Mahabharata Characters 14 – Drona 04 – Repaying deceit with deceit

This talk is a part of the “Fascinating Mahabharata Characters” series. To know more about this course, please visit: bhakticourses.com

Transcribed by : Sadananda Das
 
Transcription :

Today we are discussing the last part of Drona’s life. In the last session we discussed the thirteenth day of Drona and the influence of heat of the moment that hatched evil plan to kill the unstoppable Abhimanyu on the thirteenth day, and as Abhimanyu fell the Kaurava’s erupted in celebration, and hearing their celebration the Pandava’s who had been trapped outside the Chakrvyuha could infer what had happened. Yudhisthir’s heart sank into a bottomless sadness of dismay, horror and disgust. He couldn’t get over the thought that it was for his own protection that he had offered a sixteen year old lad to the Kaurava horde like animals offered for sacrifice and slaughter. Utterly devastated he couldn’t bring him together. At that time Vyasadeva came and consoled him. We will discuss this pastimes later. Right now we are focusing on Drona.

That evening when Arjuna came back nobody could look at him and face him in the eye; and finally he entered into the tent where all the warriors would meet. In the evening to take stock of the day’s war he looked at the place where Abhimanyu would sit and the throne was empty. Arjuna’s heart almost stopped beating and when he heard about all that had happened he fell into the ground in devastated agony, and gradually his grief changed into rage and he took a vow that next day evening he will either kill Jayadratha or he will enter into fire. Hearing this vow, suddenly the gloom that had descended into the Pandava camp lifted, and they felt that Arjuna was so resolved and so enraged that the next day would be great victory for them. And the Pandava’s started blowing their conches and beating their drums in celebration. On the other side the Kaurava’s had gathered to assess their day and Duryodhana was delighted, and he was congratulating Drona on the success in killing Abhimanyu and he was suggesting to Dronacharya, “Maybe you can set up a chakrvyuha once again and tomorrow maybe we will trap Arjuna itself or even Yudhisthir.”

Abhimanyu had been one of the foremost warriors on the Pandava’s side and Duryodahna thought that with Abhimanyu being killed who was so dear to Arjuna, Arjuna would be demoralized and it would be easier to defeat him in the next day. And as they were celebrating and plotting for the next day, suddenly they heard shouts of jubilation and celebration from the Pandava side. They looked at each other with surprise. The Pandava’s should be lamenting and not blowing their conches in jubilation. At that moment suddenly into the camp ran Jayadratha. His face was a white mask of terror and he told Duryodhana looking at him with wild eyes, his breathe panting and his words coming out like a slur, “That wicked one who was born by the lusty Indra of Kunti, that wretched Partha has resolved to kill me tomorrow, O

Duyodhana, I am planning to the flee to the Himalayas for my life; unless you guarantee my protection I am leaving right now. Jayadratha was trembling as he was speaking.

Duryodhana looked at Jayadratha and looked at Dronacharya and his eyes lit up with the opportunity. Jayadratha described how Arjuna had taken a vow that either he would kill or he would enter fire. Duryodhana told Jayadratha, “Don’t worry. Drona, Karna, Kripa, Aswathama, Salya, Kritavarma, I and Dusasana will all protect you tomorrow. Arjuna will not even be able to see you.” And saying like this he assured him and he told Dronacharya, “Acharya you can arrange the army in such a way that Arjuna will never be able to reach Jayadratha.” Drona looked at Jayadratha and knew that Jayadratha was already as good or bad as dead. He knew that for Arjuna alone it would be impossible to cross over the Kaurava army but Arjuna was not alone. Arjuna was with Krishna, and with Krishna Arjuna could cross over not just the army of the danavas, but the army of the danavas and the devas combined together, what to speak of the entire Kaurava army? There was just no way that Jayadratha could survive. He was already a dead man. Drona knew that he had a duty to offer protection, but he could not avoid giving Jayadratha a warning. He said, “It will be extremely difficult of Arjuna to reach you but do not worry; for a ksatriya there is nothing more glorious than dying on the battlefield.” Jayadratha couldn’t stop trembling on hearing this, and Dronacharya continued, “O you have lived virtuously, you have given charity, you have done your ksatriya dharma, even if you die you will attain heavens.”

