I waited at the base of the hill. Krishnadeva began climbing the hill holding a torch in one hand and the reins of Vayujita in another. After some time, I vividly saw a sandalwood funeral pyre burning on the summit of the hill and a woman dressed in white running towards it from the Kuru’s campsite. Who could she be? I couldn’t guess.
In a short while Krishnadeva came back alone to the base of the hill. He had no torch in his hand. He was silent. I just followed him. Both of us came to his pavilion. He would always read my mind and the volley of questions rising in it without my asking him. He came close to me and holding my arm in his he gently said, “Sakha Satyaki, today you inform all the regiment leaders in person that I am not going to arrange any war-related meeting today! In the relentless battle between Karna and Arjuna both sides have lost almost their entire armies. Only Duryodhana who is the root cause of all this is alive. I will handle him tomorrow! So only you stay back in my pavilion tonight. So, I did. I assisted Krishnadeva to remove his charioteer’s costume. While putting his peacock-feathered crown in the salver he shared a shocking truth with me. He said, “Satyaki, during the course of the last seventeen days I have taken utmost care not to let a single drop of blood splatter this peacock feather. I have always respectfully taken care of the gift of love that sakhi Radha had given me in Gokul.”
First, the news came that Duryodhana had appointed Madra king Shalya as the commander for tomorrow. Following that a competent surveillance chief named Malaya who had come from the royal ladies’ pavilion of the Kurus stood in front of Vaasudeva. Checking me out from top to bottom once he opened his mouth to give the news to Krishnadeva. He said, “I have picked up a very significant news from the royal ladies’ pavilion of the Kurus. But it is of such confidentiality that I should share it only with Hrishikesha. So – therefore…”
Krishnadeva went near Malaya, put his arm on his shoulder like he would do with everybody else, and reassured him, “Malayaa, feel free to share the news. Commander Satyaki is my right hand. My best friend!”
Gathering his courage, in the dim light of the torches, Malaya said, “The Kuru Maharani Gandharidevi has summoned Duryodhana for a meeting. ‘Come and see me immediately – just as you took birth from my womb! Naked, like the sky!’ Venerable Kuru Duryodhana is preparing to leave for this meeting.”
Hearing the news, I was utterly perplexed. Though I did not have an iota of affection for Duryodhana, Dushasana and the majority of their brothers who were killed in the war, I had tremendous respect for Rajmata Gandharidevi. Why would such a pious lady send such a strange message to her own son? I was totally lost.
Without giving me a chance to ponder over it Krishnadeva said to me, “Come on commander.” We left and came to a spot on the border from where the camp of the royal ladies of Kuru began. I was holding a burning torch in my hand. Within a short time, we saw Duryodhana approaching, dressed in his usual royal attire followed by torch-bearing guards. Saying ‘let’s go’, Achyuta-Keshava moved forward. Catching up with Duryodhana he said as if casually, “Kauravaa, I know where you are going in such a hurry. I can also reckon why you are so confused at this moment. Gandharidevi has summoned you to meet her in the same state that you were born – that is, stark naked. She is not at fault. She still considers you an innocent child. It looks like she wants to advise you to stop the war just like all others did. So, are you going to really meet her all naked just because she insists?”
Fixing his cat-like eyes on Krishnadeva Duryodhana said, “You are well known for your crafty schemes! Except for Arjuna no one else is benefited by your advice. I have a gut feeling that you are playing some kind of game. Yet I am also confused about how to meet my mother completely naked even if I am her son. As I can’t think of a solution to this problem I am just thinking of fending off the meeting!”
“It will be a big mistake to disobey her! It will be an insult to her! It is indeed possible for you to go and meet rajmata alone in the way she wants you to – it is also possible for you to keep her respect as a mother!”
“How? Tell me in straight words without any political machinations.” Duryodhana asked hastily. Stressing every word, Krishnadeva calmly told him, “Wear your regular royal attire till you reach the door of rajmata’s inner chamber. Take a big banana leaf with you. Before entering the chamber remove all your royal attire and wrap the banana leaf around your waist. That way you will be completely undressed as per rajmata’s instruction and you will be remembered for generations to come as an idol of devotion to your mother, because a banana leaf is not a clothing article!”
Duryodhana’s eyes shone brightly with the joy of relief from a terribly awkward situation. He said, “Indeed, if I had had only you in the royal council of Kurus instead of having many people like Kanaka and Shakunimama all my wishes would have already been fulfilled. I will go and meet rajmata exactly as you told me!”
