“Understand that the soul cannot be drowned by water, cleaved by the sword or burned by fire. You cannot destroy it when you kill someone, neither can your enemy destroy your atman. Atman is the reflection of the paramatman which pervades the universe and beyond. Life is just a manifestation of the paramatman, as transient as the reflection of the moon on the waves of a lake, and as real. Life is nothing but a flash that happens in the interval between birth and death. Imagine the vast universe and the majesty of time, and you will understand life is as permanent as the flicker of a leaf in the breeze. When you cannot kill the soul, why be obsessed with the thought of hurting others?”
Arjuna shook his head in defeat. “Krishna, despite what you say, I cannot be the cause of so much death and misery.”
Krishna replied, “Arjuna, you will bring infamy to all the warriors of Bharatavarsha by refusing to do your dharma as a Kshatriya. There is nothing else greater for a Kshatriya than a battle fought fairly. Heaven awaits the Kshatriya who dies in battle. By abandoning the chariot of war, you will bring infamy to the Kurus. Is infamy not equal to death? Do you wish to be called a coward by everyone? Slain, you will attain heaven in another world; victorious, you will enjoy heaven in this world. What have you got to lose by fighting, my dear friend?”
“Oh Krishna, do not make me commit this sin. Iravan’s face still haunts me. Abhimanyu is dearer to me than anything in the world. It would be the same for Duryodhana. What will I do if I lose Abhimanyu? I have wronged Duryodhana’s son once already; how will I face myself if I kill his son? How will I face my Guru if I kill Aswathama? Karna is my enemy, but now I can understand that we have wronged him as much as he has wronged us. Let this madness end. Let all the infamy be mine.”
“My dear friend, you are getting attached to this illusionary world and its meaningless bonds. You are forsaking your duty for you are afraid of the results. You are afraid of your actions, thinking you will get entangled in the bonds of your karma. Consider pleasure and pain, victory and defeat, gain and loss, life and death, as equal and insignificant. Fight the battle in the name of duty. Be devoted to your cause and dharma; do not worry about the outcome.”
“But, Krishna, it is the outcome that matters. If not, why do people strive repeatedly until they succeed? Why succeed at all if the outcome does not matter? I am afraid of the results if I succeed in this war. I fear that death and universal suffering would be the only outcome. Should I not worry about that? Am I an unthinking monster?”
“Do your duty without desiring the fruit of your actions. You will free yourself from the obligation of repeated births and deaths.”
“I love life and this is a beautiful world. Why should I kill my brethren in order to reach a place where there is neither happiness nor pain? Why should I strive to become a stone, unmoved by anything, existing just because it happens to be there? That is not life.”
“Arjuna, be the man who is unmoved by circumstances and just does his duty. Be like the lotus which, though it blooms in the water, is never wet. Similarly, bloom in your karma but never get drenched by it, or overwhelmed by its results. Be a stithapranja, devoted to your dharma and duty.”
“Even if it involves misery for others?”
“Do not get attached to the results of your work. Be devoted to the work alone. Misery is an illusion.”
“If work creates misery, why work at all, Krishna? Why not abstain from all duties and take refuge in the forest like the rishis?”
“A man deludes himself if he thinks that by renouncing his duties he can escape the snare of karma. No one can live without working. The intelligent man knows not to get attached to the results of one’s work and to do it as one’s duty, nishkama karma.”
“But it seems so unnatural to live without passion, Krishna.”
“My friend, such thoughts belong to evil souls like your cousin, Duryodhana, who are attached to the world and indulge their passions and senses. That is the mark of tamo guna, the quality of darkness, their imperfect knowledge which will cause their ruin.”
“But Duryodhana can say the same thing, that he is doing his duty, to protect what he believes is his birthright. Is it not his Kshatriya dharma to fight? Why should it be an evil quality in him and noble in me?”
“Duryodhana fights for desire; he is consumed by wrath and jealousy.”
“So are we. This war is the result of our desire for vengeance for what he did to Draupadi. We too are filled with passion, wrath and human emotion.”
“I advise you to discard all anger and wrath towards Duryodhana, and fight because it is your duty to restore dharma. Once you overcome your anger, you will also overcome your false sense of attachment towards your kin.”
