Mahabharata characters 53 – Arjuna 16 – Racing against time with the Lord of time

This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
session.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Mahabharata character series.
We are now in the 14 days war. It’s almost noon. Arjuna has penetrated deep into the Kaurava camp, Kaurava formation.
And he’s wreaking havoc single-handedly over there. And Drona has deputed Duryodhana, equipping him with his impenetrable armor to as a last-ditch measure to try to check Arjuna. And as Arjuna is blowing his conchshell triumphantly after having done the stupendous feat of having checked the Kaurava warriors, hundreds and hundreds of Kaurava warriors were attacking him while he was charioteer-less and cripplingly disadvantaged.
But still, nobody could wound or fell Arjuna. So as he’s blowing his conchshell and now charging forwards to the Kaurava camp, suddenly, right in front of him, he saw Duryodhana coming from the opposite direction. And Krishna turned to Arjuna and said that, Oh, just see here, the one who is the root of all your sufferings.
Vomit upon him the wrath that you have held in your heart for 13 years of exile. He deserves to be punished. It is fortunate that he has come in front of you today.
Punish him adequately, Krishna said. Arjuna said, Yes. And the Kaurava warriors seeing Duryodhana facing Arjuna felt alarmed.
They were surprised that Duryodhana was not fleeing. Duryodhana was ready to fight with Arjuna. And they all came to assist and they warned Duryodhana.
Duryodhana said, Do not fear. He says, I will deal with Partha. Oh, Partha, show your prowess and after your prowess is exhausted, I will send you to Yamazavod.
And Duryodhana and Arjuna started fighting. Duryodhana shot arrows, Arjuna shot arrows, and they fought and fought fiercely. Now, Duryodhana was, as far as archery was concerned, no match to Arjuna.
And slowly but surely, Arjuna’s arrows were too speedy, too many, and too sharp. They started breaching through Duryodhana’s countering arrows and Duryodhana started getting wounded. And to great surprise, Arjuna’s arrows, they had no effect on Duryodhana.
What to speak of wounding him, although the arrows hit him, he did not even flinch. And seeing him like an immovable mountain blocking Arjuna’s way, resisting his attacks, the Kauravas who had initially become alarmed, the Kaurava forces started cheering him. And Arjuna shot more arrows with greater force, but none of them had any effect on Duryodhana.
And Krishna turned to Arjuna, said, Arjuna, I have never seen this happen before. Your arrows are capable of penetrating the earth. Are you out of touch? This is not the time to go gentle.
Oh, Partha, Arjuna became thoughtful and he said, I know what has happened. He says, my arrows are capable of penetrating the earth. But the preceptor has put around Duryodhana his own impenetrable armor.
And because of that, my arrows are falling harmlessly. And although he is impenetrable in this armor, still he is a coward and he doesn’t know how to use his armor to fight. Like a woman wearing armor is still a woman.
This wretch is still a wretch, though he may have impregnable armor. See, O Keshava, how I fell him in spite of his having his armor. Duryodhana was arrogantly shooting arrows, feeling invincible.
And Arjuna took careful aim and he shot arrows straight at the fingers of Duryodhana. Now the armor covered his full body, but just the front part of the fingers was uncovered and that was the only vulnerable part. And Arjuna with his sharpness had detected that weak point.
In a war, the strategy is hit where it hurts. Hit where it hurts. And Arjuna took that strategy and he hit Duryodhana.
And Duryodhana screamed in pain as the arrows pierced through his fingers into his hand. Then he dropped the bow and arrow and started shaking his hands in pain. And seeing Duryodhana discomfited, disarmed, in pain, Krishna and Arjuna laughed and charged past him.
So a devotee may come across what seems an impenetrable barrier, but still by Krishna’s grace, the devotee finds some way to keep moving forward. Just as the river keeps moving towards the ocean always, some way or the other, up, down, right, left or through. So like that, a devotee’s consciousness keeps moving towards Krishna.
