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7-Drone Parv, 105-129
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War Day 14: Drone as Commander-in-Chief-Day 4 (2)
14th day of War - The 4th day continues under the leadership of Drone,
Yudhishthir's Fears

In the afternoon of that day, a fierce fight took place between Kuru and Paanchaal. Drone was like a stake for both. Drone had come to Yudhishthir, he wanted to capture him. They also had a very fierce fight. Yudhishthir wounded Drone severely. Once he used a Shakti (Power) on Drone which could surly have killed Drone but Drone saved himself by using Brahm Astra. Drone broke his chariot, killed his horses, so he had to come down of the chariot. Drone found this moment very appropriate to capture him so he sent the Sammohan Astra which made all the army faint in a moment. Drone rushed towards Yudhishthir, But in the meantime he sat in the chariot of Sahadev and backed away. [This is the third time Drone failed in his attempt to capture Yudhishthir. On the first day he nearly succeeded, but Arjun came in time; the second day he himself ran away from the battlefield; and today Sahadev saved him. Drone was very disappointed and angry too.] Saatyaki came to  Drone and fought with him. At another place Sahadev's son Shrutsen killed Shal, and Ghatotkach killed Alambooshaa Raakshas.

Drone afflicted Saatyaki greatly. Seeing this Yudhishthir sent Dhrishtdyumn and Bheem to fight for him and he himself also followed them. In that encounter 25 great warriors of Paanchaal were killed.

While it was happening Yudhishthir heard the sound of Krishn's conch, but they could not hear the sound of Arjun's bow. So Yudhishthir became very worried about the welfare of Arjun. And then he heard the noise of Kaurav's conchs, so he thought that something terrible has happened to Arjun. He called Saatyaki and asked him to go to help Arjun. But Saatyaki politely said - "I can do anything for you and Arjun. But I still remember Arjun's words that "You protect the king until I come back after killing Jayadrath. My success in killing Jayadrath will be nullified if the king is captured." Arjun is capable of handling situations, and then Krishn is also with him. You must not worry about him at all. I am worried about you, as you can see Drone, how he is killing our army. The moment he will find you alone, he will sweep you down like a hawk and I don't want to think what may happen next. I will not surely go to Arjun." But Yudhishthir insisted him to go not caring for him telling him that Dhrishtdyumn, Bheem, Viraat, five Kaikaya Brothers, Ghatotkach could take care of him.

Saatyaki was in a fix. He was not supposed to leave Yudhishthir alone while Yudhishthir was insisting him to go. Saatyaki said - "Swaamee, I do not want to leave you and go, but if you say so, then I will go. May the Lord protect you. Although the distance from here to the place where Arjun is, is three Yojan (one Yojan = nine miles), still I will follow his path and stay with him until Jayadrath is killed. I will pass through Mlechchh army, Karn's mighty army, Kiraat's army of 700 who were with you before but see the time, that thet are fighting against you, and then Kaamboj with full one Akshauhinee army You don't worry about Arjun at all. He can never move under any kind of stress. Think only about your protection from Guru Drone who is after you." Yudhishthir said - "Many warriors are here, especially Dhrishtdyumn who is born to kill Drone, so you don't worry about me."

Then Saatyaki equipped his chariot with five times more than the usual materials for the fight and proceeded towards Arjun. Yudhishthir sent Bheem with him for some distance. Seeing him following Saatyaki sent him back instructing Bheem - "Arjun asked me to take care of Yudhishthir, now since he has asked me to take care of Arjun, I now hand over this responsibility to you. I know that you are capable of doing that. But please keep strict watch on Yudhishthir. That is your foremost duty." "I will." said Bheem. 

He had to cross two Vyooh before he could reach Arjun. The first one was already broken but the second one was still guarded by Drone. His own Saarathee was the brother of Daaruk. Drone saw Saatyaki going away, he was very angry with him because of the destruction he made in Kaurav army, so he went to him and challenged him - "Your Guru went away like a coward leaving me when I wanted to fight with him, if you also do not go like him you cannot escape death." Saatyaki said - "Since Yudhishthir has sent me to take care of Arjun, I don't want to be late, otherwise also a disciple should always follow his Guru's path." And he asked his Saarathee to go fast. As he proceeded and started destroying Kaurav's army, Drone followed him. Kritvarmaa also came to stop him, Saatyaki fought with him also, but got wounded. Saatyaki killed Kritvarmaa's charioteer and went away very fast."

