Battle of Kurukshetra: Summary of Drona (Episode-1)
On the tenth day of the battle of Kurukshetra, Bhishma, the chief of the Kaurava forces, fell and Dronacharya became the chief of the Kaurava forces. He served as the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava forces for the next five days, from the eleventh to the fifteenth day of the war. The episode/chapter of the Mahabharata, which describes this five-day battle, is the ‘Drona episode’.
Karna enters the battle of Kurukshetra, and Dronacharya becomes the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava forces.
After the fall of Bhishma, Karna entered the battle of Kurukshetra. As a result of the fall of Bhishma, the Kauravas were in a state of anxiety and panic. Karna was considered to be the equivalent of Bhishma in terms of military prowess, so as a result of Karna’s entry into the battle, the anxiety and panic among the Kaurava soldiers were largely removed. On the other hand, entering the fight of Karna created panic in the Pandava camp. Bhishma loved the Panchpandava, and it was well known that he was fighting for the Kauravas only for the sake of duty. But Karna was a close friend of Duryodhana, and like Duryodhana, he was also known to be a fierce anti-Pandava. So the idea existed among the Pandavas that Bhishma showed flexibility towards the Pandavas on the battlefield, but Karna did not show any kind of flexibility towards the Pandavas.
After the fall of Bhishma, there was a need to appoint a new commander-in-chief for the Kaurava forces. In this situation, Duryodhana wants Karna’s advice on who should be appointed as the commander-in-chief. It is to be noted that despite Karna being a close friend of Duryodhana and his immense confidence in Karna’s strength, Duryodhana did not directly propose to appoint Karna as the Commander-in-Chief. Through this, the realism and political cunning of Duryodhana are found again. Karna was actually a child of Kshatriya and dynasty, but it was not known to Duryodhana. He and everyone else knew Karna as the son of Sarathi Adhirath.
The charioteers were of the lowest caste. So Duryodhana knew that if Karna was appointed as the commander-in-chief, many of the kings of the Kaurava forces might refuse to accept his command or be dissatisfied with it. For this reason, Duryodhana did not propose to appoint Karna as the Commander-in-Chief after Bhishma. Instead, he tactfully sought the advice of Karna to appoint a commander-in-chief. Because he knew Korn would not propose his name as commander-in-chief.
Karna advised Duryodhana that Dronacharya should be appointed as the new commander-in-chief of the Kaurava forces. Dronacharya was a teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas, a very skilled warrior and a Brahmin, so it was reasonable to appoint him as the commander-in-chief, and all accepted him. Karna remarked that if Dronacharya were appointed as the chief commander, all the kings of the Kaurava forces would accept it. By this, it is understood that Karna was thinking in the same way as Duryodhana.
On the advice of Karna, Duryodhana appointed Dronacharya as the Commander-in-Chief of the Kaurava forces. At this point, Dronacharya mentioned his two limitations. He told Duryodhana that he would not kill Dhrishtadyumna because Dhrishtadyumna was born to kill Dronacharya. Dronacharya further mentions that the Panchpandava will not fight against him with a ‘cheerful heart’. Dronacharya indicates that since the Panchpandava will not fight against him with a ‘cheerful heart’ (i.e. with full strength), he will not be able to kill them either. Then he wants to know from
Duryodhana what exactly is Duryodhana expecting from Dronacharya?
After hearing Dronacharya’s question, Duryodhana consulted with Karna, Shakuni and Dushasana and then told Dronacharya that he should capture Yudhisthira while he was alive. Dronacharya was happy to hear Duryodhana’s statement because he thought Duryodhana wanted to make peace with Yudhisthira by capturing him. Note that like Bhishma, Dronacharya also loved Panchpandava, and he too was fighting for the Kauravas mainly for the sake of duty. However, Dronacharya promises Duryodhana that he will capture Yudhisthira. But he added on the condition that in this case, Arjuna should be removed from the battlefield because if Arjuna were close to Yudhisthira, it would not be possible to capture Yudhisthira.
Duryodhana had a special purpose behind the plan to capture Yudhisthira. He knew that Dronacharya would not agree to kill the Panchpandava, nor would he make special efforts to implement it even if he agreed. For this, he called on Dronacharya to capture Yudhisthira. His intention was as follows: By capturing Yudhisthira, he would force him to play dice again and then send the Panchpandava to exile forever. Duryodhana also feared that if Yudhisthira were killed, Arjuna and Bhima would fight for revenge, and in that case, it would be more difficult to resist them. Duryodhana’s cunning is again identified through his thoughts.
But Duryodhana’s cunning became a cause of loss for him. Duryodhana knew that Dronacharya was affectionate towards the Pandavas, and he feared that Dronacharya had promised to capture Yudhisthira, but he could not act accordingly. For this reason, Duryodhana declared to his troops that Dronacharya had promised to capture Yudhisthira in battle. The purpose of Duryodhana’s move was to ensure that Dronacharya fulfilled this promise. But since Duryodhana informed Kaurava’s soldiers about Dronacharya’s promise, the Pandavas could immediately get the information through their spies. Upon hearing this news, Yudhisthira becomes worried, but Arjuna assures him that no one will capture Yudhisthira if he is present.
