The War – Day 18 (Part 6)

The fight continues

Bhima and Duryodhana continued their combat like two elephants in rut fighting with their tusks. It was difficult to know who stood better chances to win. Both were wounded and bleeding all over their body. Yet, they fought with unabated vigour and ever rising spirits.

Balarama sat watching his pet disciples emplying every tactics he had taught them.

Krishna’s hint

Arjuna was sitting next to Krishna. He watched his brother in the middle of a fight that gave no signs of an end. He asked his friend and guide. “Krishna, who between these two, fares a better chance to win?”

Krishna replied. “Bhima has superior strength, but, Duryodhana has better tactics. Your brother can never win over his foe in a straight combat. You must remember that all of you are now in a crucial stage of battle after winning over all other important adversaries. If Bhima loses to Duryodhana, then it can cost you the war itself.

There is the famous saying by sage Sukra. Beware of those enemies who have returned to fight, or have been ruined, or those who care too much for their lives. They fight to the end with determination. (puna-raavartamaaNaanaam, bhagnaanaam, jeevitaishiNaam bhetavya-mariSeshaaNaa-mekaayana gataahite). Duryodhana qualifies for all these cases. Hence, he should be feared. If he wins, be sure that he will become the king.

Remember, Bhima’s pledge when Draupadi was pulled by hair to the open Kaurava assembly. This haughty Duryodhana at that time openly invited your dear wife to sit on his lap by baring his thigh. Bhima noticed the insulting gesture and swore loudly that he would break the thigh of his arch rival with his mace.

Ever since that day, this man was preparing himself for this ultimate battle against Bhima. He fought for those thirteen long years against an image of Bhima with a heavy mace made of iron.

So, I see no chance for Bhima in a fair combat. You have been wronged in various ways all these years. This war, itself, has been unjust. Bhima should remember his own oath and use tricks that are not in the code of mace combat”.

Arjuna got the hint. He must have also remembered the curse of sage Maitreya on Duryodhana. The Sage was sorry to find the noble Pandavas unjustly suffering in the Kamyaka forest. He went to Duryodhana to reason with him. The Kaurava prince remained quiet, without even pretending to listen to what the sage had to say. He kept drumming on his thigh as though in boredom. Maitreya felt insulted. He cursed Duryodhana that his very thigh would be broken in the crucial fight.

Krishna’s words and the precarious condition of the Pandavas must have influenced Arjuna to give a direct hint to Bhima by slapping on his own thigh when the latter looked in his direction in the middle of fight. Bhima got the message immediately.

The fatal blow

Soon, Bhima swung his heavy mace against his foe with all force. Duryodhana jumped up in an effort to avoid a direct hit. That was the opportunity Bhima was looking for. He aimed the thigh of the Kaurava this time and swung his mace again.

Duryodhana had least expected that. The mace hit the target without fail. The Kaurava prince fell down with his thigh completely shattered. He was fatally wounded.

The Pandavas blew on the conch shells to herald victory. It is said that the gods dropped flowers from heaven to congratulate the Pandavas. But, elsewhere terrible omens of evil nature started appearing.

We shall learn about the tragedies that followed the fall of the Kaurava prince in the next episodes.

The War - Day 18 (Part 5)

Duryodhana was highly pleased to see Balarama at the time of his crucial fight against Bhima. He bowed before his teacher and enquired about his journey. Balarama was also happy to be in the company of his two disciples.

Samantapancakam

The Yadava prince called Yudhishthira and said. “Let us all go to Samantapancaka. It is a very sacred place. If any of these two die fighting against the other, he is sure to go heaven there”. All agreed to the proposal.

Sage ParaSuraama had annihilated all the kings on earth to revenge the death of his father. He, then, washed his axe at the same Samantapancakam. He offered the blood that flowed from his axe as sacrificial water (TarpaNam) to his ancestors. That was how the place got its fame.

Both Bhima and Duryodhana walked towards the chosen place holding their huge maces in the company of other Pandavas and Kauravas. Others blew on conch shells and played trumpets.

