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90.DRONA PASSES AWAY
He had with him no doubt
the spear of unerring effect which Indra
had given to him. But it could be used
only once, and he had carefully husbanded
it for exclusive use on Arjuna with whom
a decisive encounter he knew was
inevitable.
But in the confusion and wrath of that
eerie midnight melee, Karna, impelled by
a sudden urge, hurled the missile at the
young giant. Thus was Arjuna saved, but
at great cost. Bhima's beloved son,
Ghatotkacha, who from mid-air was
showering his deadly arrows on the
Kaurava army, dropped dead, plunging
the Pandavas in grief.
The battle did not stop. Drona spread fear
and destruction in the Pandava army by
his relentless attacks. "O Arjuna," said
Krishna, "there is none that can defeat this
Drona, fighting according to the strict
rules of war. We cannot cope with him
unless dharma is discarded. We have no
other way open. There is but one thing
that will make him desist from fighting. If
he hears that Aswatthama is dead, Drona
will lose all interest in life and throw
down his weapons. Someone must
therefore tell Drona that Aswatthama has
been slain."
Arjuna shrank in horror at the proposal, as
he could not bring himself to tell a lie.
Those who were nearby with him also
rejected the idea, for no one was minded
to be a party to deceit.
Yudhishthira stood for a while reflecting
deeply. "I shall bear the burden of this
sin," he said and resolved the deadlock!
It was strange. But when the ocean was
churned at the beginning of the world and
the dread poison rose threatening to
consume the gods, did not Rudra come
forward to swallow it and save them? To
save the friend who had wholly depended
on him, Rama was driven to bear the sin
of killing Vali, in disregard of the rules of
fairplay. So also, now did Yudhishthira
decide to bear the shame of it, for there
was no other way.
Bhima lifted his iron mace and brought it
down on the head of a huge elephant
called Aswatthama and it fell dead. After
killing the elephant Aswatthama,
Bhimasena went near the division
commanded by Drona and roared so that
all might hear.
"I have killed Aswatthama!" Bhimasena
who, until then, had never done or even
contemplated an ignoble act, was, as he
uttered these words, greatly ashamed.
They knocked against his very heart, but
could they be true? Drona heard these
words as he was in the act of discharging
a Brahmastra. "Yudhishthira, is it true my
son has been slain?"
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