‘Run Duryodhana- run! Hide yourself in Hastinapur or surrender yourself to Pandavas. No one in this whole universe can save you, Duryodhan! I am so sorry,’ screamed Pitamaha Bhishma while running towards the eldest Kaurava- Duryodhana.
He was breathing heavily. Eyes bulged out with fear as if somebody was chasing him. Duryodhana looked at his grandfather Bhishma, appalled! He never expected such traumatic message from the eldest and the strongest warrior of Kuru clan!
He asked, ‘O great grandfather- It is unbelievable a warrior like you is scared! Who are you afraid of?!! Command me now, I’ll smash him into pieces.’
‘Huh..you?!! Oh dear- you can fight with the warriors, you can race with your contemporaries, you can win over the mightiest but how would you encounter- Lord Krishna- the creator of this universe?!! I warned you from the beginning to hand over five padas to Pandavas, you never listened to me. I alerted you before- where Lord Krishna, victory is embedded there, son!! Alas! You paid a deaf ear to my words! Now nobody in this earth can save you or Kauravas!! The weapon I released today for the destruction of Pandavas, that dreadful arrow only could be altered by God himself! Nobody else could do it!!’
‘W- what?! What Lord Krishna, Pitamaha?! He is only a mere charioteer in this battle! Why are you so much worried?’
‘O Managovinda!! You can never understand!! Lord Krishna tried a subtle approach!!’ Bhishma spoke grasping his spit.
‘What?!! What did you say?!! Krishna- Krishna is under oath! How the hell on this earth that cowherd boy would hold any weapon??!’ Duryodhana’s voice raised vehemently, the colour of his face drained, lips tightened, fist hardened.
‘Hah, cowherd boy!! O Duryodhana- remove your blindfolded ideas or you’ll repent for your life!!!Bhishma smirked.
‘O great father! Can you exactly describe what had happened?!’ Duryodhana asked anxiously.
‘Hmm…listen then..’ Bhishma explained elaborately what had happened on the battle field a small while ago.
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6th day of war in Kurukshetra———-
The eldest veteran Pitamaha Bhishma blew his conch as a beacon on the sixth day of the war. The bugle, the trumpet sound combined together created a terrible sensation in the nerves of all the warriors in the battle ground! Dronacharya, Ashwatthama, Karna and other warriors fought with their rivals as best as they could. The Kaurava troop was led under the guidance of Pitamaha Bhishma.
Bhishma was deeply convinced and amazed with the war skill of Arjun. His confrontation deep rooted with Arjun as he had already seen the art of war in past five days with the Pandavas. He was tired and annoyed too. As he had given a word to support the King Duryodhana, he set aside all the emotional feelings for Pandavas. He was determined to wipe out the Pandavas and their troops and decided to use a single weapon that would do this for him - the celestial arrow . This celestial arrow was meant for one and one thing only - complete and utter destruction of all its foes. The arrow he chose was irrefutable by any power!!! Mahashakti- the invincible arrow!
When he fixed the arrow with his bow, it was only one arrow but as it was released from Bhishma’s bow it changed its form into multiple arrows exponentially - one became twenty, twenty became hundred, hundred to thousands and so on within a fraction of a second. All the arrows started sparkling & glowing with their tips on fire, all at once. The sparkling light was so tremendous, all the armies of Kauravas and Pandavas stepped back to a distance out of fear. Bhishma himself looked fierce and dreadful!!
Only one chariot boldly faced Pitamaha Bhishma- The Nandighose chariot with Lord Krishna and Arjun. Lord Krishna noticed the unrestrained celestial arrow from a distance. Calmly he asked Arjun if he had the power to crush it. But Arjun kept quiet. Krishna knew the consequences of the unstoppable arrows. Instantly he invoked his divine weapon Sudarshana chakra and commanded it to take its action. The Sudarshana Chakra was the only weapon which had the power to defeat this celestial arrow, and it did that a speed which was imperceptible to anyone except the one who had released the arrow. Nobody on the battlefield saw how the powerful arrow was nailed down- except Lord Krishna and Pitamaha Bhishma. The war continued, with the celestial arrow defeated!
Seeing the use of the only weapon that could have stopped his arrow, Bhishma understood the true meaning of the war, and that made him run to Duryodhana and inform him to escape with Kauravas from the wrath of God himself!
*********
Listening to this entire episode, Duryodhana lost his temper. He took his time off to meditate and prayed to Shri Balaram, his guru, with all his devotion. The elder brother of Lord Shri Krishna- Shri Balaram, at the other end of Dwarka, felt the urge of his devotee. Instantly he left Dwarka and reached at the battle field of Kurukshetra. He had taught the technique of using the mighty mace to Duryodhan and Bhimsen. But he always preferred Duryodhan as a better warrior than Bhimsen.
Beholding his guru Shri Balaram, Duryodhan spoke in a depressed voice, ‘O Mighty Balaram- my noble preceptor! Once you blessed me to be invincible. When the Kurukshetra war started, Lord Krishna had promised you not to participate in the war except be a charioteer of Arjun. But O Lord- if- if he wants to fight then why should I go against him?! Krishna broke his promise. He held his weapon- Sudarshana Chakra in the battle!’
Hearing this Balaram became extremely furious with his younger brother’s betrayal. Roaring like a starving Lion, he pulled his plough in one hand and mace on the other ran towards Krishna and Pandavas. ‘Today I’ll smash you all Krishna- nobody will escape,’ Balaram yelled from a distance. His body was shaking out of anger.
Krishna knew his brother’s anger. Seeing his fury, Krishna marched forward to Balaram. With respect Krishna bowed down before Balaram and tried to quench his anger. ‘O Mighty Brother, get rid of your anger. Don't be upset without any reason,’ Krishna manipulated him with his soft magical words. When Balaram blamed him breaking the promise he made, Krishna politely said, ‘O Brother! How can you disbelieve me?! It is impossible that I would betray my own elder brother to whom I worship like God!!’
‘B- but I heard that you held your weapon- Sudarshana Chakra,’ Balaram charged Krishna harshly.
‘O Noble Heart! You can verify the truth.’
Balaram flounced out into the Kaurava warriors and asked all the maharathis- Karna, Dronacharya, Shalya, Duryodhana too if they had seen Krishna holding any weapon.
Every single person's answer came ‘negative.’
Balaram stood up in a fury, gushed towards Bhishma to crunch him into pieces. Again Shri Krishna exploited his angry brother with his mushy words. Eventually Balaram calmed down then said- ‘O Krishna! I know you. You would protect the Pandavas at the cost of your life, that is for sure! However, end this war among the brothers. Let Dharma reign over the world! I can't watch or tolerate the down fall of Duryodhana. Let me go for pilgrimage. That's the only way for me to get some mental peace. Take care.’
Krishna bid adieu to his elder brother! Though he feigned innocence like a normal human being, he himself was the transcendental form.