Mahabharata – 20

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

 Karnaparva, Salyaparva & Sauptikaparva
Next  Karna Parva. Karna becomes the Commander in chief of the Kauravas King Salya becomes his chariot driver.There is the exchange of harsh words between Karna & King Salya.Afterwards Karna recites the story of Swan & Crow.Aswatthama kills the King of Pandya.Next  in a single combat between Karna & Yudhishthira, Karna puts the life of Yudhishthira at stake. Yudhishthira & Arjuna quarrel. At the instance of Krishna they are calmed. Bhima drinks the blood of Dussaasana from his chest & thus he keeps his promise,that he had made earlier. Then Arjuna kills Karna the great warrior in a single combat.
Karnaparva is the eighth parva.It has sixty-nine sections & four thousand nine hundred & sixty-four slokas.
Then there is the Salya Parva. Salya becomes the leader of the Kaurava army. At the outset of the parva the earlier battles are telescoped. Yudhishthira kills Salya, Sahadeva kills Shakuni. Only a small number of soldiers remain alive. Duryodhana goes to the Lake Dvaipanyana & enters into its water with his yogic power. Bhima rushes to the lake. On hearing insulting words spoken by Yudhishthira, Duryodhana comes out from the lake with great anger.He fights with Bhima with club.
Balarama appears at the time of encounter. Thereafter the greatness of the Saraswati river & other sacred spots are recounted. There is a terrific battle of clubs. Bhima fractures the thigh of Duryodhana. This Parva has fifty nine sections & three thousand two hundred slokas.
Sauti says that he is now about to narrate  the most frightful Sauptika Parva.When Bhima & others depart from the neighborhood of the Lake, Kritavarma,Kripa & Aswatthama appear there. They find Duryodhana lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Then the great charioteer  Aswatthama angrily takes the vow to kill the Panchalas & Pandavas with their companions. Until he accomplishes this vow, he will not doff his armor. The three great warriors enter in a dense forest nearby during the evening.Seated under a large banyan tree in the night Aswatthama sees an owl killing countless crows. This sight reminds Aswaththama of his father’s death. In a rage he resolves to kill Panchalas. On arriving at the gate of the Pandava camp he finds a dreadful ogre. The head of the ogre reaches the sky. The ogre guards the entrance of the Pandava camp. Aswatthama flings weapons at the ogre.But the ogre simply eats them up. Consequently the three warriors worship Shiva. And in the night they kill the Panchalas including Dhristadyumna. They also kill the little children of Draupadi. They kill many other people of the Pandava  camp. Only the
five brothers or Pandavas & Satyaki remain alive by the grace of Lord Krishna.
The driver of the chariot of Dhristadyumna informs about the mass massacre. Draupadi distressed at the death of his sons,brothers & father resolvs to destroy herself by fasting. Then Bhima the terrible, takes up his Club & pursues Aswatthama.Aswatthama, the son of Drona, scared of Bhima angrily flings  a celestial weapon to kill all the Pandavas. Krishna asks him not to do so, Arjuna, however, neutralizes the weapon flung by Aswaththama. The wicked nature of
Aswaththama enrages the narrator Vedavyasa. Vedavyasa himself curses
Aswatthama, Aswatthama also curses the narrator.

These are curious instances. The narrative often defies the design of the narrator. The characters once forged might act on their own defying the intention of the narrator & very naturally any narrative whatever is a site where  a terrible struggle takes place  between the narrator & the narrative. The Pandavas bring the jewel that decked the forehead of Aswaththama to the sorrowing Drauoadi with great joy. The Sauti narrates the Sauptika parva or the tenth parva composed of eighteen sections & eight hundred seventy slokas.

Mahabharata –21

Sankar Mukherjee

 &

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Striparva, Santiparva, Anusasanaparva & Aswamedhikaparva
Next comes the most pathetic Striparva. The blind King Dhritharastra is mentally upset at the death of his children.He wants to take revenge upon Bhima. A statue of  Bhima made of iron is placed before him by Krishna as a substitute of Bhima. Dhritharastra breaks the statue of Bhima into pieces.Then Vidura seeks to console the mournful Dhritharastra. Dhritharastra along with Gandhari  & the ladies of the palace set out for the battle field.Then there is a poignant description of the lament of the wives of the dead heroes. The Kshatriya ladies see their heroes dead,their sons,brothers & fathers  dead.It was a fight to the finish.Gandhari is deeply depressed for the death of her sons & grandsons. Krishna seeks to pacify her. The funeral ceremony of the dead heroes are observed.

During the commencement of the offering of water to the dead, Kunti acknowledge Karna as her son borne in secret. This eleventh chapter or  Parva is composed of twenty seven sections & seven hundred seventy five slokas.
Next comes the Santiparva. It describes how Yudhishthira blames himself
for killing of his fathers,brothers, maternal uncle & matrimonial relations. This Parva also describes Bhisma lying on his bed of arrows. He annotates the duty of Kings. Also he dwells on how to act during emergencies. The understanding of these tenets lead one to salvation. This twelfth  Parva consists of three hundred thirty nine sections & fourteen thousand thirty two slokas.
Next   comes the Anusasanaparva. It dwells on how Yudhishthira becomes calm  & tranquil on  hearing the duties of a King from Bhisma, the son of Ganga. The Anusasanaparva gives a complete guide line regarding the practice of virtue & regarding wealth & charity.The Anusasanaparva narrates Bhisma’s ascent to heaven. It is the thirteenth parva. It has forty sections & eight thousand slokas.
Next, the Aswamedhikaparva or the fourteenth one. Here the stories of
sage Samvarta & Marutta are recounted. Yudhishthira discovers golden
treasury in the Himalayas. Pariksit is born. Parikshit was burnt by the celestial weapon of Aswatthama In the womb itself.But Lord Krishna revived him to life in  the womb only. The sacrificial horse is released to roam around the globe,as per its will, while following the sacrificial horse. Arjuna fights the Kings who seek to stop  its onward movement. Arjuna’s life is at risk when he encounters Vabhruvahana the son of Chitrangada & Arjuna himself.

This is curious & speaks of Oedipus complex. It is the son who outdoes his father or else the march of history would be stunned. Then there is the episode of mongoose. This  Aswamedhikaparva contains one hundred thirty sections & three thousand three hundred twenty slokas.