The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya narrating the history of how Shikhandi was born and how this person took shape in the years after that. Bhishmachaarya is narrating this to Duryodhana to highlight the fact as to why he wouldn’t fight with Shikhandi in the war that is ensuing now. We’ve seen in the earlier episode as to how Shikhandi was born as a female to King Drupada and how she was treated and brought up as a male, all through her young days. She was in fact married off to the daughter of King Hiranya Varma, projecting her to be a boy! However, as days progressed, King Hiranya Varma understood that he has been cheated by King Drupada, and thus a huge war was about to take place between the two kings. Subsequently, Shikhandi meets a “Yaksha” prince and requests him for a gender change and with this, Shikhandi imbibes the physical characteristics of a male in her and completely transforms into a male. Thus, Shikhandi comes back to both the kings and proves to be a male and not a female, thus, bringing the war clouds between the two kingdoms to an end. 

Subsequently, as promised, Shikhandi goes to the forest once again to meet that “Yaksha” prince to exchange her newly-imbibed male characteristics with him to once again become a female. However, that “Yaksha” prince is not to be found anywhere! In the meanwhile, as this “Yaksha” prince changes his gender, the news reaches Kubera, who is the leader of all the “Yakshas”. Upon hearing such an unusual thing happening, Kubera gets angry and straightaway inflicts a curse on this “Yaksha” prince by saying that he will forever remain a female and in any circumstance henceforth, he will not be able to regain his originality! As this happens, now Shikhandi is in a great fix! How will Shikhandi regain her original form? Thus, Shikhandi has no other option now, but to continue her life as a male, and Bhishmachaarya concludes that to this day, Shikhandi lives as a “transformed male” and not as a “real male by birth”. Hence, given this complicated history surrounding Shikhandi, Bhishmachaarya concludes that even though Shikhandi might have become a male in due course, he will still not fight against him in a war. Moreover, Shikhandi has clearly become Bhishmachaarya’s enemy by acquiring some powers from Bhagawan Sumramanya (Muruga), which we’ve witnessed in our earlier episodes as well. Given all these reasons, Shikhandi is also waiting for an opportunity to kill Bhishmachaarya and to seek revenge for what happened during that day when she was rejected by him! With this, we come to the end of the “Amba-Upaakhyaana Parva” of the main “Udyoga Parva”. Interestingly, with this “Charitra”, we also come to the end of the main “Udyoga Parva” as well and after this, we straightaway dwell into the “Bhishma Parva”, wherein the war is set to begin! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall commence the “Bhishma Parva” straightaway. We’re now going to enter the context of the Bhagawad Gita as part of this “Parva” only, and I’m sure all of us are quite excited about it! Stay tuned for more updates! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya continuing with his accord in explaining the history behind Shikhandi to Duryodhana. He explains how he had brought Kashi King’s three daughters, Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika to get them married off to King Vichitraveerya of Hastinapura. As he was on the way with these three girls, Amba confessed to him that she is in love with the king of Shaalva Desha and requested him to let her off. Subsequently as Bhishmachaarya obeyed, Amba went to the king of Shaalva Desha, only to be rejected by him, as she was in touch with the great Bhishmachaarya, who is invincible in a battlefield. Fearing consequences, the king of Shaalva Desha decided to move on and asked Amba to go back to Bhishmachaarya. Accordingly, when Amba came back, Bhishmachaarya now refused to accept her and she was shunted out in between both Bhishmachaarya and the King of Shaalva Desha. Finally as this was happening, Amba became terribly angry and went to Bhagawan Parasurama for help. Accordingly, Parasurama decided to take on Bhishmachaarya to prove his might against him. However, in a fierce battle that endured between both of them, none were able to succeed over each other. However, when Bhishmachaarya was about to employ a powerful “Asthra”, Sage Naarada intervened and stopped him from using it, as this would create a large-scale impact on the entire world. Obeying Sage Naarada’s words thus, Bhishmachaarya called truce with Parasurama and the war came to an end. 