He indeed went to meet Rajmata Gandharidevi as was discussed. And later the detailed news that we got was that for the first time ever Rajmata Gandharidevi admonished her son severely, saying, “Duryodhanaa, you are not only stupid but also utterly unfortunate. You believed in Krishna more than your mother who gave you birth. You moron, seeing you as you were born in front of me I was going to bless you with the boon of an indestructible body with the potent power of my pure eyesight. Now you have got the boon only partially. All your body upon which my motherly eyesight fell has become indestructible. The part hidden behind the banana leaf has remained destructible! Go, no matter how badly a son behaves a mother can never be a bad mother! You have my blessings.”
Now the eighteenth day of war broke on the eternal horizon of Kurukshetra. Today Balaramadada who had gone somewhere in the Himalayas had come back to Kurukshetra along with Uddhavadeva in the pavilion of Krishnadeva. The Kaurava army now had only a few thousand combative soldiers. The Pandava army had an even lesser number of soldiers. Now there was no question of arranging any Chakravyuha. The Sudarshan chakra of Krishnadeva’s ingenious intellect had brought victory within sight for the Pandavas despite being less in number. Duryodhana formally appointed Madra king Shalya as the commander in front of the remaining army. His mind desirous of victory was so ambitious that he was still dreaming of success!
Dhrishtadyumna blew his ‘Yajnadutta’ conch as the Pandava commander from our army, after the Panchjanya conch. Shalya responded by blowing his conch. Both armies dashed against each other like a wildfire attacking a small area of verdure left after consuming an entire thick forest like Dandakaranya. Today a notable fight took place between Kunti’s son Yudhishthira and Kuru commander Shalya. On the other side a ruthless battle took place between Panchala prince Dhrishtadyumna and Ashwatthama who was infuriated due to the gruesome killing of his father Drona by Dhrishtadyumna. None of them was backing off. Yudhishthira fought relentlessly for about two prahars and beheaded Shalya who was actually his own mama. At the southern end of the battlefield in the bog of flesh and blood, Gandhara king Shakuni along with his remaining one or two brothers was fighting Madreya Sahadeva. Shakuni’s wicked, merciless and crooked brain that worked like a camel of Gandhara, was behind every crafty machination of Duryodhana. Sahadeva was not going to let him off the hook today. He struck two fatal intersecting blows of his sword on Shakuni’s chest on which the cord of his quiver was fastened. Fountains of blood spurted out. The vicious villain of the Gandhara kingdom who had destroyed the lives of lakhs fell in the mud. A chapter of villainy came to an end.
As soon as the Kaurava commander Shalya and Shakuni mama who constantly kept the embers of his ambition burning with his cunning words fell in the battle, scared Duryodhana disappeared from the battlefield along with his chariot. He actually went and hid in the holy Sanneth sarovar alias Suryakunda in which lakhs of warriors had taken their baths!
Mace warrior Bhima who had taken a stern vow – ‘I will break Duryodhana’s lap that he had shamelessly shown to Draupadi in front of the crowded gambling hall’, wandered all over among both
armies flinging his mace in the air and shouting ‘Show me Duryodhana – where is Duryodhana?’
Feeling desperate because he couldn’t find Duryodhana, Bhima approached the Nandighosha chariot of Krishnadeva. With his fire-breathing eyes he shouted angrily, “Hrishikeshaa, I want to destroy the root of all this destruction. I want to kill that deadly snake of the Kurus, vile Duryodhana in front of all. He has run away from the battlefield. Where should I find him?”
For the first time, today Krishnadeva instructed Arjuna to follow him and alighted from the Nandighosha chariot. He approached Bhimsena’s chariot walking briskly. He signalled Arjuna to steer the Nandighosha chariot himself and follow him. He sent Bhima’s charioteer Vishoka in the back of the chariot and took his place. First, he approached Yudhishthira’s chariot. With Yudhishthira following him he maneuvered Bhimsena’s chariot towards shore of the Sanneth sarovar. Duryodhana was hiding in the centre of the lake and peeped out of the water after long intervals. He kept hiding under water for a long duration by holding his breath, and was not ready to get out of the lake even after Yudhishthira called out to him many times. Finally, when he was hiding under water Krishnadeva took the opportunity to advise Yudhishthira. To force Duryodhana out of the lake Yudhishthira now shouted loudly, “Duryodhanaa…! Get out of the water and fight a duel with any one of us five brothers of your choice. If you don’t do that then we will have to mix safflower toxins in the waters of Brahma sarovar and Jyoti sarovar and all our soldiers will have to pour jars filled with those waters in this lake. Then not only will you be forced out but all innocent animal species in the water will also die in vain.”