Dhritraashtra said - "Our army which is more in number, so well organized, very skilled, well paid, that what can be other reason than fate that it is being destroyed with this rate. When Arjun came in front of Jayadrath, then what steps my foolish son took to stop him?" Sanjaya said - "This is all created by you only so it is not proper to lament for it now. Who does not hear his elders' and well wishers' advice, he sinks in great grief like you, so be quiet and listen to the account of battle. Defeat is certainly yours. After Saatyaki left, Bheem and Ashwatthamaa fell on your army. Kritvarmaa fought with them and started killing people of Paandav army. Bheem, Shikhandee, Dhrishtdyumn all were hurt by him so they fled away from the battle field. Kaurav got very happy.
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Hearing the noise of Kaurav army, Saatyaki returned and faced Kritvarmaa. After defeating Kritvarmaa Saatyaki again proceeded towards Arjun with a very fast speed killing all who came in front of him. Then came Jalaasandh. It was not easy to fight with Jalaasandh, still he was able to kill him. Then your several sons - Durmarshan, Dushaasan, Vikarn, Durmukh, came to fight with him along with Duryodhan but he defeated all of them and proceeded. Drone again came to fight with Saatyaki, but he afflicted Drone's horses so his chariot was dragged away in circles. Seeing this Kuru army scattered away.

Saatyaki said to his charioteer - "Our foes have already been slain by Paarth, we have only killed the dead."  Then he killed another good fighter and archer Sudarshan. Now Saatyaki was very near to Arjun. He said to his charioteer - "I am sure Arjun will kill Jayadrath today before sunset. Take me to Arjun." As the charioteer moved on, they met many of your sons. But Saatyaki pushed back them all. He has already killed thousands of people but again he killed 300 horsemen and 400 elephants. In fact Saatyaki had done more killing there than Arjun. All soldiers started running away from the field. He defeated Duryodhan, Dushaasan, Shakuni etc."

Hearing this Dhritraashtra got worried about his sons and asked him - "Then what did my shameless sons do? And being my sons alive how he could go further? I am sure that Saatyaki would surely kill his sons."

Sanjaya continued - "Then many thousands of warriors came there and attacked Saatyaki together. Saatyaki either killed them or made them run away from the battle field. As they were running away from the field they caused a lots of noise. Hearing that noise Drone said to his charioteer to take his chariot where there was Saatyaki. The charioteer said - "Saatyaki is making your army running away, and Paandav, unite together, are coming to kill you, where do you prefer to go?" In the meantime Saatyaki appeared before Drone, and Dushaasan and his people also came rushing towards Drone.

Drone was surprised to see Dushaasan. He asked him - "Why these chariots are running away? Is everybody all right? And why have you come here leaving Duryodhan and Jayadrath? You are the root of this war. You insulted Draupadee, you insulted Paandav and now you are running away? I think you could not stand the fight with Saatyaki, that is why you are running away? Bheeshm told your brother that Paandav were invincible but he did not listen, so set your mind to battle. Go and fight with him otherwise he will escape to the place where Jayadrath is. By running away from the field, you are ruining the confidence of Kaurav army. Go, and fight with him." Dushaasan went away and fought with Saatyaki, but Saatyaki was too good for him. He was soon without his bow and chariot. Saatyaki could have killed him but remembering Bheem's vow he left him and proceeded further.

In the meantime Drone killed five princes of the ruler of Paanchaal - Veerketu, Chitraketu, Sudhanvaa, Chitravarmaa, and Chitrarath. Drone again tried to capture Yudhishthir but he was so well guarded that he did not get even a slight chance to take him away. In this process, Drone killed some more sons of Drupad. Dhrishtdyumn came to take revenge of them. He made Drone faint in his chariot. Then he jumped out of chariot, took out his sword and wanted to cut his throat that Drone recovered just in time. Seeing Drone in senses Dhrishtdyumn was very disappointed. In the end Dhrishtdyumn was carried away by his horses. So Drone came back and again started guarding his Vyooh.

Then Duryodhan came and fought with Paandav. Drone came to his help. Brihadkshatra came to fight with Drone. He was a good warrior so Drone had to invoke Brahm Astra, but Brihadkshatra baffled it too with his own Brahm Astra, but at last was killed by him. Then came Dhrishtketu, the son of Shishupaal. But soon he was also killed by Drone and then came his son, Drone killed him too. Then came many others together, but they were also trembling with Drone's arrows, so they called out Bheem and Dhrishtdyumn saying - "A Kshatriya's duty is to battle, and a Braahman's duty is to practice penance, but when a Braahman comes in battleground, he can destroy everything even by glancing at." Hearing this came Dhrishtdyumn's son Kshaatradharm but he was also killed by Drone. Seeing this Paandav army began to tremble.Seeing this slaughtering of his army, Yudhishthir thought "how to end this?"

But he was not able to see Arjun anywhere around. He had already sent Saatyaki, but there was no sign of him either. He was very much worried. Before he had only one worry - of Arjun, now he has two - of Saatyaki too. He thought - "I sent Saatyaki to follow Arjun, but to whom should I send to follow Saatyaki? people will say "Yudhishthir enquired about his brother Arjun, but not about Saatyaki".

