Affection!

9th day of war

After listening to Duryodhana's lamentations, Bhisma thought seriously about fighting with Arjuna. Understanding this, next morning, Kaurava king ordered all great warriors give special protection to Grandsire, especially against attacks of Sikhandi, so that he would be free to kill the Pandavas.

Arjuna came to learn of this & he ordered Dhrstadyumna to have Sikhandi attack Bhisma under his protection

From the onset Abhimanyu inflicted heavy losses upon Kaurava army while checking other great warriors. Duryodhana ordered Alambusa to confront Subhadra's son. While rushing to attack him, the Raksasa killed a great number of enemy soldiers, causing Pandava army to retreat

Indeed, simply by hearing the Raksasa's ferocious roars, many soldiers fell to ground, deprived of their lives due to fear. Draupadi's sons rushed at Alambusa, showering arrows so forcefully that the wounded Raksasa began to fall unconscious. Alambusa quickly recovered & was so inflamed with rage that his form swelled to twice its normal size

The Räksasa broke all of his adversaries' bows and insignias & killed their horses & drivers while simultaneously piercing them with arrows. Because the sons of Draupadi were thus deprived of their chariots, Alambusa rushed at them impetuously. Abhimanyu intervened & a fierce duel took place between two great heroes

Abhimanyu fought so violently that he soon forced Alambusa to retreat. Resorting to his powers of illusion, the Raksasa caused a dense darkness to set in. When everything thus became invisible, Abhimanyu invoked a Surya weapon that illuminated all directions & he showered arrows upon Alambusa. Even though the Raksasa tried to create more illusions, Arjuna's heroic son neutralized them all

At last Alambusa became very afraid for his life, abandoned his chariot & ran away. Abhimanyu then easily slaughtered Kaurava soldiers without impediment & so Bhisma and Dhartarastras came to check him. In response, Arjuna rushed to his son's aid & so Bhisma and Dhartarastras turned to meet him

At this time, other Pandavas came to support their brother & a fierce encounter took place. In that great battle Sätyaki fought impetuously with Asvatthăma & so Drona came to his son's aid. Arjuna checked Drona's assault, for according to principles of ksatriya behavior a preceptor forgets his affection for his student while fighting & a disciple disregards his teacher

While executing spiritual responsibility, there is no place for affection & compassion. The higher principles should only guide our actions

Affection bewilders us & sense of resignation or fatalism overwhelms. Our focus should be to execute actions aimed at overall good for a better future. The bodily conception of self & its relation to others will surely affect but our alignment to the Gita wisdom keeps us on course for transformation

kiṁ karma kim akarmeti kavayo ’py atra mohitāḥ

tat te karma pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ’śubhāt

Thoughts? #gameoflife