My eyes were clouded with
tears when I read Section 43, immediately following Bhagvat Gita. In this,
Sanjaya describes the scene just before the battle starts. Yudhishtra gets down
from his car and proceeds towards the opposing army on foot. All his brothers
are surprised and concerned and ask him why he is walking into the army of the
foe. Krishna knows and tells them all to calm down. Yudhishtra knows that it is
proper to pay respect to Bhishma, Drona and Kripa before this battle. And he
does it because it is the proper thing to do. His high sense of values made him
do that. I wish this section is better known among those who read or speak
about Maha Bharata.
The Kauravas do not know
either why Yudhishtra was walking right into their army. They think that he was
afraid and was coming to surrender. But, Yudhishtra makes a bee-line to Bhishma
first, bows to him, touches his feet and says: 'I salute you, O invincible one.
We come to battle. Grant (us) your permission in that matter. Give (us) also your
blessing." Of course, Bhishma does so. He says: “I am like an eunuch,
bound with the Kauravas owing to their wealth and have to fight on their side.
But I will pray for your victory”.
Yudhishtra goes to Drona
and Kripa also. The same scene is repeated. All of them say “I have to fight
for the Kauravas; but will pray for your victory”. Yudhishtra says: “That is my
wish too, that you fight wholeheartedly for them but pray for us”. Finally,
Yudhishtra comes to Karna and says: “I know you have decided against taking
arms because of your dislike of Bhishma. Please come to our side. You can go
back to the Kauravas after Bhishma is killed”. Karna declines, of course. Then,
Yudhishtra announces that anyone from the Kauravas will be accepted by the
Pandavas, if they choose to do so before the battle starts. Yuyutsu born to
Dhrithrashta of a non-kshatriya wife is
the one who switches sides.
The later part of Book 6 gives detailed descriptions of the
battle day by day, as narrated by Sanjaya to Dhritrashtra. Here, we learn the
names of several formations of the army, what their arrangements are and which
hero occupied each position etc. We learn the names of several weapons that
were used. It is obvious that this war happened after the iron-age had settled
in. There is mention of several celestial weapons and one of them is called satagni which from description appears
to be some kind of missile! It appears to me that Sanjaya mentions the names of
each of the 100 kaurava princes as they get killed by Bhima just as he had
vowed. The only son of Dhrithrashtra left alive was the one he had by a
non-kshatriya wife (by name Yuyutsu), who survived to perform the ceremonies
for his 100 half-brothers.
In Section 65 (it is 63
in the Sanskrit version), Bhishma is explaining why Pandavas are winning. In
this section, the following ideas as expressed by Bhishma about the Supreme: ”I worship Him who is called TAT, He who is
Supreme, He who is existent at present and who will be for all time, He who is
the highest Self, He who is the Soul of beings, and who is the great Lord. He
is the creator of all beings. His body is un-manifest (avyakta). His mind is manifest (Vyakta). The gods were created by His breath. With His heads, He pervaded (root word in Sanskrit is bruh which means to expand) the Heavens.
His arms support the Earth. The three worlds are contained in Him and He is the
Eternal Being. He is the Sat of Sat, ultimate Truth, Eternal”.
Some interesting Slokas
from this section follow:
सर्वभूतानि भूतात्मा महात्मा पुरुषॊत्तमः
आपॊ वायुश च तेजश च तरयम एतद अकल्पयत
मुखतः सॊ ऽगनिम असृजत पराणाद वायुम अथापि चआपॊ वायुश च तेजश च तरयम एतद अकल्पयत
सरस्वतीं च वेदांश च मनसः ससृजे ऽचयुतः
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