Devotee keeps finding some way to keep serving Krishna always. And Duryodhana was left licking his wounds as Arjuna kept charging ahead. And in the meanwhile, as Arjuna had been blowing his conch shell, Yudhishthira had heard and he started feeling anxiety.
Is Arjuna blowing his conch shell to indicate that he needs help? Arjuna had actually been blowing his conch shell to convey his victory against his opponents, but Yudhishthira was anxious and he turned to Satyaki and told, Satyaki, it is time for you to repay your debt to your teacher. Please go into the Kaurava ranks following Arjuna and render him assistance. Today is in the need, the greatest need for your assistance.
Satyaki was torn. Before Arjuna had departed, Arjuna had told Satyaki, be by the side of the king and protect him. Drona still had the vow of arresting Yudhishthira and Drona might try something.
So be by his side while I am not there to guard him. Satyaki, being conflicted, told his concern to Yudhishthira. And Yudhishthira said, do not worry, said Satyaki.
Here there is Bhima and Dhristadyumna and there are many warriors to protect me. Dhristadyumna is dying to be the killer of Drona. Surely, Drona will not be able to break through and come to him, come to me through him.
And moreover, he will be mostly occupied in combating, in defending Karna, in defending Jayadratha as Arjuna charged towards him. So you do not have to worry about me, Satyaki nodded. He knew that if he was asked to go into the military, into the enemy formation, if he did not go, he would be considered a coward.
And he from his heart also wanted to assist Arjuna. And he charged into the Kaurava formation and he followed the trail of devastation that was invisible, which Arjuna had brought as he was going through. And he just, of course, it was not just dead corpses, there were Kaurava warriors and their plan was to trap Arjuna inside.
So the formation was still there. Satyaki broke through that formation and with thunder speed, he charged behind Arjuna. Within an hour or so, he reached Arjuna.
As Satyaki charged into the Kaurava formation, at that time, Yudhishthira was plagued by another anxiety. Satyaki was also a formidable warrior, but he was still young. And he said that yesterday, another young warrior Abhimanyu had gone and he perished.
I have sent Satyaki to assist Arjuna. But what if Satyaki himself comes in danger? He turned toward Bhima and requested Bhima, can you go in? And Bhima charged. He was just waiting, itching for a fight.
And he broke through and in a short while, Bhima reached by the side of Arjuna and Satyaki. Satyaki and Arjuna, they had met for the first time. Arjuna had been concerned initially why Satyaki had left Yudhishthira’s side.
But when Satyaki explained, Arjuna was delighted and he told him, good that you are here. Assist me for the task ahead of me is formidable. And as they were talking and charging forward, suddenly they heard the tumultuous conch of Bhima blowing.
They turned and saw Bhima charging towards them. And the Kaurava warriors and soldiers were all fleeing or falling around him. Arjuna’s face lit up and he said, O Satyaki, with you and Bhima by my side, surely victory is guaranteed.
The Kauravas will not be able to resist my attack. And together, these three maharathas started charging into the Kaurava camp. And the Kaurava soldiers, Arjuna, on normal days was difficult to deal with.
Arjuna, enraged by the death of Abhimanyu was unbearable. Arjuna coupled with Bhima and Satyaki was impossible to face. They all fled in terror.
And seeing this, the Kaurava maharatha started coming forward. Now, Karna came forward and as Karna came, Bhima turned and challenged Karna. Now, Krishna and Arjuna seeing this kept charging ahead.
They both knew that a great burden had been placed on Bhima because Karna was a formidable archer and Bhima and Karna fought and fought and fought. And we discussed how Bhima overcame Karna. And right in front of his eyes, one by one by one, 30 Kaurava brothers he killed.
And Karna himself was wounded and Karna fled. And Bhima again joined Arjuna. And Arjuna kept charging forward, charging forward.
And as Bhima was also, all those who were trying to check Arjuna, Bhima was destroying them. And Satyaki was also by his side. And as Satyaki was fighting, Bhurishrava, a formidable Kaurava, a formidable maharatha, he came forward.
