Acārya!

 

On the 7th day of the war, while Kauravas were arranging their army, Duryodhana approached Bhisma & expressed anguish: O Grandsire! Yesterday Pāndavās easily penetrated our army & inflicted very heavy losses. In fact, my own wounds are still giving me much pain. Even more painful, however, is my grief at seeing how you & Drona stand aside as spectators while Pāndava warriors vanquish my soldiers without impediment. O Bhisma! I beg you to defeat Pāndavās for my sake. You should remember that it is your sacred duty to annihilate the enemy without giving sway to personal sentiment

 

Bhisma cheerlessly laughed & said: I’ll surely fight to the best of my ability against all the Pāndava warriors. However, you should not expect that such numerous & illustrious heroes will be easily defeated. Still, I hereby vow to give up all concern for my life & penetrate the Pāndava army, either to vanquish them or else be slain while attempting to do so

 

Duryodhana was very pleased to hear these heroic words. Bhisma then said: Even though you’ve many warriors that are prepared to lay down their lives for your sake & although these warriors are competent to defeat the assembled demigods, still the Pāndavās will never be defeated, for they are under the protection of Sri Krsna. I know this for a fact & yet at the same time I can assure you that I’ll fight whole-heartedly

 

Bhisma gave Duryodhana a wonderful herb. After applying the medicine, his pain went away & his body became completely healed. Bhisma then arranged Kaurava army in Mandala formation. In turn, Yudhisthira arranged his army in a Vajra formation. From the very outset, Susarma & Trigartas launched a massive attack on their avowed enemy, Arjun. Arjun invoked an aindra weapon that routed the entire Trigarta army & seeing this Bhisma rushed at Arjun

 

Duryodhana went to Susarma & said: O King, Bhisma has vowed to fight to fight recklessly against Arjun today & so you and the Trigartas must support him to the best of your ability

 

Meanwhile, Virāta fought with Drona, piercing him severely with his arrows. Becoming enraged, Drona retaliated by killing Virāta’s driver & horses, forcing him to get down from his chariot. He then got onto his son Sankha’s chariot & continued to fight with Drona. The preceptor soon pierced Sankha in the chest with a mighty arrow, causing the prince to fall dead. Virāta fled out of fear, considering Drona to be too powerful

 

People in general require a leader who leads by his personal example. A leader cannot teach the public to stop smoking if he himself smokes. One who teaches should behave properly before he begins teaching. One who teaches in that way is called ācārya, or the ideal teacher. Therefore, a teacher must follow the principles of śāstra (scripture) to teach the common man. The teacher cannot manufacture rules against the principles of revealed scriptures

 

Here Duryodhana is expecting Bhisma to follow his Dharma but he himself has forgotten the same

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife

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