“If I outgrow the anger I feel about Duryodhana’s treatement of Draupadi, then there is no reason left to fight. What would become of me? I would be but a killing machine.”
“You would be a yogi who has conquered the senses. The senses are superior to an inert body, the mind is superior to the senses and the intellect is superior to the mind. You must be the man who walks the path of intellect. That is the path of devotion to one’s cause. This is a secret I told Vivaswat aeons ago, he declared it to Manu, the first man, and Manu told Ishvaku of Suryavamsha, and through many thousand generations it has passed to the sages. Now I am declaring it to my friend, Arjuna.”
“You are my friend, we are the same age. Vivaswat was born at the beginning of creation. Manu was the first man. How could you tell them what you have just told me?”
“Many births of mine have passed, as have yours. But my essence knows no deterioration. I take birth in every age, whenever there is a loss of piety and adharma arises, to protect the weak and oppressed. I arrive in this world to finish evil men like Duryodhana.”
“I am confused, Krishna. If you are omniscient, you should know what adharma is. If you are omnipresent, why take birth at all or come to the world, when you yourself are the world? If you are omnipotent, why create evil at all? Why create adharma if you have the power of creation and destruction? If adharma is a mistake, then you are not omnipotent or omniscient. But if you created adharma by design, then you are not the compassionate Supreme Soul, having known the suffering that would ensue.
It reeks of sadism. If adharma arose on its own and you have to fight to vanquish it, you are not omnipotent but just like any of us lesser mortals. Krishna, if you are the Supreme Essence of the world, and adharma exists in it, it merely shows that the world that is you, is imperfect. If the world is imperfect, then so are you.”
Krishna laughed in genuine amusement. “You talk like a wise philosopher, my friend. But suffering also is an illusion. Pain and pleasure are part of the natural rhythm of the world. A lion kills a deer; the lion’s dharma is to kill to eat, the dharma of the deer is to run and escape. One does not exist without the other. I come to the world as the protector of dharma when the balance changes towards adharma. I am Duryodhana and I am Arjuna. I am Yudhishtra and I am Shakuni. Dharma and adharma are but different manifestations of the same energy. What is dharma today will be adharma tomorrow. That is why a yogi does not bother about the results of any action.”
“There are many men who have abandoned action and sit in contemplation in the forests.”
“They follow the difficult path of knowledge, of sankhya. Yoga is the easier path; devotion to one’s duty without worrying about results. You will not be bound by the fruits of those actions.”
“Then the responsibility will be yours, Krishna? For any sin I commit, for any atrocities?”
“It is your nature that engages in action. I receive no one’s sin nor their merit. But I do reside in you and everything animate or inanimate. Listen to yourself and you will know what your duty is. The four varnas I have created are not based on birth but the nature of human beings. Those who walk the path of knowledge are Brahmins, those who take the path of action are Kshatriyas, those who travel the path of devotion are Vaishyas, and those who indulge in sensory
pleasures are Shudras, destined to serve all others. As long as the world exists, there will be divisions. The strong will try to dominate the weak. I appear when the balance is disturbed, but there is no perfect balance in the world. Perfection is stillness, perfection is death. A wheel that does not move is useless. I am the axle of the wheel of dharma. Knowledge is the pin. What is at the top today will be at the bottom tomorrow. The dharmachakra moves with time, forward and cyclically.”
“Krishna, I am a warrior. Your words are all too difficult for me to understand. I am confused. Is there no meaning to life then? What is the purpose of life? Are we just cogs in the wheel of dharma, travelling cyclically without any purpose?”
“Move to the center with knowledge, devotion and contemplation, and be one with me. Though the axle is the main part of wheel, it does not move. Similarly, a devotee who has escaped the cycle of birth and rebirth, from the wheel where dharma and adharma keep changing places, finds refuge in me as the axle of the dharmachakra. When such a person becomes one with me, he can see that the rotation of the wheel is just a rhythm and that dharma and adharma are parts of the same wheel.”
