The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of proceedings at Kurukshetra on Day 4, wherein we saw Duryodhana and Bheemasena confronting each other for the second time. This time as well, Duryodhana is being overpowered by Bheemasena quite effortlessly, but unlike the last time, Duryodhana is not left to fend for himself all alone. This time, Jayatrada intrudes into the duo and swiftly escorts Duryodhana away from Bheemasena, thus, putting an end to the second round of contest between the duo. In the meanwhile, we’ve seen Bheemasena’s son, Ghatodgaja unleashing himself in the battlefield, killing scores of army men and single handedly defeating many Senapatis in the Kaurava army. Thus, at the end of the fourth day, Duryodhana loses fourteen of his brothers to Bheemasena’s wrath and this slowly induces fear amidst the Kaurava camp. If Bheemasena runs rampage like this, all the hundred Kaurava brothers would be finished in no time, and Bheemasena’s “Pratignya” that he would be the one who will kill the entire Kaurava clan is slowly coming true! 

Meanwhile, as Ghatodgaja unleashes his fury on the battlefield, Bhagadatta from the Kaurava army comes forward to take on Ghatodgaja. Bhagadatta is an extremely powerful Senapati in the side of the Kaurava army and he has an elephant by name “Supradeepakam”. This Supradeepakam elephant is extremely powerful in such a way that it possesses the strength of around 10,000 elephants put together! If this Elephant Supradeepakam walks along, this itself is enough to kill several hundreds of people and other cavalry on the battlefield! Upon seeing Bhagadatta sitting on Elephant Supradeepakam and taking on Ghatodgaja, Bhishmachaarya exclaims thus, “Oh wow! This one man called Bhagadatta is enough to put this war to an end for the Kauravas. They will easily be able to capture the Paandava army!” In return, Bhagawan Krishna knows the significance of Bhishmachaarya’s words! Bhishmachaarya is right! Bhagadatta can single handedly win the war for the Kauravas, however, Bhagawan Krishna has other plans! He understands quickly that there’s no use fighting the war as per the normal procedure against Bhagadatta. The only way to win over Bhagadatta is to fight a “Maaya-Yuddham” (Illusionary warfare). This is why, Bhagawan Krishna immediately asks Bheemasena to send Ghatodgaja to the battlefield to take on Bhagadatta and Elephant Supradeepakam. 

Thus, a huge war breaks out between Bhagadatta and Ghatodgaja. Both of them attack each other fiercely with various weapons, muscle power, etc. and the battle progresses on and on for several hours! Both of them possess equal prowess and as the fight progresses, neither of them could understand the secret behind neutralizing each other! Ghatodgaja is extremely powerful, however, he’s unable to spot Bhagadatta’s weakness. No matter how much ever Ghatodgaja hits him, Bhagadatta is able to get up again and again and fight with the same prowess! Finally on the fourth day, neither of them emerge victorious and they separate away! Meanwhile, Bheemasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva team up together to run rampage into the Kaurava army. This team is extremely destructive and devastative and it sends the Kaurava army packing! As Arjuna and Bheemasena quickly break open the defences and advance into the Kaurava army, Bhishmachaarya decides to call it off for the day, as it is going to be disastrous for the Kaurava army if this onslaught continues from this strong team of the Paandava brothers! 

So with this, day four at Kurukshetra comes to an end and here too, the Paandava army holds the upper edge over the Kauravas! So what’s going to happen subsequently? What kinds of strategies are going to be planned overnight for the fifth day proceedings? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

We’ve been at an important juncture as part of Day three at Kurukshetra wherein Bhagawan Krishna for the first time gets angry and advances towards Bhishmachaarya, in a bid to put an end to his rampage and also to the entire war as a whole. As Bhagawan Krishna does so, on one hand Bhishmachaarya is very happy that he’s getting an opportunity to be killed by Bhagawan Himself, but on the other hand, Arjuna stops Bhagawan from advancing further. Arjuna reminds Bhagawan of the “Pratignya” that he’s the one who’s supposed to kill Bhishmachaarya and notably, Bhagawan’s “Pratignya” that He will not lift a weapon in this war. Even then, Bhagawan Krishna is ready to sacrifice all these, so as to give an opportunity to His ardent devotee, Bhishmachaarya to attain “Moksha” through His divine hands. However, Bhagawan stops advancing at one stage because of two reasons – Bhishmachaarya’s boon that he is the one to decide when to die, and secondly, Arjuna’s “Sharanaagathi”. Hence, Bhagawan has to balance between all these reasons and decides to retreat from His approach. 