Duryodhana could not tolerate the idea of Jayadratha dying. He said, “Don’t worry we will protect you. Arjuna will never be able to reach you.” The next day when the battle started there was a massive formation of several miles broad and far more miles deeper and it was almost impossible for anyone to penetrate it, and right in the front of it stood Dronacharya who was ready to challenge Arjuna when he tried to penetrate the formation. Arjuna offered his respects to Dronacharya from a distance and he said, “O Acharya, you are my preceptor, you have always been my well-wisher. Please allow me to fulfill my vow today.” Dronacharya did not reply by words, he replied by arrows. He shot a series of arrows at Arjuna and Arjuna shot back arrows fiercely. The arrows kept shooting each other again and again and it looked like a battle in which neither side could possibly win. As the battle went on and on Krishna said, “Arjuna, this battle with Dronacharya could go on the whole day. You don’t have time right now. Don’t waste your time with him.” Goaded by Krishna’s word’s Arjuna suddenly shot a series of arrows rapidly and as he shot those arrows one by one, suddenly Drona was taken aback and stunned by the severe attack and by the time Drona had recovered, Krishna had expertly maneuvered Arjuna’s chariot by the side of Drona and charged ahead through the enemy formation. Drona turned himself around and tried to challenge Arjuna, “O Partha, where are you going. Have you become afraid?” But Arjuna paid no

attention to him. Drona shot arrows but Krishna took the chariot so fast that Drona’s arrows fell short.

Dronacharya knew that he will soon meet Arjuna when he would near Jayadratha. Arjuna had to break through the army formation whereas Dronacharya just went through as it was his own army. They parted for him to move forward. And Dronacharya went right by the side of Jayadratha close by. There were several layers of protection; Karna and Aswathama were on the two side’s right next to him and Dronacharya was further ahead in protection. And Arjuna kept going forward breaking down all the walls of the armies that Drona’s military formation had erected, and as they all fell one by one eventually what resulted was that Arjuna was just moving forward destroying the Kaurava army and Duyodhana went up to Dronacharya and he said, “Oh Acharya how is it possible that Partha alone is destroying our entire army. Please do something. You are our commander. You are meant to protect us. Leave alone arresting Yudhisthir, we may not to protect even Jayadratha the way Arjuna is progressing.” Hearing this Dronacharya shook his head wearily. He said, “You yourself saw how I tried to confront Arjuna and Arjuna refused to engage with me. Anyway I have to be here because I will check Arjuna when he reaches here.” Drona knew that their situation was an emergency. The Pandava’s had thought their strategy well; while Arjuna had penetrated way ahead into the enemy camp the other warriors had stood behind and they were engaging all the major Kaurava warriors and no major maharatha was there who could challenge Arjuna. At that time Dronacharya said, “There is only one Maharatha who is right now available to stop Arjuna. It is you O king.” Duryodhana looked at Dronacharya in surprise and shock and shame. He said, “O Acharya! Do not joke like this. I might even be able to confront Indra, but how do you expect me to contend with Partha. This is no time for joking.” Dronacharya said, “Don’t worry O Prince, I will never risk you and I have no intention of offering you as a sacrificial lamp to Arjuna. But I have an impenetrable armor of mantras. If I put it on you then even Arjuna would not be able to wound you and in this way you would be able to move forward.” Actually before this happened, when Duryodhana was goading Dronacharya and was telling him “Please do something.” at that time initially Dronacharya became a little philosophical and he said, “O Prince, only endeavor is in our hands and I have been endeavoring to the full of my capacity. But the result is determined by destiny. And how can we get a favorable result when the Lord of destiny is on the chariot of Arjuna?” So, Dronacharya demonstrated the knowledge here that Krishna was the Lord of destiny and any battle against Arjuna was doomed. But still he had a duty and he was performing his duty. He kept marching ahead with Arjuna’s army; Arjuna was moving forward and Duryodhana came right before him to challenge and they had a fierce fight and although Duryodhana was in an inpenetrable armor, still Arjuna knew that the armor covered his entire body except the