The venue

They chose a firm ground to the south of river Saraswati for the battle. A large gathering soon assembled there to witness the fight. The royals sat on appropriate chairs. Notable among them was Balarama looking intently for the fight to start. Others stood with their eyes wide open, reluctant to miss even the slightest of the moves made by the fighting heroes. It is said that even the gods gathered above, intent on watching the battle between two who were the best with their maces. Those assembled remembered the famous battle between Bali and Sugreeva, and, Rama and RavaNa.

The challenges

As usual there were the routine challenges thrown by both the opponents against the other. Bhima proclaimed that he would smash the head of his enemy into a hundred pieces and thereby take revenge for all the cruelties done against the Pandavas. To that Duryodhana simply said. “Why do you prattle like a primitive ape? I am not moved by mere words. If you have the skills, better show them with your mace”. The onlookers widely applauded the words of the Kaurava.

The fight

Then, they the fight started. It is said that several bad omens appeared on the sky at that time indicating that a great tragedy was in store.

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The two rushed against one another with battle cries, swinging their mammoth maces in the air. They moved around one another looking for a chance to strike. Each of them hissed in extreme anger and swung his mace against the other with all force. The other, then, would avoid the hit by jumping aside. It would be the turn of the other to try and make a hit.

Often, the mace found the target and soon, both Bhima and Duryodhana started bleeding profusely. Duryodhana once hit Bhima with all his might and the Pandava fell down losing his senses temporarily. The next moment Bhima got up and continued his attack against his enemy with renewed vigour. Later, Bhima managed to give such a powerful blow on Duryodhana that the Kaurava prince was knocked down unconscious. It took a while for the Kaurava to regain his senses. This way the two fought for a long while, neither finding easy victory against the equal enemy.

(We get back to the pilgrimage of Balarama in www.kunjunny.blogspot.com and return here after a few episodes)

The War – Day 18 (Part 4)

The next chapter, titled “the battle with maces (gadaayuddha parvam)” starts with the conversation between Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya in the background. We get a good picture of the character of Duryodhana from his own father. The king asks his minister. “How did my son react to such insulting words from the Pandava? No one has ever talked that way in front of him before. The whole world once stood by his command. He is so proud that he does not tolerate someone saying even that his royal umbrella protects him from the sun’s scorching rays. (yasyaatapatra cchaayaapi swakaa bhanostathaa prabhaa khedayaivaabhimaanitvaad sahed saivam katham girah? ) He thinks that he is capable of taking care of himself. How did my son bear the insults that too, from the Pandavas! What reply did he give?”

Sanjaya, then continues with the story. “Duryodhana, standing in the water, threw his arms up in anger, breathed heavily and replied…..”

Duryodhana’s reply

The Kaurava prince replied. “You are many and are all well armed and mounted on your vehicles. I am without weapons and chariot. My armour is broken and I am wounded all over. How can I meet you in so unequal a battle? You offer me fight, one by one. I am not scared of any of you, yourself, Bhima, Arjuna or Krishna. I shall meet you all in turn as the year touches all the seasons or the sun visits every star in the morning. I shall kill you all and thus pay my dues to those like Bhishma, Drona and Karna who have fallen fighting for me”.

With those words, Duryodhana came out of the pool and walked towards the battle field. He appeared like the god of death holding his mighty mace in hand. There were widespread cheers from the Pandava soldiers finding Duryodhana coming to fight. Mistaking that for mockery Duryodhana was infuriated even further.

Yudhishthira said. “Lucky that you know righteousness (Dharma) and that you still want to fight. You say that it is not fair for many to fight against one. Where was your sense of justice when all of you cornered Arjuna’s young son, Abhimanyu, and killed him after he had lost all his weapons? But, let it be your way. You chose any one among us and win over him. We shall all accept defeat and make you king in that case.”

