15. Those eighteen days – Arjuna’s vow – Do what we can & God will do what we can’t – Mahabharata wisdom

Podcast:

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna welcome to the narration of those 18 days the Mahabharat war at Kurukshetra and lessons from it today we are on the 15th day actually the 14th to 15th days were extremely eventful because the war continued on the 14th night after Arjuna felt Jaidrath, Duryodhana felt so enraged at what he considered Krishna’s deception that he decided to counter attack and he pressed forth his attack and Ghatotkach started destroying the Pandavas of the Kaurava army so he sent Alambush to fight Ghatotkach and Alambush was the person who had killed Ghatotkach’s cousin Iravan son of Arjuna so Ghatotkach destroyed Alambush and this was the day when Ghatotkach exhibited such prowess that it seemed that he would defeat everyone then Karna finally had to use his Shakti weapon and while Karna had joined the battle on the 11th day itself and he was scoring good victories but the whole focus of the army had been on Drona trying to capture Yudhisthira on 11th and 12th days and then the Chakravyu on the 13th and Arjuna trying to kill Jaidrath and the Kauravas trying to defend so Karna didn’t get much opportunity to exhibit his heroism and when Karna started destroying the Pandava army on one side so Krishna sent Ghatotkach to fight with him and though Karna won over Ghatotkach he used away his Shakti weapon which he had reserved for Arjuna the war went practically throughout the night and on the next day the war began in dead earnest and Drona feeling mortified that he had met such repeated failures he had first failed to keep his word in arresting Yudhisthira and then he had failed even with the entire army at his command to protect Jaidrath he attacked furiously and he killed both Drupada and Virata the two kings senior monarchs of the two kingdoms of Panchala and Matsya and then after that the Pandavas managed to use a ruse to get Dronacharya to lower his weapons in fact Dronacharya himself had said at the start of the war that he would, he could not be defeated but upon hearing a disagreeable news from a reliable source he would himself lower his weapons then he would be killed now the Pandavas plan was that after Dronacharya lowered his weapons feeling disheartened because he had been misinformed that Ashwatthama had been killed so the Pandavas plan was to arrest Drona and keep him in house arrest till the war was over but Dhrishtadyumna in a horrific rush of blood raced towards Dronacharya who had closed his eyes and was meditating and locked off his head everybody was shocked even Arjuna was furious Satyaki was enraged Yudhishthir was deeply appalled and apprehensive at the heinous killing of his teacher so this was not a planned killing it was a rush of blood from Dhrishtadyumna’s part and it created a severe dissension between the Pandavas itself Bhima supported Dhrishtadyumna who justified his statement by saying that that was my destiny, I was born to kill him if this is the way that destiny was fulfilled, who are you to judge me or blame me so Arjuna said today we all have been overcome by sin because of the horrible deed that you did as they were debating like discussing like this and almost coming to arguments or blows Krishna intervened and stopped Satyaki who was defending Arjuna and Drona from Dhrishtadyumna who was criticizing both of them saying that Drona what kind of teacher is he if he is a Brahmin he should not be fighting by fighting for the Kauravas he had already lost virtue so at that time on the Kaurava side seeing the death of Drona had caused utter panic in them and the Kaurava soldiers had fled and during that war, the war before that Ashwathama had got wounded and he had retreated to recover while recovering he was coming back and he saw the entire Kaurava army rushing away from the warfare what happened? Oh Duryodhana why are you all fleeing from the battlefield Duryodhana couldn’t bring himself to tell the news he turned toward Kripacharya and he said Acharya please tell Ashwathama what has happened and Kripacharya told Drona had been killed and how he had been killed Ashwathama was enraged I thought these Pandavas are virtuous how could they have killed their own teacher who was defenseless, weaponless meditating with closed eyes they deserve to die for such a barbaric deed Oh Duryodhana let all your forces come behind me, I will lead them I have unstoppable weapons given by my father I will use them to end this war today and revenge my father’s death and make you victorious bolstered by Ashwathama’s enraged yet confident words the Kaurava troops rallied and Ashwathama charged into the battlefield he was filled with wild emotions of grief and rage he had to kill those who had killed his father he told Duryodhana that I will destroy their entire army which whose leader has killed my father so Duryodhana belonged to the Panchala army I will destroy their entire army today he charged into the battlefield and started pondering what weapons he had now he had been given certain very special weapons by his father Dronacharya as a teacher taught a lot to everyone at the same time he had a soft spot for his father for his son rather being the father of Ashwathama he always wanted him to be safe so he gave him certain weapons which were formidable and unstoppable so even before Ashwathama reached the battlefield the Pandavas could hear the thunderous pounding of the hooves of their horses as the Kaurava forces raced back into the battlefield Drishti surmised that this must be Drona’s son come to avenge his death be careful warriors he will not be easy to stop but even before he became visible suddenly the whole battlefield became covered with hundreds and hundreds of weapons charging towards him the entire army and now they seem to be not only racing but they also seem to be expanding they seem to be like missiles of fire and they thudded into the bodies of the Pandava soldiers and started destroying them the Pandavas couldn’t even see who was shooting this weapon and Arjuna as well as the other Pandava warriors were