tip of his fingers. So, Arjuna shot arrows right into his finger tips and Duryodhana screeched in pain and dropped his weapons in agony, and Krishna and Arjuna laughing charged past Duryodhana who had been reduced to helplessness. In this way Drona’s attempt to empower Duryodhana was baffled by Arjuna’s expertise, and as Dronacharya came finally in front of Arjuna there was a fierce confrontation, and Drona was among the many warriors who tried to stop Arjuna at the last moment. But then Krishna used his mystic power to cover the sun and then thereby Jayadratha was slain. We will speak about this story in detail when we speak about Arjuna. But here Dronacharya again on the fourteenth day faced severe reversals when Arjuna killed Jayadratha. And then there was another fierce fight, in which Ghatotkatch was destroying the Kaurava army and finally Karna had to use his Shakti weapons with which Ghatotkatch was finally killed, and this battle actually happened in the night.

After Bhisma fell, the ksatriya codes also started falling by the wayside and the warriors kept fighting often by unethical means, and they often fought well into the night instead of ending the hostilities by evening, and on this particular day as they kept fighting, then Ghatotkathca was finally overpowered by Karna. But Ghatotkatch when he fell he enlarged his body and killed a huge amount of Kaurava forces. Duryodhana wanted to press on the advantage because Ghatotkatcha was a formidable warrior who had been killed and the Pandva’s would have been demoralized. But Drona saw that all the soldiers were so exhausted that their eyes were drooping and closing, and they were hacking their swords and their maces almost with closed eyes not knowing whether they were hitting enemies or friends. Seeing this Arjuna went forward and he said, “O warriors! Now you may desist. All of you are very tired; you can rest wherever you are and tomorrow morning we will continue the fight. When the warriors heard this they expressed their relief and Dronacharya also consented. Duryodhana was enraged on Dronacharya’s consent and he charged towards Dronacharya. He said,
“We had an advantage. Why did you stop? We should have pressed home the advantage after the killing of Ghatotkatcha. You are always too soft on the Pandava’s because you are partial towards them.”

Dronacharya could take Duryodhana’s taunts no more and he exploded at Duryodhana and he said, “O Prince! You are selfish and blind to everything except your own interest, and that is why you chastise those who work tirelessly for your own interest. Can’t you see how tired and exhausted the soldiers were; they could not keep their eyes open while fighting. How could you expect them to fight in such a situation? As a commander it was my duty to think of the wellbeing of the soldiers and that is what I did. Duryodhana was still angry and he said, “Tomorrow I along with Dusasana, Karna and Shakuni will kill Arjuna and end the war ourselves.” Hearing this Drona laughed scornfully. He said, “Where is the warrior who can face Partha when he is angry?

Haven’t you seen Partha’s power that our entire army with all our warriors could not stop him from killing Jayadratha. May good betide you O Prince! If words could bring results then you would be victorious indeed.” Drona turned away unable to tolerate the anger not wanting to waste his breathe on Duryodhana anymore. Nothing gave him more pain than having to fight on the side of this evil prince. He wondered what bad karma he had done that he had to fight on the side of Duryodhana against his beloved Pandava’s, but still duty beckoned him, and on the fifteenth morning Dronacharya again led Kaurava forces and Dronacharya fought with a maniac fury but Duryodhana’s words were still rankling him. The accusation of partiality was something which no ksatriya could tolerate. A ksatriya is expected to fight in a sportsman’s spirit, and this idea of partiality due to affection was goading him and he fought with a maniac fury; that day he decided to fall upon the Matsya and the Panchala forces and started destroying them.