With this, the war on the third day comes to an end, with the Kaurava Army having a slight upper edge – Thanks to Bhishmachaarya’s relentless attack, which sent the Paandava army scampering for shelter! Now as we begin the fourth day proceedings, the Kaurava army comes up with the “Vyaana Vyuham” and tries to pierce the Paandava army. Today too, there’s a huge confrontation between Bheemasena and Duryodhana right at the beginning. In fact, the fourth day proceedings commence with “Round two” of Bheemasena versus Duryodhana only and this is one of the marquee events that take place. Now, unlike the previous day when the fight started with the bow and arrow, this time, both of them realize that the only way to neutralize each other is through raw muscle power and through the “Gadhaa-Yuddham”. Accordingly, Bheemasena gets down from his chariot, the moment he sees Duryodhana in front of him. Duryodhana too is prepared today, more than he was yesterday! A huge fight breaks out and Bheemasena brutally attacks Duryodhana, who is also giving a befitting reply to Bheemasena. The entire battlefield at Kurukshetra is looking at this marquee fight with awe! However, as the fight proceeds longer and longer, Bheemasena is proving to be more relentless as compared to Duryodhana! At one stage, Duryodhana gets tired and Bheemasena decides that this is the time for him to capture Duryodhana’s weakness and kill him. Unlike the previous day wherein Bheemasena let Duryodhana get away, he decides that there should be no mercy for Duryodhana today! With this savage resolution, Bheemasena inflicts blow after blow upon Duryodhana and at one stage, Duryodhana is again about to fall on the ground unconscious! 

However, this time, things happen quite dramatically on the Kaurava side – As the Kaurava army sees that Duryodhana is slowly drifting towards being killed, Bhishmachaarya immediately sends Jayathrada to protect Duryodhana and to divert Bheemasena’s attention from him. Accordingly, Jayatrada rushes towards Bheemasena and picks up a fight with him. As Bheemasena is in the peak of his anger, he trains his guns towards Jayatrada, and sends him packing within minutes! In the flow, Bheemasena starts wreaking havoc with the Kaurava army, killing fourteen of Duryodhana’s brothers at a stretch! Readers might remember that the Kauravas are 100 in number with Duryodhana being the eldest amongst all of them. As Bheemasena is on rampage mode, he kills 14 out of the 100 brothers of Duryodhana, thus, creating a huge fear in the minds of the Kauravas! 

Thus, for the first time during this war, the Kaurava army is starting to understand the meaning of what Bheemasena is capable of! If this goes on like this, Bheemasena is going to single handedly win the battle in no time! It is to be remembered that Bheemasena has taken a “Pratignya” during that infamous gambling day proceedings while Draupati was being publicly molested that he will be the one who will kill all the hundred Kaurava brothers for the heinous act that they did. Hence, for the Kauravas, the worst fears are slowly starting to come true! 

As this happens on one side, the war continues to fuel on the other side. Bheemasena’s son, Ghatodgaja arrives at the battlefield, with the request of his father. We’ve to remember this – Earlier when Ghatodgaja was born to Hidimbi and Bheemasena, Ghatodgaja had promised to his father that he will be readily available for any kind of help whenever his father would call him. Thus, the time has arrived for Ghatodgaja to chip in, and here he comes with a massive form! Upon seeing Ghatodgaja itself, the Kaurava army starts shaking with fear, and Ghatodgaja starts destroying a vast section of the Kaurava army effortlessly and easily! If anyone comes in front of Ghatodgaja, he will be killed for fun! Such is the might of Ghatodgaja! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue to witness what kind of havoc did Ghatodgaja unleash and who tried to fight him back from the Kaurava side! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂

We’re at an extremely important juncture at Day 3, wherein Bhagawan Krishna Himself jumps onto the ground to stop Bhishmachaarya’s rampage as Arjuna and Bheemasena fail to bring him under control. Bhagawan Krishna, after observing that Arjuna isn’t doing enough, gets immensely frustrated and He decides to break His “Pratignya” of not taking a weapon in the battlefield, which in turn satisfies Bhishmachaarya’s “Pratignya” of making Bhagawan Krishna take the weapon in the same battlefield! However, as Bhagawan Krishna rushes with immense ferocity, Bhishmachaarya has tears in his eyes as he puts down his bow and arrow! He surrenders himself to Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet and announces openly that he’s ready to be killed by Bhagawan Krishna at that instant itself! Even though, as we might be aware, Bhishmachaarya has a unique boon to decide the day and time of his death – At this moment, Bhishmachaarya decides that this is the moment that he was waiting for – To be killed by Bhagawan Krishna’s divine hands! 

Meanwhile, Arjuna runs to Bhagawan Krishna from his chariot and falls on His divine lotus feet seeking forgiveness. Arjuna urges Bhaagwan Krishna to put down the “Chakra-Aayudham”, as this act of His is totally against the “Pratignya” that He had taken. Moreover, Arjuna had earlier taken a “Pratignya” that he would be the one to kill Bhishmachaarya and now as Bhagawan is going forward to kill him, Arjuna is scared that he would fail in this “Pratignya”. Hence, he rushes towards Bhagawan and holds Him back. Even as Arjuna tries to hold Him back, Bhagawan pushes Arjuna’s hands and continues to walk further towards Bhishmachaarya. As Bhagawan advances more and more, Bhishmachaarya is very happy. On the other hand, Arjuna is getting more nervous! Here is a classical example of how two people who are ardent devotees of Bhagawan Krishna, wanting Him to dance to their tunes individually! Now, whom does Bhagawan Krishna favor? On one hand, Bhishmachaarya is saying thus, “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! You’re only a few more feet away from me! Please come forward!” Whereas, on the other hand, Arjuna says thus, “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! You are only a few more feet away from Bhishmachaarya! Please do not go there! Please stop!” As both of them try to pull Bhagawan to their respective sides, Bhagawan Krishna’s heart starts melting! His anger starts coming down as He takes a pause and stops His forward movement! Arjuna somehow succeeds this time in turning Bhagawan Krishna back to his chariot, as Bhishmachaarya loses an opportunity to be killed by Bhagawan Krishna! 