According to the Mahabharata, in the Bhishma period, both the Kauravas and the Pandavas lost two Akshauhini troops. When Dronacharya was appointed chief of the Kaurava forces, the Kauravas had nine Akshauhini soldiers, and the Pandavas had five Akshauhini soldiers. That is, in terms of numbers, the Kauravas still dominated.
Introduction to the Karna-Arjuna conflict
The Mahabharata mentions some bitter rivalries or animosities. The rivalry between Duryodhana and Bhima, Shikhandi’s enmity towards Bhishma, the enmity between Dronacharya and Drupada, the enmity between Dhrishtadyumna towards Dronacharya, the enmity between Bhurishrava and Satyaki – there are many such rivalries mentioned in Mahabharata. But the rivalry or enmity that has gained the most fame in the Mahabharata is the enmity between Karna and Arjuna. In the conflict over the throne of the Kuru kingdom, Karna favored his friend Duryodhana, and Arjuna favored his brother Yudhisthira. Hence, the political conflict between them was quite normal.
Moreover, there was a conflict between them as to which of the two was the most skilled archer. They both deal with their confidence as they choose to embark on their play activities. After Yudhisthira’s betting on Draupadi at the Dutasabha, he lost to Draupadi, and Karna called Draupadi an ‘Asati’ and for this, Arjuna promised to kill Karna. On the other hand, Arjuna released Duryodhana on the orders of Yudhisthira after the Gandharvas captured Duryodhana while the Pandavas were in exile. Insulted, Duryodhana decided to commit suicide, and at that time, Karna vowed to kill Arjuna to appease Duryodhana.
After entering the battle of Karna, this conflict is likely to turn into a real battle. In the case of Karna and Arjuna, who were the most skilled archer, this matter is not clearly mentioned in the Mahabharata. So there is a sharp disagreement among those who are interested in the Mahabharata. Some of them consider Karna a more skilled archer than Arjuna, while others consider Arjuna a more skilled archer than Karna.
It is not the purpose of this article to determine who was more proficient in archery between Karna and Arjuna. But in this case, a few things can be clarified. When Karna entered the battle of Kurukshetra, Arjuna was in a more advantageous position than Karna in several respects.
First, a monkey statue was on top of Arjuna’s chariot (known as ‘Kapidhbhaj’). He was the famous hero Hanuman mentioned in the epic ‘Ramayana’. During the exile of the Pandavas, he promised Bhima that he would weaken his enemies from the top of Arjuna’s chariot during the war and save Arjuna. In contrast, Karna had no such protector.
Second, Arjuna’s bow (which was known as ‘Gandhi’) was given to the gods. This bow could not be cut by arrows or any other means during the war. That is, it was not possible to disarm Arjuna during the war. On the other hand, Karna used ordinary bows, which were very easy to cut.
Thirdly, the gods gave Arjuna two bows that never ran out. In other words, during the war, Arjuna used arrows arbitrarily, but he did not have the fear that the arrow might end. Because, on the other hand, had no such advantage, and like any other ordinary warrior, he had to fall into a dangerous position when his arrow ran out.
After all, Krishna was the charioteer of Arjuna’s chariot. Krishna was a very skilled chariot driver. During the war, he skillfully steered the chariot and many times saved Arjuna from certain death. Moreover, due to the presence of Krishna, Arjuna’s chariot was safe from certain destruction throughout the entire war, and it was not possible to cripple it by applying any Divyastra. Not only that, it was not possible to kill Krishna, so Arjuna’s chariot would become driverless; there was no such possibility. In contrast, the charioteers of Karna’s chariot were ordinary people, and it was very easy to kill them.
It is to be noted that from the details obtained in the Bhishma episode, it is clear that when two chariots were engaged in a dual war against each other, their main aim was to defeat the opponent. There were two ways to defeat the rival Rathi except to kill him. Either he had to injure himself in such a way that he was forced to retreat, or he had to kill the charioteer of his chariot or the horses attached to the chariot so that the chariot became crippled and the opponent was forced to retreat. According to the rules of war, the second method was forbidden and immoral, as it was forbidden to attack the charioteer or the horses attached to the chariot. But the violation of this rule started from the first day of the war.
But for those who would fight against Arjuna, the second way was ineffective because Arjuna’s chariot was completely protected. On the other hand, Arjuna could have crushed his rivals’ chariots and forced them to retreat. Needless to say, Karna was no exception.
Corn also had two other serious problems. He was cursed by his guru Maharshi Parshuram to the extent that he would forget the mantra of applying Brahmastra at a very important moment in his life. Moreover, a Brahmin cursed Karna to the effect that his chariot wheel would get stuck on the ground during the most important battle of his life. Korn did not know when these curses would take effect. So these two cursed deaths were a cause of grave concern for him.
After all, Karna was born with the armor given to him by the Sun God, and this innate armor could protect him from any divine weapon attack. That is, the ear was partly immortal. But while the Pandavas were in exile, Arjuna’s father, Indradev, disguised as a Brahmin, asked Karna for his armor. Karna never returned a beggar empty-handed, so he cut off his armor and gave it to Indra in disguise. Indra was very happy with Karna’s generosity and gave him Basab Shakti’s weapon. It was possible to kill anyone with this weapon, but Korn could only use it once. Karna decided that he would use this weapon against Arjuna. Only in this respect was Karna in an advantageous position against Arjuna.