Drupada and Virata were two elderly monarchs; both of them attacked Dronacharya and he fought fiercely with them, and both Drupada and Virata were hero’s. They were also Maharatha’s and they fought fiercely, and one time Drupada shot a series of arrows that severely stunned Dronacharya, and Dronacharya after a few moments of swooning recovered and he resolved to kill these two warriors, and in a short succession he used divine astra’s and he shot arrows fiercely, and right in front of all the Pandava warriors both Drupada and Virata were killed by Dronacharya. Seeing this Dhritadumnya’s sons charged forwards and Drona killed them and started slaughtering the Pandava forces. Drona was fighting with such fury that nobody could stop him. At that time Yudhisthir went up to Krishna who was on Arjuna’s chariot and Bhima was also nearby, and Yudhisthir said to Krishna, “O Kesava, Dronacharya seems unstoppable. It seems that he will destroy our whole army today.” And Dhritadumya who was also nearby; Bhima goaded Dhritadumya and he said, “What man can watch on while an enemy kills his father as well as his sons. If you are not going to kill him myself.” Dhristadumya goaded by Bhima’s words charged upon Dronacharya but he was no match, and Dronachary fiercely checked Dhristadumya and he was left helplessly powerless against Dronacharya’s attack, and as the Pandava’s were conferring, Krishna said, “Yes, we must stop the acharya. Otherwise we will lose this war. Remember O Yudhisthir what Dronacharya had told you when you had asked him how he could be killed.”

Yudhisthir’s mind went back to the first day of the war. Just before the battle had started after Krishna had spoken the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, his bewilderment had ended. Then Yudhisthir had got off his chariot and gone to the side of the Kaurava’s weaponless and he had bowed down to all his elders: Bhimsma, Drona, Kripa and Salya and he had begged them of their blessings, and they all seeing his humility and respect for his elders had blessed him, and Yudhisthir had this immensely difficult duty of asking his elders how they could be fell; and when he had asked Dronacharya, he

said, “O Acharya, you are invincible, how will we be able to win against you?” Dronacharya replied, “As long as I have raised my weapon and I am fighting nobody will be able to overpower me, but on hearing a disagreeable news from a trustworthy source I will put aside my weapons, and only then will I be killed.” Krishna reminded Yudhisthir of this, and he told Yudhisthir, “Tell Dronacharya that Aswathama has been killed. Then he will put aside his weapons and then we will be able to kill him.” Arjuna protested on hearing this. He said, “O Krishna I cannot tolerate this idea. This is a lie. We cannot speak a lie to anyone like this. What to speak of an acharya who is our own teacher.” Yudhisthir thought about it. Before Yudhisthir could reply Bhima had heard Krishna’s words and Bhima charged into the Kaurava ranks and as he charged into the Kaurava ranks. There was warrior named Hiranya Verma and he had an elephant. His name was Aswathama and Bhima used his huge mace and banged the elephant on the head and the elephants skull broke apart and it died on the spot, and then Bhima charged near Dronacharya and he said, “Aswathama is dead.” When Drona heard this it was as if his legs disappeared and they became like liquid and they fell on the ground. He loved Aswathama and to think of Aswathama dying was intolerable, and as darkness descended over his head in utter gloom he pulled himself together and he thought remembering Aswathama’s prowess that Aswathama could not have been killed. And he knew Bhima’s nature that he could play a devious trick either out of fun or deviousness; he could speak a lie like this. So, he just pushed the thought outside and he pulled himself together and started fighting.