“Most of what you say eludes my understanding. Every time I ponder over what you have said, I find a different meaning. It sounds logical when I hear it, but I am an ordinary man and when confronted with the realities of life, I forget your lessons. I find that instead of striving to become a stitapranja, it is easier to cry when I feel sad, to laugh when I feel happy, to shout when I am angry and to embrace when I feel love. I find it far more exhilarating to be part of the wheel, even a tiny dot on it, but always in motion. In my deluded mind, I feel it would be dull being part of the axle. It is more wonderful to keep moving with the wheel than be still with the axle.”
Krishna laughed again. He saw that the armed ranks standing on either side were getting restive, but he had one more important lesson to teach his friend who was so passionate about life.
“Arjuna, fight and win the world. Do your duty.”
“No, Krishna. My doubts remain uncleared.”
Krishna sighed. “I will give you a simple formula – easier than the path of sankya, or the path of devotion to duty. Yoga is the path of bhakti – be devoted to me. Perform every act as a prayer to me.”
“How can I act when I fear the outcome of my action?”
“Think Idam na mama, this action does not belong to me. Do it as an offering to me, as a prayer to Krishna.”
“Who are you, Krishna?”
“Arjuna, think of me at all times. Fix your mind and understanding on me and fight the battle. Attain me and be freed from the cycle of birth and death. I pervade space; all entities are in me. Behold my divine power. Worship me, always glorify me, and strive with firm vows. Worship me through your nishkama karma, worship me through your bhakti, and attain me through your knowledge. I am the Vedic sacrifice, I am the smrithis, I am swadha, I am the medicament of herbs, I am the mantra, I am the fire. I am the offering in sacrifice, I am the father of the universe, I am the mother. I am OM. Through your renuniciation and devotion be released from the cycle of karma and come to me. None devoted to me is ever lost.”
Arjuna looked at his friend in bewilderment. “Krishna, I have never really known you. Show me the real you.”
“Behold me, son of Kunti. Behold the suns of different universes, behold Rudra, the Aswins and Maruts and other demigods. See the entire universe. Behold my sovereign mystic nature. Behold Time.”
Arjuna blinked as Krishna lifted his hand. He wondered if he had been hallucinating. He felt he was in a trance. “Yes, I see you... without beginning , middle or end. You are of innumberable arms, and the sun and moon are your eyes. The world is trembling. I see all the sons of Dhritarashtra entering your fierce mouth and all the warriors of our side as well. I see everyone being crushed, everyone rushing to you like moths to a flame. You are the energy of the universe. I see all my foes dead.”
“Now wisdom has dawned in your mind. I have already slain all the warriors. You are just an instrument. Do not worry about the outcome. Fight and defeat your foes.” Krishna settled back in the charioteer’s seat and took up the reins.
Arjuna raised his conch and blew it, signalling the start of the war. For the next eighteen days, he would shoot where Krishna pointed. Though assailed by doubts and moved by his actions, he would strive to kill without worrying about the end result, trusting in his friend’s wisdom. But later, when the wheel of karma turned, he would forget all the lessons Krishna had instilled in him in the temple of dharma.
*****
57 THE FIRST EIGHT DAYS
ELEVEN KAURAVA AKSHAUHINIS faced seven on the Pandava side. Yuyutsu’s caravan supplying food and armaments stretched behind the Pandava lines. It would make all the difference. Winter had set in and the sun above was weak. A depressing mist pervaded the battlefield and a cold wind made the warriors shiver as they stamped their feet and clanged their swords and shields. Bhishma’s silver chariot stood in the middle. The wind tossed his white mane and played with his banner emblazoned with the golden palm tree and five stars. When he heard Arjuna’s conch, he addressed his troops.
“The heaven of warriors beckons you, bravehearts. Do not worry about the future. It is our duty to fight and die if needed. This war is for our kula and desha, for dharma and Bharatavarsha. Dharma will win. Never forget the tenets of war. Fight bravely, fight fairly.” His soldiers cheered at his words.
Far away, Karna sat depressed and alone in his camp as the war cries reached him. He was the only warrior kept away from the battle. His bitter mind wished Bhishma a speedy death.