This advice of Krishnadeva had immediate effect on that vicious Kuru. To confirm the proposition Duryodhana asked Yudhishthira again “Will you give me a chance to fight a duel for sure?” and when he nodded in affirmation, from inside the lake Duryodhana expectantly glanced at Gurudeva Balaramadada on the shore. Balaramadada had full confidence in Duryodhana’s mace-fighting skills. As he also nodded in affirmation, Duryodhana swam out of the Suryakunda. He wore the mace warrior costume presented by a servant. Seeing Bhimsena who had killed his ninety-nine brothers, in a fit of fury he challenged him to a mace duel saying, “My dead brothers won’t get the offerings of Tarpana unless I break open the chest of this gluttonous, vile son of Pandu who killed my ninety-nine brothers. My dearest brother Dushasana’s soul would not feel contented until I drink the hot blood from his ruptured chest like the Maireyaka wine. I, Duryodhana, the prince of Kurus challenge this gluttonous Bhima for a conclusive mace duel in front of you all.”
A breath-taking, riveting mace duel ensued between those two intoxicated princes of the Chandravansha near the shore of Suryakunda which was considered holy and in which countless Kshatriya sons bathed on the day of the solar eclipse. “You coward, who always acted under Shakuni’s influence; wicked villain who shamelessly ordered the disrobing of my beloved wife in the gambling hall in front of all elders; you savage beast, who showed his bare thigh to my wife in a crowded hall, this Bhimsena, son of Pandu accepts your challenge!”
Krishnadeva, Balaramadada, Uddhavadeva, all Pandavas, Kripacharya, Kritavarma, Dhrishtadyumna, Ashwatthama, all soldiers in both the armies and I – we all formed a circle to witness the blood-tingling mace duel.
Their heavy maces clashing with each other made loud clanging sounds. Hearing that, the birds returning to their nests in the evening again turned towards the forests while chirping in fear. Their clobbering strikes produced fiery sparks as their maces struck against each other. For one prahar they fought a spine-chilling mace duel striking fear in the hearts of the spectators. Their agile movements destroyed the meadows under their feet. Streams of blood mixed with sweat began trickling from both their muscular, huge bodies. Both their head gears had been tossed aside in the dust while dodging the opponent’s strikes. Their open, thick, curly hair was hanging down on their shoulders. Bhimsena bit his lips and with all his might kept striking Duryodhana sometimes on his broad chest, his muscular shoulders, or on his big back. Valiant Pandava warriors were shouting to encourage him ‘Well done mace warrior! Glory to Mahabali!’
But those strikes did not affect Duryodhana at all and they were not going to. Giving out peals of laughter he was provoking Bhimsena while roaring out loudly – “Have you lost the power in your iron arms that crushed the temples of elephants? You, gluttonous eater who keeps on eating through days and nights, where is the strength of a thousand elephants that you possess?”
Confused Bhimsena frequently kept looking at Krishnadeva under the pretext of wiping the sweat on his forehead with his forefinger. Since long Krishnadeva was giving him some kind of hint by thumping on his thigh. But Bhimsena simply couldn’t understand it.
Gandharimata had rendered Duryodhana’s body indestructible with whatever power she had gained as a dutiful wife of her husband by her virtuous conduct. Bhimsena knew nothing about it. Naïve Bhimsena was fighting the mace duel relentlessly in credulous expectation that he would be able to crush Duryodhana’s chest with the blessings of Gurudeva Balarama and the grace of Krishnadeva. He was blocking Duryodhana’s mace strikes in the air and was getting severely soaked in blood. He didn’t understand why Krishnadeva was thumping his thigh frequently. All Pandavas had fallen silent with the fear now that if the duel continued the way it was going on, by evening Duryodhana would succeed in killing Bhimsena.