Moving on thus, as the war comes to an end, Bhishmachaarya and Parasurama become friends and they realize that they were foolish enough to fight with each other for no reason. Ultimately as truce is being called, Parasurama declares that Bhishmachaarya is the one who is the winner of this war! Subsequently, Parasurama meets Amba and conveys that Bhishmachaarya has won over him and there’s no way he can help her out at this moment. Raging with anger against Bhishmachaarya, Amba runs here and there for help. She finally goes to Bhagawan Shiva, who grants her a boon. Receiving the boon thus, Amba comes back and straightaway enters into the burning pyre to kill herself. Subsequently, in her next birth which is immediate after her death, she is once again born as a girl to King Drupada. We’ve seen that Draupati and Drishtadhyumna were born to King Drupada, but this girl whom we’re talking about was born before both of them. King Drupada names her as Shikhandi. Thus, we’ve to understand here that Shikhandi is none other than the daughter of King Drupada! 

Subsequently, King Drupada is for a long time, wanting a son to be born to him, but did not happen for a while. Hence, King Drupada brings his daughter up like how a boy would have been brought up. Thus, over a period of time, Shikhandi develops an innate interest in being a male, even though she is female by birth. In fact, King Drupada even gets her married to King Hiranya Varma’s daughter, by falsely claiming to him that Shikhandi is a man! However, King Hiranya Varma comes to know of this lie post the marriage and gets frustrated with King Drupada for cheating his daughter’s life! Hence, King Hiranya Varma comes with a huge army and storms Drupada Desha. Unable to withstand King Hiranya Varma’s attack on all the four sides, King Drupada doesn’t know what to do, and he straightaway comes to Shikhandi for help. Thus, Shikhandi immediately goes and meets a “Yaksha”, seeking help. Shikhandi proposes thus, “For the moment, my kingdom is under siege because of a huge debate whether I’m a male or a female. If I’ve to save my father and my kingdom from imploding, I’ve to change my gender characteristics and appearance from being a woman to being a man. Hence, I request you to give me your male characteristics and take my female characteristics for a few days, until I come back to you!” 

As Shikhandi asks for this help, the Yaksha immediately offers it to her. Thus, Shikhandi, who was originally a female by birth, now transforms into a male! Thus, Shikhandi makes “his” way to Drupada Desha and stands in front of King Hiranya Varma. Shikandi now proves that he is a male and there’s no point in fighting with King Drupada. Subsequently, as this happens, both the kings call off the war and the problem gets resolved. Now comes the twist in the story – As Shikhandi goes to meet the Yaksha once again to return back his male characteristics, he is nowhere to be seen! What happens next? Is Shikhandi going to get back “her” original female characteristics as agreed upon earlier? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya asserting himself to Duryodhana that if Shikhandi comes to the battlefield, he will not fight against this person, as Shikhandi is a woman by birth. Bhishmachaarya has a strict policy that he would not fight a war with women and thus, he would stick by it, even though one can argue that Shikhandi has converted herself successfully into a male. As Bhishmachaarya is explaining this, Duryodhana couldn’t understand what exactly happened to Shikhandi and why Bhishmachaarya is so particular about this person. Hence, he requests Bhishmachaarya to render an explanation about who Shikhandi exactly is and why is Bhishmachaarya having apprehensions towards this person. 

Now here again, we’re going to witness a detailed accord from Bhishmachaarya about some past happenings, with regards to Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika. As we’ve witnessed this accord earlier, I shall brief it here, for the sake of readers’ recollection and remembrance. Once upon a time, Bhishmachaarya had gone to Kaashi Desha to fight a war with the king there. Upon winning the battle with him, he thought that the daughters of the Kaashi Desha’s king – Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika could be given in marriage to King Vichitraveerya at Hastinapura. King Vichitraveerya was the king, prior to King Dhritarashtra at Hastinapura. As Bhishmachaarya was bringing all the three daughters of the Kaashi Desha king towards Hastinapura, Amba confronted Bhishmachaarya and explained to him that she was already in love with the king of Shaalva Desha and that, she is not ready to marry anyone else other than him. Sensing Amba’s request, Bhishmachaarya decided to let go of Amba and took Ambika and Ambaalika to Hastinapura. 