Krishna angry

Krishna lost his temper when he heard Yudhishthira make such a reckless offer to Duryodhana. He said. “Why did you say so to the Kaurava? What, if he had chosen you or Arjuna? I do not see any one other than Bhima who stands any chance against Duryodhana fighting with his mace. You committed yourself as foolishly as you did at the game of dice. It seems that you are destined to live in the forest for ever”.

Bhima intervened at that time. He said. “Krishna, have no fear. I shall face Duryodhana and surely kill him at the end”.

Then, he turned to the Kaurava and spoke harsh words meant to infuriate him even further. “You have sinned against us right from our early days. You were the one who poisoned me when I was a child. It was your crooked mind that plotted to kill us in the house of wax. The cheating in the game of dice was your idea. Then, you asked your brother to pull dear Draupadi by her into the open assembly. There is no doubt that I shall smash you into pieces with my mace today and settle the score for all your evil deeds”.

As expected, Duryodhana turned wild with fury. He burst out. “Why do you talk? Come and face me in battle. You are no match for me in a straight fight. If you cheat, then that will be a blot on your image for ever”.

Even the supporters of Pandavas applauded those words of Duryodhana.

The arrival of Balaraama

Balaraama, the elder brother of Krishna, had gone on a pilgrimage when the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas became certain. He returned just when that terrible battle between Duryodhana and Bhima was about to commence. Yudhishthira embraced him by way of welcome. Krishna and the other Pandavas bowed before him.

Krishna must have anticipated his brother objecting to the battle. He always knew how to tackle his senior. Krishna said. “Welcome, brother. You can now watch the skill of your two dear disciples in battle”, as though it was a friendly combat.

Krishna’s words excited Balarama with prospects of watching a good fight between two equals, both groomed by him. So, he replied. “Yes, I do want to see how my disciples fight”.

Both Duryodhana and Bhima lifted their maces and paid obeisance to their teacher. Then, the fighting began.

As we said in the very beginning of the Mahabharata, the story was told by VaiSampaayana, the disciple of Vyasa to Janamejaya, the grandson of Abhimanyu at the great serpent sacrifice held at the Naimisha forests. Janamejaya requested VaiSampaayana to tell him all about the pilgrimage of Balaraama. Accordingly, the sage went into the details, describing the places the mighty Yadava prince visited. We shall (try and) cover the journey in a few episodes in www.kunjunny.blogspot.com.

The War – Day 18 (Part 3)

We are on a new chapter, “Entering into a pool of water (hradapraveSa parvam)”, in the “book of Salya (Salya parvam)” on the eighteenth day of war.

The sun was about to set when Sakuni was killed. Duryodhana got his scattered army together and sent them against the Pandavas once again. But, they were all killed within no time by the combined forces of Pandavas and Panchalas. Even those who tried to escape were chased down and butchered mercilessly. Hardly anyone, including the animals of war, remained out of the eleven divisions (Akshauhini) of Duryodhana’s army. A few thousand animals and about one hundred thousand soldiers remained on the Pandava side.

Duryodhana was beyond himself with grief looking at the total destruction of his entire army. He remembered the wise words of Vidura, “the war will destroy you along with the entire race of Kshatriya”. He walked slowly eastwards with his mace in hand, sore all over his body with wounds from the war, and with a mind that was totally dejected from defeat. His aim was to reach was a deep pool of water at a distance.

Sajnaya set free

Satyaki was about to chop the head of Sanjaya as ordered by Dhrishtadyumna when Veda Vyasa appeared on the scene. On the advice of the great saint the Pandavas set the Kaurava minister free.

Sanjaya met Duryodhana on the way. He reported his story to the Kaurava prince, concluding, “we are left with three chariots, nothing more”. Duryodhana replied. “I do not find anyone other than you on our side. Tell the king that I am going to spend time in a pool of water”.

When Sanjaya left Duryodhana entered into the pool. He knew the secret of remaining under water as long as he wanted.

Sanjaya encountered the three veterans left on the Kaurava side, Aswatthama, Kritavarma and Kripa. They were desperately looking for Duryodhana all through the battle field littered with the body of thousands of men and animals. They exclaimed. “Luckily, you are alive. Do you know, if Duryodhana is dead or living?” Sanjaya pointed in the direction of the pool to which the Kaurava prince had gone.