We are witnessing this incident today as part of the third day of the Kurukshetra war, aren’t we? The same kind of an event is going to unfold on the ninth day as well, wherein Bhagawan Krishna is once again going to take out His “Chakra-Aayudham” and rush towards Bhishmachaarya to finish him off. Even at that time, Arjuna is going to stop Bhagawan Krishna from advancing forward, and this is the time, Bhishmachaarya decides to call it off and to reveal the secret to Arjuna as to how his downfall would be coming by. As Bhagawan Krishna comes twice and Bhishmachaarya is left unscathed by Him, we might be thinking that Bhishmachaarya escaped the wrath of Bhagawan Krishna’s might, but on the hindsight, we should realize that Bhagawan Krishna had given Bhishmachaarya two golden opportunities to be killed by His divine hands and thereby attain the highest “Moksha” and Bhishmachaarya had lost both of them! However, when the opportunity goes away for the second time, Bhishmachaarya realizes that this opportunity is not going to come for the third time and thus, on the ninth day, Bhishmachaarya is going to be struck down! 

We’re of course going to see this in detail in our coming episodes, but the reason behind me stressing upon this point earlier is very simple – If Bhagawan is giving us an opportunity to redeem ourselves and attain the highest “Moksha” through His divine “Leela” (Play), we should be ready to grab it with both hands, shouldn’t we? Instead, if we’re trying to escape from Bhagawan, what are we trying to do here? We’re only trying to squander away the golden opportunity that Bhagawan is giving us! Hence, this is the message that we’ve to understand from this event. In other words, when we say that Bhagawan Krishna is on an attack-mode towards Bhishmachaarya with a lot of anger, it simply means that Bhagawan Krishna is unleashing His divine “Leela” to protect Bhishmachaarya and to enable him to attain the highest “Moksha”. Hence, during day three, rather than saying that Bhishmachaarya escaped the wrath of Bhagawan Krishna’s anger, we should understand that he had lost a golden opportunity to attain “Moksha” through Bhagawan Krishna’s divine hands! So with this event, we come to the end of Day three at Kurukshetra and we shall wait till the next episode to move into Day four! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna spring up a huge surprise, which nobody expected! As Bhishmachaarya is on a rampage, and as Arjuna and others aren’t able to stop him, Bhagawan Krishna decides that it is time for Him to step in and put an end to the war within the next five minutes! He is visibly frustrated with the way Arjuna and Bheemasena are fighting the war against the Kauravas. Bhagawan Krishna clearly feels that Arjuna is not doing enough and his attachment towards Bhishmachaarya is coming in front of him, thus preventing him from going full throttle. Hence, Bhagawan jumps out of the chariot, rushes towards Bhishmachaarya with intense anger and as He does so, His “Chakra-Aayudham” comes out of His right hand, which is capable of destroying the entire Kurukshetra battlefield within the next few minutes! It is to be remembered that Bhagawan had earlier taken a “Pratignya” not to take any weapon during the war and at the same time, Bhishmachaarya had taken a “Pratignya” to make Bhagawan Krishna take the weapon in His hands! Thus, in order to make His disciple Bhishmachaarya win the “war of Pratignyas”, Bhagawan Krishna makes Bhishmachaarya’s “Pratignya” come true through this act. 

Moving on thus, as Bhagawan Krishna rushes towards Bhishmachaarya with fury, the entire Kuruskhetra battlefield is stunned to bits! Arjuna doesn’t know how to react! Bhishmachaarya is shell-shocked! At this time, Bhagawan Krishna roars with anger thus, “Oh Arjuna! If you’re not able to match up Bhishmachaarya and stop his rampage, so be it! I know you’re capable of stopping him, but for some hidden reason you’re deliberately shying away from fighting him down! Enough is enough! I’ve given you an opportunity, but you’ve failed to utilize it! Now let me handle things the way I want to! The entire world will now see the power of my fury!” 

