Untold stories of lord krishna.

Shri krishna; the perfect guru

One of the few laments that lord Krishna uttered was how his loved ones would take up unachievable sankalpa ( commitments) and how he would have to move heaven and earth to fulfill them.

After all, he is the devotee of the devotees. one such instance happened after the slaughter of abhimanyu (arjuna's son). Abhimanyu was killed in a tactic move of kauravas called chakravyuha, where he was killed by all the main kauravas warriors. This move had been thought by jaidratha.(Dushala husband), who was the only sister of 100 kauravas brothers.  

After abhimanyu's death, arjuna had vowed that he would kill jaidratha by next sundown and if he wasn't able to, he would self-immolate. The kauravas had rejoiced greatly that night because they believed they had won the war. They were planning to hide jaidrath in the middle of their force so that Arjuna won't be able to reach him. And, if by any chance, Arjuna did manage to kill jaidrath, they had another ace up their sleeve.

Jaidratha's father was a sage and he had given his son a boon that whoever killed Jaidrath would burst into a thousand pieces once jaidrath's head would fall on the floor. one way or another, arjuna's death was assured. 

So, the battle of mahabharata raged on the next day, with arjuna trying his best to kill the soldiers that stood between him and Jaidrath. He killed hundreds and thousands of soldiers that day but he couldn't see Jaidrath. As the evening neared, Lord Krishna, also the one who stands on the side of righteousness, used his Sudarshan Chakra to hide the sun momentarily. The kauravas thought that it was sundown and started celebrating. It was then that Jaidrath came out of his hiding and gloated in front of Arjuna. 

Lord krishna took back his Sudarshan Chakra and the sun started shining again. Realizing that it wasn't sundown yet, jaidrath started running fearfully back to his enclosure. Arjuna took up his bow to immediately kill Jaidrath but Lord krishna held his hand. He instructed arjuna to cut Jaidrath's head in such a way that it fell into the lap of his father.

Arjuna aimed and released his arrow. The arrow cut jaidrath's head, and the force of it was such that it flew miles away from the battle and fell precisely in the lap of his father, Vriddhakshatra. Vriddhakshatra was sitting with his eyes closed and was shocked when he saw the head of his son in his lap. He immediately reacted and the head of jayadratha fell on the ground.

Since it was vriddhakshatra that had thrown jaidratha's head on the ground, it was he who burst into thousand pieces.

In this story, lord krishna played the role of arjuna's guru. The task that arjuna had taken was nearly impossible. There were limitations of time, knowledge, and the power that had protected arjuna's foe. But, like a guru, Lord krishna had given arjuna the perfect advice, helping him not only avoid certain death but also fulfilling the commitment he had taken.

Even in our life, it is the wisdom and blessings of our guru which helps us traverse the seemingly impossible situations that destiny brings in front of us. Joy and misery are the two faces of the coin of life that we cannot escape. But, with the grace of the guru or the god one worships, we can live our lives with more balance, less affected by the stumbles that come along the way.