Balarama
We heard about the help Krishna offered to the warring cousins, Duryodhana and Arjuna. The Kaurava, greatly pleased with his luck with Krishna, went straight to Balarama. The senior Yadava had taught the art of fighting with mace both to Duryodhana and Bhima. Among all his disciples Duryodhana was the favourite of Balarama.
Duryodhana went to his teacher with great expectations. But, Balarama refused to get involved in a war he was totally against. He said.” You know that I do not favour this war in any case. I tried my best to prevent it, but, in vain. Hence, I shall take a neutral stand. Go and fight, strictly following the rules of the war “. So saying, he embraced Duryodhana and sent him back.
Salya
Let us recall that the two younger Pandavas, Nakula and Sahadeva, were born to Maadri the princess of the Madra kingdom. She had voluntarily entered the pyre of Pandu and died in it as she blamed herself for the untimely death of her husband. The king of Madra, who was her brother, was called Salya.
A division of an army those days had 21870 chariots, an equal number of elephants, thrice that number of soldiers on horse back and five times those many on foot . Such a division was called an Aksowhini. The strength of an army was talked in terms of the number of such divisions. We shall, henceforth, mean the above composition in a division.
The king of Madra heard about the impending war between his nephews and the Kauravas. He started with a division of army to offer help to the Pandavas without waiting for a formal invitation.
Duryodhana heard about this from his spies and wanted to outwit the Pandavas. He built a large number of rest houses and made elaborate arrangements to offer hospitality to the Madra king all along his path.
Salya was very pleased with what he took to be the care the Pandavas took for his welfare. After a few halts and enjoying the hospitality at those places , he announced to the keepers that they should inform the Pandavas that he was very pleased and that he would do anything to help them. This was promptly reported to Duryodhana by his servants.
This was the moment for which the Kaurava waited . He promptly came to the Madra king and said. “I am very satisfied that my men have taken good care of you all along the way. My wish is that you should lead my army”.
Salya was in a tight spot. He was, indeed, pleased with what the Kaurava did for him. It was also not proper for him, as a gallant ruler, to turn down such a request. But, he had come to help his nephews. Now he was in a situation in which their enemies sought his help. There was no way he could turn that down. So, he promised his service and of his entire army to Duryodhana. But, he wanted first to inform his nephews of his decision to join the Kauravas in the war.
The Pandavas were greatly disappointed with the turn of events. There was nothing that could be done about it. But, Yudhishthira made one request. Salya should praise Arjuna in front of Karna whenever he got an opportunity. The Pandava knew that this was one sure way to put down the morale of Karna. The Madra king promised hat he would his best in this regard.
Salya, in this context, told the story how Indra suffered because of Vritra and how he finally succeeded in killing his enemy. He also narrated the story of Nahusha who became Indra during that time and how he ended up being a python because of a curse. (We have covered these stories earlier). Salya consoled the Pandavas that they would ultimately emerge victorious, as Indra did, in the war. With these words, the Madra king went to Duryodhana ready to fight by his side.
It is said that the Kauravas managed to assemble a force of eleven divisions. Many of them were normal Pandava allies whom Duryodhana snatched away cunningly. The Pandavas managed only seven divisions. We shall introduce later the main heroes of the war .
Let us track the progress of the peace talks in the next episode.
