Fear!

 

Asvatthāma confronted Arjun, hoping to take the pressure of Bhisma. Arjun was reluctant to fight whole-heartedly with Asvatthāma in consideration of his being a brahmana & the son of his teacher

 

Abhimanyu blazed up heroically killing many Kaurava warriors, and so Duryodhana’s son Laksmana, came to oppose him. Although Laksmana fought bravely, Abhimanyu soon killed his four horses & chariot driver. Krpā took Laksmana on his chariot & carried him out of the range of Abhimanyu’s arrows. All the while Bhisma was killing innumerable Pāndava warriors. Similarly, Sātyaki was creating a great slaughter in the Kaurava ranks

 

Duryodhana sent 10000 chariot warriors to attack Sātyaki, but with the use celestial weapons the Yadu hero quickly likked them all. After performing this wonderful feat, Sātyaki approached Bhurisravā, who responded by showering upon him innumerable arrows. Indeed, Bhurisravā attack was so violent that all the warriors supporting Sātyaki abandoned him out of fear

 

Sātyaki’s ten sons surrounded Bhurisravā. Although they continually showered him with arrows, the son of Somadutta counteracted them all. Bhurisravā broke all the bows of Sātyaki sons & after doing so he quickly severed their heads, one after another. At this Sātyaki let out a loud roar & rushed impetuously at Bhurisravā. With their chariots coming so close that they actually touched, both warriors killed each other’s horses

 

The two warriors jumped to the ground& unsheathed their swords, but before they could begin fighting, Bhima came & took Sini’s son on his chariot while Duryodhana picked up Bhurisravā

 

Later in the day, all Pāndavās combined to fight with Bhisma. At that time Arjun annihilated 25000 chariot warriors Duryodhana had sent to attack him. Finally, as the Sun began to set, Bhisma became concerned about the fatigue of his horses & so he ordered the Kaurava army to retire. This time, both armies were glad to gain respite, for the intense fighting that had taken place on the sixth day, left the exhausted and full of fear

 

Fear is not always undesirable. It also has a positive contribution in making our expectations more reasonable and thereby reining in our actions assuming failure. It stops us from trying something which is too risky, thereby focusing on simple steps which are doable and within our reach

 

But fear should also not paralyze us by painting such dire scenarios beyond reasoning leaving us to be stuck where we are and not doing anything for self-transformation

 

There has to be a balance between keeping our expectations reasonable but at the same time not be unreasonably pessimistic or even paralytic. This can only be achieved when we act keeping the Supreme Lord as the authority & decision maker of our actions

 

Krsna says:

tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ

Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt

 

Do we? #gameoflife

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