Hope!

After taking permission from Dhritrāshtra, Sanjaya went to join the Kaurava army at Kurukshetra. After completion of 10th day of fighting, when Bhisma was finally defeated & had to lie down on bed of arrows, Sanjay quickly returned to royal court in Hastināpur so that he could inform Dhritrāshtra of all that had happened

When Dhritrāshtra heard that Bhisma had been mortally wounded by Shikhandi, it was a terrible blow to him. He had placed all his hopes for victory upon the Grandsire, whom even Parasurāma had been unable to defeat. In shock, he repeatedly questioned: Sanjay, how could the unconquerable Bhisma have been killed by Shikhandi? Pls describe to me everything in detail

To give comfort to the blind king, Sanjay said: Everyone suffers because of his own past misdeeds. Therefore, no one should place blame for his miseries upon others. You should not lament for your sons, because the destruction of wicked persons is predestined

By the mercy of Vyāsdev, I’ve obtained knowledge of both past & future, and I can see into the hearts of everyone. Not only I’ve been given divine vision, but I can hear what is going on in distant places & I can fly thro’ the sky like celestial sages. Now pls listen carefully as I describe everything that took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra

After the two armies had been arrayed, Duryodhana called Dushasana & instructed him: You must see that Bhisma is given special protection, for it is primarily upon him our hopes for victory over Pāndavās rest. He will be vulnerable because of his unwillingness to fight with Shikhandi, and so great effort should be made to kill the Pāncāla prince

The 2 opposing armies looked like great oceans infested with fierce sharks. Karna was absent together with his friends, for he laid aside his weapons according to his former vow

Bhisma summoned Kaurava leaders & gave them a short pep talk. He concluded by saying: You should fight very heroically & to the best of your ability, for death on the battlefield is glorious for a Kshatriya, as opposed to succumbing to old age & disease at home

Maharāj Yudhisthira said to Arjun: According to Brihaspati, when one’s army is smaller than opposition, his soldiers should be arrayed tightly. Therefore, let us arrange our army in the Vajra formation

As per the law of Karma, it is true that we suffer because of our past misdeeds but our present actions do matter. Gita’s emphasis is not that we have done some past actions whose consequences we must endure inevitably in our present situations. But its emphasis is that we can, by our present actions, create a better, brighter future, no matter how dark the present seems or how limited our current choices appear

Law of Karma gives hope in our lives by pushing us to take responsibility of our actions for creating better future

Thoughts? #gameoflife