May 01, 2022 - Grade 6 (Sunday PM)

Hari OM All,

 

We apologize for  not sending notes for the classes held on April 3rd, 10th and 24th. This email covers notes from the previous 3 classes also. This week we started our class with prayers and discussed the preparation for the annual day presentation on Jun 12th. 

 

This was followed by a continuation of Mahabharata (includes notes from 4/10, 4/11, 4/24):

1. The first day of the war begins with much fighting and bloodshed. Uttara Kumara, son of Virata, is killed by Shalya. Shweta, the other son of Virata, is also killed as he tries to avenge his brother's death. Bhishma wreaks havoc on the Pandavas and no one is able to contain him. At the day's end, Yudhishtra is overcome with depression at the thought of the coming days and further death. However, Lord Krishna consoles him and says that Sikhandi will be responsible for the fall of Bhishma soon enough. On the second day, the Pandavas mounted a comeback due to the efforts of Bhima, Arjuna, Abhimanyu, and Ghatotkacha. Arjuna, with Lord Krishna, rains arrows across the battlefield. Duryodhana despairs that Bhishma is purposefully holding back against Arjuna due to his affection for the Pandavas. Stung by Duryodhana's cruel words, Bhishma is invigorated but by then the day's fighting is over with the Pandavas having gained ground.
   