Now, actually Bhurishrava was a devotee. He was the son of Somadatta who was also a devotee. And he was the son of Bahalika.
And Bahalika was actually the uncle of Bhishma, the brother of Shantanu. So, now Bhurishrava and Satyaki started fighting and they fought, fought, fought fiercely. It was a battle in which neither of them seemed to be getting the upper hand.
And finally, their attack was so fierce that both their chariots got destroyed. And they got off the chariots and then they charged towards each other, started fighting with maces. And then the maces broke and they started fighting with each other, wrestling fist with their fists, beating and pounding each other.
And as they fought and fought, slowly Satyaki started tiring. It had taken a superhuman effort to break through all the Kaurava formations and come by the side of Arjuna. And after that superhuman effort, his bodily strength started weakening.
And seeing him weakening, Bhurishrava increased his effort and started beating and pounding Satyaki. And as he pounded Satyaki, blow after blow after blow fell on Satyaki. Satyaki fell on the ground unconscious.
And Satyaki, real unconscious on the ground, Bhurishrava took a sword, actually he caught Satyaki and dragged him along the ground, kicked him. These two had a history behind them. Long ago in a swayamvar, Satyaki’s father Sini and Bhurishrava’s father Somadatta had a battle among themselves.
And at that time, Sini had defeated Somadatta. And he had defeated him, kicked him and dragged him along the ground. So, at that time, Somadatta had performed tapasya and by worshipping the gods, he had got a blessing that his son Murud met the same treatment on Sini’s son.
So, now Bhurishrava did what was already and as Satyaki was senseless, Bhurishrava took out a sword and he raised his hand to lop off the head of Satyaki. And as Arjuna was engaged in his own fight, Krishna was not only expertly driving the chariot, but Krishna was also keeping an eye on everything. And Krishna alerted Arjuna, just see Satyaki is in mortal danger.
He is fighting, risking his life for you. It behooves you to save him. Arjuna turned around and saw Bhurishrava had raised his hand up about to kill Satyaki.
Immediately Arjuna took a sharp arrow and discharged it. And the arrow went in blinding speed and the arm that had been raised to kill Satyaki, that arm was lopped off. The sword was still in the hand and with the sword, the hand fell down.
Bhurishrava was shocked. He said, who could have such a despicable deed without warning a warrior, just attacking him and lopping off his arm like that? Who could have done such a brutal thing? He looked around and he saw Arjuna in the distance watching him. He said, oh Arjuna, I am shocked that you could have done such an egregious violation of the Kshatriya codes.
I was in combat with another person and without warning you attacked me. Where did you learn such foul tactics? Was it from Pandu or was it from Bhishma or was it from Indra? I do not think any of them would have taught you this because they all know the codes of conduct for Kshatriyas. I think the person who must have taught you this is Krishna because the Yadus are known to be an evil-minded, wicked, cunning dynasty and Arjuna, you have become spoiled by the association of Krishna and because of this, you have done such a vile deed.
Your name is spoiled forever because of the way you attacked a warrior without warning him. So, Arjuna remained in grave. Oh Bhurishrava, it is clear that as the body weakens, even one’s intellect also weakens and that’s why you are chastising me for no fault of mine.
He said, you were attacking and killing a warrior who was unconscious, unprepared for your attack and was senseless. As you were about to attack and kill someone, I have done the same thing to you. He said, I have taken a vow that as long as I am fit, I will always protect my dependence.
Satyaki was risking his life fighting on my behalf and it was my duty to protect him. As Bhurishrava got up angrily, enraged at what he felt was a colossal injustice, his one hand was gone off, but when he heard Arjuna’s words spoken without valour, he fell on his knees and Arjuna continued, you know, Bhurishrava, tell me what would you have done if you were in my situation and your dependent was senseless and was being killed like this. As Bhurishrava heard Arjuna’s words, he realised the truth of those words and he knew that the arm cut off and already he had a fierce fight with Satyaki in which also he had become somewhat wounded and the arm wound was severe, blood was just gushing out.