Now, as Amba went to Shaalva Desha, the king of Shaalva Desha realized that there  might be a potential danger from Bhishmachaarya in the future because he has won over her father in the battle. Moreover, the King of Shaalva Desha knows the might of Bhishmachaarya and he did not want to take a risk of marrying Amba and getting into problems later on. Hence, when Amba comes to him, he rejects her straightaway! As the King of Shaalva Desha did not want to accept her proposal for marriage, Amba came once again to Bhishmachaarya and requested him to take her back with him. However, now Bhishmachaarya was very stubborn – Once he had let go of Amba, how can he accept her again? Hence, he clearly says to Amba that she has to once again go back to Shaalva Desha. Thus, Amba goes back to Shaalva Desha, only to be rejected once again. Thus, as she was shunted out in between both Bhishmachaarya and the King of Shaalva Desha, Amba got terribly angry with both of them, especially Bhishmachaarya for rejecting her repeatedly. Hence, she decides to take revenge on Bhishmachaarya and kill him in a war. With this anger simmering in Amba, she goes to Bhagawan Parasurama for help. She wants Parasurama to fight against Bhishmachaarya and teach him a lesson. 

Accordingly, Bhagawan Parasurama agrees to help Amba and goes to fight with Bhishmachaarya. A fierce battle endures and both of them are equally powerful in warfare techniques. Unable to defeat Parasurama for a long time, Bhishmachaarya decides to employ an extremely powerful and lethal “Asthra”, which would actually end up destroying not only Parasurama, but the entire world! However, as Bhishmachaarya was about to release the “Asthra”, Sage Naarada stops him and scolds him thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya and Parasurama! Don’t you think both of you are fighting a meaningless battle with each other? Just for the sake of one woman, you’re going to the extent of creating a devastating impact on the entire world! So please stop this meaningless war!” 

Thus, as Sage Naarada says, the war between Bhishmachaarya and Parasurama comes to an end. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya listing out the strengths of the Paandava army to Duryodhana. While doing so, Bhishmachaarya makes an important mention about Ghatodgaja who is none other than Bheemasena’s son with Raakshasi Hidimbi. Ghatodgaja is someone who is virtually impossible to defeat by anyone in this world. He can singlehandedly destroy lakhs and lakhs of army men, horses and elephants within seconds! He can take on great warriors like Karna and even Arjuna himself and render them ineffective within minutes, with his sheer muscle power, just like how his father Bheemasena does. In due course of yesterday’s episode, we had also witnessed a glimpse of how Ghatodgaja is going to contribute to the Paandava camp during the war, which is exactly what Bhishmachaarya’s fear is. His logic is very simple – If Ghatodgaja enters the battlefield, all the Kauravas can be finished off within minutes and the war will be over within a wink of an eye! Hence, the strategy should be to somehow avoid Ghatodgaja from entering the battlefield. 

Moving on further thus, Bhishmachaarya now talks about Shikhandi. He explains to Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Even if Ghatodgaja comes to the battlefield, I shall try my best to neutralize him, but there is someone in their camp by name Shikhandi. If Shikhandi comes to the battlefield, I shall not fight with this person at all! I shall simply put down my bow and arrow on the spot and move away from the battlefield. This is because Shikhandi is originally a woman by birth. (We’ve witnessed this story during our beginning episodes itself, and there’s going to be another narration by Bhishmachaarya in the forthcoming Parva also). As a warrior, I’ve taken a pledge already that I shall not be fighting with women in my life on a battlefield. Only if a male member comes in front of me, I shall take my bow and arrows and fight. Shikhandi was a woman by birth, but in due course of her life, she had given away her woman characteristics to someone else in exchange of that person’s male characteristics! Hence, Shikhandi converted herself into a man for a reason. Thus, even though Shikhandi might appear to be a man in front of all of us, I will not fight against this person, because she is originally a woman by birth!” 

Bhishmachaarya continues further thus, “Oh Duryodhana! I will atleast fight with the Paandava brothers, but I will not kill them. I will make them run for their money and make them feel irrelevant on the battlefield, but I shall not kill any of them!  When it comes to those warriors other than the Paandava brothers, I shall show my full wrath upon them by going to the extent of killing them. On the contrary, when it comes to Shikhandi, I will not even pierce a single arrow from my bow. This is my clear pledge and I will stand by my words at all times!” 

