Drona and Pandavas -- 6

During the first 10 days of the war, Bhishma was in charge of Kourava Army. Drona kept a secondary role and on many occasions, specially on the tenth day, asked all main warriors to protect Bhishma. He may have hoped, like Bhishma, that after the war goes on for some days, a compromise can take place. He was obviously not keen on killing any Pandava brothers. His enemy was Drupada and his sons.

On 10th day Bhishma finally fell down. He declared that he will hold on to life until Uttarayan begins. On 11th day Duryodhana had to select a replacement Senapati. Karna was now ready to fight. Duryodhana did not bypass Drona and select Karna. Pandavas’ main supporters, Panchalaas were still more or less intact and Drona was needed to face them. On being designated as senapati Drona asked Duryodhan what he wanted to do. Duryodhan also wanted now to end the war but on his terms! He asked Drona to capture Yudhishthira. Drona expressed surprise and pleasure that he did not want Yudhishthira killed. Duryodhan said if Yudhishthira was killed, Pandawas would be furious and will never give up. So his plan was to capture Yudhishthir and make him play Dyuta again and banish the Pandawas for ever! Drona agreed to do it but made it clear that so long as Arjun was around to protect Yudhishthir, even Drona himself also wont be able to capture Yudhishthir. ‘Keep him engaged elsewhere and I will do what you want.’

One can speculate what would have happened if the plan had worked. Drona was probably reconciled to Pandavas’ fate if he succeeded, as that was a lesser evil than killing them all (which, in any case, was not easy).

From 11th day onwards the war-aim was to capture Yudhishthira and the strategy for that was to draw away Arjuna from the main front! For first two days although Arjun was challenged by the Trigarta king and his brothers, Arjuna retained control and whenever a cricis arose he intervened to hold back Drona. When Duryodhana expressed unhappiness, Drona again said ‘ Keep Arjuna away’. On 13th day, the Trigartas again offered to make maximum effort to keep Arjuna engaged. 13th day was unexpectedly eventful.

Drona and Pandavas --- 5

Pandavas came back to play one more round of gamble with a heavy stake. As expected they lost and went to 12 years of Vanavas and one of Adnyatvas. War between the two parties was postponed for 13 years. During this long period Drona continued to stay at Hastinapur. He knew that at the end of the 13th year, Pandavas will come for the final war and Drupada will be their main support. He never made any effort to avoid that. It looks as though he was looking forward to a final showdown with Drupada and Dhrishtadyumna, even if that would involve fighting against Pandavas. He participated in Duryodhana’s plan to loot the Godhana of Virata. On that day, when Arjuna came with Uttara to fight with the Kurus and was recognized Drona was the one who raised the question as to how he did so before completion of the 13th year. Bhishma gave his interpretation of the required extra lunar months to match 13 ‘Solar’ years. Drona neither openly accepted it, nor rejected it, then or any time later. Duryodhana of course rejected Bhishma’s explanation then and there. After Arjuna defeated the entire Kuru army and warriors including Drona, they all ran away. Drona did not do anything remarkable in this battle. Maybe, he did not take it seriously.

After the marriage of Abhimanyu to the daughter of Virata, the Pandavas staked their claim to their in Indraprashtha. In the several rounds of talks between the two parties, Drona never accepted or rejected Yudhishthira’s claim. Even when Krishna came for a final round of talks to avoid the conflict, Drona did not threaten Duryodhana that he would go over to Pandavas or would remain neutral. He may be justified in that as he would have been branded with fright of Dhrishtadyumna. Drona wanted the showdown with the Panchals which he had to face some day or other.