The three Kaurava warriors lamented about the pitiable condition of their prince and carried Sanjaya in their chariot of Kripa along with them to the camp.

Kaurava camp deserted

What they saw in their camp was a pathetic scene. The elders were leaving with the womenfolk to the safety of the capital city. They feared Bhima in his angry mood. All the women were crying and beating on their breast and head lamenting about their dear ones killed in the war. Sanjaya left along with the rest to meet the blind king. He reported his imprisonment and escape from death to Dhritarashtra. The king shed tears listening to the total defeat of his army and the death of all his sons. The only surviving son, Duryodhana, had gone hiding.

Yuyulsu

Yuyulsu was the son of Dhritarashtra born of a Vaisya (merchant) woman. He had taken a stand for justice from the beginning. When the war broke out, he had joined the Pandava side. When the war ended he took permission from the Pandavas and returned to the capital city.

A visit to the pool

By the time darkness set in the Kaurava camp was totally deserted. The three veterans remaining on the Kaurava side discretely approached the pool where Duryodhana had taken refuge. There they addressed the Kaurava prince. “Why are you hiding yourself in the pool when we are there to win the war for you? Please come out and join us to take revenge on the Pandavas”.

Duryodhana was heartened to hear the friendly voices. He called out. “How lucky that you three are alive! I am sore all over my body. Let me cool my limbs in the water and recover strength. I shall join you tomorrow in your fight against our enemies”.

The secret escapes

The Pandavas searched everywhere for their main enemy, Duryodhana. There was no trace of the Kaurava prince. It was then that some butchers approached Bhima discretely. They used to supply meat to the Pandava. They happened to overhear the conversation between Duryodhana and his friends at the pool. The butchers had gone to fetch water at that time. They thought that the news would be more valuable than what they earned by selling meat on several days.

They were not wrong. Bhima was overjoyed. He had already killed every other son of Dhritarashtra. His main enemy had escaped from his clutches. Bhima sent the butchers away paying them handsomely for the valuable secret and reported his discovery to Yudhishthira. The elder Pandava approached Krishna who emphatically said. “Kill him through fair or unfair means”.

A Challenge for battle

Krishna and the Pandavas waited at the pool for Aswatthama and his two friends to leave. Then, Yudhishthira called out. “Duryodhana, why are you trying to hide yourself in water after destroying all your dear ones? Do you value your life that much? You used to boast of your own valour and courage in warfare. Is this how you show that? Come out and face us in battle like a Kshatriya! You are welcome to kill us all in fight and enjoy all the land without rivalry. Or else, get killed by us and go to the land of the dead”

To the tormenting words of Yudhishthira, Duryodhana replied. “I did not come here out of fear for my life or in desperation. For that matter, what if, as a living being, I care for my life? Do not worry, Yudhishthira, I shall come out and face you in battle. But, keep in mind that I am all alone and even without my own chariot. But, I do not covet the land any more after the death of all my brothers. It was for their sake that I ruled over the kingdom of Kurus. In fact, I see no purpose in fighting any more after the fall of the grandsire and after the death of Drona and my dear friend, Karna. I give you the entire kingdom without a fight”.

Yudhishthira retorted. “You speak like a man in distress. I do not want any gift from you, let alone the kingdom. There was a time when we begged for our rightful share. At that time you were not prepared to part even with a needle point of land. Besides, I do not think that you are the lord of any land any more for you to make generous gifts”.

Yudhishthira, thus tried to instigate Duryodhana for battle, the latter trying in his own proud way to defend his action. With that ends the chapter titled “the entering into a pool of water (hradapraveSa parvam)”. However, the war on the eighteenth day continues in the next few episodes.

