes out the “Chakra-Aayudham” and rushes towards Bhishmachaarya, only to be stopped by Arjuna. So now, for the second time when this contest begins, Bhagawan Krishna is motivating Arjuna to go for the kill every time and as this happens, the fight becomes more and more intense. Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya trade several “Asthras” upon each other, but nothing ends up successfully upon each other. Arjuna is a great expert in tackling every kind of “Asthra” and he successfully puts them to waste! Similar is the case with Bhishmachaarya and if Arjuna has such amounts of prowess, there is no question about Bhishmachaarya’s capabilities as well. 

As a token of motivation, Bhagawan Krishna says to Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! Great going! Please remember the pledge that you’ve taken earlier. You’ve pledged in front of all of us that you’re the one who’s going to kill Bhishmachaarya! Hence, live up to your words and do not move away from them!” With these words of motivation, Arjuna’s anger increases manifold as he attacks with more and more intensity. However, the war that Bhishmachaarya does on the ninth day is nothing less than a spectacle in itself! The intensity shown by Bhishmachaarya on the battlefield makes the entire Paandava army run for shelter! Whoever comes in front of Bhishmachaarya at that moment is not spared by him. We’ve seen that Bhishmachaarya is already amidst a huge anger and frustration, and coupled with his infinite capabilities, the entire Kurukshetra battlefield is shivering with fear! This is a marquee war that is taking place and as time progresses, Bhishmachaarya is slowly emerging successful! The entire Paandava army is running here and there with fear. It’s chaos everywhere as Bhishmachaarya unleashes his war capabilities at full throttle! 

Thus, it is evident here that Arjuna can’t handle Bhishmachaarya single handedly. The pledge that Arjuna had taken, stands exposed and he is struggling to contain Bhishmachaarya’s aggressive intent on Day Nine! Crossing over Arjuna thus, Bhishmachaarya launches a scathing attack on the rest of the Paandava army and kills thousands of soldiers and other artillery on the Paandava side, thus inflicting heavy losses! We can see here that for the entire ninth day, Bhishmachaarya is the hero and he single-handedly almost wins the battle for Duryodhana. Thus, at the end of the ninth day, it is evident that the Kaurava army under the leadership of Bhishmachaarya has finally found its feet again! The Paandava army is reduced to rubbles by Bhishmachaarya, which leaves a lot to ponder over after the war for the day comes to a close! So for today let us understand up to this point and we shall witness what discussions and strategic changes took place during the night, after the ninth day war is over! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