The Panchala and the Matsya forces seeing that their king had been killed by Dronacharya, attacked him with a ferocity like never before and as Drona was being hit by their arrows he took a brahmastra and shot the brahmastra at the forces and suddenly the whole battlefield was littered with corpses. Thousands and thousands of soldiers were just lying dead because of that one weapon and Dronacharya stood there after having destroyed huge amounts of the Pandava army. Yudisthir seeing this was shocked. Then Krishna told him, “Just see O Yudhisthir, this is what the Acharya will do if you do not stop him. The Vedas say that although we should normally tell the truth, but when it is a matter of survival and when one is fighting against an army which is bent on killing one and there is no other way of surviving; at that time speaking a lie is not considered wrong. In fact at such times speaking a lie is the truth because maintaining one’s life is the basis of truth. One cannot purse truth in life unless one has life. One cannot attain the absolute truth unless one has life, and therefore to speak whatever is required so that one can live and pursue the absolute truth is truth. So, please do the needful.”

Yudhisthir had till now never spoken even an indirect lie; total falsehood was difficult to even contemplate, what to speak of utter. But still Krishna was telling him and he could

not refuse Krishna’s word, and at the same time he could not neglect the pragmatic nature of Krishna’s advice. He knew that Dronacharya would destroy their army. And as Dronacharya stood there on his chariot having destroyed with the Brahmastra huge amount of Pandava forces, suddenly in the sky he saw the sages appearing, he saw his own father Bharadwaj and other great sages and they were in a mystical form which he alone could see. Nobody else could see them. They spoke to him, “O Dronacharya, you are fighting most heinously by using celestial weapons against ordinary soldiers you have committed a great sin. Stop this wicked activities right now. Put aside your weapons, fight no more.” As Drona heard the chastising words of the sages he felt troubled, and then again the news of Aswathama’s death although he tried to shake it away still burdened him. He looked around and whom could he ask about Aswathama’s death? Then saw Yudhisthir. He knew that Yudhisthir would never speak a lie. So, he went right up to Yudhisthir and as Yudhisthir saw Dronacharya approaching, Krishna called out, “O Yudhisthir, there the Acharya approaches you. Save all of us and do whatever is required for saving all us.” Yudhisthir steeled himself, and as Dronacharya appeared he said, “Aswathama is dead.” And as he spoke this, he could not speak a complete lie, and then he spoke softly, not the man but the elephant. But as he spoke not the man but the elephant Krishna blew his conch. As Krishna blew his conch shell those words which were spoken softly got covered over and Dronacharya did not hear it, and as Yudhisthir spoke these words Dronacharya was devastated. He put aside his bow and cried out, “Aswathama! Aswathama.” And started lamenting, and as he was lamenting in this way Dhristadamnya seeing this opportunity challenged Dronacharya and attacked him. Drona had lost all heart to fight, and as he lost all his heart to fight and as he was lamenting the death of Aswathama, Dhritadumnya mounted his attack seeing this opportunity and arrow after arrow thudded into Dronacharya’s body and he was jolted by the pain and he decided to lift his bow and make one final effort and he started shooting arrows; arrow after arrow he started shooting countering Dhristadumnya. Dristamdumnya just thought that he was going to win and suddenly he found Drona unstoppable and as Dronacharya was shooting arrows suddenly he looked back and he found that his quiver which by celestial arrangement had been not exhaustible for the last fifteen days had suddenly become empty, and he tried to look for arrows but there were no arrows. He tried to chant mantra’s to invoke celestial weapons and the mantras did not come to his mind, and he remembered the words of the sages; feeling that he had done a sinful activity he was troubled. Thinking that his son was dead his trouble increased manifold and he put aside his bow. Seeing in a distance Duryodhana and Dusasana he said, “O Kaurava’s, fight this war as ksatriyas should. I will not fight anymore. I have decided to end my fight.” And then he sat on his chariot with closed eyes in a mystic pose or a yogic asana and he decided to leave his body. He closed his eyes and he was having yogic potency; and those with a divine vision

saw that as he closed his eyes and lost himself in meditation his soul left his body and joined with higher beings who had come to call him.