He knew that his life was ending. So with difficulty with his left hand, he took arrows, placed them on the ground and he made them into a makeshift seat and he positioned himself on that and entered into a mystical trance, determined to leave his body in trance and Arjuna told Bhurishrava that, oh Bhurishrava, you are… the respect and affection I bear for you is the same as I bear for my own brothers. You have led a virtuous life.
Go now to heavens and attain the fruit of your virtue. Krishna was right next to him and spoke to Bhurishrava. He said that you have led a life of sacrifice and virtue and you have worshipped me too.
So therefore, assuming a spiritual form like mine, you know, go to my supreme destination which is sought for even by Brahma. He says alighting on the back of Garuda, you will now ascend to that eternal abode. Thus he was blessed by the great devotee Arjuna and by the greatest Lord Krishna and Bhurishrava closed his eyes and in trance, he left his body.
In the meanwhile, Satyaki regained his consciousness and the first thought that came to him apart from the pain that was there wracking on his body was the humiliation that he had suffered at the hands of Bhurishrava and he had been kicked and dragged like an animal. A rage burst out of him and when he saw Bhurishrava sitting weaponless, motionless, he immediately grabbed a sword that was lying over there and charged towards Bhurishrava. Seeing Satyaki’s terrible intention, several warriors shouted, stop, stop, fight! But Satyaki without hearing anyone just charged towards Bhurishrava and locked off his head in a single move and the warriors who were discussing earlier, they had felt that Arjuna, what he had done was wrong and now when they saw what Satyaki had done, he said, fight, fight, fight! What a terrible deed is this! He was unresisting.
He was in meditation. How could you have killed him? Satyaki turned around. Angrily he said, I had taken a vow long ago that anyone who humiliates me by dragging me and kicking me, I will kill him.
I had to honour my vow and ultimately everyone is moved by destiny. You want to find faults with me for killing a warrior who would otherwise have killed me. Even when I was senseless, because he would have killed me when I was senseless if Arjuna had not saved me.
And now when he is senseless, I am paying him back. There is no fault in what I have done. You who are trying to say that I am faulty, where were you when Abhimanyu was killed by six of you all together? And he brazenly challenged all of them.
None of the Kaurava warriors felt that Satyaki had done the right thing. But Gurushrava was dead and after a moment of respectful silence in honour of the departed warrior, the hostilities resumed in dead earnest. And Krishna told Arjuna, Arjuna, there is no time to waste.
Charge onwards. And Arjuna went forward. Meanwhile, Duryodhana was horrified as he got the news 30 of his brothers had been killed and he realized nobody was able to stop Arjuna and he was panicking.
He said, I am wondering what should I do? As he looked at the sun, he saw the sun was nearing the horizon. He felt that still there was hope. If one mighty effort was done, if all the Kauravas charged combinedly towards Arjuna, surely he would not be able to penetrate and reach Jaidrath in time.
With this plan, he arranged and Ashwathama and Kripa charged on Arjuna from the two sides and Duryodhana still wearing his impenetrable armour along with Karna attacked him from the front and Shalya issued a challenge from the rear, shooting hundreds of arrows at him at the same time. Arjuna being attacked thus would have been hemmed in, but he had two competent assistants. So, Satyaki took on the challenge of Shalya and along with him, Vishwasen was also there, son of Karna and Satyaki took on both of them.
And from the front, Bhima took on Karna and Arjuna checked everybody else and kept charging forwards. He knew there was no time to lose and Arjuna was fighting so forcefully that it was impossible to check him. Yudrona was there in the last line of command as Arjuna kept breaking through the Kaurava formation and coming close, close, close.
Now he could see Jaidrath standing. He could see Jaidrath also and knowing that the day was ending and his quest was also ending, he charged forward. Drona realizing that things were desperate, he got several Maharatas.
