The war had made tempers fly high. It brought out the worst of both Yudhishthira and Arjuna. Krishna managed to calm down his friend through his wise counsel.
Yudhishthira in distress
Arjuna realized how wrong he was in turning against his brother whom he held in high esteem. He went to Yudhishthira and touched his feet, apologizing profusely for his rudeness.
Meanwhile, the elder Pandava was totally dejected seeing how his words had affected his dear brother. He proclaimed that he was retiring to the forest. He would not stand a similar situation, if it happened again between him and his brothers. It took a lot of effort on the part of Krishna to pacify him.
Finally, Krishna managed to patch up the relation between the two brothers who had turned against one another. Yudhishthira, finally, embraced Arjuna with tears and blessed him for victory against the enemy. Arjuna took leave promising that he would kill Karna without delay in battle. With those words he took leave of his brother.
Arjuna’s journey to meet the enemy
Krishna knew that Arjuna was on the most important mission in the war, against his arch rival, Karna. He decided to mentally prepare his friend for the crucial battle and started to recount his glorious victories in the past. Arjuna had faced so many great Kaurava warriors alone in battle and defeated them all at the end. In conclusion Krishna asked Arjuna. “Was it not with your help that Sikhandi killed Bhishma and Dhrishtadyumna put an end to Drona?”
Krishna, then, went into all the evil deeds of Karna to work up on Arjuna’s emotion. He concluded reminding Arjuna of the most insulting words of Karna. “Arjuna, did not Karna ask your dear wife, Draupadi, to choose one among the Kauravas as husband as the five of you had already become their slaves?”
Krishna’s words had the desired effect on his friend. Arjuna swore again that he would kill Karna without any further delay and requested Krishna to drive the chariot where he could meet his enemy.
Battles in progress
Meanwhile, several duels were being fought on the battle ground. The most notable one was between the Panchala prince, Uttamowjas and Vrishasena, the son of Karna. Both fought fiercely at the end of which the Panchala killed his enemy. Karna was watching the duel from a distance where he was fighting his own battle. The death of his dear son greatly enraged Karna and he unleashed such an attack that the Pandavas found it difficult to withstand.
Bhima worried
Bhima was bearing the main brunt of the Kaurava attack. After a prolonged battle he asked his charioteer. “Visoka, I have not seen Arjuna anywhere on the field for a long time. I have been fighting almost a lone battle. The enemies appear to be in great strength even now. Tell me how many arrows of each type are left in all my quivers together.”
Visoka took a count of the weapons in stock in the chariot by category and reported that to Bhima. He, then, said. “If you listen carefully, you can hear the twang emerging from Gandiva. It seems, Arjuna, lead by Krishna, is appearing on the scene.”
The news of Arjuna joining force with him was highly encouraging to Bhima. He fought even harder against his opponents with renewed vigour .
Duryodhana noticed the damage Bhima was doing to his force. He requested his uncle, Sakuni, to take on the Pandava before he did further damage.
Bhima fought against Sakuni with a vengeance. In spite of some early reverses, he defeated his foe at the end of a fierce battle. The king of Gandhara fled from the field with his life.
The Kaurava forces were completely unnerved by the defeat of their leader and took refuge under Karna who was fighting elsewhere.
(To be continued. Please refer to www.kunjunny.blogspot.com for an interesting anecdote.)