Dhristadyumnya seeing that Dronacharya was no longer fighting saw his opportunity and he picked up a sword and charged towards Dronacharya and several of the warriors from both Kaurava and the Pandava sides shouted at Dhristadumnya to stop. They said, “You cannot do such a heinous activity.” Dhristadumnya blinded by rage did not pay attention and he charged towards Dronacharya, caught the tuft of hair that was at the back of his head and he lifted him up and with the swipe of his sword he cut off the head of Dronacharya, and then he screamed, “Now I have fulfilled my vow, the destiny for which I have been born. The death of Drona has now been fulfilled.

Everybody was horrified by the brutality of Dhristadumnya in killing Dronacharya.

Was it ethical for Drona to be killed like this? This is a troubling issue and this is something which troubled not just people who are hearing the Mahabharat but even those who participated in the Mahabharata. Even the Pandava’s themselves had severe misgivings about the way Dhritadumnya had acted. After Drona was killed in this way by Dhristadumnya, Bhima started celebrating, “Now Drona is dead.” But Arjuna was sober. He said, “Take the chariot close the Dronacharya. I want to offer my respects to the preceptor.” Yudhisthir was also filled with misgivings. He was happy that now the war was going to come the end with the fall of Drona, but the way it had been brought up through deceit, he had apprehensions, and Arjuna couldn’t restrain himself. He said, “Dhritadumya, what you have done is unspeakably barbaric. How could you kill him like this? He is a preceptor. He deserved our respect, not our deceit.” And then he turned towards Yudhishir and he said, “O king. He came to you seeking information in good faith and you deceived him. You will be forever be tainted by sin. Tears came in Arjuna’s eyes and he thought how his own disciples had betrayed his teacher.

Bhima however could not be contained, and he said, “O Arjuna! At a time when appreciation is deserved why are you giving condemnation? You know that the life of a ksatriya is harsh and you know how the Kauravas had acted against us. If you wanted to give discourses on morality, then there was no need for you to come to the war.” Then he said, “Drona, he is meant to be Brahmin. A brahmana is never meant to fight. By fighting and that too fighting at the side of evil he had lost all dharma, and there was no wrong in killing him in whatever way was possible.” Arjuna remained silent seeing that both Yudhisthir and Krishna remained silent. Arjuna did not speak anything but he glanced angrily at Dhristadumnya. Dhirstadumya said, “O Partha, I do not think that I have done anything wrong. I was born to kill Dronacharya and in whatever way it was to be achieved it has been achieved now. Now is the time for us to celebrate that our

ultimate victory is closer. And as Bhima has said, this evil minded Brahmin had not only sided with the evil Duryodhana but he had also orchestrated the killing of Abhimanyu. After he had orchestrated the barbaric killing I don’t think that there is anything wrong in killing him. Although I should be angry with the words that you spoke to me, but because of my love for you and because of my love for Draupadi I forgive you.” Arjuna was furious but he remained quiet. That time Satyaki got up and when he heard his teacher and his teacher’s teacher being cruelly spoken about in this way, he said, “Is there no one who will straighten this evil minded Dhristadumnya who is the killer of his own teacher? If no one is there, then today I will kill him.” And Satyaki took up his weapons and started charging towards Dhristadumnya. Dhristadumnya said, “O son of Sini, you are but a child, and what right do you have speak about morality when you yourselves killed Bhuriswara in an immoral way? But I forgive you.” That had happened on the fourteenth day of the war and we will discuss it later when we will talk about Arjuna. Satyaki was so angry that he said, “You do not deserve any forgiveness and I will kill you right now.” and Satyaki started charging towards Dhritadumnya, and Krishna signaled and immediately Sahadev stopped Satyaki, Bhima stopped Dhristadumnya. Dhristadumnya said, “Break free. Let me go Bhima. Let me go. I will kill Satyaki right now.” As they were arguing in this way suddenly they heard the Kaurava forces charging back. Aswathama had come to know the fall of Drona and he was charging at the head of the Kauravas out to take revenge and Yudhisthir told the soldiers, “We are all in great danger now. This is not the fight for all of us. Both of you: Satyaki and Dhritadumnya are important warriors in my army. Please put aside your mutual differences for a higher cause.” Reluctantly they parted and they got ready to fight. The point here is that even among the Pandava forces there were misgivings about the way Drona was killed.

