BY
JANAMEJAYAN
BOOK 7 – DRONA PARVA
- Radheya Enters The Field
The eleventh day of the great war dawned. It was a terrible dawn for the Kauravas. They had lost Bheeshma. Their only hope was gone. The fall of Bheeshma was a calamity, a great calamity. The Kaurava army without Bheeshma was like the sky without the stars: like the heavens without the sun: like the earth without the green: like speech without correct words: like a woman who had lost her lord: like a river dried up during summer months: like a mountain cave without the lion and its roar. The Kauravas were desperate. They all looked to Radheya as their only hope now. The entire host resounded with the words: “Radheya! Radheya is the one person who can kill the Pandavas, now that the great man has fallen”. They all went to the tent of Radheya. Radheya was preparing himself for the war. He knew that the time had come for him to keep his promise to Duryodhana. He spoke to himself: “With the fall of Bheeshma all is lost. He was the home of noble qualities. He was firm. He was righteous and he was brave. At the same time he was very modest about his prowess. It was a great fall. This man, in whom all good things were found always, like beauty in the moon, is now fallen. After seeing this, who can be sure of seeing the sun rise in the east tomorrow? Bheeshma, born on this earth for a cause, has fulfilled his mission and is now waiting to go back to the Vasus. It is now the end of the world. The Kauravas have no hope of living. I must be the one to comfort them now”. The sons of Dhritarashtra came to his tent and found him grieving for the great Bheeshma. Seeing his grief, their tears flowed anew. They sobbed, and Duryodhana clung to Radheya once again for comfort.
Radheya wept with him. They comforted each other. Radheya said: “In this world, where everything is transcient, we can be sure of nothing. Under the eyes of all the Kaurava heroes, the great Bheeshma has fallen. It is easier to imagine that the sun has fallen from the sky. The unthinkable has become inevitable and it is not right that we should forget ourselves in this difficult situation. Duryodhana, I will fight for you with my life as the stake, and I know that fame is the only lasting thing on this earth where everything else dies. The Pandavas are powerful. Yudhishthira the righteous, Bheema the powerful, Arjuna the invincible, Nakula and Sahadeva, the divine fighters, Satyaki who is the equal of Arjuna and Krishna, Abhimanyu the most powerful of all of them: all these are teamed against us. We will fight with them to the best of our ability. If we win, the world is yours. If we do not, lasting fame will be ours. Let us not worry about the future. It is all in the laps of the gods. Let us fight”. Duryodhana was very happy at the thought of Radheya and Arjuna meeting. He was sure of the death of Arjuna. He left Radheya to his preparations for war and went to his own tent.
Radheya was ready. He went to Bheeshma and stood before him with his palms folded. He said: “My lord, I am Radheya. I am setting out for my first fight with the Pandavas. I have begun the work of sacrifice. I will follow in your footsteps in this work. You have laid down your life for the sake of Duryodhana and I will do what you have done. After your fall, there is no hope for the Kauravas. They will all soon reach the abode of Yama. Arjuna will burn up the entire army in no time. As for Duryodhana, he and his brothers will all be killed by Bheema. With Krishna holding the reins of his white horses, why should Arjuna have any worry? 1 will go now and do my duty to my friend. Please bless me”. Bheeshma took his hand in his and said: “You are the only hope of Duryodhana. Fight your best. You are a great man. Let your death be as great. Go and fight. I will bless you. Yours will be lasting fame. People will remember you long after they have forgotten many things. You have always wanted a good name and an unsullied reputation. They will be yours. You are a kshatriya. Fight as a kshatriya and die as a kshatriya. Let the field of battle be like a mother’s lap to you. You will die with a smile on your lips. You will not be born again in this world”. Bheeshma placed his hand on the bent head of Radheya and blessed him. Radheya took leave of him. He saluted him and took the dust of his feet. Radheya walked to his chariot. He rode in all splendour towards the Kaurava army. To them who were sunk in gloom, the sight of Radheya was like the rise of the sun after a night of darkness. They all cheered him and shouted: “Radheya! Here is Radheya. We need worry no more about the power of the Pandavas”.
Duryodhana welcomed him with smiling eyes. He said: “Radheya, tell me what should be done now. I cannot think for myself. I am waiting for your words of advice. This army has to have a commander now. We had Bheeshma. Who will take up the task now?” Radheya said: “All the heroes who have assembled here for your pleasure are fitted to take up the command. Each will vie with the other in valour and bravery. If you choose one of them all the others will feel offended. It is not right to differentiate between heroes. We must not let anyone be dissatisfied. I feel that your guru, the great Drona, will be the proper person to be the commander of your army. It is but right that he should succeed the great Bheeshma. There is no one to equal him in archery. He is wise and brave and righteous. He is devoted to you. He will lead your army into the haven of safety. I feel that Drona is the most fit person to command your army”.
Duryodhana was pleased with the wisdom of Radheya. He liked his decision. He now approached Drona. He said: “You are the one person, my lord, who has been as near to us as our grandfather. His mantle should rest on your shoulders. You must gladden our heart by doing this for me. You must be our commander. Please accept the leadership of our army”. Drona was very pleased with Duryodhana and his humble words. He said: “I am pleased with your words. I accept this honour you have conferred upon me. I will be happy to do this for you. I will lead the army as best as I can”. The coronation was performed for Drona. He was formally installed as the commander of the Kaurava army.
The army was excited at the sight of Radheya. They all said: “Radheya can win the war. His valour is superior to that of Arjuna. He will certainly kill all the Pandavas”. They forgot the sorrow caused by the fall of Bheeshma. Drona began to arrange his army in the Sakata vyuha. Sakata means a wheel. The vyuha was a circular formation. The Pandava army was again arranged in the Krauncha formation. Radheya appeared at the front of the army. It was wonderful to see him for the first time on the battle-field. He looked as pure and beautiful as the sun just after he had come out of the mouth of Rahu.
Before he came to the front of the army, Drona spoke to Duryodhana. He said: “I want to do some special act for you. I want to please you. What act of mine will please you most?” Duryodhane thought for a moment and said: “If you capture Yudhishthira alive and bring him to me, I will be immensely pleased”. Drona said: “I hope you are not planning to kill Yudhishthira. I will not capture him if that is your aim. If you can, kill him on the battle-field, but do not try to kill him by deceitful means. I will not be a party to it”. The words of Drona brought a smile to the eyes of Duryodhana. He said: “Please do not be worried. If I do have Yudhishthira killed, the next moment Arjuna will kill all of us. Even if we kill all the Pandavas, Krishna will take up his weapon and destroy us. There is no doubt about it. Neither will I be able to withstand the power of the brothers of Yudhishthira. I know that. I want Yudhishthira to play another game of dice with me. If he is defeated, we can send them all to the forest once again. That is the reason for my request. Bring Yudhishthira to me, alive”. Drona thought for a moment. He said: “I can do it only on one condition. If Arjuna is not there to protect him, you can consider Yudhishthira to be my captive already. But Arjuna cannot be conquered by me. He was once my pupil. But now he is far superior to me. I am afraid of him. If, however, you manage to remove Arjuna from the neighbourhood of Yudhishthira, I can bring him to you as a captive”. Duryodhana was satisfied. He would think up means of luring Arjuna away from Yudhishthira. For the moment, the assurance that Drona would bring Yudhishthira to the Kaurava camp as a captive, was more than enough. The spies of the Pandavas hurried to them to tell them about this plan of Duryodhana. Arjuna was very angry with Drona for agreeing to this mean proposal of Duryodhana. He decided not to leave the company of his brother during the war.
Janamejayan's धर्म जिज्ञासा 