The War – Day 18 (Part 2)

Sakuni

Sakuni was Duryodhana’s maternal uncle. His influence on the Kaurava prince made the major turning points in the story of Mahabharata. The game of dice was his idea. The cunning prince of Gandhara knew the weakness and lack of skill of Yudhishthira in the game. Sakuni, on his part, was an expert. His sleight of hand at the game made victory sure for the Kauravas. He consistently advised Duryodhana against any peace initiatives with the Pandavas. In a sense, the Mahabharata war was mostly his creation.

Fighting continues

The death of the commander did not stop the war on the eighteenth day. The army of Salya turned against Yudhishthira to avenge the death of their king. Duryodhana tried to dissuade them, but, without success.

But, Sakuni thought differently. He urged the Kaurava prince to go after the Pandavas in support of the Madra army. The combined Kaurava forces marched with the battle cries, “dispatch arrows, go and catch the Pandava alive, or else, kill him without mercy!”

But, the Madra soldiers were no match to the Pandavas in spite of the Kaurava support. The entire army of Salya was destroyed by Bhima and Arjuna within the blink of the eyes. The rest of the Kaurava army took to flight in panic. It was only after a lot of persuasion that Duryodhana managed to get them back to the battle field.

The end of Salva

The sagging morale of the Kauravas got a boost when the king of Salva launched an attack against the Pandavas mounted on his elephant. He was a formidable warrior with his ferocious elephant. He managed to penetrate into the Pandava formation dispersing their forces in all directions. Dhrishtadyumna and Satyaki blocked his progress. At the end of a spirited battle the Panchala killed Salva’s elephant with his mace. At the same time Satyaki sent an arrow that brought down the head of the king.

Duryodhana alone stood firm on the battle ground in spite of all the reverses. When Sanjaya reported that day’s battle to the blind king later, his words were, “I saw only one on your side who fought like a man – that was your son, Duryodhana”.

Sakuni was the other warrior of repute remaining on the Kaurava side. He launched an attack against Yudhishthira at that time. The prince of Gandhara killed the horses of Yudhishthira and roared aloud victoriously. Sahadeva came instantly from behind and carried his brother away to safety.

Both Duryodhana and Sakuni wrecked havoc on the Pandava side. Yudhishthira was worried and called Sahadeva to his side. “See how Sakuni is destroying our army. I entrust the task on you to attack the prince of Gandhara and kill him at the end.”

Arjuna’s surprise

Arjuna thought that he had destroyed what was left of the Kauravas. It was then that he observed the return of the Kaurava army lead by Duryodhana. Arjuna exclaimed to Krishna. “Look at the foolishness of the Kaurava prince. Hs started with an army that was like a vast roaring ocean. Now that has been reduced, in comparison, to a mere puddle caused by the hooves of cattle ( Goshpadam). Yet, he would not give up. He was advised again and again by his well wishers like Bhishma, Drona and Vidura to settle for peace. What medicine will work for some one who discarded all those valuable advises?”

With those words Arjuna asked Krishna to drive into the middle of what was left of the Kaurava army. He, then, unleashed such an attack with his Gandiva that Vayasa described it “like burning down a forest of dry bushes”.

In the middle of this large scale destruction of the Kaurava army Satyaki was fighting against Sanjaya, the minister of Dhritarashtra. Sanjaya could not stand the onslaught of Satyaki and lost his consciousness. The Yadava prince took his enemy as captive took him away to the Pandava camp.

Eleven sons of Dhritarashtra encircled Bhima at that time. They covered the Pandava with showers of arrow. Bhima withstood their assault and at the end killed all the eleven of them.

The end of Sakuni

Elsewhere Sahadeva faced the formidable Sakuni supported by his son, Ulooka and a small contingent of the Kaurava soldiers. The Pandava suffered intitial reverses. Recovering fast, he first killed Ulooka, sending a sharp arrow that brought down his head.

Sakuni was sorry to watch the end of his son right in front of his eyes. He remembered the wise counsel of Vidura, but, it was too late. He tried to run away. But, Sahadeva came after him and shouted. “Fight like a warrior. You shall suffer the consequences of your foul game of dice today”. With those words Sahadeva sent a knife edged arrow that brought down the head of the Gandhara prince.