As Bhishmachaarya talks about Shikhandi thus, Duryodhana doesn’t understand even a single word what Bhishmachaarya is saying! He asks Bhishmachaarya thus, “Oh Bhishmachaarya! You’re saying something about Shikhandi and you’re not willing to fight with this person. Who is this Shikhandi? Is it really possible to convert from a female into a male? If so, why did she do it? Tell me in detail!” As Duryodhana asks thus, Bhishmachaarya has to narrate everything from the beginning, right from the birth of Amba, Ambika and Ambaalika. We’ve witnessed all these stories in our earlier episodes, but still, we shall witness it once again for our recollection. Given the context, this story assumes more importance because, in due course of the war, Shikhandi is going to play a crucial role in neutralising Bhishmachaarya on the battlefield! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness this important story! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya giving a lengthy accord to Duryodhana on the strengths of both armies put together. In Management terms we call this accord “SWOT Analysis”, which is nothing but analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats being posed by the enemy. Accordingly, Bhishmachaarya talks about the strengths of the Paandava army, which in-turn can be equated to the “threats” that the Kaurava army might face in the battlefield. Bhishmachaarya talks about two important people – Purujith and Ghatodgaja and what kind of threats they pose to the Kaurava camp. Purujith is Bheemasena’s uncle and Ghatodgaja is Bheemasena’s son. Both of them are “Maha-Rathis” and their capabilities are infinite. Bhishmachaarya has a special note about Ghatodgaja because he is one person who is highly capable of waging an illusionary war! We’ve seen this during our previous Ramayana project as well, wherein Ravana’s son, Indrajith had this same capability, and with this, he even succeeded to mislead Bhagawan Rama and Lakshmana in the war at Sri Lanka. Similarly here also, since Dhatodgaja is perfectly capable of unleashing an illusionary warfare, Bhishmachaarya warns Duryodhana to be very careful if he comes to fight! 

In fact, if we’ve to talk about Ghatodgaja in detail and how he is going to protect the Paandavas during the war, it is going to be a very long “Charitra”. We’ve seen earlier that before Bhagawan Krishna called Karna to His side, Karna had refused to come. Subsequently, Indra Bhagawan came in front of Karna and knowing that Karna is an epitome of “Dhaanam” (Charity), he asked for Karna’s “Kavacha-Kundalams” (Powerful ear-rings that Karna was wearing). Indra knows that if these “Kavacha Kundalams” are there in Karna’s ears, nobody can defeat him in the war. Hence, in order to protect his son Arjuna in the war, (Arjuna is Indra’s son as we’ve witnessed earlier), Indra plays this trick with Karna, so as to render him powerless. However, when Karna was sleeping that night, Surya Bhagawan came in his dream and warned him not to give these Kavacha Kundalams to Indra if he asks for them. However, Karna was very firm in his characteristic of “Dhaanam” and replied to Surya Bhagawan that nobody can stop him from donating something to someone! Accordingly, when Indra obtains these Kavacha-Kundamalams from Karna, of course he doesn’t leave Karna empty-handed. He gifts a powerful weapon in return to Karna as he leaves back.

Giving Karna this weapon thus, Indra assures Karna that he would be safe until and unless this weapon is in his hands during the war! Bheemasena and Arjuna know this fact through Bhagawan Krishna that Karna has this lethal weapon with him and the only way to neutralise this weapon is to send Ghatodgaja to the battlefield to fight Karna. As Ghatodgaja knows the art of illusionary warfare, he was able to take on Karna single handedly, however, at some point, Karna had no other option but to take out this lethal weapon gifted by Indra to fight Ghatodgaja. One problem with all these kinds of divine weapons is that, if used once, these cannot be employed again forever! Thus, at a point when Ghatodgaja was after Karna’s life, Karna had to employ this weapon of Indra to kill Ghatodgaja. Thus, Ghatodgaja had to bear the brunt of this lethal weapon and sacrifice his life, which otherwise would have been employed by Karna upon Arjuna! We’re going to witness this incident in more detail as we come to that section of the Kurukshetra war, but for now, I narrated this instance to highlight the significance of this person called Ghatodgaja. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness the details of the last Upa-Parva within the main “Udyoga Parva”, which is the  “Amba-Upaakhyaana Parva”! Stay tuned for more updates! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Ulooka (Duryodhana’s messenger) making an attempt to “chase away” Yudishtra and Co. from the Kurukshetra battlefield. Ulooka tries to intimidate Yudishtra by exaggerating the mammoth size of the Kaurava army and to demotivate the Paandava brothers to prevent them from advancing any further. Subsequently, Arjuna and Bheemasena understood the ploy of Duryodhana and warned Ulooka of severe action if such things are repeated. Rather than resorting to playing mind-games like these, Arjuna and Bheemasena express their clear intent that Duryodhana should meet them in the battlefield if he really has the courage. Taking this message thus, Ulooka returns back to the Kaurava camp with failure written all over his face! An important leadership / management lesson here for all of us is that, being a leader, one shouldn’t get intimidated by such cheap behaviours of people. If the road to success is tough, the tough should get going in the leader, rather than succumbing to such cowardly acts of people. 

