Week 7 Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part D

Abhimanyu and Jayadratha

Abhimanyu was trapped in a forest by six warriors led by the evil Jayadratha. The warriors destroyed Abhimanyu's chariot, so he had to confront all seven of them as soon as he jumped out. 

The Pandavas attempted to rescue Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, but Karna and Jayadratha were able to hold them back. 

Attempting to walk, Abhimanyu fell because his wounded forehead was streaming blood into his eyes. He wasn't able to recover in time. The son of Duhshasana attacked him and "dashed out his brains with a mace." 

The battle for the day ended and Abhimanyu lied lifelessly in the cold forest. 

Arjuna was told the news of his son. With rushing adrenaline and deep pain, Arjuna took a vow to never reach heaven if he doesn't slay Jayadratha the next day. A spy sent from the Kauravas leaked the news of the vow Arjuna had taken. This left Jayadratha shaking with fear. 

The next day Arjuna was set to slay Jayadratha. 

On his journey to find Jayadratha in battle, Arjuna comes across Duhshasana, but Arjuna doesn't want to battle him because of his fatherly figure. He then came across Duryodhana. Karna engaged Bhima and Bhurishrava engaged Satyaki. Their battles were lasting long and Krishna feared that Satyaki was about to lose. Krishna tells Arjuna to use his celestial weapon. Indeed, Arjuna did just that. Bhurishrava's arms were both cut off and Satyaki was able to slay him. 

Arjuna had no problem slaying through warriors to find Jayadratha. After a continuous run of warriors, Arjuna commands Krishna to drive furiously until they find Jayadratha, the slayer of his son. 

Arjuna at last found the evil Jayadratha with Krishna's intense maneuvers. Jayadratha was guarded by Karna and five "great" warriors. During this time, "coincidentally", the sun began to set. Krishna was using his divine powers to manipulate the sun's intensity with a dark cloud. 

Karna engaged with Arjuna and at the same time a dark cloud turned the day into a shadowless dark night. All the warriors were convinced that night had fallen and Karna withdrew from Arjuna. Arjuna kept attacking and the last bit of sun left for the day shined bright on him and the evil Jayadratha. He overthrew Jayadratha and cut off his head. Bhima roared in the background as a sign of triumph when he caught sight of Jayadratha's head being slayed by the mighty Arjuna. 

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata's Abhimanyu and Jayadratha from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie. 1913.


This image portrays Arjuna slaying Jayadartha from MLLL-4993 Image library. 
 

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