When the war was to actually start, Bhishma accepted to lead the Kouravas, deftly managed to keep Karna out of it and kept control over the war for 10 days. During this period, Drona also kept a low profile

Drona and Pandavas -- 4

Pandavas’ survival and now marriage to Drupada’s daughter was a wakeup call for Bhishma also. He took matters in his hand and decided to do some justice to Pandavas. He gave them a share of the kingdom but asked them to go out of Hastinapur and build their own new capital place. Dhritarashtra and Duryodhana would continue to rule at hastinapur. Pandavas burned down Khandava Vana and built Indraprastha. Slowly they settled down there and prospered. In due course Yudhishthira decided to perform Rajasuya Yadnya. All Kouravas attended the final phase. Drona must have been among them but there is no specific mention of him in the description of the dispute which arose when Shishupal raised a quarrel about Krishna being selected for first honour at Bhishma’s suggestion. Shishupal insulted Krishna, Pandavas and even BHishma. Drona remained silent. Finally Krishna killed Shishupal. Many kings were angry at the turn of events. Drona neither supported nor opposed the Pandavas.

Kouravas returned to Hastinapur. Duryodhan was jealous of the Pandavas and how all kings seem to accept their leadership. In consultation with Shakuni and Karna, he planned for a game of Dyuta (gambling) with Yudhishthira and persuaded Dhritarashtra to invite Yudhishthira for it. Neither Bhishma nor Drona foresaw any trouble or dispute although everyone knew that Yudhishthira was no match for Shakuni. Yudhishthira came to Hastinapur as invited. At the last minute he was told that he was to play against Shakuni.

The game began and as expected, Yudhishthira lost bet after bet. Neither Bhishma nor Drona made any effort to stop the game even when Yudhishthira gambled and lost his brothers’ and then his own freedom. Then he finally bet on Droupadi and lost.

When Duryodhan, Dusshasan and Karna pulled Droupadi in to the place of Dyuta and insulted her repeatedly, what was Drona’s reaction? Mahabharat is silent but he did not say anything in protest. Strangly enough, Bhishma also showed helplessness. Ultimately Dhritarashtra realized the serious consequences and managed to cancel the effect of the Dyuta and freed Pandavas totally. He advised Yudhishthira to forget all that had happened and advised him to go back. Pandavas left Hastinapur but their demeanor clearly suggested that they would take hard revenge for the insults. Duryodhan and his partners now panicked. What to do if they come back in full force? They did not feel sure what Bhishma will do. They appealed to Drona! And Drona who had witnessed all what had happened, assured them that if Pandavas attacked, he would support Duryodhan whole-heartedly! He never even admonished Duryodhan for all his actions. Strange but true.

Drona and Pandavas -- 3

Pandavas had survived the burning house in Varanavat but no one knew where they had gone. Mahabharat mentions that Krishna-Balaram had believed that they had survived. It also mentions that Drupad/ Dhrishtadyumna also believed so. Drupad had accepted Dhrishtadyumna and Droupadi as his children after Varanavat and Pandavas had no knowledge of it. After Pandavas spent some period in wilderness they settled in Ekachakra nagar.

Drupada in due course announced swayamvar of Droupadi. The PANA was exceptionally challenging. It looks as though he wanted that if Arjuna is alive anywhere he will come forward to face the challenge. If not, anyone else winning it would a worthy choice. Pandavas came to know of the swayamvar plan and as expected, wanted to attend it. They had to come out of living incognito some day and if they win Droupadi, they would get the support of Drupada. Kunti supported the idea, they travelled to Panchal Capital and attended the swayamvar but in disguise as brahmins.

All major and minor kings and their sons attended the swayamvar. No one dared to attempt the PANA. Karna wanted to try but Droupadi announced beforehand that she wont marry him as he was a Soota. Krishna-Balaram were present and Krishna recognized Pandavas though they were sitting among the Brahmanas. Ultimately, as expected, Arjun won the PANA. As desired by Pandavas and Kunti. All five brothers married Droupadi. Drupada had support of all five Pandavas now.

There is no mention of Bhishma or Drona among those who attended the swayamvar or the marriage. Mahabharat does not say anything about Drona’s reaction to survival of Pandavas, their marriage to Droupadi and now becoming aligned with Drupada. He must have realized that in any future conflict with Drupada, Pandavas will be his opponents and not supporters. In all future events the shadow of the changed relationship can be seen in Drona’s actions.

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.