39. Dhritarashtra and Bhisma

Bhisma understood Dhritarashtra's desire for expansion of his kingdom. But he well knew this was no easy matter, but could happen if only the King was judicious especially with regard to making the choice of his successor. He thus put forth his views:

 

‘But there’s a necessary condition to make this happen. You have to make a statesman’s choice when selecting the crown prince – the one who will succeed you. He can make or mar things.’

At this rejoinder, the blind king again sank into whirlpool of thoughts. He loved his sons dearly and more so Duryodhan. He always longed to see him as his successor. At the same time, he knew Yudhisthir was more competent to shoulder the responsibility. Bhisma, Dronacharya, Kripacharya and other elders and the citizens of Hastinapur were in praise of the eldest son of Kunti and not Duryodhan. As he thought more and more his discomfort only aggravated. So he decided to wind up the session and retire to the palace to share his anxiety with Gandhari.

38. Princes of Hastinapuri will conquer the world!

This brief description of the kings and princes in the holy land of Bharat, some neighbouring and some others distant, did not give much comfort to the blind king.

‘As you say, formidable are these kings and their countries. Sir, tell me as to how then to extend the power of Hastinapur? I am damned, a born blind person.’ 

Seeing him despondent, Bhisma comforted the King:

‘King, you have no reason to give up hope. Look, I alone can conquer all these kings. But then..’

Eager Dhritarashtra could not wait even for seconds, ‘But what Sire?’.

Bhisma sympathised with his impatience and continued,

‘I have grown old and therefore shall not be around to protect the acquisitions for long. The young princes – I mean Kunti’s and your sons are the hopes of Hastinapur. They are being groomed very well by Dronacharya, the most revered of all masters. They will restore the past glories of Hastinapur. May be they would accomplish even more than their ancestors.’

Dhritarashtra was happy. He dreamt of Duryodhan ruling over a vast Kaurava kingdom. But his reverie was snapped by Bhisma:

37. Dhritarashtra and Bhisma discussing plans for conquest

Dhritarashtra was both happy and unhappy hearing Bhisma – happy because he could avoid an immediate engagement with an issue he did not really feel concerned; unhappy because, Srikrishna was the nephew of Kunti. The blind king’s gut assessment was that Shrikrishna would be closer to Kunti’s sons than his. Thoughts of future flashed through his mind. He knew the nature of his sons and sons of Kunti and tried to figure out how would they be affected if Shrikrishna were really the incarnation of God, as Bhisma said.

The Kaurava king grew sullen as he pondered over the future possibilities. All these days, he never apprehended any external influence on the balance of power between the Kaurava and Pandava princes. But now, if Bhisma was to be believed, a new and formidable source of power had now risen in the horizon. Dhritarashtra sank deep in thoughts to search out an alternative that could somehow allay this nascent fear of Srikrishna. But as a seasoned diplomat he was determined not to betray his thoughts. As if he discounted the account given by Bhisma, Dhritarashtra asked him:

‘Sire, for long Kauravas have not gone for conquests. Brother Pandu had spread the fame of the Kuru dynasty far and wide through conquests. But, I, an ill-fated, a born blind.... have not been able to maintain those, let alone add to it. Now, please inform me about the feasibility of a conquest plan.’

To that Bhisma said:

‘King, in this holy land of ancestor Bharat, there are many mighty and powerful kings who are not easy to subjugate. Let me mention some of them. Look at the Far East. Bhagadatta ruling over Pragjyotishpur and vast stretch of coastal countries is simply formidable. He has friendship with  Indra - the Lord of the Heavens. While he rides high on his huge elephant in the battlefield, his enemies simply give up hope of life. In Magadh Jarasandha reigns supreme – his name casts fears in neighboring kingdoms. In the southwest the Matsya kingdom is quite powerful. Its king Birat and his brother-in-law Kichak are powerful warriors. Matsya’s neighbor, I mean the Trigarta kings are also valorous and would fight to the finish to retain their dignity. Five princes ruling the kingdom of Kekoy have surpassed most contemporary royalties by their prowess, courage and gallantry. King Bhismak of Bhojkotpur appears as Lord Yama to his enemies in the battleground. King Shallya of Madra, the uncle of the Pandavas, is also a renowned warrior and feared by opponents. King Sudakhsin of Kamboj, and King Brihadwal of Ayodhya are always avoided by enemies such are their prowess. King, this holy land has many more of such illustrious rulers. They are indeed difficult to exceed.’

36. Pitamaha Bhisma pays tribute to Lord Lrishna in Hastinapur Royal Court

Everyone looked sideways at an old but still extremely well built royalty. The grand patriarch Bhisma was speaking:

‘Jarasandha knows the might of Bhisma too well and would never dare to pick up a fight. But hear me O King, the issue is not Jarasandha.’

‘Then what it is about, Sire?’ –Dhritarashtra reverentially asked.

‘The fact of the matter is that’, Bhisma continued, ‘I have been closely keeping a track of the course of events in Mathura and Vrindavan. Right after his birth Shrikrishna has been manifesting divine powers - accomplishing impossible deeds, which can be done only by almighty God or his incarnation. As a child he has killed several ferocious demons with great ease.’

