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  Make or break!   When Salya agreed to drive Karna’s chariot only on condition that he must be allowed to speak freely whatever he likes, Duryodhana and Karna readily agreed & thus a contract was made. Duryodhana flattered Salya by comparing him to Lord Brahmā, who formerly became Shiva’s charioteer at the time of destroying Tripura   Duryodhana concluded his long talk by saying: Dear Salya, Parasurāma delivered the entire science of weapons to Karna. Therefore, we must intelligently conclude that Karna cannot really be a sutā’s son. He must be the offspring of a demigod born in a Kshatriya family & then abandoned at infancy. Otherwise, why would Parasurāma agreed to instruct him in the complete use of weapons?   Salya replied: I have heard on numerous occasions the story of how Lord Brahmā became Lord Siva’s charioteer. You should not place so much faith in your plans, because even if Arjun is killed, Sri Krsna will exterminate the entire Kaurav army in a fit of r
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  Genuine praise! Maharaj Yudhisthira fought with Duryodhana with all his might & nearly killed him. Arjun also defeated many Kaurav warriors & killed few of them eg. Satyasena & Susarma. As the sun sank below the horizon, both armies retired to their camp Back in Kaurava camp, all the leading warriors were very aggrieved because of their defeat at the hands of Arjun. With great anger all of them swore to kill him the next day without fail At dawn of the next morning, Karna went to Duryodhana & vowed: O King! Today I will kill Arjun or else be killed by him. Arjun is not my equal in terms of strength, skill or courage & my Vijaya bow is the foremost of its kind. Visvakarma made this bow specifically for Indra, and with it the king of heaven was able to vanquish the demons. Thereafter, Indra gave the Vijay bow to Parasurama. After using it to annihilate the Kshatriyas 21 times, the great warrior-brahmana handed it over to me O king, my bow is superior to the Gandiva
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  Promise Krsna makes!   As Arjun proceeded to vanquish Samsaptakas, Magadha king Dandadhara intercepted him. Arjun quickly retaliated by breaking his bow & severing his head. He also killed his brother Danda, who attacked to gain revenge. Arjun then quickly slaughtered the Samsaptakas, so that he can get down to the real business of killing Karna as advised by Sri Krsna   As they proceeded towards Karna & approached him, a loud roar of anguish could be heard coming from the Kaurava ranks. When Sri Krsna & Arjun saw how the Pāndava warrior Pāndya, was creating an unprecedented massacre of Kaurava soldiers, they were amazed to witness his prowess   Dhritrāshtra said: Mt dear Sanjay, there are certainly many great warriors on both sides, but the name Pāndya has never been mentioned as being amongst the foremost. Sanjay said: Although Bhima, Drona, Krpā, Karna, Asvattāma, Arjun & Krsna are regarded by everyone as being the foremost of chariot warriors, Pāndya c
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Choice! At the sun rise, Karna arranged the Kaurava army in a makara formation. While gazing upon the enemy array, Maharāj Yudhisthira said: My dear Arjun, the depleted Kaurava army has only one supremely powerful warrior, Karna. If he can somehow be killed, victory will surely be ours   Arjun counter-arrayed the Pāndava army in a half-moon formation and as the two forces joyfully rushed at each other, fierce fighting resumed. While riding upon an elephant, Bhima inflicted the Kaurava army with heavy losses. At the same time Karna slaughtered innumerable Pāndava soldiers   Asvattāma rushed to confront Bhima and as they proceeded to furiously fight, neither could gain the upper hand. As the two incomparable heroes battled, it appeared that two great masses of cloud poured torrents of arrows upon one another   Finally, desirous of killing each other, both Bhima & Asvattāma picked up powerful arrows & drew their bowstrings back to their ears. After being released, th
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  Mind games!   After the death of Karna, Sanjaya hurried back to Hastināpur to inform Dhritrāshtra of all that had happened. He first bowed down & then briefly described how Karna & Dushasana had been slain   When Dhritrāshtra heard the most unpleasant news, he became extremely pained at heart so that he began to lose consciousness & suddenly fell to the floor. Seeing this, the palace ladies cried out loudly. When Gāndhāri rushed to lift her husband, she also fainted   Sanjaya comforted aggrieved ladies while Vidura tended to Dhritrāshtra by sprinkling water over his body & fanning him. Thereafter, when the old king finally regained his senses, he anxiously inquired: O Sanjay! pls tell me truthfully-Is Duryodhana still alive or not? Tell me who has been killed & who still lives on both Kaurava & Pāndava sides   In response Sanjaya gave a long list of those who had been killed. He then told Dhritrāshtra: This is the harvest of the fruit that has
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Spiritual Quest! As Asvattāma understood that Arjun has counteracted his ultimate weapon, he threw his weapons & started running away from battlefield. At that time, he happened to meet Vyāsdev. With a voice choked in grief, he enquired: O foremost of sages, O Supreme knower of past, present & future, my infallible weapon was supposed to be capable of destroying all at whom it was directed. How then could it have been neutralized, after having killed only one akshauhini army, leaving Krsna & Arjun unharmed?   Vyāsdev said: Dear Asvattāma, long ago, the Supreme Lord of all creatures, Nārayana, appeared upon earth as Nārayana Rsi, the son of Dharma. Thereafter, on the slopes of Himalayas, He performed very severe austerities for 66000 years while subsisting only upon air & keeping His arms upraised. After that, Nārayana Rsi performed more austerities for 132000 years, causing entire space between heaven & earth to become filled with His energy. Even Lord Siva ca
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  Instruments!   Asvattāma mounted a chariot & came before Sātyaki, who pierced him even more deeply than before. Still Drona’s son challenged: O Sātyaki! I will never enjoy peace of mind until I kill all the Pāncālas. You will never be able to stop me from accomplishing this feat   After saying this, Asvattāma released a fierce arrow that passed thro’ Sātyaki’s armour & body. As the wounded Yadava hero dropped his bow & sat down on his chariot, covered with blood, his driver quickly took him away from battlefield. Asvattāma next released an arrow at Dhrishtadyumna, piercing him between the eyebrows so that he had to grab his flagpole while losing consciousness   Bhima, Arjun & other Pāndava warriors came & surrounded Asvattāma, but the undaunted son of Drona quickly broke the son of Vāyu’s bow & beheaded three young princes. Becoming deranged, Bhima picked up another bow. While rushing at Asvattāma he broke his bow & deeply pierced him in should
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