As Bhagawan Krishna furiously thunders thus, Bhishmachaarya finally starts feeling happy! This was what he wanted to witness – Bhagawan Krishna’s divine ferocious form on the battlefield! Bhishmachaarya feels that the purpose of taking birth in this world is fulfilled with this divine “Darshan” of Bhagawan Krishna! As Bhishmachaarya experiences this sight, his bow and arrows automatically fall off from his hands and tears flow down his eyes! With folded hands, Bhishmachaarya pays his respects towards Bhagawan Krishna and bows in front of him with devotion. Bhishmachaarya talks to Bhagawan thus, “Oh Vasudeva! Oh Jagannatha! Oh Rishikesha! Oh Padmanabha! Today I’ve realized one of my greatest mistakes that I’ve done in my life till now – I’ve obtained the power to decide when I should die and depart from this world from my father and this is the greatest mistake I made! If I wouldn’t have obtained this wish, I would have passed away much earlier and I would not have seen such gross “Adharma” that is happening within our family! Oh Bhagawan Krishna! Now that I’ve realized my fault, let me atleast obtain the significance of being killed by you. I’m ready to face the wrath of your anger! Please unleash yourself upon me! Your disciple Bhishmachaarya is ready to call off his life today and surrender to your divine lotus feet!”

Meanwhile as Bhagawan Krishna furiously looks on, Arjuna rushes towards Him! Earlier, before the war started, a furious Arjuna had taken a “Pratignya” to kill Bhishmachaarya, but now, Bhagawan Krishna is going to execute it! How can this happen? With this confusion in mind, Arjuna falls on Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet seeking apology for whatever happened till now. So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall see how Bhagawan Krishna is going to react to the surrender exhibited by both His ardent Bhaktas! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of Day 3 war proceedings at Kurukshetra, wherein Duryodhana is crying foul to Bhishmachaarya saying that he was not taken care of adequately by his own Kaurava army. Duryodhana’s cry infuriates Bhishmachaarya as he begins fighting with a new rigour. This sends the Paandava army packing, and it results in utter chaos! The Paandava army starts dissipating on all directions, even as Saatyaki is trying to bring them together. Meanwhile, Bhagawan Krishna is watching all whatever is happening, even as Arjuna and Bheemasena stand helpless in front of Bhishmachaarya’s might and prowess! At one stage as Bhagawan realizes that Arjuna is not doing enough to tackle a progressive Bhishmachaarya, He gives a mouthful of banter to Arjuna, which makes him furious! A fierce battle ensues between the duo and both of them are extremely powerful in terms of the “Asthra-Prayogam”. However, neither of them are able to decode each other’s weaknesses! The fight keeps happening and Bhishmachaarya’s rampage continues unabated. The Paandava army continues to dissipate even as Saatyaki tries his best to stop it. 

It is at this time, Bhagawan Krishna decides to take things on His own! Bhagawan Krishna talks to Saatyaki thus, “Oh Saatyaki! Why are you wanting to suffer like this in trying to unite the army? If people want to run away from the battlefield, let them do so. The war will now get over within the next five minutes! I’m fed up with the way you people are fighting the war. You’re not showing any intensity to counter a rampaging Bhishmachaarya!” Training His guns on Arjuna next, a visibly angry Bhagawan Krishna says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Given the fact that you’re not doing your duty properly on expected lines, I shall take it upon myself to finish things off! Within the next five minutes, this entire Kurukshetra battlefield will be devoid of people! I shall ensure that all of you are destroyed completely without a single soul left over!” 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna jumps down from the chariot with immense anger! He rushes towards Bhishmachaarya who is wreaking havoc in the Paandava army! 

“Itheetamukthvaa tu mahaanu bhaavaha!

Sasmaa na chakram nishitam puraanam!!

Sudarshanam chintitamaakrameva!

Tasyaagrahasthvam svayam aaruroha!!”

This is a very important shloka which is being narrated by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra. Readers should not forget that all these narratives that we’re witnessing about the war proceedings are given by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra in a bid to apprise him of whatever is happening at Kurukshetra. So Sanjaya says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Upon seeing Bhishmachaarya on a rampage, Bhagawan Krishna gets frustrated with the meek response that Arjuna is giving to counter Bhishmachaarya. Hence, He’s getting down from the chariot and is walking towards Bhishmachaarya, even as His “Utthareeyam” (Top garment) is falling off on the ground! Bhagawan Krishna is extremely angry at the moment and as He nears Bhishmachaarya, His divine “Chakram” comes from within His right hand! This is the most deadly weapon and it can destroy everyone within a split of a second!” 

As Sanjaya says thus, King Dhritarashtra is stunned to bits! At the same time, in the battlefield too, the entire set of people who are fighting, come to a standstill! Arjuna is shocked beyond words! He did not expect Bhagawan to get down and take a weapon in His hand, because, He had earlier taken a “Pratignya” (Pledge) that He wouldn’t do so! At the same time, however, Bhishmachaarya had earlier taken a “Pratignya” (Pledge) that he would somehow make Bhagawan Krishna take the weapon in His hand during the war! Thus, Bhagawan Krishna wanted to satisfy His dear disciple’s (Bhishmachaarya) pledge, more than His own! This is the level to which Bhagawan comes down to safeguard the interests of His ardent “Bhaktas”! In other words, Bhagawan Krishna sacrifices His “Pratignya” for that of Bhishmachaarya’s, and this shows how ardent a Bhakta was Bhishmachaarya towards Bhagawan Krishna! 