trying to counter that weapon with their arrows Arjuna was fighting with his full strength and so were all the Kaurava warriors but their soldiers were being decimated they were being wounded and this weapon seemed utterly unstoppable at that time the the scene caused Yudhishthir again to sink into lamentation while Yudhishthir was as a Brahmana very equipoised as a Kshatriya he always had reservations about the war and we see this is the third time he lamented first on the first day and again it was on the 8th day when Bhishma again on the two occasions Bhishma went on rampage and now he felt guilty not only because he had been part of the group that had killed their teacher but that his entire army was being killed by this unstoppable weapon he said oh soldiers stop fighting I will renounce the kingdom there is no need for you to all die while facing this unstoppable weapon retreat and go back to your kingdoms I and my brothers will enter into this fire and we will end our lives this was not just Yudhishthir being scared but Yudhishthir feeling immense responsibility that he did not want to be the cause of soldiers dying in a for a purpose that was hopeless and at that time Krishna again the third occasion Krishna consoled Yudhishthir and Krishna said oh king I know how to deal with this weapon so he stood on Arjuna’s chariot and called out loudly to all the soldiers he said lower your weapons come off your chariots and lie down on the ground this is the Narayanastra Ashwatthama has hurled this for destroying our army no living being in entire existence can counter this weapon if you even think of countering it it will concentrate on you and destroy you just low lie down and offer your obeisances to this weapon and it will whizz above you harmlessly hearing Krishna’s words everybody complied even Arjuna and Krishna himself lay on the ground but one person refused that was the belligerent bellicose Bhima he looked at Arjuna and he said first he looked at all the soldiers around and he said why are you giving up your weapons he said be courageous do not be cowardly fight I will use my weapons and I will not only counter this weapon but I will also crush that foolish son of Drona who thinks himself very powerful I will destroy his pride and I will destroy him today saying this Bhima started shooting all his arrows with full force at where he could see Ashwatthama approaching from the distance Ashwatthama had shot the Narayanastra from almost half a mile away from the war field and following the discharge of the weapon he charged into the battlefield so at that time Bhima as he was fighting with Ashwatthama’s weapon and trying to counter him he turned to Arjuna and said Arjuna you have taken a vow that you will never lower your weapons what happened to you how can you be so cowardly assist me in this fight if you do not then watch my wailer today I will destroy Ashwatthama so Arjuna told Bhima that oh brother I have vowed that I will never use my weapons against Brahmana’s cows or those the weapons that belong to Lord Vishnu this is Lord Vishnu’s weapon therefore I have lowered my weapons and you too should Bhima neglected Arjuna’s words and kept fighting although he shot his arrows at Ashwatthama Ashwatthama just the smile furious smile cut down all of Bhima’s weapons and started shooting further at Bhima meanwhile the entire force of the Narayanastra started concentrating on Bhima and his whole body started burning because of that he endured that and kept fighting but soon all the warriors were lying down and looking at the spectacle saw that Bhima seemed to be on fire so blazing was the effulgence around him nobody could even see it seeing how his brother was mortally severely endangered by his own pride and folly Arjuna summoned Varunastra so Arjuna was lying down here Bhima was fighting here Ashwatthama was here Narayanastra was concentrating on Bhima’s body and burning him Arjuna shot the Varunastra the Varuna is the god of the waters and a whole shower of water appeared on Bhima and cooled him yet Arjuna knew that the relief was only temporary the Varunastra would not stand for long when confronted with the Narayanastra seeing that Bhima was still not ready to bow down Krishna got up and started running toward Bhima and he called upon Arjuna to accompany him and reaching up to Bhima Krishna told him Oh Bhima if this weapon could be resisted or countered we would all be up fighting but it can’t be trying to stop it will only lead to your death don’t be so foolish lower your weapons and lie down on the ground in obeisance to this weapon although Bhima was stunned between recognizing that he was so dangerously close to death and refusing to give up his pride what he thought was his honour in not giving up a fight at that time Arjuna reached by their side and Arjuna pulled Bhima he grabbed his weapons seized them away and then dragged Bhima reluctantly came and lay down on the floor and then the Narayanastra just whizzed over the side of the Kurukshetra war where all the Pandava soldiers were there and not finding any weapons any opponents it disappeared and then the Pandava warriors got back seeing that they had survived imminent death by Krishna’s guidance they all turned toward Krishna looking gratefully and then they started roaring in celebration Duryodhana was annoyed he turned toward Ashwathama and he said discharge that weapon again and destroy the Pandavas and their forces Ashwathama said no this weapon can be used only once if I try to invoke it again it will destroy me even Ashwathama was disappointed he said only Krishna knew how to how to remain unscathed amid the attack of this weapon and he has saved the Pandavas still his while the disappointment was there with him still his rage surged forward and he said still I am a great warrior I have many other weapons I will fight and destroy the Pandavas even now and he started attacking again fiercely so ferocious was the attack that the Pandavas soldiers just couldn’t face they couldn’t even flee because normally fleeing soldiers are not attacked by warriors Ashwathama was so enraged that he started destroying the fleeing