After the peace talks with
the Kauravas fail, Krishna returns to Vidura’s house and informs Kunti. Kunti
is overwhelmed with grief over the situation of the Pandavas and the thought of
the impending war. She thinks that her sons should not have to beg for what is
rightfully theirs. Then she realizes that in a war situation,there were three
people on the Kaurava’s side that could be forces to contend with—Bheeshma, Drona
& Karna.
Bheeshma although strong,
would not really harm his own grandsons.Drona, their skilled Acharya, would not
hurt the Pandavas who were his own pupils. Karna, however would be the one who
could be a real threat. His loyalty to Duryodhana and his hatred for the
Pandavas would be reasons enough to make him a bitter enemy. She decides it is
time to reveal to Karna his true identity and try and win him over to the
Pandavas side.
The next morning, Kunti goes
to the banks of the Ganges where Karna is offering his morning prayers. She
waits patiently until he is done. Then she tells him the story of his birth. Karna
is pleasantly surprised to hear that he is the son of Surya and Kunti and is a
Kshatriya and that the Pandavas are his brothers but shortly afterwards he is
reminded of his loyalty to Duryodhana. He refuses to give up his allegiance to
the Kaurava army but promises Kunti that he would not kill any of the Pandavas
except Arjuna. At the end of the war Kunti would still be the mother of five
sons.
Krishna returns to the
Pandavas in Upaplavya with the news that the peace talks have failed and war is
inevitable. Both of the sides start getting ready for the war.The Pandavas
collect 7 divisions and the Kauravas collect 11. Each division has 21,870 chariots,
an equal number of elephants and three times that number of horses and
soldiers. Seven heads of divisions from
the Pandavas side were chosen-Drupada, Dhrishtadyumna, Sikhandi, Virata,
Bhimasena, Satyaki, and Chekitana. But the challenging part was figuring out
who to choose as the commander in chief for the Pandavas. Sahadeva suggested
Virata because he gave them shelter. Nakula favored Drupada because of his
wisdom. Bhima says he wants Sikhandi because of his desire for revenge against
Bhishma. Arjuna picks Dhrishtadhyumna
because he is young, strong and driven by his father’s revenge against
Drona. Krishna finalizes Arjuna’s
choice, Dhrishtadhyumna as the Pandavs commander-in-chief.
Meanwhile for the Kaurava army, Bhishma is chosen
as the commander in chief and he states that he will kill as many warriors as
possible, but not the Pandavas. Bhishma does not want interference from Karna
and says that he will give up his position if Karna thinks he can do a better
job as commander-in-chief.
Karna is angry because he feels that Bhishma is
partial to the Pandavas and he tells Duryodhana that as long as Bhishma is the
head of the army he will not fight in the war.
After both sides are settled in
their tents at the battlesite, Balarama comes to visit the Pandavas . He takes
the decision not to participate in the war and expresses his desire to go on a
pilgrimage. He is saddened by the situation of enmity between his cousins and
the fact that Krishna has decided to join the Pandavas. He does not wish to
join Kauravas and fight against his own brother. Balarama decides to be neutral
in the war.
On the Kauravas side, Bhishma is
motivating and preparing Duryodhana for victory.
They eventually reach the topic of
Karna and Bhishma says that Karna is very arrogant, over confident, and has too
much hatred of the Pandavas. He also has little to offer to the Kaurava army
since he has already given away his divine armor, not to mention the fact that
he is cursed to forget all his mantras when he needs them the most. Drona agrees
and says that he is egoistic, and constantly boasting of his ability to kill
Arjuna. Karna hears all this and is enraged. He claims that Bhisma's true
affections are towards the Pandavas and not the Kauravas. Duryodhana is upset with
the animosity between them and says that he needs both of them to win the war.
Karna is adamant and refuses to fight until Bhishma is leading the Kaurava
army.
Before the war begins both parties agree upon some
rules/code of conduct in war based on principles of Dharma. Some of these
rules of war were-
1.Each day the battle would end
with sunset and the men would be allowed to mix freely with each otherlike
friends.
2.Combats would be allowed only
between equals.
3. Those who surrendered could
not be attacked.
4.It was not right to attack
someone without weapons etc.
These were the rules that both
Kauravas and Pandavas were supposed to follow but we find transgressions as the
days progressed and some of these rules were broken.
Once the armies are lined up
facing each other, Arjuna realizes that the enemy camp is made up of his own
near and dear ones, uncles, grandfather, cousins and his teachers. He gets very
agitated and is ready to give up the fight. Lord Krishna convinces Arjuna to
pick up his weapons and fight for Dharma and the discourse of Bhagavad Gita
takes place.
Rishabh & Janani