So for today, let us understand this important event that happens on day three at Kurukshetra battlefield, and in the next episode, we shall witness how is Bhishmachaarya going to tackle Bhagawan Krishna who is rushing towards him with the divine “Chakra-Aayudham”! Is Bhishmachaarya going to fight Bhagawan Krishna directly, or, are we in for another turn of events? Stay tuned for the next episode to witness! 🙂

We’re in Day 3 of the Kurukshetra war proceedings, wherein we’ve witnessed a direct confrontation between Bheemasena and Duryodhana. As the war begins on the third day, the marquee event that happens here is the battle of muscular strength between Bheemasena and Duryodhana. Initially what began as a bow and arrow fight, turns into a full-fledged muscular show of strength between the duo. At one stage, we’ve seen that Duryodhana wasn’t able to live up to Bheemasena’s raw muscle power and eventually he collapses on the ground! Upon seeing Duryodhana on the ground unconscious, the entire Kaurava army starts to run here and there in a bid to seek refuge! There’s utter chaos and confusion amongst the Kaurava army when Duryodhana falls on the ground, even as the other key people are trying to calm the army down. After a few minutes Duryodhana wakes up and regains his consciousness, but he is stunned to see the lack of orderliness in his army. Seeing this, Duryodhana straightaway walks towards Bhishmachaarya with intense anger and frustration! 

Moving on thus, Duryodhana asks Bhishmachaarya – “Oh Pita Maha! (Grandfather)! I had begun this war against Yudishtra and Co. on the belief that you would be near me to support me when I encountered a downfall. However, you’re standing here as if nothing has happened? How can you even think of doing this to me? You’re physically on my side, but you’re emotionally and mentally supporting Yudishtra’s cause. This is very evident from your gross inaction. I did not expect this from you! When I’m about to be killed by Bheemasena, none of you came to rescue me!” Saying thus, Duryodhana rages with anger and this in turn charges Bhishmachaarya up! Upon hearing Duryodhana’s accord, Bhishmachaarya springs up in action and now the war is going to become really interesting. 

Renewed with a new vigor, Bhishmachaarya comes forward with extreme anger, takes his bow and starts releasing “Asthra” after “Asthra” which sweeps through swathes of the Paandava army! Upon seeing Bhishmachaarya in full force, the Paandava army starts dissipating from all the sides as Bhishmachaarya makes his way into the Paandava camp. All the important “Senapathis” (Leaders in command) of the Paandava army who come in direct confrontation with Bhishmachaarya on day three, meet with a ghastly end to their lives on the spot! Upon seeing the Paandava army dissipating rather quickly than expected, Saatyaki, one of the important leaders in the Paandava camp tries to call everyone back with some motivational and pep talks. Saatyaki tries to make an appeal to the army by saying that there are Yudishtra and Arjuna to protect everyone and they are still not yet defeated. Even as Saatyaki tries to motivate everyone with all these talks, nobody is listening to him! The Paandava army is completely dissipating and Bhishmachaarya is running rampage with the entire camp mercilessly! Perhaps the world is seeing Bhishmachaarya’s anger and power for the first time ever, and the entire Kuruskhetra battlefield stands stunned! Yudishtra and Arjuna are also stunned beyond words! Arjuna is not able to live up to Bhishmachaarya’s rigor and he too is failing in counter-attacking Bhishmachaarya! 

As this is happening, Bhagawan Krishna is silently observing and as Saatyaki’s pep talks fail, a frustrated Bhagawan Krishna replies thus, “Oh Saatyaki! Please stop your motivational talks! Nothing is going to work! If people want to run away from the battlefield fearing their lives, let them run! The war will be over within the next five minutes!” Training His guns towards Arjuna now, Bhagawan Krishna vents His frustration thus, “Oh Arjuna! What are you doing? What kind of a fight are you putting up? Are you really serious about this war? You are not fighting with your full strength and I’m observing you right from day one! This is not enough!” As Bhagawan Krishna shouts thus in extreme anger, Arjuna angrily replies back thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Now take my chariot towards the direction where Bhishmachaarya is. I shall show who I am today!” As Arjuna says thus, Bhagawan Krishna quickly steers the chariot towards Bhishmachaarya and a huge fight breaks out between the two. 

Now this is “Round Two” between Bhishmachaarya and Arjuna at Kurukshetra! As Arjuna comes in front of Bhishmachaarya, both of them attack each other fiercely! “Asthras” fly from one end to the other from either side as both of them try to neutralise each other! Even as the fierce battle is going on, Bhagawan Krishna is still not convinced with the way Arjuna is fighting Bhishmachaarya! His anger is increasing minute after minute! What is Bhagawan Krishna going to do next? So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we’re going to witness a very important event that is going to unfold on Day three! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the proceedings of the second day at Kurukshetra wherein it is Bhishmachaarya vs. Arjuna first round. Both of them attack each other fiercely, but both are invincible in nature. As Bhagawan Krishna is watching this battle closely, He is somehow not satisfied with the intensity with which both of them are fighting. At one stage, as Bhishmachaarya is unable to breach Arjuna’s prowess with the bow and arrows, he directs a few arrows towards Bhagawan Krishna in frustration! In turn, Bhagawan Krishna endures all the hits from Bhishmachaarya with a smile on His face even as blood flows out from His divine physical form! Bhagawan is clearly hurt, but He still manages to have a smile on His face! Meanwhile, Bheemasena comes in the middle and diverts the attention of Arjuna away from Bhishmachaarya. Both Bheemasena and Arjuna start going on a rampage mode and destroy swathes of the Kaurava army within no time. At one stage, Bhishmachaarya starts fearing that if both of them go on at this rate, the entire Kaurava army would be washed off within no time, and hence, he decides to blow his “Shankam” and stop the war. With this, the proceedings of the second day at Kurukshetra comes to an end, and this day belonged to the Paandava army as they had the upper hand towards the end! 

