MB13-Drona killed by deceit!

[Quick links]

After the slaughter of great warrior Abhimanyu by deceit, the saga of deceit continued with either side resorting to all kinds of unfair means to kill each other.

On subsequent days, the war continued day and night relentlessly, each side determined to eliminate their foe by any means. Drona kept trying to capture Yudhishthira as planned. But he did not succeed.
Many a great warrior on either side lost their lives. The war field was strewn by dead bodies and mangled corpses. There seemed to be no end this carnage.

Infuriated by Drona’s inability to capture Yudhishthira, Duryodhana kept taunting Drona and insulting him, totally forgetting that he was once his teacher. The old man Drona was very much upset. He surged ahead with more vigor, killing the soldiers on Pandava side unabatedly.


Krishna was unhappy with the killings of many innocent lives. He wanted to put an end to Drona’s massacre somehow. Krishna knew that the only way Drona could be stopped was by mentally weakening him.

Krishna told Pandavas that if Drona’s son Ashwatthama was killed somehow, Drona would be completely demoralized and would be forced to put down his arms. But killing Ashwatthama was not easy.

Krishna had a plan. He told Pandavas that if Drona is somehow made to believe that Ashwatthama had been killed, then he would retire from the war field. Krishna suggested a deceitful plan. He said that there was no harm in telling a lie if it resulted in saving lot of lives. So, all that was needed was to lie to Drona that Ashwatthama had been killed.

Arjuna was not happy with such deceptive ways. Yudhishthira reluctantly agreed to that.

The plan was that Bhima, one of the Pandavas, would kill an elephant by name Ashwatthama and somehow convince Drona that Ashwatthama – his own son was indeed killed.

Bhima killed the elephant Ashwatthama and announced to Drona that his son Ashwatthama has been slain.

Drona loved his son more than his life. So, he was very upset to hear this. He was unable to proceed into the war. But soon, he consoled himself that his son being a great warrior, could not be so easily killed. He did not want to trust Bhima’s words.

So, Drona approached Yudhishthira and asked him whether Ashwatthama was really killed. Prompted by Krishna, Yudhishthira replied “Yes, Ashwatthama – the elephant – has been killed”. But he lowered his voice when he uttered the words “the elephant” and Drona heard only the words “Yes, Ashwatthama has been killed”.

Drona was shocked to hear Yudhishthira’s words. There was no reason for him to distrust Yudhishthira who was known to speak truth at any cost. But Yudhishthira had indeed told a lie!

Though very much demoralized, Drona continued to fight, albeit with less vigor. He kept slaying the Pandava warriors and innocent soldiers mercilessly. There seemed to be no end to the havoc that he wrecked.

The carnage had to be stopped somehow. So, Drona’s departed ancestors along with other great sages appeared before him and urged him to give up. They told him that his end had come and he should join them.

But Drona did not take their words seriously either. He kept fighting though greatly weakened by the news of his son’s apparent death.

Arjuna had no desire to fight Drona – his beloved teacher – in such a condition. So, Bhima along with Drishtadyumna faced the ravaging Drona.


Drishtadyumna was the son of King Drupada - Drona’s one-time friend. In a previous episode, we had discussed how this Drupada was dethroned by Drona to avenge the insult that Drupada had meted on to him.

Drupada in turn, after performing several austerities, had got a son Drishtadyumna who was destined to kill Drona.


Drishtadyumna and Drona fought with each other fiercely. Though greatly weakened in spirit, Drona still resisted Drishtadyumna with all valor. It appeared as if Drishtadyumna would soon be vanquished by Drona.

At that time Bhima intervened and started chastising Drona. He reminded Drona that he being a Brahmin was not supposed to fight like a warrior since that was not his rightful duty. The only reason why Drona had abandoned his Brahmin duties and taken up the warrior duty was for the sake of his son Ashwatthama.

And now that Ashwatthama himself is no more, Bhima said, there was no meaning in Drona fighting like a warrior forgetting his real duty as that of a Brahmin. Bhima even quoted Yudhishthira’s ascertainment of the fact that Ashwatthama was no more. Bhima kept convincing Drona that his continued fight served no purpose.


Drona, at last gave up. He understood that he was waging a meaningless war. Neither the wicked Kauravas deserved to be helped, nor the righteous Pandavas deserved to be vanquished. Moreover, his only son for whose sake he had taken up shelter under the unrighteous Kauravas, was no more. Drona was convinced about the futility of his resistance.

So, Drona dropped his arms and sat in a meditative posture, with his eyes closed, and chanting the Pranava Mantra. Very soon, he entered deep state of Samadhi. His soul left his body and joined his ancestors who were just waiting to receive him.


Everyone thought that Drona had given up. Jubilant Drishtadyumna jumped down from his chariot with a sword in his hand. He chopped off Drona’s head and shouted victory cries. Little did he know that Drona had already left his body. Drona’s mangled body fell down from the chariot and vanished amidst hordes of other bodies that lay helter-skelter.

The Kauravas were completely demoralized. The Pandavas were filled with guilt for having killed their teacher Drona in a deceitful way.

Now,

Do you think that the Pandavas did a righteous act? Did Yudhishthira tell a lie though what he said was factual? Afterall, he was talking about the elephant Ashwatthama and not Drona’s son Ashwatthama.

What is considered to be a lie? What is important? - a sequence of words or the intention behind uttering them? Was it right to tell a lie and kill someone? Was the God incarnate Krishna, who came up with this deceitful plan, right in doing that? Just think about it.

That was Mahabharata episode 13

Start       Prev     Next 
 

Based on the 5000 year old Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. © Dr.King  2019.