7. Those eighteen days – Nakula-Sahadeva targeted – Be virtuous and industrious – Mahabharata wisdom

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Welcome back to the narration. Of those 18 days.
The Kurukshetra war. Today. We will discuss the.
7th day. During the Kurukshetra war. There are certain days.
Which were highlights. Where major events happened. In some ways.
The pace of events. Accelerated after the 10th day. When Bhishma Pitamah fell.
And thereafter. Everyday. Was momentous.
Now. Especially during the. 5th, 6th, 7th.
And to some extent the 8 days. The battle. Went along.
Overall generic lines. Yes there were. Specific warriors fighting with each other.
And there were significant encounters. But there was nothing. Stupendous.
Like say when Bhishma. Picked up a weapon on the. 9th day.
Or when Arjuna penetrated. Through the entire Kaurava army. To bring down Jayadrath on the 14th day.
And still. On these days. When.
Nothing major seems to have happened. The battle was. Progressing.
And many. Small but important things were happening. And there were days.
On which. Some of the warriors who were not so well known. Got.
To play significant roles. Going back to the sports metaphor. If we consider.
A cricket match. Especially a test match. Then usually it goes for.
5 days. And there are 15 sessions. So pre-lunch, post-lunch.
And post-tea. Now not every session. May feature.
Dramatic action. But every session is taking the game forward. And in every session.
Someone or the other. Is performing. There might be standout performances.
There might be breakout performances. So. Standout means somebody.
Just performs extraordinarily. Breakout means somebody performs so specially. That they were unknown earlier.
And they become very well known. From that point onwards. But.
It is not that in every session. The stars are going to. Going to.
Perform in. Staler ways. So on this day.
It is primarily. The two lesser known Pandavas. Nakul and Sahadev.
Who played. Significant roles. Now.
When we talk about the Pandavas. Instinctively we think. And know that they are five of them.
Yet. If we consider their lore. Their stories.
Their pastimes. We usually think primarily about. Arjuna’s.
Accomplishments as an archer. And as a devotee. We think about Bhima’s.
Fury. And his. Ferocity in wielding the mace.
And we think of Yudhishthir’s. Virtue. And.
His diligence. In adhering to the principles of Dharma. So Nakul and Sahadev.
Are relatively. Not that well known. In the sense of their.
Accomplishments. So. Here we see the principle of.
Unity and diversity in the Pandavas. That. They were all.
Like the five fingers. Of a hand. Each of them individual.
And all of them united. Each playing their own role. Among the Pandavas.
Nakul and Sahadev. Were not as accomplished. In war.
As say Arjuna or Bhima. Or. As virtuous.
As Yudhishthir. And yet. They were heroes in their own right.
And on this particular day. They did something heroic. That was.
They engaged. With. Dozens and dozens of Kaurava brothers.
Simultaneously. So if you consider here. The.
Let’s try to understand these characters a little bit more. And then try to understand the battle contours. The lines along which the battles were fighting.
Battle were being fought. So. Nakul and Sahadev.
Were the twin sons. Of. The Ashwini Kumaras.
Ashwini Kumaras are the celestial physicians. And. They were begotten.
Through Madri. Because. Because Pandu.
Could not begot sons due to a curse. By the sage Kindama. So he invoked.
The Yoga. Ritual. By which.
Some other person could be. Some other respectable person could be called. To or invoked.
To begot children. So that the dynasty could be continued. So.
Kunti had the benediction by which she could call for gods. And accordingly. She begot.
Yudhishthir. Bhima and Arjuna. Through Dharma.
Vayu and Indra respectively. And then. When she had three children.
Naturally Madri also desired. To have a child. Have some children.
And she requested. Her husband Pandu. Who in turn requested Kunti.
And then she invoked the Ashwini Kumaras. Actually. She offered that mantra.
She offered to recite that mantra on behalf of. Madri. And Madri invoked the Ashwini Kumaras.
Because they are twins. So from then. The children that were born to Madri were also twins.
And they. Came to be known as Nakula and Sahadeva. Now Nakula.
Means. Nakula is dynasty. Nakula means.
The best in the dynasty. The best in terms of. Handsomeness.
Nakula. Distinct. Nakula was considered to be the most.
Attractive looking among all the. Pandavas. In fact not just all the Pandavas.
In the whole dynasty at large. He was considered to be extremely. Attractive looking.
Additionally. He was powerful. As a sword fighter.