It should be noted here that once the sunset happens, the war will be stopped for the day. This happens on all the eighteen days of the war. If we look at the proceedings closely, we will find that only for two days the Paandava camp faced a huge downfall. The first two days were almost equal for both sides, but the remaining fourteen days, the Kaurava army faced a lot of destruction. Now, coming to the third day of the war proceedings, both the camps arrive at the battlefield in the morning. The Kaurava army formed a “Garuda Vyugam” and in turn, the Paandava army formed the “Ardha-Chandra Vyugam”. When we talk about the “Garuda Vyugam”, the army is shaped to take positions in the form of the “Garuda” (Vulture) bird. In the centre of the “Garuda” formation, the leader of the army will be standing. In the place where the Garuda’s eyes and wings would be, all the key “Senapatis” would be positioned. Along the tail portion, important soldiers who are seated upon horses and elephants take their positions. 

Now, this “Garuda Vyugam” is done so that the attack on the enemy is easier and the key warriors at the enemy camp can be easily accessed. For this, the Paandava camp also has to create a counter strategy isn’t it? In order to capture key warriors from the Garuda Vyugam”, the main strategy from the Paandava side is to make them come inside their fold. Once they come in, the Paandava army would cover them up from all sides, so that the enemy is trapped into their fold. This is called “Artha-Chandra Vyugam”. Thus, as the war begins, the first in the list of key battles is Bheemasena vs. Duryodhana. A fierce fight between the two of them begin and both of them attack each other at lightning speeds with their powerful arrows. At one stage, Bheemasena decides that arrows are not going to be the solution to tackle Duryodhana and that only his muscle power is going to be more efficient! Hence, Bheemasena gets down from his chariot with his “Gadha” and starts walking towards Duryodhana. Upon seeing Bheemasena walking towards him, Duryodhana also gets down from his chariot and walks towards him. A fierce one-to-one battle begins between the duo and both of them seem to be experts in employing the “Gadha” on each other. After a long battle, at one stage, Bheemasena starts emerging victorious amongst the two and towards the end, Bheemasena lashes out a huge blow upon Duryodhana, which makes Duryodhana fall on the ground unconscious! Upon seeing Duryodhana fallen on the ground, the entire Kaurava army is in a state of shock and disbelief and people start running away in chaos! The entire Kaurava army’s morale is brought down by Bheemasena single handedly. 

After a while when Duryodhana wakes up again, regaining his breath, he sees his army running here and there for shelter. The Paandava army is on a rampage in pushing back the advancement of the Kaurava army. Upon seeing this, Duryodhana quickly gets up and straightaway goes to Bhishmachaarya and asks a few tough questions! So what is Duryodhana going to ask Bhishmachaarya and how is Bhishmachaarya going to respond to Duryodhana? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂  

We’re at an extremely important juncture wherein the marquee war at Kurukshetra has just commenced and we’ve witnessed the proceedings of day one in brief. The event commences with the “Vajra Vyugam” wherein the Kauravas come up with a near-impossible army buildup which can be breached from any point. However, the Paandava army is nothing less brilliant than their Kaurava counterparts as they break open the “Vajra Vyuham” and enter inside. Abhimanyu leads the pack and he picks up a fierce battle with Bhishmachaarya on the other side. Even though it was a contest between the senior-most and the junior-most in both the camps, the fight was nothing less than intense and fierce. Both of them attack each other with all possible “Asthras” and arrows, but none of them seem breachable by the other! Ultimately, Bhishmachaarya leaves the place without harming Abhimanyu any further and even Abhimanyu moves away owing to the respect and affection that he has towards Bhishmachaarya. Subsequently, two people from the Viraata Desha come in the firing line of Bhishmachaarya and both of them get neutralized. Hence, at the end of day one, the Kaurava army had an upper hand over the Paandavas, as two of the main warriors were killed! 

Thus, the first day of the war completely belongs to the Kaurava army, as they were extremely successful in scattering the opponent everywhere! The entire Paandava army started scampering for shelter, unable to give a resistance to Bhishmachaarya’s prowess in attacking! Thus, the first day is completely marked by Bhishmachaarya’s unrelenting fights and he is already in the cruise mode of attack! It is to be remembered here by readers that Karna is yet to enter the battlefield. We’ve seen earlier that Karna had taken a pledge that he is not going to enter the battlefield unless and until Bhishmachaarya is dominating the proceedings, as both of them share a bitter relationship with each other since beginning. Thus, Karna is away and is not part of the first day’s battle. 