With this incident, we come to the end of this small Parva and now we move into the next one called “Ratha-Adhirata-Sankhyaana Parva”. All these are small Upa-Parvas and we shall move quickly with the details of each of them. Here we’re going to see a very important aspect of ancient warfare and some technical terms associated with it. We’re going to witness who are “Rathis”, “Adhirathis”, “Ardha-Rathis”, “Maha-Rathis”, etc. Now first let us understand the meanings behind these technical terminologies. “Rathis” are those who ride on a chariot and fight with only one opponent who also is in one chariot. In other words, “Rathis” are individuals who are on chariots, fighting with the others who are also individuals on chariots. The term “Adhi-Rathi” signifies a person in a chariot fighting with 2-3 Rathis. Thus, in other words, “Adhi-Rathis” fight simultaneously with two or three people in different chariots. “Maha-Rathis” are the ones who fight simultaneously with 10-15 Rathis at the same time. These “Maha-Rathis” are extremely powerful people and are capable of creating mass destruction. Thus, both the Kaurava and Paandava camps had a good mix of Rathis, Adhirathis, Ardha-Rathis and Maha-Rathis in them. Of course, when it comes to a war, an army needs a sizable combination of all these categories of people coming together. 

So now, when we witness this mix in the Kaurava camp, Bhishmachaarya explains to Duryodhana as to who are the Rathis, Adirathis, Maha-Rathis, etc. Similarly, he also explains this mix in the Paandava camp as well. Bhishmachaarya talks about a person by name “Purujith”, who is the uncle of Bheemasena. Bhishmachaarya tells Duryodhana thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Let me tell you about this Purujith. He is the brother of Kunthi Devi and is an extremely powerful Maha-Rathi. He has come to Kurukshetra with a huge army and with this, he is extremely capable of unleashing mass destruction on us. We’ve to be very careful with Purujith and we’ve to devise special strategies to counter him. Also, I’m worried about what Ghatodgaja will play in this war. As you might be knowing, Ghatodgaja is the son born to Bheemasena when he married Hidimbi in the forest. Ghatodgaja has given an assurance to Bheemasena that whenever help is required in the battlefield, he would be present without an invitation! Hence, given all the possibilities, we would have to see Ghatodgaja on the battlefield sooner or later as the war progresses. Ghatodgaja is someone who is a one-man army! He can single-handedly unleash a huge amount of destruction with his enormous powers! No bow and arrow technique would stand in front of Ghatodgaja, because he has the divine capability to wage an illusionary war (“Maaya-Uddham”)! Normal people like you and me are only capable of “Manushya-Yuddha” (War which is fought by normal human beings), but for those who are capable of “Maaya-Uddham”, none of their moves can be predicted in advance to plan strategies! Hence, if Ghatodgaja takes to the battlefield, it is going to be extremely difficult for our entire army to even survive – Forget fighting with him!” 

Saying thus, Bhishmachaarya tries to explain the strengths of the opponents to Duryodhana and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sanjaya and King Dhritarashtra spending some time together and at this moment, Sage Vyaasa arrives at Hastinapura. As King Dhritarashtra is contemplating upon how to view the proceedings of the war with the latest updates, Sage Vyaasa understands this and gives Sanjaya a divine pair of eyes with which he can see all the proceedings of the war. With this, Sanjaya assures King Dhritarashtra that he would keep providing live updates as and when something important happens. In the meanwhile, the armies from both the camps make their way into the Kurukshetra battlefield and start taking their positions one after the other. We should remember that Bhishmachaarya is leading the Kaurava army and Drishtadhyumna is leading the Paandava army. 