The remaining Kaurava soldiers panicked and fled in all directions. The Pandavas blew on their conch shells and came around Sahadeva to congratulate him for the important victory.

We come to the end of the chapter, “The killing of Salya (Salya vadha parvam)”. But, we continue with the “Book of Salya (Salya parvam)” and the War on Day 18 in the next episodes.

The War – Day 18 (Part 1)

We had mentioned earlier that the Mahabharata war lasted for eighteen days. The final day of battle had arrived. So many veterans were already killed by then. Let us remember that Bhishma was still alive on a bed of arrows in the battle field. He could die at will and had decided to wait for the setting of the winter solstice when the sun would start on its northward journey (UttaraayaNa). That was considered to be the auspicious time to die. Drona and Jayadratha were already killed in earlier battles. So were many other great warriors on the Kaurava side. The entire suicide army of the Trigarthas was annihilated single handedly by Arjuna. Finally, Karna also had fallen fighting a heroic battle against his arch enemy. Abhimnyu and Ghatotkacha were the prominent heroes on the Pandava side who sacrificed their lives to get justice done to their parents.

Along with these great warriors thousands of soldiers, elephants and horses had also perished on the battle ground.

Salya

As we know, Salya was the king of Madra and the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva. He had started with a division (Akshauhini) of army to join the Pandavas, even without their asking. The Pandavas, on their part, had taken his support for granted. But, Duryodhana had cleverly managed to mislead him on the way and got his commitment to join the Kauravas.

Salya had felt unhappy about his word given to Duryodhana against his own conscience. He had gone straight to the Pandavas to report the unexpected turn of events. The Pandavas, then, got a promise from their uncle that he would demoralize Karna on the day of his crucial battle against Arjuna. Salya did keep his word and criticized Karna for his boastfulness on the day he faced Arjuna.

Yet, it was a different Salya whom we see as the battle progressed. He got fully committed to the Kaurava side, guiding Karna on crucial issues.

When the war took place Salya was already an old man.

The new commander of the Kaurava army

The death of Karna was a big blow to the entire Kaurava army. For Duryodhana, he lost his best friend and the greatest warrior. Both Bhishma and Drona, warriors of much greater calibre, were known to have a soft corner for the Pandavas.

With the death of Karna the Kauravas found themselves without a leader. The entire army panicked and started fleeing in all directions. Duryodhana tried his best, but, without success.

Kripa, the first teacher of the Kauravas and Pandavas, tried to persuade Duryodhana to stop the fight and make peace with the Pandavas. But, the Kaurava was too proud to beg for peace. He would rather die fighting.

It was then that Aswatthama suggested that they install Salya as the new commander of the army. Duryodhana was pleased with the idea and approached the Madra king. Salya took it as an acknowledgement of his skills and accepted the challenge. He promised that he would fight until the entire Pandavas were annihilated or to his own end.

Yudhishthira with Krishna

Yudhishthira heard the news and approached Krishna for guidance. Krishna said. “I know the king of Madra well. Do not take him lightly. In his true form he can be a threat to all of us. I suggest that the time of reckoning has come for you. Take on Salya yourselves. Kill him without delay forgetting that he is your uncle”.

The war on the eighteenth day

The war started on the final day with renewed hopes on the Kaurava side. There were so many individual battles that day that won the admiration from the onlookers. The fight of Nakula against the sons of Karna was one such. The Pandava killed the three sons of Karna who opposed him at the end of a fierce fight.

Meanwhile, the Kaurava army marched ahead under the command of Salya. Bhimasena stood on the way and challenged the king of Madra for a duel. The two fought using maces for a long time. Bhima had already established himself as formidable with his mace. Only when the battle progressed that the old king showed that he was a power to reckon with. The two fought so fiercely that at one point both fell down losing conscience.

There were similar battles fought valiantly by Arjuna against Aswatthama and Dhrishtadyumna against Duryodhana.