He also. Was good at. Ayurveda.
He had some learning in that. And. Conversely Sahadeva.
The word Sahadeva means. Dev is God. Saha is with.
So with God means he had godly qualities. He is also. If we take Saha as a root.
As the shortened form of Sahasra. Then hundreds of God. Thousands of Gods he had.
Extraordinary power akin to. Large number of Gods. Sahadeva was.
Especially good at fence fighting. And he was also known to be good at. Astrology.
Now both Nakula and Sahadeva. Accompanied the Pandavas. Through all their tribulations.
And they played. Respective roles. As they were assigned.
So when the Rajasuya Yajna. Was to be performed. The four Pandavas went in four different directions.
And each of them. Was victorious. While fighting on behalf of.
Yudhishthira Maharaj. So both Nakula and Sahadeva. Conquered the world.
In the direction that was allotted to them. Just as Bhima and Arjuna. Conquered the direction that was allotted to them.
So. Sometimes. In a particular.
Say sports team. There are so many superstars. That other stars may not be so.
Other stars may not be so well known. Yes. They are also stars in their own right.
And if. If they were not. So overshadowed by the superstars.
Then they would themselves be well known. Also. So in some ways.
Nakula and Sahadeva. They may seem to be overshadowed. By.
Because the others were so superlatively gifted. Like Bhima and Arjuna. And Yudhishthira.
But. The important thing is that. There is throughout the Mahabharata.
No sense of. Enmity or animosity between the Pandavas. And that’s because.
There was such a bond of love between them. And they all knew. That they were loved.
And they were cared for. And they all had a place. They all had a role to play.
What ensured the. Cooperation between the Pandavas. Was.
Their shared purpose. They knew that they were all. Parts of the Supreme Lord.
And they were all devoted to the Lord. So they knew that by the Lord’s plan. Everybody had a part to play.
And. We can find fulfillment in our lives. By playing our part well.
Not by. Craving for. Enslaving for.
Getting a bigger part. Just doing our part better. Is more important than getting a. Bigger part.
So Nakula and Sahadev played their parts. And they played it very well. And they all had their.
Important days. But on the very first day. Nakula fought.
Faced off with Dushyasan. And Dushyasan was the second most. Powerful.
Among the Kaurava sons. He was the second son and the second most powerful. After Duryodhana.
And he. Defeated Dushyasan. And he could have killed him.
But he spared Dushyasan. Why? Because Bhima had taken the vow to. Kill the sons of.
Kill all the sons of the Pandavas. Of the Kauravas. So therefore.
He fought again. He fought and overpowered Dushyasan. But let him go.
This is how there is a culture of respect. Among the brothers. And there was also times when.
Arjuna could have overpowered. Some of the Kaurava brothers. And could have killed them.
He overpowered but he did not kill them. Now Nakula also. Nakula and Sahadev.
They played significant roles in the last few days. In the 17th and 18th days. They overpowered.
Significant warriors. There was Karna’s son. And also Shakuni’s son.
Uluka who had. Come with a provocative message from Duryodhana. Before the start of the Kurukshetra war.
He was killed by Nakula. And Sahadev. Had taken a vow during the Kurukshetra war.
That he would kill. Kill. Kill Shakuni.
And that’s what he did eventually. On the last day of the Kurukshetra war. This was a vow he had taken.
During the gambling match. When all the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi. Had been grievously insulted.
By the Kauravas. Especially by. Duryodhana and Dushyasana.
Along with Karna and Shakuni of course. Now on this day. The Kauravas.
Fought. In hordes. That means.
That the Kaurava brothers. Also if we consider. Duryodhana and Dushyasana are the.
Those who are. Well known among them. Another brother Vikarna.
He is also somewhat known. Because he. Was more virtuous.
Or he was the least vicious among all of them. And he at one time. Stood up to Duryodhana.
And when Duryodhana was going ahead. With his vicious scheme. Of dishonouring the Pandavas.
And disrobing Draupadi. Vikarna opposed it. Although he was silenced by Karna.
But still he stood up. So apart from him. There are not many other.
Kauravas who are well known. Yet all of them. Were also powerful warriors.
And while Duryodhana had many flaws. He also. Had some abilities.
He was able to inspire. Obedience among the 100 Kauravas. His 99 younger siblings.
Of course at that time. There was an overall culture also. Of obeying.
One’s. Oldest brother. As.