In the meanwhile, Duryodhana thinks of a wicked plan to somehow demoralize the Paandava camp at the last minute. For this, he sends a messenger by name Ulooka to meet Yudishtra. This last-minute messenger’s job is not for brokering peace, but to threaten the Paandava camp and to make them run away from Kurukshetra. Accordingly Ulooka comes to meet Yudishtra during the late evening hours of the day. Ulooka tells Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I’ve come from Duryodhana’s side as a messenger to convey a very important message from Duryodhana. Oh Yudishtra! Please understand one thing clearly – Our army is eleven-Akshauhini strong, whereas yours is just of seven Akshauhinis. We have several experts in warfare such as Bhishmachaarya, Guru Dhronachaarya, Sage Kripachaarya, Duryodhana himself along with his ninety-nine brothers! By proceeding with this war, you are trying to attack a mammoth power with your very limited resources. Hence, the resultant of this war will be your failure and a huge disaster is going to come by for your side. Hence, I’m warning you – Even now it is not too late. Please run away from here, if you’ve to live your lives peacefully and if you really want to avoid disaster!” 

As Ulooka says thus, Bheemasena and Arjuna are starting to rage with anger! Both of them come forward immediately towards Ulooka, even as Bheemasena prepares to attack Ulooka then and there and thrash him! However, Yudishtra and Arjuna stop Bheemasena from doing so and Arjuna replies back thus, “Oh Ulooka! Please do not talk this crap to us! We’re leaving you alive only because you are a messenger. If not, we would have killed you then and there! Go and tell your Duryodhana that even if our army is smaller than his, we know how to win wars. We’re experts in doing so. If I get into the battlefield, I can single-handedly take on Duryodhana with my bow and arrow. If Bheemasena gets into the battlefield, he can single-handedly toss Duryodhana several kilometres away from the spot with his raw muscle power! Moreover, even if we have a small army, according to the “Yuddha-Shaastra”, we know how to create and execute strategies to take on a bigger army than ours! Hence, your gimmick of playing mind games with us will not work at any cost! If Duryodhana has the guts, let him come and face the war, rather than resorting to petty politics like this! There were many occasions wherein Duryodhana has been rendered helpless by us in the past! Hence, Duryodhana should come to the battlefield and talk, if he really has the courage!”
Saying thus, Arjuna gives a befitting reply to Ulooka. Yudishtra too on his part explains to Ulooka that it is not appropriate on Duryodhana’s part to play cheap mind games with the Paandavas. If he really has the guts and courage, he should come and fight the war with the Pandava camp, rather than talking all this nonsense! With this, Ulooka goes back to Duryodhana, bruised and insulted! So for today, we shall understand up to this point, and we shall continue with this discussion forward in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed two important and separate events – One, wherein Karna clearly expresses his role in the war – He will not come to the battlefield until the point when Bhishmachaarya is leading the army as the “Senapati”. If at all there’s a point wherein Bhishmachaarya is absent in the battlefield, Karna will take over. This answer clearly sends a message of not having that confidence of winning the war, isn’t it? Secondly, when Balarama comes to meet Yudishtra, Yudishtra requests the support of Balarama in the war. However, Balarama declines the request because he feels that if he supports Yudishtra and Bheemasena, it would be a bias against Duryodhana. We should remember here that both Bheemasena and Duryodhana are Balarama’s disciples in the “Gadha-Yuddham” and hence, Balarama refuses to take sides in this upcoming war. Conveying his stance thus, Balarama leaves for a “Teertha-Yatra” and hands over the responsibility to Bhagawan Krishna entirely to protect the Paandavas at Kurukshetra. 

As Balarama leaves thus, now it is time to look at what is happening at Hastinapura. Duryodhana and Co. have already left for Kurukshetra and now King Dhritarashtra is all alone, as usual in a state of confusion and tension. His tension is more towards what will happen to his son Duryodhana, more than the concern towards Yudishtra and Co. As King Dhritarashtra is in such a state, Sanjaya enters into his chamber and sits near him. Sanjaya slowly asks King Dhritarashtra thus, “Oh King! The war is about to begin in some time. All the people are set and ready for the fight. However, you’re here in the palace and you do not have the vision to see what is happening as well. How are you going to watch the proceedings of the war and how are you going to update yourself on what is going on in the battlefield?”

