Vedic Wisdom Talks

Words!   Drona managed to release an arrow that broke Dhrishtadyumna’s bow. Without wavering, Dhrishta picked up another bow & deeply pierced Dronācharya in the chest. Still, the preceptor managed to break his opponent’s bow. As the Pāncāla prince proceeded to hurl varieties of weapons, Drona cut them all to pieces. Finally, even though he had only a club and sword remaining, Dhrishta rushed at Drona with abandon. When the two warriors’ chariots collided, the horses became entangled   At this tense moment Dhrishta reached for his mace, but just as he was about to hurl it, Drona cut it to pieces with his arrows. Finally, as a last resort, Dhrishta picked up his sword and shield and proceeded to dart here & there, sometimes jumping onto Drona’s chariot & sometimes coming back to his own by climbing over the horses   Because Dhrishtadyumna maneuvered so rapidly, Drona did not get the opportunity to strike him with his arrows. Finally, the Preceptor hu...

  Morality!   Drona had implicit faith that Maharāj Yudhisthira would never lie, even to regain his kingdom, or for that matter, the entire three worlds   Sri Krsna had been very distressed the whole day, for He knew that Drona was capable of single-handedly annihilate the Pāndavās, along with their entire army. Standing at Yudhisthira’s side, Sri Krsna said: O King, if Drona puts his mind to it, he can exterminate your entire army in half a day. Therefore, in this exceedingly dangerous situation, it is better for you to lie than to tell the truth. It is not sinful to lie to save one’s own life, or the life of a king or a brahmana. Similarly, there is no sin involved in lying to a woman for the purpose of achieving her hand in marriage   Bhima urged: My dear brother, please take Sri Krsna’s advice, for Drona did not believe me when I declared that his son had been killed   Because Sri Krsna & Bhima prodded him in this way, Maharāj Yudhisthira considered hims...

Truth!   Seeing how Pāndavas appeared to have given up all hope for victory, Sri Krsna said: Dear Arjun, it is a fact that Drona is unconquerable, but if for some reason he were to lay aside his weapons, he could be killed without any difficulty. Now is the time for you & your brothers to discard all worldly morality & think of devious means for killing the Preceptor. In My opinion, if Drona were to hear that his son Asvattāma, had been killed, he would immediately put down his weapons & stop fighting. Therefore, someone should boldly lie to the Preceptor by falsely informing him of his son’s death   Many of the Pāndava warriors that heard Sri Krsna’s idea liked it, but Arjun emphatically disapproved of it. Obedient Maharaj Yudhisthira hesitated momentarily, but then reluctantly agreed to execute Lord’s plan. While others were engaged in discussing the matter, Bhima suddenly picked up his mace & killed a giant elephant named Asvattāma belonging to Malava King, ...

  Fight in divine consciousness!   As Drona & Arjun waged an incomparable battle against each other, demigods, celestial sages, Gandharvas, Siddhas, Apsarās, Yaksas and Rāksasās assembled in the overhead sky & exclaimed: This battle is unmatched in the history of warfare, for it is being conducted on the basis of spiritual prowess   At last Drona invoked Brahmāstra, causing the earth to tremble, the seas to swell with great agitation and fierce winds to blow. In response Arjun fearlessly invoked his own Brahmāstra. When the two weapons neutralized each other, all became calm. Seeing that neither Arjun nor Drona could gain upper hand, the Pāndava & Kaurava warriors resumed fighting   Dhrishtadyumna rushed at Drona & so Duryodhana tried to intercept him. Sātyaki then came between Dhrishtadyumna and Duryodhana. At that time the Kaurava king addressed the Yadu hero, saying: My dear childhood friend, do you remember how we had played together? In fact, we ...

  Teaching Self! The war entered the 15 th day!   As fighting resumed, Drona quickly killed 3 of Drupada’s grandsons while combating Pāncālas. Next, Drona proceeded to ravage the Matsya army & so Drupada & Virāta advanced to check him   Drona immediately broke both of these venerable kings’ bows. Then, as Drupada & Virāta proceeded to hurl lances & spears, the Preceptor not only shattered those weapons to pieces with his arrows, but took away their lives as well   After witnessing death of his father, Dhrishtadyumna vowed to kill Drona that very day. He then rushed at Preceptor with a large army, but because Drona was surrounded by Duryodhana, Karna & many other powerful Kaurava warriors, Dhrishtadyumna could not approach him   Seeing this, Bhima became very angry with Dhrishtadyumna & so chastised him by saying: O Prince, how can you standby passively after watching your father killed? If you are an impotent eunuch, stand aside while I ...

  Living with Integrity!   After giving up his determination to personally kill Karna, Maharaj Yudhisthira ordered his army to launch a massive attack upon Drona, and to give support to Bhima. Thereafter when the Pandavas & their allies rushed at Drona, Duryodhana stood ready with the Kaurava army to protect the Preceptor so that a fierce battle took place at midnight   By that time many of the soldiers had become overwhelmed by drowsiness & thus they were easily killed by those who were alert. Other soldiers, in a half-awake, half-dreaming state, killed their own comrades. Upon seeing this, Arjun loudly announced to both sides: Commanders of the armies, let us rest for some time upon the battlefield. When the moon rises, we can continue fighting with renewed strength   The Kurus agreed to this and so the fighting was suspended for some time. Even the Kaurava warriors praised Arjun for this merciful gesture as they lay down upon the backs of their...

  No fall downs!   Sri Krsna further said to Satyaki: As long as Karna possessed the means for killing Arjun, I could never sleep properly at night, nor could I enjoy anything peacefully. I don’t consider the lives of My father, mother, or even My own life to be as worthy of protection as that of Arjun. In fact, I could not even think of enjoying the kingdom of the three worlds without Arjun’s association. For this reason, I was overjoyed when Ghatotkaca was killed by Indra’s infallible dart. It was for Arjun’s sake alone that I had sent the Rāksasa against Karna   After Ghatotkaca was killed, the Kaurava warriors roared with great delight and then rushed at the Pāndava army, creating a great slaughter. When Maharaj Yudhisthira saw that his army was being massacred, he became depressed & ordered Bhima to drive back the enemy. After Bhima departed, Yudhisthira sat down morosely upon his chariot, his eyes filled with tears   Sri Krsna came to him & said: Dear K...