It was the thirteenth day of the great war of Mahabharata. A teenage warrior, the great Abhimanyu, Son of the legendary Kshatriya Arjuna and nephew of Lord Shri Krishna , had been trapped in an unfair fight by a whole group of Great warriors like Dronacharya, Karna, Ashwatthama, Duryodhana. The Young boy had fought like a lion, making even the greatest warrior of the Kaurava camp look like toddlers in front of him. However, vastly outnumbered, up against Maharathis who had ditched every vestige of Dharma Yuddha or principled fighting, resorting to deception, Abhimanyu died on the field of Kurukshetra , like the Sun setting at the end of a Long day. At the heart of it all was the King of Sindhu, the Brother in Law of the Kauravas, Jayadrath. Due to a boon that he had received after much penance from Lord Shiva, he was able to stop,just for that one day, the rest of the great Pandavas, except Arjuna who had been led away from the main battlefield by the Samsaptakas, an ally of the Kauravas, from breaching the Wheel formation or Chakravyuh, which only Arjuna knew how to destroy.
Arjuna returned from the day long fight, having annhilated the Samsaptakas, to a camp which was desolate like a forest singed by forest fire. No one came out to greet the valorous Arjuna, neither his brothers, to whom he was like their vital breath, could be seen anywhere around. With panic and unknown fear, he entered his tent and saw the great Pandavas lying like a tree flattened by a storm. Slowly the horror unfolded in front of Arjuna in all its grotesque . Seeing the lifeless form of his beloved boy, Arjuna collapsed . It was Krishna , who had been his saviour in all things of life, who could bring him back to his feet. Sorrow in Arjuna was now transformed into seething rage, and at the spur of the moment, Arjuna wowed that Jayadratha wouldn't see the sunset of the next day, else he would enter fire and self immolate. Admist the blast of conch shells from the Pandavas camp that greeted this great Vow, Jayadratha shook in fear , he rushed to Acharya Drona and Duryodhan requesting him to allow him to flee back to Sindhudesha. But Drona , pacified him. He told him that he will make such an impregnable military formation to protect him the next day , that not even Arjuna would be able to penetrate it, and thus at the end of the day Arjuna would self immolate himself.
The war of the fourteenth day began, with Arjuna and the Pandavas supremely confident of a victory. True to his words, Dronacharya had formed a complex massive military formation with a combination of Shakatvyuha(Cartwheel shaped), followed by a PadmaVyuha(Lotus shaped) at the middle of the Vyuha and finally a Suchivyuha (needle shaped)Vyuha at the innermost core. Along with six mighty warriors, One lakh cavalry, Sixty thousand chariots, Fourteen thousand elephants, Twenty thousand infantry, spread over a distance of nearly 48 miles and a width of nearly 20 miles. "Not even the Devas can come in and attack you oh Jayadratha, what to speak of Arjuna?", Drona thundered.But then , on a magnificient chariot yoked to seven white Horses , charioted by Vasudeva Himself, Arjuna arrived at the gates of the Vyuha. And now started a storm of arrows from Arjuna's legendary Gandiva. Arjuna was like Yama, the Lord of death today. When he strung his bow, when he took out arrows,and when he shot them, none could understand. The only indication that Arjuna was shooting arrows was the fact that every arrow found its mark , and soon the outer covering of the Vyuha was pulverised. Now Arjuna slowly started breaking into the inner layers of the Vyuha. Maharathis, who had gathered together on the previous day to kill a unarmed Abhimanyu, were tossed around by Arjuna. Dushasan, Duryodhan, Karna , Kripacharya, and even the great Drona were made short work of. And the heart of the formation Jayadratha trembled in the fear of death, as he saw Arjuna slowly coming within his sight. All day mighty battles raged on all sides, mostly Arjuna and his brothers ravished whoever or whatever came to oppose them.
However, there was something which worried even the Great Arjuna. He was looking up towards the sky again and again to follow the path of the Sun God. His own chariot was racing against the chariot of Surya Deva, with whom Arjuna was Vying today in Brilliance. The more he proceeded towards Jayadratha, the more it seemed to him that he was protected by an ocean of Soldiers, and more the footsteps of the approaching evening.He looked with terpidation at his Friend and Charioteer, Krishna , who is the Soul and innermost indweller of all beings. Krishna, who was extremely worried for Arjuna after he took the rash vow, now decided to intervene. Arjuna had tried everything in his superhuman power to bring down Jayadratha, had now resigned himself to the protection of the Lord, the ultimate friend and refuge of all. And the Lord, who loves His devotees even more than His own self, gave Him Succor. Yogeshwar Krishna, the Lord of Yoga and all Yogis, now invoked His Insurmountable Yoga Shakti and cast His Maya on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra. Suddenly there was darkness all around, and the sun got hidden from Mortal view. There was a hush silence all around, as if the end of times had come. The silence was broken by a uncouth laughter, that of Jayadratha, who had errupted in joy at this turn of events. He was soon followed by the whiole host of Kaurava warriors and their army. "Oh Arjuna, now self immolate yourself, the sun has set, and Jayadratha Lives, " they bayed for his blood. Throwing all caution to the wind, Jayadratha came out from the protective layer that Drona had so meticulously created from him, and he came towards Arjuna like a moth towards the Fire, with his myriads of taunts,and loads of abuses. "Hurry up Arjuna, don't get dejected, here comes Jaydratha. The sun has not set, I have just cast my Maya over it all, shoot one arrow after another, take off his head from his body, and ensure that the head falls on the lap of his father , who is practicing austerities in a hermitage near this battlefield", the sonorous voice of Krishna, now ringing through the din and commotion of evil all around, like a ray of light through all darkness. And sure enough, Mayadhish Govinda, just withdrew His Maya, and the sun came out spreading its last rays over all. "There, there is the Sun , oh Partha, and Lo , there is Jayadratha", Vasudeva pointed out both , to Arjuna and to the entire host of warriors, stunned by this miracle. Jayadratha, sweating with fear ran, he ran with all his might, but shining crescent shaped arrows from Arjuna's immortal Bow Gandiva raced towards him, bringing the message of death for him. The Severed head fell on the father's lap and fell on the ground. The father's head burst open and split into a thousand parts. Krishna knew that the father had the boon from Lord Shiva, that whoever makes the son's head fall on Earth , would have his own head exploded, and thus He had advised Arjun thus. The Lord had protected his beloved Bhakta once again.
"Intense Self effort is a prerequisite for God's grace."
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