Mahabharatham : ( 08/06/2013. )

DURYODHANA and Karna held counsel as to who should be put in supreme command of the forces. "Well, everyone of these princely warriors fighting on your side is great enough to be put in charge of our forces as supreme commander," said Karna. "All these kings are of equal prowess, strength, energy, skill, courage, valor, ancestry and wisdom. They cannot all be put in joint command and, if any of them be chosen, each of the others would feel hurt and may not put forth his whole strength in the cause. Thereby we stand to suffer. So, my advice is that we install Dronacharya, the teacher of all these princes and warriors, as supreme commander. He indeed is the greatest of all those that carry arms today. No kshatriya equals him in the qualities required for leading our army. Let us therefore install him." Duryodhana agreed that this was the right thing to do, and so it was decided. Duryodhana went to Dronacharya and, in the presence

WHEN he learnt that Bhishma lay wounded and dying, Karna hurried to the place and fell at his feet and said: "Eldest of the race. Radha's son, who, through no fault of his, incurred your great displeasure, humbly prostrates himself before you." When after humble salutation Karna stood up, the grandsire, greatly moved, tenderly placed his hand on Karna's head and blessed him. "You are not Radha's son, young man," he said in loving tones: "You are Kuntidevi's own first born. Narada, who knows all the secrets of the world, himself revealed this to me. Son of Surya, truly I entertained no dislike for you. But I was grieved to see your increasing hatred of the Pandavas although they gave you no cause for it. I know and admire your valor and your open handedness. And I know also that you belong to the class of Phalguna and Krishna in prowess. It is proper that you befriend the Pandavas. Therein lies the right path f

IT was the tenth day of the battle. Keeping Sikhandin in front of him, Arjuna attacked Bhishma. When Sikhandin's darts pierced his breast, sparks flew from the grandsire's eyes. For a moment the old warrior's anger rose like flaming fire and his eyes glared as if to consume Sikhandin. But, at once, the grandsire restrained himself. He decided not to be provoked into fighting Sikhandin, who was born a woman and to strike whom it seemed unworthy of a warrior. He knew, however, his end was near and calmed himself. Sikhandin went on discharging his arrows, not minding the battle of emotions in his opponent's mind. Arjuna also steeled his heart, and from behind Sikhandin aimed arrows at the weak points in Bhishma's armor, even while the grandsire stood still. Bhishma smiled as the arrows continued to come down thick on him, and turning to Duhsasana, said: "Ah, these are Arjuna's arrows! These cannot be Sikhandin's, f

ON the morning of the ninth day, before the battle began, Duryodhana was closeted with the grandsire. He gave vent to his bitter feelings of disappointment over the way the battle was going. He uttered words that were like the sharp spears and pained the grandsire greatly but the latter was patient and said sadly: "Like ghee on the sacrificial fire I am pouring my life out for you. Why do you seek to mortify me, who have been doing my very utmost for you? You speak like a man of no understanding, not knowing what is right and what is wrong. They say that, when a man is nearing his death, the tree appears to him to be made of gold. You see things now, not as they are. Your vision is clouded. You are now reaping the harvest of the hatred you deliberately sowed. The best course for you are to go on fighting, as well as you can. This is also the plain path of duty. It is not possible for me to fight Sikhandin, for I can never raise my hand against a

WHEN the eighth day dawned, Bhishma arrayed his army in tortoise formation. Yudhishthira said to Dhrishtadyumna: "See there, the enemy is in kurma vyuha (tortoise formation). You have to answer at once with a formation that can break it." Dhrishtadyumna immediately proceeded to his task. The Pandava forces were arrayed in a three-pronged formation. Bhima was at the head of one prong, Satyaki of another, and Yudhishthira at the crest of the middle division. Our ancestors had developed the science of war very well. It was not reduced to writing but was preserved by tradition in the families of kshatriyas. Armor and tactics were employed suitably to meet the weapons of offence and the tactics that the enemy used in those days. The Kurukshetra battle was fought some thousands of years ago. Reading the story of the battle in the Mahabharata, we should not, having the practice and incidents of modern warfare in mind, reject the Mahabharata

DURYODHANA, wounded all over and suffering greatly, went to Bhishma and said: "The battle had been going against us every day. Our formations are broken and our warriors are being slain in large numbers. You are looking on doing nothing." The grandsire soothed Duryodhana with comforting words: "Why do you let yourself be disheartened? Here are all of us, Drona, Salya, Kritavarma, Aswatthama, Vikarna, Bhagadatta, Sakuni, the two brothers of Avanti, the Trigarta chief, the king of Magadha, and Kripacharya. When these great warriors are here, ready to give up their lives for you, why should you feel downhearted? Get rid of this mood of dejection." Saying this, he issued orders for the day. "See there," the grandsire said to Duryodhana. "These thousands of cars, horses and horsemen, great war elephants, and those armed foot soldiers from various kingdoms are all ready to fight for you. With this fine army, you can

ACCORDING to Yudhishthira's order Dhrishtadyumna arrayed the Pandava army in makara (fish) formation for the sixth day's battle. The Kaurava army was arrayed in krauncha (heron) formation. We know, how, similarly, names were given to physical exercise, asanas, or postures. Vyuha was the general name for battle array. Which Vyuha was best for any particular occasion, depended on the requirements of the offensive and defensive plans of the day. What the strength and composition of the forces arrayed should be and what positions they should take up were decided upon, according to the situation as it developed from time to time. The sixth day was marked by a prodigious slaughter, even in the first part of the morning. Drona's charioteer was killed and Drona took the reins of the horses himself and used his bow as well. Great was the destruction he effected. He went about like fire among cotton heaps.