Vedic Wisdom Talks

  Mind games!   After the death of Karna, Sanjaya hurried back to Hastināpur to inform Dhritrāshtra of all that had happened. He first bowed down & then briefly described how Karna & Dushasana had been slain   When Dhritrāshtra heard the most unpleasant news, he became extremely pained at heart so that he began to lose consciousness & suddenly fell to the floor. Seeing this, the palace ladies cried out loudly. When Gāndhāri rushed to lift her husband, she also fainted   Sanjaya comforted aggrieved ladies while Vidura tended to Dhritrāshtra by sprinkling water over his body & fanning him. Thereafter, when the old king finally regained his senses, he anxiously inquired: O Sanjay! pls tell me truthfully-Is Duryodhana still alive or not? Tell me who has been killed & who still lives on both Kaurava & Pāndava sides   In response Sanjaya gave a long list of those who had been killed. He then told Dhritrāshtra: This is the harves...

Spiritual Quest! As Asvattāma understood that Arjun has counteracted his ultimate weapon, he threw his weapons & started running away from battlefield. At that time, he happened to meet Vyāsdev. With a voice choked in grief, he enquired: O foremost of sages, O Supreme knower of past, present & future, my infallible weapon was supposed to be capable of destroying all at whom it was directed. How then could it have been neutralized, after having killed only one akshauhini army, leaving Krsna & Arjun unharmed?   Vyāsdev said: Dear Asvattāma, long ago, the Supreme Lord of all creatures, Nārayana, appeared upon earth as Nārayana Rsi, the son of Dharma. Thereafter, on the slopes of Himalayas, He performed very severe austerities for 66000 years while subsisting only upon air & keeping His arms upraised. After that, Nārayana Rsi performed more austerities for 132000 years, causing entire space between heaven & earth to become filled with His energy. Even Lord Siv...

  Instruments!   Asvattāma mounted a chariot & came before Sātyaki, who pierced him even more deeply than before. Still Drona’s son challenged: O Sātyaki! I will never enjoy peace of mind until I kill all the Pāncālas. You will never be able to stop me from accomplishing this feat   After saying this, Asvattāma released a fierce arrow that passed thro’ Sātyaki’s armour & body. As the wounded Yadava hero dropped his bow & sat down on his chariot, covered with blood, his driver quickly took him away from battlefield. Asvattāma next released an arrow at Dhrishtadyumna, piercing him between the eyebrows so that he had to grab his flagpole while losing consciousness   Bhima, Arjun & other Pāndava warriors came & surrounded Asvattāma, but the undaunted son of Drona quickly broke the son of Vāyu’s bow & beheaded three young princes. Becoming deranged, Bhima picked up another bow. While rushing at Asvattāma he broke his bow & deeply pi...

  Faith!   As Nārayanastra continued to enter Bhima’s body, Sri Krsna & Arjun jumped from their chariot. After rushing towards Bhima, they dove into the powerful effulgence of the Nārayana weapon. Due to their having laid aside their weapons, because of the presence of the Varuna weapon, and because of their prowess, the two Krsnas were not affected by the Nārayanastra as they forcibly dragged Bhima   Bhima resisted, and he roared with rage, so that the energy of the Nārayanastra continued increasing   Sri Krsna angrily said: O Bhima! Why don’t you throw down your weapons when I had ordered everyone to do so? I can assure you that this is the only way to counteract this foremost of weapons   Although Bhima’s rage could not be subdued, Sri Krsna Managed to drop him down from his chariot and then convince him to lay down his weapons. As soon as this was done, the Nārayanastra became pacified. Soon thereafter, all directions became calm, and a g...

  Plan!   Asvattāma launched the Nārayana weapon. While watching his fear-struck soldiers running away in all directions, Maharāj Yudhisthira became somewhat delirious due to shock & fear. In this state he sarcastically shouted: O Sātyaki, O Dhrishtadyumna, because the killing of Drona was so sinful, victory and life itself np longer have meaning for us. We should thus not lament that you are now fleeing along with your army, thus giving Duryodhana his desired triumph!   The killing of Drona was most abominable, for who else but him was such a dear friend? Just think of all that he did for us! He aided the kurus in the slaughter of Abhimanyu and he killed so many innocent persons with his Brahmāstra. He refused to answer Draupadi when she appealed for justice in the royal court of the Kurus & when we were deceitfully exiled to the forest, he willingly gave us permission to depart, although numerous well-wishers had implored him not to do so   Afte...

TEAM! Arjuna was blaming both himself & Maharaj Yudhisthir, whose lie was instrumental in pursuing Drona to lay down his weapons & his subsequent killing by Dhrishtadyumna   Bhima after listening to Arjuna, angrily rebuked him saying: It is the highest duty of a kshatriya to give protection to his dependents at all costs. Your speech is more befitting a brahmana. It is you who is at fault, because you’re not exerting yourself fully. You are failing to keep your promise to avenge all the insults we had received from Kauravas. How can you dare criticize our brother-in-law and best ally after he heroically risked his life for our sake?   Dhrishtadyumna said: You should not criticize me for killing Drona. I was created by the demigods & had appeared from sacrificial fire specifically for that purpose. Drona killed my father & many other relatives. How can you expect that I would sit & tolerate this? Didn’t you kill your grandfather, Bhisma & the v...

  Krsna’s plan!   As Asvattāma asked Krpa about what happened to his father Drona, with great anguish Krpa said: My dear Asvattāma, your father was killed by Dhrishtadyumna. Knowing Drona to be invincible as long as he would wield his weapons, Sri Krsna ordered Yudhisthira to falsely inform him of your death. When your father heard this shocking news, he put down his weapons. Seeing this Dhrishta rushed at him brandishing his sword. All the Pāndava warriors forbade him, and Arjun rushed towards him with upraised arms, pleading: Do not kill our Preceptor. Bring him to us alive, but despite this Dhrishta beheaded Drona as he sat in meditation   Hearing this, Asvattāma became mad with rage. While wringing his hands & grinding his teeth, he told Duryodhana: O King, no one should lament for my father’s death, for he has certainly attained a very exalted destination. Still, I cannot tolerate the fact that Dhrishtadyumna seized my father by the hair. I thus hereby vo...

  Ingratitude!   As Dhrishtadyumna rushed towards the venerable Drona, everyone watching the drama, called out for him to give up his sinful intention   Drona himself was perfectly peaceful, for his mind had already become fixed upon the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. With his eyes closed & his head bent sightly downward, Drona engaged in softly repeating the syllable Om   When Dhrishta reached Drona’s chariot, five persons could perceive that the preceptor had already given up his body in a trance of mystic Yoga. These were Sanjaya, Arjun, Krpa, Sri Krsna & Yudhisthira. Indeed, as his eternal self proceeded on the path back home, back to Godhead, it illuminated the sky like a second sun. The demigods & sages saw this, and so they joyfully proclaimed Drona’s good fortune   All this was unknown to Dhrishtadyumna, however, and so he grabbed Drona’s lifeless body by the hair & began dragging it ...