soldiers also within a short while he decimated nearly the entire Panchala army he charged towards Dhrishtadyumna and Dhrishtadyumna tried to fight him back although the two of them contended fiercely for a few moments after that Ashwathama destroyed all of Dhrishtadyumna’s defences destroyed his weapons killed his immobilized his chariot killed his charioteer and Dhrishtadyumna was left helpless seeing Ashwathama targeting Dhrishtadyumna like that other Kaurava warriors came to assist him and started destroying all of them at that time Arjuna called out to Ashwathama why are you fighting with lesser warriors fight with me today and I will send you to the same destination that your father has gone Ashwathama flinched in pain Arjuna and Ashwathama had been friends long ago in his father’s Gurukul but now those days were far away as he turned toward Arjuna and fought furiously he soon recognized that his rage was no match to Arjuna’s skill and Arjuna started overpowering him at that time he used his he used one other unstoppable weapon he had his Agni Astra and he started shooting that with his full with his full prowess he also knew some mystical skills and Agni Astra coupled with the mystical skills was again unstoppable, seemed unstoppable he started destroying the Pandava forces by the hundreds and thousands seeing his soldiers calling out for help as they were being killed Arjuna contemplated and used the Brahmastra and as he shot the Brahmastra all the destruction that was wrought by the Agni Astra disappeared and calmness came in the battlefield Ashwathama was stunned to see Krishna and Arjuna utterly safe standing not only ready to fight but continuing to fight they were right in the path of the Agni Astra that he had considered unstoppable how had they survived he felt utterly desperate and confused and hopeless if his best weapons had not worked what would in despair he just dropped his weapons saying everything is illusion whatever he had thought were the sources of power had turned out to be powerless so everything is illusion saying like this he raced away from the battlefield leaving his chariot behind as he ran toward the forest nearby he saw Vyasadeva emerging from it and he bowed down to the siege and he told him what had happened he said how is it he asked that Narayana Astra and Agni Astra both were rendered fruitless Vyasadeva looked kindly at Ashwathama and told him oh child the warriors in the opposite side are not ordinary because they have with them Krishna who is non different from Vishnu no one anywhere in the universe can destroy Vishnu or those protected by Vishnu as Ashwathama contemplated Vyasadeva’s words his shoulders drooped even more at one level if it is all powerful Vishnu who was on the opposite side it made sense that his weapons would not work and it was probably destiny because of which he had been thwarted as he pondered Vyasadeva’s words further he thought that yes if it were destiny that he was to be defeated then he had to accept his defeat gratefully yet he had to continue his duty he promised Duryodhana that he would fight on his side and he also had to do his duty to liquidate his debt to his father by killing those who had killed his father he started to summon his resolution he turned back and turned to the battlefield but he was now a shadow of what he had been earlier because both his weapons had been both his most formidable weapons had been countered and he himself had been weakened by the knowledge of the identity of the divinity on the opposite side so the point here is that sometimes we may have to lose a few battles to win a bigger war Bhima thought that courage meant fighting heroically even in the midst of great danger yes that is true yes when the fighting is necessary then danger should not deter one from fighting but courage is not foolhardiness where in the name of being courageous one simply quotes death when there is no chance of winning if one keeps fighting and quotes death what is the end use what did one achieve if we are fighting for a particular cause we need to consider whether our dying is going to help that cause if not then a strategic retreat is desirable and such retreat also requires courage when we are fighting against enemies we need the courage to stand up to those enemies but when we are retreating from a particular battle which we recognize we can’t win then we need courage to stand up to our own ego our ego makes us want to have the arrogant pride that I never accept defeat I never lower my arms but that arrogance itself can become the cause of our defeat so courage is not just in standing up to our enemies courage is also standing up to our ego and that was what Arjuna was ready to do when Krishna told him although Arjuna also had a great Kshatriya sense of honor but he knew that higher than the sense of honor also was his purpose his purpose was to serve Krishna’s mission to establish Dharma in the world and for that he had to follow Krishna’s plan and if Krishna required him to sacrifice his honor by lowering his weapons he was ready to do that Bhima was initially not ready to do it but then he learned the hard way and eventually both ways his experience of the power of the Narayanastra being unstoppable and he being instructed his intelligence being persuaded by Krishna’s and Arjuna’s words both combined to get Bhima to lower his weapons so for all of us we have to face challenges in life and we need a fighting spirit to face those challenges however we shouldn’t equate courage only with fighting sometimes not fighting requires courage and thus courage can have two opposite definitions one is persisting in the fight even when there is danger if the cause requires us to do that and the second is stopping fighting in the face of danger when the cause is not being served when the purpose is not being fulfilled so that courage we can all try to muster not just the courage to fight against our external opponents and external situations but the courage to fight against our enemy and then we can be purposeful in pursuing our life’s higher purposes and thus our life can be meaningful and fulfilling thank you