We know that Arjuna had been able to overpower Drona at Virat. Drona was among the many warriors whom Arjuna had overcome single handedly. Arjuna could have overcome Drona even here also. Then why was it that deceit was used? Actually in the Mahabharat what is demonstrated is practical morality. Practical morality means with the cunning one can be cunning. When someone is out to destroy a person and that person has no scruples, then if the evil side is ready to be scruple less or moral less, then the good may also have at times have to resort to similar things. That practical morality is demonstrated over here. And even relatively speaking if we compare the evil, the Pandavas are overall virtuous and there is no comparison between their virtue and the Kaurava’s virtue. The Pandava’s never attempted to take the kingdom of the Kauravas, the Pandava’s never attempted to disrobe the queens of the Kauravas, the Pandavas never conspired to have the Kaurava’s burned. So, from the relative point of view the Kauravas are far more immoral than the Pandava’s, and again from the relative point of

view if we consider the killing of Abhimanyu and the killing of Drona, the killing of Drona was an impulsive act of one warrior. Dhristadumnya lost his head and at one particular moment he went and just barbarically killed Drona. Certainly bad, but then what Drona instigated was far more reprehensive.

It was an organized conspiracy to kill Abhimany; Drona was cool headed, he knew what he was doing and all the Kaurava warriors in their side knew what they were doing. Six maharathas simultaneously attacking one sixteen year old boy and then a seventh warrior killing him after he had been totally exhausted is completely against the codes of morality. Relatively speaking, one hot headed crime and another cold blooded conspiracy if we compare, there is no comparison. The barbarousness of Abhimanyu’s death far exceeds the death of any barbarism that was there in the death of Drona. So, through this what the Mahabharata illustrates to all of us is that actually in this world the morality is very difficult to determine, and sometime even the moral may have to choose immoral actions. And we see the Pandava’s in general did not choose immorality. Yudhisthir hesitated; and even when Yudhisthir lied his intention was never to kill Dronacharya in such a bad way. When Dristadumnya killed him it was his own crime, and if we see there are many other factors involved over here. The other factors are that Dronacharya’s quiver got exhausted; the sages told him that he was fighting sinfully and Dronacharya himself put aside his bow and arrow. In that sense Dronacharya knew in advance that such a thing has happened; maybe not exact details but the very fact that he made a prophesy right at the beginning of the war, that hearing a disagreeable news from a reliable source I will put aside my weapons; that’s what exactly happened. That means that there are higher powers moving over here.

Dhristadumya was destined to kill Drona and Dhristadumnya as far as military prowess is concerned was no match to Drona. So, Dhristadumnya had been born by the blessing of Shiva and the words of Siva had to come true eventually. There are various factors involved in this by which Drona was killed, and if Drona’s killing is considered immoral there are two factors: One is that it demonstrates that immorality may be required while fighting against those who are totally immoral, and relatively speaking one man’s hot headed morality is far less culpable than cold conspiracy of several maharathas all of whom should have known better.

Drona’s life demonstrates overall how a gallant brahmana chose the role of ksatriya, had sided with evil, and because of siding with evil had to meet with an unfortunate end. Dronacharya has fame for his great capacity as a teacher and for his capacity to produce great students and for his own heroism. His overall life is glorious if we put aside the evil things that he did under the influence of the bad association of Duryodhana and his constant goading. And he is one of the most captivating characters

in the Mahabharat who stands tall as a glorious teacher and mentor and warrior.

Thank you.