2. On the third day,  Pandavas arranged in an Ardhachandra while the Kauravas used the Garuda formation. Ghatotkacha and Bheema wreaked havoc in the Kaurava army, Duryodhana fainted and in his anger called out Drona and Bheeshma for favoring their 'dear Pandavas' and not doing what they had been assigned. While Bheeshma took this to heart and charged towards the Pandavas, Arjuna also took Krishna's advice and stormed his chariot towards Bheeshma. A great battle ensues between Arjuna and Bhishma, but Arjuna does not appear to give it his utmost devotion. Lord Krishna, seeing this, tells Satyaki that he must consider breaking his vow in order to defeat Bhishma. Lord Krishna jumps down from the chariot and shows his divine form with the Sudarshana Chakra. Bhisma is overjoyed at the sight of the Lord of the Universe and wants nothing more than to die at the hands of the divine, as he is tired of living. Bhishma welcomes Lord Krishna's fighting, but Arjuna intervenes and apologizes profusely for his lack of courage. Arjuna tells Lord Krishna that he will no longer be hesitant in his fighting with Bhishma. Finally, Lord Krishna does not break his vow and re-enters the chariot, but by then the third day is finished. On the fourth day of the war, Bheema kills 8 brothers of Duryodhana and fights Bhagadatta with his elephant. Bheema faints and Ghatotkacha comes to his rescue and fights admirably. Yudhishthira embraces his nephew at the end of the day as the hero of the day.  Duryodhana grieves, lamenting to Bheeshma that the Pandavas are invincible.
3. On the Fifth and Sixth days, Dhristadyumna and Bheema are hailed as heroes and the Pandavas destroy a large portion of the Kaurava army. Duryodhana is also hurt in battle and is becoming more downtrodden. On the seventh day, many duels take place, Sikhandi tries to approach Bheeshma but Bheeshma always turns away. Arjuna fights the Trigartas. On the eighth day, Arjuna's son Iravan is killed and Bheema and Ghatotkacha cause a ruin in the army of the Kauravas along with Arjuna and Abhimanyu. In the night, Duryodhana again grieves the death of many more of his brothers. Karna consoles his dear friend. Duryodhana was chided by Bheeshma for looking to win a war with no dharma on his side, and immediately placate him by telling him to fight like a Kshatriya for glory and honor. Despite big battles between Abhimanyu - Alāmbusa, and Satyaki - Ashwatthama, it was the swift advancing of Arjuna's chariot towards Bheeshma that caught the attention of the armies. Bheeshma was in full form, while Arjuna seemed hesitant to mortally wound his grandfather. Irritated at the poor show by Arjuna, Krishna leaped out of the chariot to finish the job himself. Bheeshma with folded hands, was happy to be chosen to be killed by the Lord himself.  But Arjuna quickly recovered from his shock and ran to Krishna, pleading for his forgiveness and vowing to fight his elders with honor and courage. Appeased, Krishna resumed his position as Partha's sarathy. That night, the Pandavas are in deep sorrow over their losses and inability to defeat Bhishma. Lord Krishna asks Yudhishtra for permission to fight, but Yudhishtra refuses to allow Lord Krishna's name to be defiled. He instead proposes they ask Bhishma himself how he would prefer to be killed. The Pandavas go to Bhishma's tent while others are sleeping and pay their respects. Bhishma welcomes the Pandavas as his favorites and tells them to keep Shikandi in front of him. Bhishma will put down his weapons and subsequently, Arjuna may defeat him.
4. On the tenth day,  Duryodhana instills an army of protectors to look out for Bhishma, but it is of no use. Ultimately Bhisma falls as predicted at the hands of Arjuna and lays on a bed of 1000 arrows. Both sides intensely grieve. The Rishis descend from heaven and Bhishma says he will only leave his body when Uttarayana comes. Until then, he lays his head on a pillow of arrows and quenches his thirst from Ganga's water directly from the earth, at his request. That night, Karna pays his respect to his Grandfather and the two share a warm moment. Bhishma says he will only reveal Karna's true identity to Duryodhana after Karna's death.
5. The eleventh day begins with great anticipation since Karna would begin fighting. Karna convinces Duryodhana to appoint Drona as the new commander. Drona wishes to please Duryodhana in some way, and Duryodhana hatches a plan to capture Yudhisthra in order to coax another game of dice. Drona agrees to capture Yudhisthra, except only when Arjuna is not present since Drona believes he would not be able to defeat his former pupil. The battle begins with Karna fighting Virata. Karna's son Vrishasena also joins the battle. Dhristadyumna faces Drona and is about to be defeated when Arjuna comes to the rescue and prevents Drona from capturing Yudhishtra. That night, the Trigarta brothers led by Susarma swear to fight and distract Arjuna by challenging him. They take a vow to either be killed or kill Arjuna in this battle. On the twelfth day, Arjuna tells Yudhishthira that Satyajit will protect him, but if all else fails Yudhisthira should run from the battlefield like a coward rather than be captured. Arjuna fights the Trigartas marvelously and uses many divine astras. Meanwhile, Bhagadatta is wreaking havoc on the Pandavas along with his elephant Supritika and kills Satyajit. Arjuna sees this and hurries back. Bhagadatta unleashes Lord Vishnu's astra at Arjuna and Lord Krishna absorbs the attack instead. In turn, Arjuna kills Bhagadatta and his elephant. On the twelfth day, Arjuna fights valiantly and Drona is unable to capture Yudhishtra. Duryodhana is offended that Drona is unable to keep his promise and speaks in an insulting and sarcastic tone to Drona as he had done with Bheeshma. Drone is hurt by these words but vows to make it up to Duryodhana by killing a key warrior on the Pandava side.