Drona and Kripa led the army from the right and left flanks respectively. Aswathama and Sushasana protected Bhishma’s flanks. Shalya, Madri’s brother, the maverick warrior who had chosen to side with Suyodhana against his nephews, Nakula and Sahadeva, stood in his chariot, a wicked grin on his face. Fearless and wreckless, Shalya was a warrior who could turn the tide of battle. He was feared for his unpredictable actions and formidable fighting skills. Suyodhana was at the centre, under his banner of two coiling serpents, choosing not to fight under any divine emblems. This war was for the forgotten people of his country. The nagas were also a tribute to Ekalavya.
Arjuna arranged his phalanx in the vajra formation, suitable for swift, penetrating attacks. Yudhishtra was at the centre, with Bhima and Dhristadyumna guarding his flanks. Yuyutsu’s mercenary army had joined the Pandavas, swelling their ranks.
When the sun had lost its blush and the mist reluctantly lifted off the grass, Bhishma’s stentorian voice boomed over the battlefield, “Attack!” The days of carnage had begun. The war of dharma would have many twists and turns but it gave no thought to the parched countryside reeling under drought.
The first day belonged to the Kauravas. Despite the help of Yuyutsu’s mercenary army, Bhishma wiped out an entire Pandava akhshouni. Uttara, Prince of Virata, was killed. But on the second day, the King of Kalinga, who had broken away from the Southern Confederate to support Karna, was killed. By the end of the third day, the Pandavas had managed to create disarray in the Kaurava ranks. Bhishma’s conservative approach had demoralised the Kaurava ranks and Suyodhana had the first of his many arguments with the Pitamaha.
At the end of the fourth day, Suyodhana stormed into Bhishma’s camp accusing him of siding with the Pandavas. Bhishma refused to respond, leaving Suyodhana fuming. It was becoming increasingly evident that the old man was not fighting to win. Ordinary soldiers were dying like flies but no warrior belonging to the Kuru clan had died on either side by the fifth day. Bhishma’s undeclared strategy was to make the war unviable for both sides and somehow force a truce. The war dragged on for the sixth and seventh days, with thousands of ordinary soldiers dying; still not a single Kuru on either side was laid low. It seemed that Bhishma’s strategy had indeed paid off when Yudhishtra, moved by the sight of so many dead, pleaded with Krishna to stop the war. In the Kaurava camp, Bhishma stood like a wall, unmindful
of the desperate pleas of Suyodhana to kill Arjuna or Yudhishtra, and gain victory.
The eighth day was a decisive turning point in the great war. Krishna directed the Pandava Commander, Dhristadyumna, to attack the Gandharan forces. This resulted in the death of many of Shakuni’s men, including one of his sons. An infuriated Shakuni led twelve of Suyodhana’s brothers deep into Pandava territory but retreated when the attack could not be sustained. While Shakuni himself escaped unscathed, the Pandavas killed the dozen Kaurava Princes, escalating the war to a new level, from which there was no turning back. The fighting had gone beyond Bhishma’s power to control. His promise not to spill any royal blood sounded hollow even to his own ears.
Karna attended the funeral of Suyodhana’s twelve brothers. He advised his grieving friend to remove Bhishma as Commander before they lost everything. Bereft and enraged, Suyodhana, accompanied by Aswathama, stormed into Bhishma’s camp to give the patriarch a final ultimatum.
*****
58 TRAITOR
BHISHMA DID NOT LOOK AT SUYODAHANA. Perhaps Pitamaha had thought that by allowing his brothers to die, he would force a truce, thought the Crown Prince, his mind ablaze with anger, his heart filled with grief. Suyodhana was convinced that Bhishma was fighting a sham war and not attacking the Pandavas. He had tried to protect the Kaurava brothers too, but now, after Shakuni’s disastrous foray into the Pandava lines and the death of twelve of his brothers, Suyodhana was in no mood to forgive.
“Pitamaha, it has been eight days since the war started.”
A physician was dressing Bhishma’s wounds. Aswathama stood in the shadows. “And?” Bhishma asked, flexing his arm. The physician requested him not to move his hand until the next day. The patriarch merely looked at him in irritation. The physician clucked his tongue in defeat and hastily walked out after a cursory bow.