Destiny!

 

As battle resumed for the 4th day after sunrise, Bhisma & Arjun became engaged in a single combat. Abhimanyu joined Arjun, displaying wonderful prowess. Soon, however, the father & son were surrounded by all chariot warriors of the Trigartas, Madras & Kekayas. Dhrishtadyumna then arrived with a large army, taking pressure off Arjun & Subhadra’s son

 

Meanwhile, back in Hastinapur, due to hearing from Sanjaya about how Kaurava army was repeatedly routed by Pāndavās, Dhritrāshtra finally exclaimed with great anguish: Oh! Destiny is stronger than human exertion, for my son’s superior army is meeting with defeat. Sanjaya said: O King! You should not blame destiny for your woes, as entire responsibility for this war rests upon your shoulders

 

Back at Kurukshetra, Salya fought with Dhrishtadyumna. When he broke the Pāncāla prince’s bow, Abhimanyu entered the fray. Duryodhana, Vikarna & other Dhārtarāshtrās moved in to protect Salya while Bhima, Nakula, Sahadev & Draupadi’s sons came to oppose them. Thus, ten great chariot warriors fought on each side, while the remainder of both armies stood aside to watch

 

After a brief exchange of arrows, Bhima picked up his mighty club with a desire to end the battle then & there as he assumed a very frightening feature. Seeing this, all the Dhārtarāshtrās fearfully fled except Duryodhana, who urged 10,000 elephants of Magadha army to attack Bhima. In response Bhima jumped from his chariot, club in hand & while roaming like a lion he impetuously charged at the elephants

 

Bhima proceeded to exterminate the elephants of Magadha army. Nakula, Sahadev, Abhimanyu, Dhrista & Draupadi’s sons joined him, severing the heads of the elephant warriors with their arrows. Bhima smashed innumerable elephants while roaming thro’ their ranks, each with a single stroke of his club. Soon elephants panicked & while stampeding they crushed to death many Magadha warriors

 

While whirling his mace, Bhima resembled Lord Shiva at the time of universal destruction. After driving away all elephants, Bhima stood triumphantly on battlefield. Seeing this, enraged Duryodhana urged the entire Kaurava army to attack him. Bhima single-handedly checked all the Kaurava warriors & thus appeared like the shore that stops the great ocean

 

Dhrista, Shikhandi, Abhimanyu & Draupadi’s sons came to assist Bhima. With their support he rushed at Kaurava army & roamed throughout their ranks, creating a great massacre. With the ease of an elephant crushing a clump of reeds on the shore of a lake, Bhima smashed the Kauravas’ chariots & killed warriors with his mace so that soon he became covered with blood, fat & flesh

 

As the Kaurava army was thus being routed, Bhisma suddenly rushed at Bhima. As Bhima turned to meet him, Sātyaki attacked the Grandsire so forcefully that all his supporting warriors retreated, except Bhurisravā, the son of Somdutta

 

Destiny is not something on which we can lay blame in case of failure. Destiny is the sum-total of our past actions, which we face in this life but how we handle it, is purely our choice. Rather than resenting destiny for unfavorable things that aren’t in our control, we can focus on the favorable things that are in our control and strive to tap them fully. Spiritual purpose of life makes this easy

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife


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