Mahabharata – 224
by
Sankar Mukherjee
&
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Aadivamsa Avatarana Parva
An unknown challenger shows
up at the tourney
We have already learned that Arjuna excelled
his brothers the Kauravas,as well as his Pandava brothers in the art of
war. Also young princes from different parts of India had come to learn the art
of war at the feet of Dronacharya and they were no match for Arjuna.And it was
in Arjuna that Dronacharya saw his future. In fact Dronacharya did not come to
Hasthinapura looking forward to teaching the young's the art of war for the sake
of teaching only. He had a secret design behind his teaching activity.Earlier
he was insulted by his childhood chum Drupada the king of Panchala.He would not
take it easy.Hence he planned to teach the art of war to a band of young men from
royal families.Once they were well versed in the art of war it would be they
who would take revenge upon king Drupada on his behalf.
So revenge was the motive behind Drona’s teaching of the young men of the royal families. During the shooting competition Arjuna excelled all others. Arjuna was all devotion to Drona.So seeing Arjuna’s feats the future became present with Drona.It reminds us of Macbeth in the dagger scene. With Macbeth the future was in his present. And with many god men past as well as future are in the eternal present. Drona was sure that using Arjuna as his instrument he would surely be able to humiliate Drupada in war. Thus revenge has been the theme of the
episode of Drona’s teaching of the art of war.
In fact revenge is the recurrent theme in the epic called the Mahabharata. The story of the epic is being told during the intervals of snake sacrifice. The grand sacrifice to kill all the snakes in Nature was organized by king Janamejaya to avenge himself on the snakes who killed his father.
The Mahabharata gives us in elaborate details how Arjuna was groomed as a great warrior.He had a great devotion to his preceptor.He had an a priori faculty of concentration. His preceptor Drona saw to that he could take his food in darkness. Consequently Arjuna practised archery throughout the night. But despite all these things there was one Ekalavya who was no less than Arjuna in archery.Dronacharya saw to that Ekalavya’s thumb was cut off. Thus Ekalavya’s career was doomed.This is how Drona’s partiality for Arjuna seemed to make Arjuna peerless. And in the tourney Arjuna romped around the ground like a lion cub.Arjuna showed his profound skill in the use of sword,bow,and mace,while walking over the arena in circles.The tourney seemed to come to an end.
When the exhibition almost ended,the excitement of the spectators cooled down, and the sounds of the instruments dropped. In the eerie silence there was heard a sound proceeding from the gate.There was the slapping of arms, indicating might and strength.There was as it were the roar of the thunder.The assembled people instantly thought--- Are the mountains splitting or is the earth itself going out of joints? Or is the heaven resounding with the roar of gathering clouds? And all the spectators turned their eyes towards the gate. And Drona stood, surrounded by the five brothers, the sons of Pritha, and looked like the moon in conjunction with the Hasta star that has five luminous arms. And Duryodhana,that slayer of foes, stood up in hurry and was surrounded by his hundred haughty brothers with Aswatthaman amongst them. And that prince, mace in hand, thus surrounded by his hundred brothers with uplifted weapons appeared like Purandara in the past, encircled by the celestial host on the occasion of the battle with the Danavas. The spectators,with eyes expanded in wonder waited for something strange to happen with bated breath.The guards of the gate made way for that conqueror of the hostile cities,Karna, the hero with his natural amour and face brightened with ear-rings. He took up his bow and was ready with his sword unleashed from the scabbard. He entered the arena like a walking mountain. He was the large-eyed Karna.
Thus when Arjuna seemed to be peerless and all our passions seemed to be spent, an unknown hero showed up challenging the might of Arjuna. It reminds us of the unexpected appearance of an unknown hero when the tourney seems to come to its omega in the medieval romances of Europe.
So revenge was the motive behind Drona’s teaching of the young men of the royal families. During the shooting competition Arjuna excelled all others. Arjuna was all devotion to Drona.So seeing Arjuna’s feats the future became present with Drona.It reminds us of Macbeth in the dagger scene. With Macbeth the future was in his present. And with many god men past as well as future are in the eternal present. Drona was sure that using Arjuna as his instrument he would surely be able to humiliate Drupada in war. Thus revenge has been the theme of the
episode of Drona’s teaching of the art of war.
In fact revenge is the recurrent theme in the epic called the Mahabharata. The story of the epic is being told during the intervals of snake sacrifice. The grand sacrifice to kill all the snakes in Nature was organized by king Janamejaya to avenge himself on the snakes who killed his father.
The Mahabharata gives us in elaborate details how Arjuna was groomed as a great warrior.He had a great devotion to his preceptor.He had an a priori faculty of concentration. His preceptor Drona saw to that he could take his food in darkness. Consequently Arjuna practised archery throughout the night. But despite all these things there was one Ekalavya who was no less than Arjuna in archery.Dronacharya saw to that Ekalavya’s thumb was cut off. Thus Ekalavya’s career was doomed.This is how Drona’s partiality for Arjuna seemed to make Arjuna peerless. And in the tourney Arjuna romped around the ground like a lion cub.Arjuna showed his profound skill in the use of sword,bow,and mace,while walking over the arena in circles.The tourney seemed to come to an end.
When the exhibition almost ended,the excitement of the spectators cooled down, and the sounds of the instruments dropped. In the eerie silence there was heard a sound proceeding from the gate.There was the slapping of arms, indicating might and strength.There was as it were the roar of the thunder.The assembled people instantly thought--- Are the mountains splitting or is the earth itself going out of joints? Or is the heaven resounding with the roar of gathering clouds? And all the spectators turned their eyes towards the gate. And Drona stood, surrounded by the five brothers, the sons of Pritha, and looked like the moon in conjunction with the Hasta star that has five luminous arms. And Duryodhana,that slayer of foes, stood up in hurry and was surrounded by his hundred haughty brothers with Aswatthaman amongst them. And that prince, mace in hand, thus surrounded by his hundred brothers with uplifted weapons appeared like Purandara in the past, encircled by the celestial host on the occasion of the battle with the Danavas. The spectators,with eyes expanded in wonder waited for something strange to happen with bated breath.The guards of the gate made way for that conqueror of the hostile cities,Karna, the hero with his natural amour and face brightened with ear-rings. He took up his bow and was ready with his sword unleashed from the scabbard. He entered the arena like a walking mountain. He was the large-eyed Karna.
Thus when Arjuna seemed to be peerless and all our passions seemed to be spent, an unknown hero showed up challenging the might of Arjuna. It reminds us of the unexpected appearance of an unknown hero when the tourney seems to come to its omega in the medieval romances of Europe.
No comments:
Post a Comment