Salya against Yudhishthira

Salya found that his army was getting thrashed by the Pandavas and had started to run helter skelter. He wanted to set an example by leading from the front and asked his charioteer to drive straight where Yudhishthira stood. The Kaurava army took heart by the move and returned slowly to face the enemies.

The Pandavas made a combined attack against the Kaurava commander. But, Salya was in a formidable form that day. He faced the veteran Pandavas all alone. Everyone was astonished to watch Salya in a form that was never to be seen before.

A fierce battle took place between Yudhishthira and Salya. They fought equally for a while. The old king appeared to be winning at some point. The Pandava prince remembered the words of Krishna at that moment. That gave him renewed strength to face his enemy with determination. Yudhishthira pulled out a javelin from his chest of weapons and launched it against his enemy with all his energy. The weapon pierced through the armour of Salya. The old king was holding his hands high at that moment with weapons to be launched against his enemy. He fell down dead with his hand raised hands.

Yudhishthira also killed the brother of Salya who came forward immediately to take revenge.

The remaining Kaurava army fled in all directions. The sun had just reached the middle of the sky at that time.

(To be continued)

The War – Day 17 (Part 10)

Duryodhana briefed

Salya immediately reported the death of Karna to Duryodhana. This was the greatest shock to the Kaurava prince ever since the war began. There were greater warriors like Bhishma and Drona on his side, but, none on whom Duryodhana counted so much as on Karna. Salya tried his best to console the grieving Duryodhana.

The Kaurava army was in total disarray. It was a hopeless situation for all on the Kaurava side. Duryodhana with great effort controlled his own grief and made a desperate attempt to persuade the army to turn back and face the Pandavas.

Arjuna with Yudhishthira

Krishna and Arjuna went straight to Yudhishthira to report the death of Karna Yudhishthira embraced Krishna and Arjuna, again and again, and shed profuse tears of happiness. The end of Karna was so good a news that the Pandava prince wanted to see for himself the body of the most formidable of his enemies lying on the battle field.

Krishna and Arjuna promptly took Yudhishthira to the place where the beheaded body of Karna lay. Yudhishthira had a close look at the body shattered by the arrows from Arjuna’s Gandiva. He, then, spoke. “Now, I feel as though I have already become the king. I can rule over this land with my brothers. There is nothing that stands on the way. I can say that I shall get sleep for the first time after thirteen years. Krishna, all this is thanks to your support and guidance”.

Sanjaya with Dhritarashtra

Let us remember that Sanjaya has been reporting the events on the battle field to the blind king at the end of each day. Most of the story unfolds through the words of Sanjaya. Needless to say that the death of Karna was a big blow to the hopes of victory for the old king.

The sun was about to set when the battle ended. Sanjaya gives a vivid description of the battle field at that time. One particular verse is all the more touching. Vyasa (as reported by Sanjaya) says.

The sun god, tenderly touches the body of Karna soaked in blood with his hands of rays and takes a dip in the western ocean with his blood red body.

(Notation used in writng Sanskrit verses :

Long vowels – by repetition the vowel once as in Bhagavaan.

The third and fourth group of consonant – Ta, Tha, Da, Dha, Na; ta, tha, da, dha, and na; the three “sa”s in the last group are distinguished as Sa, sha and sa )

KarNasya deham rudhiraavasiktam

bhaktaanukampee bhagavaan vivasvaan

sprushtvaamSubhir llohita rakta roopah

sishNaatu rabhyeti param samudram

The description of the setting sun has a connotation. The body that lies down soaked in blood is that of the son of the sun god. He, as though grief stricken, embraces the body with his gentle hands. That may be the reason why he is coloured red. Or, may be that he turned red with grief.

Then, there is the custom of a ritual bath when a close relation dies. The sun god, as Karna’s father, must have performed that after paying a visit to the body of the departed soul.

With this episode we end the chapter titled “the killing of Karna (Karna Vadha Parvam)” and the “Book of Karna (Karna Parvam)”.