He went to Bheem and expressed his worry about Arjun and asked him to find about Arjun's welfare. He was afraid that both Arjun and Saatyaki were dead. Bheem tried to convince him saying "Arjun is on the chariot which bore Brahmaa, Shiv, Indra and Varun to battle, so you should not fear at all", but Yudhishthir insisted him to go so he had to go. He asked Bheem to give a loud cry if he saw Arjun alive. Bheem went to Dhrishtdyumn and said - "My brother wants me to go to find out about Arjun and Saatyaki. You know that how Drone has been trying to capture the king, I don't think it is proper to go leaving him alone here but he insists me to go. I cannot contradict him too, so I have to go." Dhrishtdyumn said - "Don't worry about him, I will stake my life to save him. Drone can take him only after killing Dhrishtdyumn, and he cannot kill Dhrishtdyumn as he is born to kill Drone. You go in peace." As Bheem was about to go Paanchjanya's fierce sound was heard once more. Yudhishthir again urged Bheem to go there fast. And Bheem started on his journey.

Drone said - "Bheem's going there is not good, so I try to stop Bheem from going there." So he immediately went to guard the entrance of Chakra Vyooh. On the way Bheem met Dushaasan and his other brothers to fight with. Bheem straightway went to Drone if he had to enter the Chakra Vyooh. Drone thought that Bheem would also pay respect to him as Arjun and Saatyaki did, so he said to Bheem also - "You cannot enter this Vyooh without defeating me. Arjun was afraid to fight with me so he paid respects and ran away without defeating me, but I will not allow you to enter this Vyooh without defeating me." Bheem said - "He paid you respect because he considered you as his Guru, not because he was afraid to fight with you. But I am not Arjun, I am Bheem. I had respect for you before, because we thought that you were our well wisher, but now my all respect for you is gone. because you are now in opposite camp. You are now the well wisher of Duryodhan, that is why you are our enemy. The moment you promised Duryodhan to capture my brother and hand him over to play another game of dice, my all respect disappeared the very moment. I am not Arjun who is too fond of old things, I am Bheem." And Bheem jumped out of his chariot and ran to Drone with his Gadaa. Drone also jumped from his chariot just to save himself in time, but Bheem killed his Saarathee (charioteer) and horses and broke his chariot with his Gadaa, and rushed towards Arjun.

Drone mounted on another chariot again tried to stop, but Bheem threw him on the ground and rushed to Arjun. In the meantime your sons came to stop him, Bheem killed your three sons - Kundbhed, Sushen, and Deerghnetra; then he killed Vrindaarak; and then he killed your three other sons - Abhaya, Raudrakarm, and Durvimochan; and then he killed your another four sons - Vind, Anuvind, Sudarshan and Suvarmaa, a total of 11 sons. Then Drone again came to stop Bheem, fighting with him and others Bheemsaw Arjun fighting. Seeing Arjun he gave a very loud cry for Yudhishthir. Arjun and Krishn also gave a cry of joy. Yudhishthir got satisfied when he heard these three cries."

Dhritraashtra said - "I do not fear from Arjun, or Krishn or Saatyaki or even Dhrishtdyumn as I am frightened with Bheem. Tell me, O Sanjaya, who were around him when he was giving these loud cries?" Sanjaya said - " Karn could not tolerate his cries of joy, so he came to stop Bheem to reach Arjun and shot many arrows. Bheem cut his arrows and covered him with arrows. Bheem was rough in handling bow and arrow, while Karn was like Arjun - refined and cool, still Bheem broke his chariot, killed his Saarathee and horses, so he had to jump into his son Vrishsen's chariot. Bheem was very happy to defeat Karn. Many conchs were blown from Paandav's side. Krishn also blew His Paanchjanya conch.

Duryodhan was watching all this, he got worried about Jayadrath so he went to Drone and said - "What are you doing here? The three of them have come so far to attack Jayadrath. How could they get past you? It is ridiculous." Drone was very unhappy with Duryodhan because he was not trying to recognize his selfless devotion, so he said - "What has been done, cannot be undone, think of the next step." Duryodhan said - "Make the proper arrangements to save Jayadrath, that is all."

Drone was disgusted. He had done so much for him but he was scolding him only for letting three people enter the Vyooh. How could he stop them? He was all he day busy keeping Paandav army off the Vyooh. He angrily said - "You are right. But what is your responsibility? Go and guard him who is a coward of worst type. You played the dice with Paandav, they have now become arrows for you. And now when Jayadrath's life is on stake, there is no dice to throw. There is no Shakuni in the court of Bhagvaan. I have tried my best, I cannot do more than this, you do whatever you can do. I have to stay here to save your army from Paandav army." Duryodhan went away.

As Duryodhan was going back, he faced Yudhaamanyu and Uttamaujaa. He had no chance to win them, so he rode in Shalya's chariot and left those brothers. Both the brothers proceeded towards Arjun.

 

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Created by Sushma Gupta On 05/27/04
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Modified on 12/05/12