Now it was essential to do what Duryodhana had done – pulled up his dhoti and showed his bare thigh to Draupadi in the gambling hall of the Kurus. Krishnadeva pulled his yellow dhoti aside and bared his muscular, bluish ruddy thigh, and indicatively thumped his tight fist on his thigh. Now Bhimsena precisely understood what Krishnadeva meant. The next moment, mammoth Bhimsena fiercely struck a powerful blow on Duryodhana’s muscular thigh. ‘Oh mata…!’ Duryodhana moaned loudly and flinging his mace away in the air he collapsed crookedly with his crushed right thigh. Then Bhimsena who was besides himself struck another powerful blow on Duryodhana’s left thigh also. Fountains of blood spurted out. The other thigh was also crushed. With both his thighs smashed completely Duryodhana fell face down on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Balabhadradada who was the guru of both the mace fighters trembled with fury as he saw what had happened and brandishing his mace he dashed towards Bhimsena saying, “You fool of a disciple, hitting below the waist you have broken a vital rule of a mace duel. Now I will have to kill you to offer Tarpana to my beloved disciple! Hail Goddess Ida!” Krishnadeva controlled him by spreading both his arms wide and saying, “This mace fighter bared his thigh in front of a noble lady in a gambling hall full of people. Isn’t it fair to crush his thigh, or should the noble lady Draupadi be brought back and made to sit in his lap? Dada, if I were in your place at this moment I would have proudly offered the Kaumodaki mace on my shoulder to my valiant disciple Bhimsena.”
“Dhakatya, you are the reason behind all this! In fact, you should be punished before Bhima – but what to do? After all you are my younger brother!” Balaramadada said helplessly. He rushed towards his wounded disciple who had fallen face down.
Just as he was upset, Kritavarma, Kripa and Ashwatthama were upset for the same reason, they tried to attack Bhima protesting, ‘This is not fair – he has broken the rule’. I, along with the remaining four Pandavas including Arjuna blocked them sternly with our weapons. Then among the four Pandavas addressing only Arjuna Krishnadeva said, “Come, let me show you the sprawling tree of Ego.” All four Pandavas followed him. With Uddhavadeva walking on his right and I on his left, all of us approached Duryodhana lying face down. Krishnadeva leaned forward and giving an ultimatum to the arrogant eldest Kaurava he asked, “Duryodhanaa, do you feel even an iota of remorse for all your sins now? If yes tell me, I will still emancipate you from all your sins.”
At that the arrogant Kaurava who was lying face down lifted his body above the waist on his elbows because his thighs were crushed, like a serpent raising its hood. Turning his head towards Kri
shnadeva he looked at Krishnadeva with utter contempt and twisting his already crooked and thick eyebrows he said in clear words, “No way! How would a lowly cowherd like you with feet soiled in cow dung and urine understand, what kind of honour it is for a Kshatriya to die while fighting a battle!”
All of us were stunned to hear his words.
Looking at his venerable gurudeva Balarama he said, “Gurudeva, I bow down to you for the last time. Please explain the rules of a duel to this younger brother of yours who is smaller in every sense – this cowherd Srikrishna.”
Balaramadada who was sitting in the Virasana posture near him holding his hand arose at once. He said to Krishnadeva, “Bhimsena has broken the rule of a mace duel by hitting below the waist.”
“Dada, what kind of brotherly duty did this best disciple of yours fulfil when he dumped Bhimsena in the waters of the Ganga in the name of swimming after he poisoned him by feeding toxic sweets even as a child? In the gambling hall of the Kurus he ordered that his vahini, noble Draupadi be disrobed in front of all elders. What kind of royal duty did this so-called prince who is your disciple fulfil at that time? This favourite disciple of yours, utterly lacking in discretion, didn’t he re-invite the Pandavas to play the game of dice again through Shakuni? With whose support did the six warriors collectively dare to besiege our beloved Abhimanyu? Dada, consider it lucky that this gallant Bhimsena has not drunk the blood from the crushed thighs of Duryodhana also, like the king of the jungle gulps down the blood of an insolent wild boar!” Hrishikesha who was feeling upbeat due to the imminent death of Duryodhana told Balabhadra calmly.
“Whatever excuse you want to give Dhakatya, a rule of war has indeed been broken. And it has happened in front of me. When it is the rule of engagement to not strike your opponent below the waist, Bhima has broken it because of you. I don’t want to see your face or his anymore. Feel free to continue the war! I am going to Dwaraka!” Balaramadada spoke harshly befitting his straightforward nature and immediately left Kurukshetra.
Srikrishna- the Lord of the Universe Page 92
