Drona and Pandavas -- 2

After Drupada’s defeat and Drona’s revenge, his work in Hastinapur was over. Bhishma however did not send him away. Drona and Ashvatthama continued to stay in Hastinapur. Did he continue his work of teaching young warriors? Mahabharat is silent.

Yudhishthira was declared Yuvaraj and Duryodhana, naturally, resented it. Dhritarashtra sent the Pandavas away to stay at Varanavat. From this time, Drona and Pandavas seem to drift apart. During Pandavas’ stay at Varanavat, Duryodhana carried out his plan of building a flammable house for them and putting it to fire one night to kill them. Bhishma and Drona were unaware of it. Pandavas were warned by Vidura, managed to survive the burning house but then had to stay away to escape. It was assumed that five Pandavas and Kunti died in the fire. Duryodhana became the de-facto king. Bhishma more or less retired. Drona continued to stay in Hastinapur. Duryodhana also did not send him away.

Drupada had lost to the Pandavas but then he took his Son Drishtadyumna and daughter Droupadi into cognizance as legitimate children. I speculate that they were his children from a woman of tribal origin. Dhrishtadyumna must have learned martial arts from his maternal tribe. Though occasionally it is mentioned that he was taught by Drona, this is not likely. Drona had stopped his teaching long back. Dhrishtadyumna also never showed any respect for Drona as a Guru.

A time line of Events from Autumnal Equinox to Winter Solstice.

I made an attempt to build a time-line of events from Krishnashishtai to BhishmaNirvan.

1.Krishna Left for Hastinapur on the day when moon was in Revati. Second day he reached Hastinapur and stayed with Vidur overnight. Third day the Peace Talks took place and failed too. Krishna stayed with Vidur and reported failure to Vidur and Kunti.

2.Fourth day in the morning (most probably, not on the previous day itself.), Krishna returned to Upaplavya, invited Karna on way,to accompany him on his ratha and had a talk with him. When Karna turned down Krishna’s suggestion to give up Duryodhana and join Pandavas, his brothers, Krishna invited the Kouravas to Kurukshetra for starting the war after 7 days, on Amavasya day.

3.Amavasya and Start of war therefore was 10th, or max. 11th day, counting the Revati day as first day.

4.Vyasa very specifically states that the Krishnapaksha ending on the Amavasya was a very short one, only 12 days between the preceding Poornima and Amavasya.

5.The preceding Purnima was thus just 1 or 2 days prior to the Revati day when Krishna started from Upaplavya.

6.Amavasya was first day of war, on 10th day Bhishma fell down on bed of arrows, spent 58 nights awaiting death and on 68th day he died. That was the day of Winter Solstice.

7.War thus started 68 days before winter solstice which means it started about 22 days after Autumnal Equinox. Purnima had occurred 12 days prior to war. Thus Autumnal Equinox was about 10 days prior to the Purnima.

8.As Amavasya occurred 10-11 days after the ‘moon in revati’ day, on Amavasya moon and sun were in Purva or Uttara (Phalguni)

9.Winter Solstice occurred 68 days later. In those 68 days where would sun move? At least 5 Nakshatra forward or to Anuradha or Jyeshthaa

Resultant time line would look like this.

Day 1 – Autumnal Equinox

Day 11 – Purnima. Nakshatra Purva Bhadrapada.

Day 13– Krishna leaves Upaplavya, Nakshatra Revati

Day 15 – KrishnaShishtai in Hastinapur. Nakshatra Bharani

Day 16 – Krishna Returns, Krishna-Karna Dialogue, Nakshatra Krittika

Day 24 – Amavasya after 8 days, (Only 12 days between Purnima and Amavasya), War Starts, Nakshatra Purva Phalguni, Sun also in Purva Phalguni. (Krishna refers to this as Shakra Amavasya)

Day 33 –Tenth Day of War, Bhisma falls.

Day 91 – Winter Solstice, 58th day after Bhishma’s fall, (On bed of arrows for 58 nights), Bhishma Dies.

In 67 days from Amavasya, Sun would move from Purva Phalguni to Jyeshtha on winter solstice day. What range of years it points to?

I have stuck to the description of events in the Mahabharat text about a)Krishna starting after autumnal equinox on Revati, b)Shishtai timetable, c)Amavasya after 8 days as start day of war. d)Very short fortnight of 13 days, 12days between Purnima and Amavasya. and e) Bhisma falling on 10th day and spending 58 nights on bed of arrows.

I don’t know whether Amavasya with Sun and moon in Purva Phalguni can qualify as Shakra Amavasya!

Drona and Pandawas. - 1

The relationship between Dronacharya and the Pandavas is complex and seems to change as the story proceeds. Drona was appointed by Bhishma as an Acharya for the Kouravas and Pandavas when they were very young. He was highly reputed as an expert in the Martial Arts. He also was very poor and was recently rejected by King Drupada as a friend and equal, although both had studied together as youths. Drona gladly accepted Bhishma’s offer and settled down in Hastinapur as a Guru of Kouravas and Pandavas.

Drona was essentially an expert in Dhanurvidya and Astras. He was not an expert in Wrestling though may have basic knowledge. He taught Dhanurved to all and also his own son Ashvatthama. All disciples picked up knowledge according their own abilities. Arjun and Ashvatthama were the best. Bheem, Yudhishthira, Nakul and Sahadeo seem to have done well enough. None of the Kouravas seem to have been highly successful although Duryodhan and Dusshasan were by no means dummies.

Karna is occasionally mentioned to be Drona’s student too but it is most unlikely. He was 8-10 years older than Yudhishthir and Duryodhan and no one knew who he was when he presented himself as a challenger to Arjun at the end of the training years. Karna also never showed any respect whatsoever to Drona which would be appropriate if he was Karna’s Guru.

At the end of the traing period, Drona asked the Kauravas and Pandavas to make war with Drupada and take revenge for his insults at the hands of Drupada. Kouravas could not prevail against Drupada. Pandavas could do so and fulfilled Drona’s wish. Although Drona confiscated half of Drupada’s kingdom, he never left Hastinapur to rule that half! So it was only notional. Karna had no part in this event. At this stage, Pandavas, espetially Arjun, was a favorite party of Drona.