As Sanjaya asks thus, King Dhritarashtra replies back – “Oh Sanjaya! Even I was also thinking the same thing as to how to view the proceedings of the war at Kurukshetra! What do I do? How do I get to know what’s happening there?” As King Dhritarashtra asks thus, Sanjaya thinks for a moment and replies back – “Oh King Dhritarashtra! I shall narrate the proceeding to you as and when I get to see it. I shall narrate it instance by instance! You do not need to worry about it!” It is at this time precisely when Sage Vyaasa makes his way into the Hastinapura courtroom. As Sage Vyaasa arrives, both King Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya receive him with all the due respects. Sage Vyaasa understands the situation quickly and the intention of King Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya too. Sage Vyaasa immediately responds thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! You’re very anxious to know what is going on at Kurukshetra, aren’t you? Now let me do one thing for you – I shall give a divine pair of eyes to Sanjaya, through which he can see live whatever is happening in the battlefield! As and when Sanjaya is watching the proceedings live, he will keep updating you on what exactly is happening!” 

Saying thus, Sage Vyaasa provides his divine “Anugraha” to Sanjaya and with this, Sanjaya obtains a divine pair of eyes from Sage Vyaasa. With this, we come to the end of this Parva and as we move into the next Parva, “Ulooka-Dhoota-Aadhamana Parva”, we are going to witness how both the armies are beginning to make their way into the Kurukshetra battlefield and with this, the proceedings of the war is about to begin. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall continue with this discussion to witness how the armies get ready and how they proceed towards Kurukshetra! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhishmachaarya taking a “Prathignya” (Pledge) in front of Duryodhana that he will not be instrumental in killing the five Paandava brothers, even though he will give a tough fight with them. Secondly, Bhishmachaarya is also clear in his communication with Duryodhana that if Karna is in the battlefield, he will move away, as Karna will not listen to Bhishmachaarya’s words. Hence, if Duryodhana wants Bhishmachaarya to be the “Senapati”, Karna should not enter the battlefield. Listening to this, Karna also supported this argument. He too knows the amount of ego clashes that both of them have had all these years. Hence, when Duryodhana appoints Bhishmachaarya as the “Senapati”, Karna chooses to stay away from the battlefield and informs Duryodhana accordingly. 

Moving on thus, Karna emphasizes a very important point while he expresses his view here. While he supports Duryodhana’s decision of appointing Bhishmachaarya as the “Senapati”, Karna also says thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Let Bhishmachaarya take the first lead and fight the Paandavas. There will be a time when he is no more, and at that point in time I shall take over and come to the battlefield to fight the Paandava brothers!” Now isn’t this a strong, yet subtle message that Karna is giving out to Duryodhana? Readers should think of one thing here very clearly – The battle hasn’t even started yet, and here’s Karna who is already talking about destruction and loss to their camp – And that too, of Bhishmachaarya! What does this signify? Karna knows very well that all of them are going to be destroyed! Even Bhishmachaarya himself knows this pretty well. Thus, this war is just a mere joke and a formality for all of them, even in the Kaurava camp. Just because of the arrogance and adamant behaviour of one person called Duryodhana, the entire Kaurava camp and its army is going to be destroyed, which is an open secret for all of them assembled there! It’s only a matter of time that this destruction starts to unfold! 

Meanwhile as this happens, Bhagawan Balarama comes to meet Yudishtra on the other side. As Balarama comes, Yudishtra pays his respects to Balarama and requests him thus, “Oh great Balarama! You are someone who knows the path of “Dharma” very well. This war is between “Dharma” and “Adharma”. Hence, can you support us in this war and fight for us so that “Dharma” attains victory?” As Yudishtra requests thus, Balarama is now in a fix! We should remember one thing clearly here – Both Duryodhana and Bheemasena are Balarama’s disciples, when it comes to the “Gadhaa-Yuddham”. Balarama was the one who taught both these people the art of fighting with the “Gadha”. Given this state of affairs, now whom will Balarama support? How can he be partial to one disciple and impartial to the other? Thinking for a moment thus, Balarama comes to a conclusion. He replies to Yudishtra thus, “Oh Yudishtra! I understand your concern. I know that this war is fought on the basis of “Dharma” vs. “Adharma”. However, I will not be in a position to support both sides. This is because, my students are on either sides and as a Guru, I should always take a neutral and an unbiased stance. If I support you, it will be as if I’m biased against Duryodhana and if I support Duryodhana, I’ll end up being biased against Bheemasena. Moreover, I consulted with Bhagawan Krishna also, and I understood that He is in favour of you and He is going to support you big time. I tried to negotiate and find a mid-way between Duryodhana and you, but it didn’t happen unfortunately! Hence, I’m in a fix! Oh Yudishtra! I’m planning to go on a “Teertha-Yatra” and I will not be available during the period of war. However, I’ll keep providing my “Anugraha” to all of you for the war!” 