Moving forward thus, we enter into the second day. As the dawn breaks out, the entire army on both sides start marching towards each other. The Paandava army sets up a “Krauncha Vyugam” to tackle the Kaurava army, which sticks to its previous “Vajra Vyuham” today also. As mentioned earlier, the “Vajra Vyuham” concept is done to have a block from every corner of the army to prevent any form of entry from the enemy. Thus, as the two armies face off, the marquee battle that happens on day two is between Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya! This is the first time in this battle that both of them come in front of each other. Arjuna, as we know, is with a renewed rigour, thanks to Bhagawan Krishna. On the other side, Bhishmachaarya is on a rampage mode, having gained enormous confidence after killing two great warriors from the Viraata Desha on the previous day. The marquee battle begins and both Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya attack each other with powerful arrows. Arjuna’s “Asthra-Prayoham” (Employment of important “Asthras”) is beyond question, and Bhishmachaarya’s unique capability of neutralizing all that Arjuna throws at him is definitely a great matchup between the two of them! 

As time progresses on day two, the battle continues without a break between the two, as Bhagawan Krishna keeps watching as a mute spectator. As Bhagawan Krishna observes Bhishmachaarya, He finds that Bhishmachaarya is going full throttle upon Arjuna, however, on Arjuna’s side, Bhagawan Krishna sees that he is going slightly low on Bhishmachaarya. In other words, Bhagawan notices that Arjuna is not fighting up to his full potential against Bhishmachaarya for some reason. Thus, even as Bhagawan Krishna is watching, at a point of time, Bhishmachaarya gets frustrated with Arjuna’s defiance and defence, as he suddenly trains his guns towards Bhagawan Krishna! As Bhishmachaarya’s two powerful arrows hit Bhagawan Krishna, He gets hurt and blood starts flowing out of Bhagawan’s divine physical body. As Bhishmachaarya’s anger grows more and more and as he wants to attack Bhagawan Krishna more, Bhagawan too encourages him to go for it. He is receiving blow after blow from Bhishmachaarya with a smile on his face. Bhagawan Krishna never gets angry with Bhishmachaarya’s act! 

As this is happening, after sometime the king of Kalinga Desha comes in the middle and intercepts this fight. Actually a fight is happening on the other side in parallel between Bheemasena and the king of Kalinga Desha. Eventually as Bheemasena is evolving more powerful amongst the two, the King of Kalinga starts to flee away from the battlefield, before he intercepts the marquee battle between Bhishmachaarya and Arjuna / Bhagawan Krishna! Eventually as Bheemasena chases the King Of Kalinga from the other side, he flees away quickly and now, Bheemasena joins hands with Arjuna in the battlefield. Both of them start fighting against the Kaurava army like two “Kaala Devatas”. The intensity of their assault is in such a way that the entire Kaurava army will be destroyed within the next few minutes itself! Both the Paandava brothers go on a rampage mode and start killing hundreds of soldiers, elephants, warriors, etc. whoever comes on their way! At one stage during the second day, both Bheemasena and Arjuna look highly invincible together! Realizing this quickly, Bhishmachaarya decides to stop the war for the day, because the extent to which the Kaurava army is facing destruction is too huge to manage! Thus, Bhishmachaarya takes out his “Shankam” and blows it aloud and with this, the war on day two comes to an end! 

Thus, on day two, unlike day one, the Paandava army has the upper hand and the Kaurava army is made to run for its money! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion in the next episode to witness what happened subsequently! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra seeking blessings from King Shalya after Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya and Sage Kripachaarya. Yudishtra has only one request from King Shalya – To somehow keep Arjuna off Karna’s radar and to somehow prevent Karna from killing Arjuna. King Shalya too accepts Yudishtra’s request and decides that he would be the charioteer when Karna comes to the battlefield to fight Arjuna. We shall see at a later stage as to what King Shalya does to prevent Karna from killing Arjuna. But for now, we are about to commence the proceedings of day one of the war at Kurukshetra, wherein all of them have taken their pole positions. Throughout the discussion of the war proceedings, we’re going to witness several “Vyugam” (Strategies) that both the Paandava and the Kaurava camps formulated and implemented on the battlefield, which is extremely interesting and absorbing in nature. I’m sure all of us are looking forward for the same, and let us begin the proceedings. 

