To punishment the avenger

One of the Pandava charioteers had somehow escaped from the total massacre by Aswatthama. He reported the matter the same night to Yudhishthira who was sleeping by the river side.

All the Pandavas were grief stricken hearing the death of their children and of their kinsmen. Yudhishthira called Nakula aside and said. “I cannot even imagine how our dear wife, the daughter of the Panchala king and the mother of our children would take this. You must go immediately and get her here.” Accordingly, the young Pandava brought Draupadi where they had encamped at night.

Yudhishthira did not go wrong in guessing the condition in which his dear wife was. Draupadi got into a state of shock when she heard the death of her innocent children and brothers at the hands of a reckless enemy committing a heinous act by way of revenge. The good lady collapsed on the bare floor as soon as she reached the place.

When she opened her eyes she looked at Yudhishthira and spoke hurting words. “It is fortunate, my dear husband, that you would enjoy ruling over the whole empire, even though we have lost all our children”. Then she declared. “If someone does not immediately punish the sinner, Aswatthama, I am going to fast until death right from this moment”.

Yudhishthira tried to pacify his wife with the words, “console yourself that your children have reached heaven and attained immortality”. But, that was not what the princess of Panchala wanted to hear. So, she turned to Bhima. “You were the one who came to my rescue whenever I was in trouble. Please find the son of Drona who has committed this outrage against our children and destroy him without delay”.

That was enough to launch Bhima hastily on the quick pursuit of the hot headed enemy.

Krishna worried

Krishna was not around at that time. When he came to know what happened he spoke to Yudhishthira. “How could you let Bhima run after so dangerous an enemy? Don’t you remember that our Acharya had given the all destructive arrow, the Brahma Astra to his son? Bhima will be totally helpless against such a powerful enemy”.

Krishna continued recalling a past incident. The Pandavas and Kauravas had completed their training under Drona. The Acharya had developed a special regard to Arjuna because of his unique qualities which included the total control oh his emotions. So, Drona called Arjuna one day and gave him the secret of the all-powerful weapon, the Brahmastra. He said that he was confident that the weapon would be safe in the hands of his accomplished pupil.

The Acharya was not that sure of his own son who, he knew, was highly temperamental and prone to act rashly under circumstances. So, Drona had kept the secret of Brhmastra away from him.

But, Aswatthama became touchy about it, thinking that he was entitled for something that his father possessed, especially if that was given to Arjuna. So, he started complaining about it to his father. The Acharya, finally, had to yield, but after giving him a stiff warning. “Son, you must refrain from using this weapon, especially against humans unless it becomes absolutely imperative”.

An offer to Krishna

Krishna, then, recalled one strange incident. He had already settled in Dwaraka by then. One day the son of Drona called on him quite unexpectedly and announced. “Krishna, I have received the Brahmastra from my father. I want to exchange this with a weapon of yours, preferably, with your discus, the Sudarshana”.

Krishna was amused with the offer. He told his visitor. “If you are so keen, you are welcome to pick any one of my weapons of your choice”.

Aswatthama was highly pleased with his luck. He tried to pick the Sudarshana with his left hand. Failing to do so he used his right and then both his hands with all his might. Even then he could not even stir the formidable weapon from its position.

Krishna, then, smiled and spoke to him. “There is none in the entire world who is dearer to me than Arjuna. I have not offered the Sudarshan even to him. Why, I have not favoured my own son, Pradyumna, with this weapon. By the bye, who do you want to fight against, with my Sudarshana?”

Aswatthama replied. “Krishna, it is you that I wanted to fight with you!”. Krishna smiled and said. ““You are a gifted warrior. There is no doubt about it. But, remember that the entire human race with the gods and demons included would not match even to one hundredth of me in valour”.

In hot pursuit of the enemy

Krishna told the above story to Yudhishthira and said. “The son of Drona felt embarrassed afterwards. But, I blessed him and offered various other gifts to him and sent him off from Dwaraka. I told the story to you to remind you that he has the highly destructive Brahmastra and to give you an idea of his immature character. So, we should not waste even a minute to go after Bhima for his safety”.

So saying, Krishna and the four Pandavas hastily climbed into their own chariots and drove the way Bhima had left.

(To be continued)