I am a firm believer in the thought 'Everything happens for
a reason' - no matter whether something good or bad happens. Too often we are
able to accept when a good thing happens for us whereas when something bad
happens, human tendency is to ask "Why me God? Why did it happen to me of
all persons in the world?"
After reading 'the difficulty of being good' book by
Gurcharan Das, I got more interested in the great epic Mahabharatha. The epic
says Arjuna tells his wife Subhadra how to enter into Chakravyuha. Abhimanyu
who was in her womb at that time listens to it. Krishna distracts Arjuna and
takes him away before Arjuna could explain how to come out of
Chakravyuha. Krishna (not Arjuna) was also guru of Abhimanyu but he never
taught him how to break out of Chakravyuha.
During the Mahabharatha war, Pandavas had only 11
akshouhinis (battalions)and were numerically inferior to Kauravas who had 18
akshouhinis. Pandavas were losing the battles for the first 13 days mainly
because Arjuna had the guilty feeling that he is fighting against his own kith
and kin and did not fight to his full potential.
Jayadratha, brother-in-law of Duryodhana had a boon from Lord
Shiva that he will be able to hold off all the Pandavas except Arjuna for one
whole day during a war. Jayadratha’s father obtained a boon from Lord Shiva that
whoever puts Jayadratha’s head to ground will turn to ashes.
On the fateful 13th day, Chakravyuha was formed
for the first time by Kauravas. Arjuna and Krishna who knew how to break the Chakravyuha
were distracted to other side of the battlefield. 16 year old Abhimanyu was forced to enter into
Chakravyuha since there was nobody else on Pandavas side who knew how to enter
into the vyuha. When Pandavas tried to enter the vyuha behind Abhimanyu to
support him, Jayadratha used his boon and held all of them simultaneously and ensured
that Abhimanyu got trapped alone inside the vyuha. 6 Kaurava warriors including
Drona and Karna brutally attacked Abhimanyu and killed him. They used illegal
methods like attacking simultaneously (only one-on-one attack was considered
ethical in that time), attacking from backside, attacking an unarmed man, etc.
When Arjuna came to know this, he vowed to kill Jayadratha
before the sun set on the next day or else he will end his life. Krishna chided
him for making such a rash oath. The next day, Arjuna and all the Pandavas
fought vigorously and destroyed 7 akshouhinis of Kauravas within a single day. Arjuna not
only killed Jayadratha but also made Jayadratha’s head fall on the lap of his
father who was meditating. Jayadratha’s father was shocked and put down his son’s
head and thus he burst into pieces. It turned out that his boon will turn out
to be his bane.
I was thinking why Krishna did not teach Abhimanyu how to
break out of Chakravyuha. Why did he let this unethical killing happen in the
first place? As a God, he ought to have stopped this right? I was researching
on the internet and found quora answers and other links on the same topic. The
answer given is this:
As a God, Krishna needed to make sure that Dharma prevails
ultimately. This can happen only if the Pandavas win and for that to happen
Arjuna needed to fight to his full potential without any compunction. Abhimanyu’s
unethical and brutal death turned out to be the turning point of the war and the
same Arjuna who didn’t fight to his full potential during the first 13 days was
invigorated by his death and destroyed the opposition. The Pandavas won
decisively on 14th day and the war ended by 18th day – just
5 days after his death. Abhimanyu’s death can thus be considered as a sacrifice
in order to achieve the bigger goal of ultimate victory of Dharma. This shows
why Krishna did not teach Abhimanyu the way to break out of Chakravyuha.
Time and time again, in Mahabharatha it is proved that we
may not understand God’s ways but ultimately everything happens for good. It
doesn’t mean we should not work hard and hope that God will help us. It just
means we need to give our 100% in whatever we do and leave the rest to God.
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