So commencing with the day one proceedings – The “Vyugam” that is being formed by the Kaurava army is the “Vajra Vyugam”. In simpler terms, the Kaurava army shaped itself up in such a way that the Paandava army cannot breach their way inside to attack them. Several layers of security are being created one after the other, so that the task for the Paandava army is really cut out! As the signal for the war is given, the Paandava army rushes through the various layers of security with its own counter-strategies. In the beginning, a huge battle breaks out between Abhimanyu and Bhishmachaarya! Readers should note that Abhimanyu is the son of Arjuna and is the junior-most warrior in the entire battlefield, whereas Bhishmachaarya is the senior-most as all of us know! So it’s a fight between David and Golliath at Kurukshetra on Day one! 🙂 

Thus, Bhishmachaarya and Abhimanyu come face to face in front of each other and it results in a huge faceoff between the two! Bhishmachaarya’s prowess with the bow and arrow is anyone’s guess, however, the youngster Abhimanyu is giving Bhishmachaarya a tough fight and a run for his money! Arrows are exchanged between the two at lightning speeds and both of them try to counter-attack each other! As this happens, Bhishmachaarya gets amazed with Abhimanyu’s expertise in handling weapons and thinks for a moment thus, “Oh wow! This child is much stronger and capable than I thought! Initially I was of the opinion that I can easily finish off Abhimanyu but it is not the case. This child is more powerful and trained than many of my students whom I’ve trained personally till now! Of course, I did not train his father Arjuna and the others till the end and I handed them over to Guru Dhronachaarya after a while. But this Abhimanyu is a class apart from all of them! Hence I do not want to kill Abhimanyu in this battle! He is a great resource to any army and he should be nurtured rather than being killed! The world needs warriors like him to stand up and perform!” 

Thinking thus, Bhishmachaarya slowly moves away from that place, even as Abhimanyu wants to fight more and more. Meanwhile on the other side, a fierce battle endures between King Shalya and Utthara. We’ve seen earlier that this Utthara is the successor of the Viraata Desha and he is now getting killed on the first day of the war itself! Next in line is Utthara’s brother by name “Shweta”. This Shweta is intercepted by Bhishmachaarya from the other side and he is killed on the spot by the veteran Bhishmachaarya within no time! Thus, at the end of the first day, the Kaurava army seem to have the upper hand, without much losses on their side. However, the Paandava army, as we’ve seen now, has lost two important warriors from the Viraata Desha! Abhimanyu would also have been history, however, Bhishmachaarya decided to let him go! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this important discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Yudishtra obtaining blessings from his Guru Dhronachaarya who is also unfortunately standing on the opposite side. If the war has to be won, Guru Dhronachaarya has to be killed and Yudishtra asks the “Upaayam” to kill him to none other than Guru Dhronachaarya himself. For this, Guru Dhronachaarya explains that even thought there might not be a way for Yudishtra to kill him by any means, there is a different approach that he can follow. We’ve witnessed this approach being described by Guru Dhronachaarya as a clue to Yudishtra. Even though it was a mere hint or a clue, Bhagawan Krishna who is by Yudishtra’s side, makes note of it with a small laugh! He knows how to connect the dots, doesn’t He? Hence, after this, Yudishtra makes his way to Sage Kripachaarya to obtain his blessings. Sage Kripachaarya assures him of victory in this war, however, none of the Paandava brothers would be able to kill him. In fact, as we’ve seen yesterday, amongst the ten survivors after the eighteenth day of the war, Sage Kripachaarya is also one among them. Moving on thus, Yudishtra now comes to King Shalya to obtain his blessings, as King Shalya has been a senior friend to him for a long time. Now what is King Shalya going to say? Let us witness today! 

As Yudishtra bows down to King Shalya, he requests thus, “Oh great King of Madra Desha! I seek your blessings and a favour along with it – Of course I know that you are not in a position to fight alongside us in this war because Duryodhana tricked you into his side. However, I foresee an event during the war when Karna will fiercely attack Arjuna at some point in time. When he does so, you try to be Karna’s charioteer and ensure that the intensity of attack on Arjuna comes down. Please ensure that Arjuna does not get killed by Karna! This is my only request I have for you!” As Yudishtra explains thus, King Shalya replies back – “Oh my dear Yudishtra! I shall do whatever you say. I’m indebted to you in many ways and just because I’m unable to fight on your side, please do not take me wrong! I shall ensure that none of you are killed when I’m on the battlefield! Oh Yudishtra! Go now and take your position quickly! Let the war begin! Please fight the war and fight it for the sake of Dharma’s victory!” 

Taking cue from King Shalya’s words, Yudishtra turns back and starts his march towards his position. As Yudishtra walks back, Bheemasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva also follow suit and with this, all of them take up their pole positions. Bhagawan Krishna too is all set and the calculations are made in His mind already! With this, the eighteen-day war is going to commence at Kurukshetra and we are still in the first day of the proceedings. Of course Sage Vyaasa has given a huge accord on the war that took place each day here, and he has accurately mentioned who fought with whom at several occasions. We shall not go into too much of details of the war, but of course I shall make a mention of important events and turn of events that took place during these eighteen days. Moreover, what is more important here is the list of various “Vyugams” (Strategies) that both the camps adopted for each day of the war. This will be a great lesson on “Strategic Management” and how the Mahabharata is an exceptional text in describing how a leader should adopt various strategies to ensure success! We shall commence the discussion on the first day of the war proceedings in the next episode, but for today, let us understand up to this point! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