Saying thus, Balarama makes his way out of Kurukshetra and goes on a “Teertha-Yatra”! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Duryodhana getting his act together by bringing in eleven “Akshauhinis” of his army marching towards Kurukshetra. This comes at a time when the Paandava army which is seven “Akshauhinis” strong, has already reached Kurukshetra and is getting ready for the marquee battle. Just like how Yudishtra has appointed Drishtadhyumna as his “Senapati” (Commander-in-chief), Duryodhana too appoints Bhishmachaarya as his “Senapati”. As the entire army of Duryodhana reaches Kurukshetra and all the make-shift tents are set up, Duryodhana formally requests Bhishmachaarya to take full charge of the army right from day one onwards. Bhishmachaarya too accepts the request of Duryodhana, but with one condition. So what is that condition? Let us continue this discussion in today’s episode. 

As Duryodhana requests, Bhishmachaarya replies thus, “Oh Duryodhana! You’ve given me an important responsibility, however, let me make one thing very clear with you at the onset itself – I will valiantly fight with everyone in the Paandava army, including Yudishtra, Bheemasena, Arjuna, Saatyaki, Drishtadhyumna, etc. I shall kill tens of thousands of people in the war. But I won’t kill the five Paandava brothers! I may be engaged in a fierce battle with all the five of them, either individually or together. I may even win the battle against all of them single handedly. However, I will not go to the extent of killing any of them! I’ve taken this pledge much earlier in my life, but this is the time that I’ve to confess this to you! So Duryodhana, if you still want me to lead the army as your “Senapati”, I’m ready to do so. However, if you have other ideas, I’m open for it!” 

This is a pledge which Bhishmachaarya takes. However, in our earlier episodes, we’ve witnessed Bheemasena taking an exactly opposite pledge. When the infamous gambling episode took place and when Draupati was molested in public, Bheemasena took a pledge that he would be the one who would be killing all the hundred Kaurava brothers including Duryodhana and Ducchaasana. Thus, Bheemasena has come to the battlefield with a savage resolution. However, here we’re seeing Bhishmachaarya taking a pledge in the opposite direction wherein he is not going to kill any of the five Paandava brothers! Upon hearing this from Bhishmachaarya, Duryodhana somehow concludes then and there that there is no scope for him to win this war! Readers should remember this clearly! 

Even as Bhishmachaarya takes the “Prathignya” thus, he continues further – “Oh Duryodhana! Please note one more thing – If your friend Karna is in the battlefield alongside me and even if I’m the commander-in-chief, Karna is not going to listen to even a single word that I’m going to say. He is going to operate in his own fashion due to the vengeance that he carries within himself. So, if I’m in the battlefield, let Karna not be there, and if Karna is in the battlefield, I’ll not be there. So you make the decision accordingly as to whom you want in the battlefield alongside you!” As Bhishmachaarya says thus, Duryodhana is in a state of confusion to choose between Bhishmachaarya and Karna. Both are excellent warriors with infinite capabilities. Looking at Duryodhana’s confused face, Karna immediately responds thus, “Oh Duryodhana! Please do not worry! Let Bhishmachaarya take the lead and I shall be away until the time he’s in this position. If at all there’s a time when Bhishmachaarya feels that he doesn’t want to fight, I shall come into the picture. So till that time, I’m staying away from the battlefield. You proceed with Bhishmachaarya and all of us know what he is capable of!” 

Saying thus, Karna distances himself from the battlefield affairs for the moment, and for today, we shall understand up to this point. In the next episode, we shall continue this discussion forward to witness what is Duryodhana’s and Yudishtra’s next course of actions! Stay tuned! 🙂