"May you always enjoy good fortune", these were
grandfather’s first words after his worship. Draupadi got up and said, "I am
thankful to you".
Grandfather looked at her
in astonishment, "Draupadi it’s you ! Why did you come alone at this odd hour
?" She said that she was not alone and that Krishna was with her.
At that time, Krishna
entered in. He greeted grandfather. Incidentally, Draupadi’s footwear that Krishna
had hidden slipped from his hands and fell down. Grandfather burst out laughing and told
Krishna that when he could shun his pitambar, when he could shun his flute, that
had been his lifelong mates, when he could pick up Draupadi’s footwear, no power on
earth could dominate or vanquish Pandavas. Then, Bhishma blessed them.
Then, grandfather Bhishma
broke those five verse oriented arrows. Draupadi and Krishna came out of the hut and went
away swiftly.
On the seventh and eight
day, the battle intensified. Bhima killed eighty of Duryodhan’s brothers. Duryodhan
then called Bakasur’s brother Alambush to face Arjun’s son Iravan. He could not
stand his attack. Iravan died before evening. Pandavas called Ghatotkach to counter
Duryodhan. He was very attacking and aggressive. This led to an exacerbation of the
Kauravas’ destruction. Dhritrashtra broke down on knowing of his sons’ death.
The ninth day of war was
terrifying, to say the least. Drona and Bhishma began an attack on Arjun. He showed
exemplary deftness in handling both of them. He broke Bhishma’s bow three times and
each time, the aged warrior praised him.
| |
By afternoon, grandfather began attacking Krishna, who began to feel darkness engulfing him. He thought, ‘When grandfather had given a promise to Draupadi, why is he attacking me ?’ Suddenly, Krishna became furious. He went out of control. He stood up and took out his chakra. A total melee ensued on all the sides. "What is this ? Krishna is up in arms !" People began to exclaim. Arjun jumped out off the chariot. Grandfather Bhishma placed his bow down and smiled. He said, " Today I have won individually, O Dvarkadhish ! your resolve has been broken, you picked up the weapons." |
Krishna’s fury
subsided. He was engulfed by his guilt. He had done everything in life, but never had he
broken his resolve. He became dejected. He retreated. Incidentally the sound of the conch,
signaling end of the battle for the day, arose at that time. All returned to their camps.
After returning to his camp, Krishna told Arjun, "Tomorrow you must seat Shikhandi on
your chariot". Arjun accepted the proposal.
The next day,
Bhishma’s attack tore his rivals apart. But, more surprising for everybody was the
sight of Shikhandi sitting in Arjun’s chariot. Arjun hid behind Shikhandi and
attacked in such a way that no one could spot him.
Kauravas surrounded
Shikhandi. Krishna rose to the occasion and used all his tact. He took the chariot swiftly
towards Bhishma. Bhishma was frustrated by the attacks of Arjun and Shikhandi. Before his
arrows would reach Arjun, the latter’s arrows would break Bhishma’s arrows in
mid air. At last, grandfather placed his arms down.
As soon as Bhishma laid
down his arms, Krishna asked Arjun to attack him. Arjun argued, "How can I attack
grandfather when he has laid down his arms ?"
Krishna cautioned Arjun
against being a fool. He could not get a better chance. All the rules of war had been
broken. Krishna told him that if he would cling on to the rules, the undesirable would
happen.
At Krishna’s insistence, Arjun shot
a volley of arrows on grandfather Bhishma, whose body was pierced all over by arrows. He
asked his charioteer to take him out of the battlefield. |
