The first half of the eleventh day of the great war was consumed, in terms of attention, by the arrival of Karna into the battlefield. He had visited Bhishma twice, after the latter's fall and resting on the bed of arrows, and sought his blessings to join war. Bhishma asked him to consider trying to... Continue Reading →
Mahabharata and the Amazing Use of Alankaras
One of the big challenges in describing an event like the great war of the Mahabharata is to continually keep the interest of the reader/listener. When the intention is to describe numerous duels and battles fought over 18 days in great detail, only resorting to a mechanical recording of what happened can impact the readability... Continue Reading →
Day 8 of the Yuddha-Yajna: Eight Ahutis by Bhima
After a fierce round of fighting involving various duels, the 7th day of the great war had ended. Both sides took adequate medicines, and rest, overnight and returned to Kurukshetra, all eager to resume the battle. Bhishma was still leading the Kauravas with great energy in spite of constant chiding by Duryodhana at the end... Continue Reading →
Bhima Parakrama: Day 6 of the Great War
At the start of day 6 of the Mahabharata war, the Kauravas had suffered 4 continuous days of defeats, after their notional victory on day 1. Duryodhana was furious and was keen on Bhishma and Drona fetching him a victory. He urged them to come up with a special formation to attack the Pandavas. Bhishma... Continue Reading →
Bhimasena’s Destruction of the Elephant Brigade
It was day 4 of the great war. The first day after Arjuna had finally given up his inhibitions against fighting his own family for the sake of Dharma. Bhagavan Sri Krishna had achieved the dual purpose of fulfilling his devotee Bhishma's wishes of holding a weapon in the war while at the same time... Continue Reading →
Bhimarjuna Veerya: Karna-Shalya Garvabhanga
The Swayamvara of Draupadi had reached its climax. After all the powerful rulers of Bharata - from Shishupala to Jarasandha to Duryodhana and Karna - had failed to even string the Kindhura, the divine bow of Lord Shankara, Arjuna easily lifted and strung it and pierced the matsya-yantra with five arrows. Raja Drupada's joy knew... Continue Reading →
Bhimasena and the Destruction of the Kalingas
On the second day of the Mahabharata war, a most extraordinary battle takes place that brings forth the great skill and force of Bhimasena and sets the tone for the direction of the war for the next 17 days (the Kauravas had a notional win on the first day). As the great warriors engage in... Continue Reading →
Mahabharata: Puru Vamsha Kathana
In the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, as Vaishampayana Muni begins to narrate the story of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, Raja Janamejaya requests him to explain the benefits of listening to, or reading, the Mahabharata. Vaishampayana then narrates the great benefits of Mahabharata Katha-Shravana highlighting how it rids the listener of major sins and... Continue Reading →
Jwara and Sri Krishna’s Remedy
The Vishnu Parva of the Harivamsha Purana and the 10th Skanda of Srimadbhagavata narrate a very interesting incident from the pastimes of Sri Krishna. Usha, who was the daughter of Banasura, once had a dream of uniting with Aniruddha, the grandson of Sri Krishna (son of Pradyumna). Aniruddha was an extremely handsome man, and Usha... Continue Reading →
Bhima’s Defeat of Ashwathama
Bhimasena and Ashwathama meet several times during the 18 day war in the Mahabharata. Bhima ends up with an upper hand every time in those duels. However, the most important fight between the two of them takes place on the 16th day of the war. This was immediately after the coronation of Karna as the... Continue Reading →
Pranasutra 