He, his son Ashwathama, Kripa, Shalya, Karna, Duryodhana, all of them attacked Arjuna and so severe was the attack that there was practically a dark, dense, blinding cloud of arrows all around Arjuna. Arjuna was so hemmed in totally that he could not even see Jaidrath although Jaidrath was within seeing distance. Arjuna was countering all the arrows with his full skill and zeal but time was rushing away.
Arjuna started despairing so close yet so far. He realized that the sun would set and he would not be able to reach. As he was despairing, Krishna realized, recognized the predicament of his friend and he immediately summoned his Sudarshan chakra.
As that chakra came, Krishna discharged that chakra and he discharged the chakra not at the Kauravas to kill them. He wanted Arjuna to redeem his vow and he knew that Arjuna could do it. So rather than sending the chakra at the Kauravas, he sent the chakra high in the sky and covered the sun and there was an artificial eclipse created.
As the darkness spread on the war field, suddenly it had almost come close to twilight, to sunset and the Kauravas thought that the sun has set and they started celebrating jubilantly. He says, oh Arjuna is dead, Arjuna is dead. He has failed to redeem, fulfill his vow and Jaidrath who had been beside himself with anxiety throughout this long day, he started coming forward and jeering Arjuna.
He said, oh Arjuna, you are going to kill me. Now you will die. I will light the funeral fire and you will ascend in it.
As he was mocking Arjuna like this, Arjuna flummoxed, put his bow down and as he lowered his bow, Krishna told an urgent voice to Arjuna, Arjuna, there is still time. Place your best arrow on your bow, imbue it with the brahmastra and shoot it at Jaidrath. Krishna further warned that Jaidrath has been given a benediction by his father who has worshipped the gods that anyone who causes Jaidrath’s head to fall on the ground, that person will kill.
Well, his own head will crack into thousand pieces. Vidakshatra, Jaidrath’s father is doing austerities in Samant Panchak. So, shoot the arrow in such a way that Jaidrath’s head will go to Samant Panchak and fall in Vidakshatra’s lap.
Now when Arjuna was told that Krishna shoot the arrow, now it is again the Kshatriya codes to shoot the arrow after the sun had been set, sun had set and that’s why the Kauravas had lowered their guard. But Arjuna did not question. Arjuna knew Krishna must be having some plan and he obeyed.
He put the bow on the arrow, arrow on the bow and he aimed and as Arjuna was aiming, Krishna removed the Surya-Shiva Chakra and the last remaining rays of the sun started streaming across the battlefield and right in front of the eyes of Duryodhana, Drona, Karna, Ashwatthama, Kripa, Shalya, Dushyasana, Arjuna’s arrow sped through the sky with blinding speed, went and hit Jaidrath on his head and his throw his bejeweled, crowned head sped through the sky, disappearing far into the horizon. It went and fell on the lap of Radhakshatra. He was deep in meditation.
Shocked to see something on his lap falling suddenly, he opened his eyes and when he saw that it was a bloody head, he knocked it off his lap and as the head fell on the ground, the result was that his own head, by the boon which he had himself got, his own head cracked into thousand pieces and he died. So again, the boons of the demoniac backfired against them and caused their own destruction. The Kauravas wailed in sorrow, realizing that the darkness had been Krishna’s trick.
They knew that Arjuna had redeemed his vow and they had first suffered their worst reversal. Not only at thirty of the Kaurava warriors died, but along with that one whole Akshavani had been killed by Arjuna and further warriors, further army had been killed by Satyaki and of course Bhima and Krishna and Arjuna embraced each other. He says, O Partha, you have attained a stupendous, you have done a stupendous feat today, but nobody else will be able to do it.
And Arjuna told Krishna that it is by your grace, one whom you favor, nothing is impossible for him. By your grace, I have achieved this. And in this way, victoriously they returned.
We will continue in our next session. Thank you. Hare Krishna.