Manipulated!

 

Learning about Duryodhana’s evil intention, Drona thought about the matter for a while & said: O King! I will attempt to capture Yudhisthira. However, I must inform you that it will only be possible to accomplish this bold feat if the Pāndava king remains unprotected by Arjun. I cannot defeat Arjun & so you must first remove him from Yudhisthira’s presence. Only then will I endeavour to seize the pious emperor

 

Duryodhana knew of Drona’s partiality towards the Pandavas. Therefore, just to ensure that he would keep his promise, the Kaurava king announced his plan before all the assembled warriors. In response there arose loud shouts of joy

 

Maharaja Yudhisthira also learned of Duryodhana’s evil intention from spies & so he requested Arjun to always stay close by so that he could remain under his protection

 

Arjun said: My dear elder brother, rest be assured that I will always keep an eye on you. Although I will not kill our preceptor, but I will make sure he is never given the chance to capture you

 

Thereafter, Drona arrayed the Kaurava army in a Sakata (cart) formation while Yudhisthira arranged the Pāndava army in a Kraunca (crane) formation. Upon seeing Karna at the head of their army, all the Kaurava warriors forgot the grief they had felt because of the loss of Bhisma. Actually, Kauravas considered Bhisma to have been too lenient with the Pandavas. On the other hand, they knew that Karna was Pandavas avowed enemy & so they expected him to perform great feats on the battlefield

 

Arjun was at the head of Pāndava army. As he & Karna angrily gazed upon one another, a tide of enviousness & hatred swelled within their hearts. As the Kaurava army set out, many inauspicious omens became visible. The cloudless sky began to shower blood, bone, pieces of flesh upon the Kaurava warriors while thousands of hawks, crows and vultures hovered overhead

 

As the two armies clashed, Drona immediately flared up with uncheckable prowess. While fearlessly ranging thro’ the Pāndava ranks, he slaughtered thousands of enemy soldiers. Maharaj Yudhisthira ordered many great chariot warriors to surround Drona so that soon a fierce battle was underway

 

Eleventh day of the battle just started!

 

When power hungry people ruthlessly pursue their selfish, even devilish agenda, the have no compunctions about manipulating others. In such cases how we can protect ourselves from the deception & machinations of such people?

 

The answer lies in developing insight, which means to have the vision to look beyond what is visible to the naked eye, beyond the emotions which are reactions to other’s provocations. This insight can be had by Bhagvad Gita, which helps us to identify our core spiritual soul, which exists beyond world’s situations & mind emotions

 

prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ
yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam akartāraṁ sa paśyati

 

One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, and sees that the self does nothing, actually sees

 

Do we? #gameoflife