The representative of the father. That person would also be the successor. Normally by the principle of primogeniture.
So. That was also a factor to be considered. But the Kauravas brothers.
Themselves were also powerful. In terms of fighting a war. And they would.
Often attack in hordes. So. They would of course fighting one by one.
Each of them was individual. Each of them fought. But they would often stick together.
And all of them or many of them. Sometimes 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 of them. They were all powerful warriors.
And all of them. Would descend. Or race toward a particular section of the army.
And attack. That opposing army. It would be difficult for that army to resist.
So. That’s what happened to Nakul and Sahadev. When.
So on the Pandava side and the Kaurava side. There were relatively speaking. Lesser known warriors.
Among the cousins themselves. So. We could say that this was a battle.
Of the lesser known warriors. Now if we consider. Clearly.
Nakul and Sahadev. Were far more virtuous. Than the Kauravas.
And the Kauravas. In general were given to Vais. And.
They all also had. Vais individually. And collectively.
Simply because they all followed. The vicious Duryodhana. And normally it is said that.
Dharma rakshati dharma. That those who are virtuous. Those who are devoted.
They will be protected by. Their very virtue and devotion. The word dharma.
Has many different meanings. It refers not just to the moral codes. Or duties that.
May be. Present in the particular culture or society. But it refers to the.
Innate nature of all living beings. And the activities that. Help us function harmoniously.
Along. According to that nature. So when the Kauravas.
And the Pandavas were fighting. Actually dharma was on the side of the Pandavas. And.
In this particular battle. Nakul and Sahadev had dharma on their side. Now it is true that.
Dharma will protect those. Who strive to protect dharma. No doubt about this saying.
At the same time. This saying is not a license. For neglecting.
One’s own. One’s own preparation. Or for neglecting.
The ground reality. The material reality. The universe operates.
At multiple levels. That means that. Simultaneously.
Through one action. Many factors. May be inaction.
So for example. If someone’s jumps off. A 10 story building.
Now. The principle of gravity is an action. And that’s why they’re falling down.
Now. Along with that. Another principle might be inaction is.
A person’s free will being used. Destructive. That person may be so frustrated in their lives.
That they may want to end their lives. Or. A person may be careless.
And then it is. Negligence. Or that person might have been pushed down.
And then that’s malevolence on someone else’s part. So. Human will.
Human psychology. Work in parallel. With the forces of nature.
Such as gravity. So this is just. In the same action of a person.
Falling from a building. We see the mechanical. And the human personal.
Factors working together. So in the same action. Multiple factors may be inaction.
Now beyond this. You can also consider that. There are.
Forces beyond the human. That also functioning. And not just mechanical forces from nature.
But there are celestial forces. There are the principles of karma. Overseen by the.
Higher beings. And their. Their plan is also inaction.
And ultimately. Nothing happens without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. So Dharma.
We could say is a higher principle. That governs all of existence. And.
This principle is not to be neglected. It is an important principle. But at the same time.
In the name of Dharma. The material principles are also not to be neglected. So materially speaking.
Arjuna. Worked very hard to. Improve and excel in his archery skills.
Similarly Bhima. Worked spectacularly hard. To.
Become so powerful in. Mace fighting. Similarly.
The material competence. Even for virtuous warriors matters. Just because of being virtuous.
Doesn’t mean that. They will be victorious. They also need to be industrious.
Industrious means. That they have to work diligently. In developing.
Their talents. In acquiring the necessary skills of the material level. So on this day.
It was spectacular. That Nakul and Sahadev. Fought and withstood.
The attack of the Kaurava brothers. In. In a horde like attack manner.
They all attacked collectively. Nakul and Sahadev. Withstood it.
For a long period of time. And their heroism. Individually and as a team.
Becomes manifest on this day. Eventually however. The sheer number of the Kaurava brothers.
Was so much. That both of them started becoming overwhelmed. As they.
Became wounded. Pandava warriors came to their aid. And they held back the Kauravas.
So. This was one of the days. In which the lesser known warriors.
From both sides fought. And had relatively prominent roles. And Nakul and Sahadev.
Had their day. When though they were not victorious. But the very fact that.
They resisted a large number of Kaurava. Warriors. For a significant number of time.
Indicates their. Enormous promise. And it also illustrates the principle.
That while we are. While we need to be virtuous to be victorious. We also need to be industrious.
So that at the ground level. We have. The abilities that are required.
For victory. Thank you very much.