The Gurus of Hastinapur - Part 36

Watching his brother Duhshana fall in battle to Satyaki, Duryodhana could take it no more. Satyaki was already deep into the battle and Duryodhana had no hope of reaching the man. And so in anger Duryodhana started attacking the Pandava army.

Bhima was furious when he saw Duryodhana and he retaliated Duryodhana's attack with unimaginable ferocity.

Duryodhana and Bhimas whirled around in their chariots, shooting arrows at each other. But Duryodhana fought like one possessed. He shot Bhima, Yudhishtara, Nakula, Sahadeva, Virata and Drupada as his chariot almost flew around the Pandava army.

Duryodhana roared in triumph as the Pandavas were astounded with his prowess. But Yudhishtara was not about to let Duryodhana get away so easy.

Yudhishtara shot Duryodhana repeatedly and broke Duryodhana's bow. Yudhishtara shot Duryodhana straight in the chest. Unfortunately Yudhishtara had the same problem that Arjuna had when Arjuna encountered Duryodhana. The armour that Duryodhana was wearing, was so strong that Yudhishtara's arrows shattered when they hit Duryodhana.

But as the other Pandavas saw Yudhishtara penetrate the defences of Duryodhana, and they all saw an opportunity to destroy the Kaurava prince. They quickly came around Duryodhana, surrounding him.

Drona who was in the edge of the army, shouted as he saw the Pandavas around Duryodhana.

'FORWARD!' He shouted at his chariot, as he pointed at Duryodhana. The chariot nodded as he rode furiously towards the Kaurava prince.

Vrihatkshatra was the first Pandava to meet Dronacharya as he stormed inside the Kaurava army. He gave no opportunity for Dronacharya to recover as he shot the Brahma weapon. Dronacharya was shocked for all of two seconds, but he then pulled out his own Brahma and nullified the effects of the weapon shot by Vrihatkshatra.

Dronacharya wanted to bring the battle to an end immediately, as he shot Vrihatkshatra without giving him a break. The arrow penetrated through Vrihatkshtra's armour and passed straight through the body. Almost swooning, Vrihatkshatra pulled out his own arrow and shot Dronacharya's charioteer. But now Dronacharya was mad through and through. He shot Vrihatkshatra's four horses and without wasting another second, shot Vrihatkshatra's charioteer.

Vrihatkshatra was unable to understand what was happening, when Drona shot his last arrow straight at the Vrihatkshatra and the prince fell down, never to get up again....

Dhrishtaketu, the son of Sishupala, saw Vrihatkshatra fall and angrily charged at Drona. However, he too was no match for the acharya and met his end.

After Dhrishtaketu's son, Jarasandha's son charged towards Drona and he had no better luck and he also fell.

(A strange feature in this part of the story is that both Sishupala and Jarasandha were enemies of Krishna. Bhima, the second Pandava, killed Jarasandha, just before the Rajasuya yagna of Yudhishtara and Krishna killed Sishupala during the Rajasuya yagna of Yudhishtra. Despite this, Veda Vyasa's Mahabharatha states that their children fought the war on the side of the Pandavas. One of the most possible reasons for this could be that, after killing the respective kings, their children – in Jarasandha's case, his son – Sahadeva and in Sishupalas' case, his son were crowned as the next king. As they were crowned by the Pandavas, they owed allegiance to the Pandavas and fought on behalf of the Pandavas)

Meanwhile back to the story, Drona was becoming unstoppable and the dead bodies of the Pandava soldiers kept mounting and after Jarasandha's son, another prince Chetikana also met his end in the hands of Drona.

Drupada, the father-in-law of the Pandavas, angrily proceeded towards Dronacharya – his oldest friend and his most hated enemy, now.....

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Yudhishtara was a worried man. Dronacharya was ripping his army to shreds and there was nothing he could do to stop the man – both Arjuna and Satyaki, the only two people who seemed to have any success against Dronacharya were deep inside the Chakravyugha. It was at that time that Yudhishtara noted something impossible. He had been so engrossed in the battle against Dronacharya, that he had failed to notice that he could not hear Arjuna's Gandiva anymore. And added on top of it, Yudhishtara was even more worried, because Satyaki also could not be seen – the very man whom Yudhishtara had sent inside the battle after Arjuna...

Yudhishtara turned and saw his second brother. Hastily, Yudhishtara, turned to his charioteer. 'Take me to Bhima!' he said.

The charioteer frowned, but said nothing as he turned the horses towards the second Pandava.

'I cannot hear Arjuna's Gandiva!' Yudhishtara told Bhima without any preamble.

'WHAT?' Bhima asked, barely able to understand what Yudhishtara wanted right now. But then as he spoke, he saw that Yudhishtara was genuinely worried... 'What do you want me to do?' Bhima muttered as he saw the eldest Pandava.

'Go after Satyaki and Arjuna! I wish to know what happened to them! NOW!' Yudhishtara said looking at the huge Kaurava army which was filled with nothing but smoke and dust. 'Please!' Yudhishtara said looking at Bhima, desperately. 'I am your elder brother! Please listen to me and do not say no to me!' Yudhishtara pleaded to his brother!

'Stay with Yudhishtara!' Bhima told his brother-in-law Dhrishtadhyumna, as Dhrishtadhyumna nodded and Bhima readied his chariot and was set off inside the Chakravyugha in search of Satyaki and Arjuna.

In the outskirts of the Vyugha, Bhima met the acharya. Drona was feeling very smug, now that he had practically annihilated the battalion which had come against him.

'Your younger brother and Krishna ran inside the Vyugha with my permission! But you...Bhimasena...' Drona said angrily. 'I will never let you in!'

Bhima smiled at Drona coldly, arming his weapon. 'Arjuna could have destroyed you, if he wanted to! Because he still respects you! I....' Bhima's eyes were blazing with anger as he looked at Drona. 'I used to respect you like my father! But now you are my enemy and I shall treat you as such!' Bhima had not even finished his sentence when he picked up his mace and with unerring accuracy threw it at Drona's chariot.

Drona was really not expecting anything and with widened eyes, he threw himself back from his chariot. Drona landed on the hard ground which was a good thing, because his chariot was reduced to rubble as Bhima's mace destroyed it completely....

And Bhima waited no more. Using all the weapons at his command, he hacked his way through the Kaurava army.

Dronacharya hastily got inside another chariot, but by that time, Bhima was already deep inside the Vyugha....