Temptation!

 

Asvatthāmā fought with Shikhandi & drove him from battlefield. Sātyaki attacked Rāksasa Alambusa. By employing an aindra weapon, Sātyaki forced him to flee. Dhrishtadyumna broke Duryodhana’s bow & killed his horses. The Kaurava king jumped from his chariot & rushed at Dhrishta wielding his upraised sword. Sakuni intervened, placing Duryodhana on his chariot & taking him away from the battlefield. Being left unopposed, Dhrishta created a great slaughter in Kaurava ranks

 

Great Atiratha Kritvarmā, fought with Bhima, but the heroic son of Vāyu soon killed his driver & horses and cut down his emblem. When Bhima proceeded to pierce Krtvarmā all over his body with arrows, the Yadu hero departed after getting on to Vrsaka’s chariot. Irāvan fought with Avanti kings, Vinda & Anuvinda. When his horses were slain by Ulupi’s son, Anuvinda got onto Vinda’s chariot. The 2 brothers continued to fight, showering their arrows, but Iravān soon killed Vinda’s driver so that the unguided horses carried Avanti Kings away from battle

 

Bhagdatta appeared exceedingly ferocious while riding upon his colossal elephant. Indeed, the very sight of him approaching made Pāndavā soldiers flee in all directions. Ghatotkaca took initiative & approached Bhagadatta. When they saw this, Pāndavā forces rallied but after brief exchange of arrows, Bhagadatta killed Ghatotkaca’s horses. Bhima’s son desperately hurled a fierce dart, but when Bhagadatta easily broke it pieces, the Rāksasā hero became afraid of his life & desisted from fighting

 

After an exchange of arrows, Salya killed Nakula’s horses. Nakula got on Sahadeva’s chariot so that twin sons of Mādri continued fighting together. While rushing at Salya, Sahadeva pierced him with a powerful arrow that made him sit down dazed on his chariot. Feeling severe pain, Salya began to lose consciousness & so his driver carried him away. Having thus vanquished his maternal uncle, the twins shouted with joy & triumphantly blew their conch shells

 

At noon Yudhisthira fought fiercely with Srutāyu, he was able to down his royal emblem. At this Srtāyu attacked Yudhisthira more violently with his arrows, making Pāndava king become so infuriated that even the demigods in heaven began to tremble, thinking he might cause destruction of universe

 

As the demigods & celestial sages prayed for the welfare of the world, Yudhisthira controlled his anger, broke Srutāyu’s bowstring & pierced him severely in the chest. Srutāyu, overcome with fear fled. As Kaurava warriors protected Srutāyu, Yudhisthira was able to kill them in great numbers

 

Temptation to give in to base emotions is very strong. Krsna says

yadā saṁharate cāyaṁ kūrmo ’ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ
indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness

 

So, if we find difficult to resist temptation, we can try to create boundaries to protect ourselves when temptations come towards us, so that we are not helplessly exposed to them. This can be done only by attaching our consciousness & elevating it with the Supreme Lord Krsna. Doing this will prevent senses, which are like serpents to act independently & destructively

 

Thoughts? #gameoflife