To many courtiers, these revelations came as a surprise. But Vidur seemed to be aware of most of these and he nodded approvingly as if to register his agreement. Bhisma continued, 

‘Even Lord Brahma and Indra, the king of the heavens, are convinced Shrikrishna is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Both had gone for a confrontation with the child Shrikrishna and learnt lessons the hard way. At the end they had to seek his forgiveness…’

Bhisma paused for a while before he resumed,

‘I am sure he does not need any protection from us. On the contrary, he has descended on the earth to protect dharma and the virtuous.’

35. Tidings from Mathura- Kansa out to kill Shrikrishna and Balaram

The magnificent royal court at Hastinapur was deliberating a serious issue. The grandeur of the palace and the royal throne was proverbial. Bhisma, the grand patriarch, Dronacharya, Vidur, Kunik, Balhik and a host of other senior Kaurava royalties flanked King Dhritarashtra. One of the spies, on duty at the southeastern countries, brought some important information. The court was trying to understand its significance. A serious trouble was brewing up in Mathura. Its King Kansa, had sent Akrur to Brajadham to invite Srikrishna and Balaram to his court. The spy had ascertained from reliable sources that Kansa was hatching a plot to get them killed. For this he had already made arrangements. In the guise of tournament, formidable wrestlers Mushtik and Chanur were planted to kill the two young brothers. Shrikrishna and Balaram were the future of the clan of the Yadus, who were both related to and allies of the Kurus. The court was discussing if Hastinapur should do something to foil the plot.

Dhritarashtra himself was not keen. He looked at minister Kunik, who was brilliant and cunning. His abilities lay in always giving advices that would please his master. This time too, Kunik did not disappoint his master:

‘Your Majesty, any involvement in Mathura would be contrary to the interest of Hastinapur. I am confident about it. Acting against Kansa will fetch us the wrath of the invincible Jarasandha, his father in law.’

The court nobles were listening Kunik with rapt attention. A silent agreement in favour of non-intervention seemed to be building up. Encouraged, Kunik continued:

‘Jarasandha could be a dangerous foe. He has already defeated a hundred princes and they all are languishing in his prison. He has a huge army of million ruthless soldiers who can just sweep any big country. Hitherto he has not put his eyes on Hastinapur…’.

When suddenly sounded the thunderous roar -

‘Because he cares for his pair of eyes.’

34. The test of archery

Once Drona decided to test all his disciples. In the absence of the princes he called a sculptor and got a nice blue winged bird made and placed it on a treetop. Then he called all the princes and asked them to be ready with their bows and arrows to behead that bird. A they lined up beneath the tree, the Master first called Yudhisthir and asked him to aim at the target. As Yudhisthir readied his bow looking at the decoy bird, Drona asked, ‘Son, can you see the bird and me and your brothers around?’ Yudhisthir replied: ‘Yes, master. I can very well see the bird and you together with other brothers assembled here.’ Drona was greatly unhappy hearing the answer. Asking Yudhisthir to just disappear he then called Duryodhan, repeated his question and got the same answer. Drona tried with a number of other advanced students but their answers were no different.

At last Drona asked Arjun to come forward and take an aim at the bird. As Arjun looked at the target holding his bows firmly in hand, Drona asked him:’ Son, what do you see?’ To this Arjun replied, “Master, I can see nothing other than the bird’. Drona put the next question: ‘Are you able to see the full body of the bird?’ ‘No Sir, I can see only its head and nothing else’- replied the disciple. Satisfied with the answer the Master ordered: ‘Behead it’. No sooner he said, an arrow issued out of Arjun’s bow like a flash of lightening and the next moment the beheaded bird fell to the ground.  Dronacharya was delighted and reckoned now he would be able to settle the old score with King Drupad. Incidentally, as Drona was training the princes, he could never forget the insult and humiliation at the hands of his friend Drupad. The fire of revenge often consumed him denying any peace. He had a plan to take revenge and reckoned that the time for action has nearly arrived.

33. The Secret of Brahmastra - Part 4

The disciples were listening with rapt attention. Their eyes told that they wanted to listen more and more. Meanwhile, Ashwathama had a query:

‘Sire, is there any counter to these weapons?’

‘Few, very few indeed. A Brhama Astra can be countered by another Brahma Astra or  Vashnav Astra or Pashupat Astra and likewise. All these three categories are equally potent. They are the powers of the Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva respectively - each of them forming part of the all important trinity in charge of 'creation', 'maintenance' and 'destruction' of the universe.

‘But sons, the consequences of these Astras countering each other are simply devastating. Since these are equally powerful, their continued friction can annihilate the whole ‘creation’.’

‘But can’t the warriors who used them take these back?’ Arjun enquired.

‘Yes, it is possible. But that requires the person to have even higher orders of control over mind – so high that only very very few can achieve such a state.

‘And it may sound strange to you – once you have attained such a state as to acquire these dangerous celestial weapons, you have almost turned into a ‘Yogi’ who is a master of his mind and senses and one who has surpassed the normal base human natures like greed, jealousy, vengefulness etc. In fact one attaining that stage loses much of the motivation for which he wants to acquire these weapons as a normal human being. It almost turns out that such a person is motivated to use these weapons only to serve some higher purpose, not narrow personal ends. Such are the glory of them!’

Dronacharya stopped and looked at Arjun and Ashwathama to know their mind. Arjun said he would like to begin the lessons right then. Ashwathama also decided to follow suit.

Dronacharya was happy. He asked both to turn up for the first lesson the very next day.