6. On the thirteenth day, Dronacharya arranges the army in the impenetrable chakravyuha formation and the Trigartas once again lure Arjuna away from the battle-field by challenging him. The formation is impenetrable and Yudhishtra laments that only Arjuna is able to break in. Abhimanyu says that he can penetrate the formation and Yudhishtra vows to protect him. However, Jayadratha impedes the progress of the rest of the Pandava army and Abhimanyu has to fight the Kauravas on his own. Duryodhana's son is killed, and Duryodhana vows with Shakuni, Karna, and Drona to kill Abhimanyu by any means necessary. The Kaurava heroes decide to use unfair means and attack Abhimanyu from behind, attack him while he is rising up from the ground, and finally kill him in a very harsh and cruel manner. Yudhishtra is very upset and feels responsible that he was unable to protect Abhimanyu as a result of Jayadratha. Arjuna returns to the Pandava camp that night and is also very upset - he vows to kill Jayadratha the next day.
7. On the fourteenth day, Drona again organizes his army in the impenetrable chakravyuha formation. Arjuna and Krishna face Drona at the entrance to the formation and Arjuna fights Drona for a very long time. Eventually Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna that time cannot be wasted if he is to fulfill his vow, and advises Arjuna to escape the fight mid-battle and continue into the Kaurava formation. Arjuna is also challenged by Kritavarma and is able to destroy his army, before making haste to avoid wasting time. Seeing Arjuna's progress, Duryodhana laments that Drona purposefully did not kill Arjuna because of his fondness for his favorite student. Drona is hurt by these words, and tells Duryodhana to fight Arjuna himself instead of criticizing. Arjuna and Krishna realize that their horses are tired and let them rest to drink water. Even on foot, Arjuna is able to defeat all the Kauravas who attack him. Arjuna then gets back into his chariot and is stopped by Duryodhana. Duryodhana puts up a valiant effort but Arjuna defeats him and Duryodhana flees the battle. Arjuna then begins fighting eight Kaurava heroes simultaneously including Bhoorisravas, Karna, Kripa, Salya, Ashwattama. The fight goes on for a long time. Yudhishtra senses that Arjuna may be in danger and is very worried that he will suffer the same fate as Abhimanyu the previous day. Yudhishthira pleads with Satyaki and Bhima to go and assist Arjuna in his quest to kill Jayadrata. Satyaki and Bhima arrive as reinforcements. Bhima has a memorable duel with Karna, who at first appears to not try his best. However once Bhima kills several more of Duryodhana's brothers, Karna becomes emotional and easily defeats Bhima. Karna is about to kill Bhima but remembers his promise to Kunti that he would not kill any other Pandava. Instead, Karna merely insults Bhima and leaves the battle. Arjuna then meets Jayadratha and fulfills his vow by killing him just as the sun is setting, catching Jayadratha off guard. That evening neither army sleeps and the fighting continues in brutal fashion throughout the night. Karna uses his divine astra to kill Ghatotkacha during the night. Bhima and Yudhishthira are despondent, but Lord Krishna is happy that Karna exhausted his astra now itself, anticipating the future duel between Arjuna and Karna. Drona vows to fight hard the next day. On the following day, Drona fights harshly and kills King Virata and his old friend Drupada. Lord Krishna realizes that Drona must be stopped by any means necessary. Bhima goes out to kill an elephant named Aswatthama and announces that "Aswatthama is dead". Drona hears this and is unable to believe it. Drona asks Yudhisthira if this is true. On Lord Krishna's advice, Yudhisthira tells one lie that, indeed, Aswhattama is no more. Yudhisthira's chariot finally falls to the ground after he commits this act of sin. Drona is crestfallen and unable to fight anymore. While Drona is sitting down & starts meditation, Dhristadyumna kills him and fulfills his promise. Afterwards the Pandavas discuss the unjust manner of fighting. Dhristadyumna says this was only right to kill Drona as such since Abhimanyu was killed in a similarly unjust manner. Lord Krishna has the final word, saying that the war has progressed from a dharmic way of fighting to an adharmic way on both sides, and fate dictated that Drona finally died as such.
8. That night, Duryodhana asks Karna to be his commander. Karna is overcome with emotion and embraces Duryodhana one last time as a dear friend. Salya is appointed as the charioteer of Karna.
9. We also discussed the battle formations (vyuha) in Mahabharata including Krauncha (Heron); Garuda (Eagle); Mandala (Galaxy); Vajra (Thunderbolt); Makara (Crocodile); Ardha Chandra (Half Crescent); Shakata (Box); Chakra (Wheel) etc.
10. This was followed by enumeration of the 18 parvas (books) of Mahabharata like Adi Parva, Sabha Parva etc. and we discussed how the war spans multiple parvas (Bhishma Parva, Drona Parva, Karna Parva, Shalya Parva Sauptika Parva, Stri Parva).
11. We also looked at a map of India and geographically identified all the sites associated with Mahabharata like Hastinapur, Indraprastha, Kurukshetra, Dwaraka, Mathura etc. Finally we looked at the Kuru Family Tree and identified the key characters in Mahabharata like Shantanu, Bhishma, Sri Vyasa, Pandu, Dhritarashtra, Yudhisthira, Arjuna, etc.

We concluded the class with the Pledge.

 

Note: The next class on May 8th will be in person at Chinmaya Vrindavan.

Pranaams!

Krishna and Sachin