The Krishna Love (Wattpad India Awards Winner)

Chapter 48 - Moments of Bhakti

Fortunately, Braja stepped into the room, right when Sid was about break down. His eyes observed a puzzled look on Sid's face. "Are you alright?"

Sid didn't know how to put his queries into a polite manner because it was offensive what he wanted to ask. It was a bewildering situation for him. Just this morning, he was overwhelmed with The Krishna Love, and now he doubted the whole process. He knew this was a critical moment. Coming hour would decide, whether he'd practice devotion to Krishna or not.

His eyelids at first didn't lift to see Braja, who was ready to dispel Sid's confusion, smiling confidently. A moment later, he closed his eyes for awhile and slowly opened them only to fix at Braja and began to narrate his queries:

At the climax of Mahabharat, Pandavas and Kauravas gathered in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, ready to send each other to the abode of death. The leader of Kauravas, Duryodhana, went to his commander in chief and explained his military strength. He also limned Pandavas' military phalanx, but he forgot to mention one person—that was Lord Krishna—who wasn't a participant but the charioteer of Arjuna.

Lord Krishna's face was adorned with a smile as if He has already won the battle. No human intellect could have figure out what was running through His mind. His plan was to defeat Kauravas within eighteen days.

Now cutting to the chase, some critics accuse Him as the real villain of Mahabharat since He used deceit to kill the opponents.

Till tenth day Bhishma wreaked havoc in Pandavas' army. There was a mass destruction that humanity never experienced in the past or will see in the future. Screams were all-pervading in this blood-soaked battlefield. More than sweat, blood that was oozing out from everyone's body.

Bhishma's celestial arrows were like comets falling upon the army of Pandavas. To behold such annihilation of his army, the leader of Pandavas, Yudhishthira, would go to Lord Krishna now and then to disclose his anxiety-ridden mind. "My Lord, I think I should take renunciation. The way Grandsire is slaughtering our army; I don't believe that we'll see the face of victory."

Flashing a mesmerizing smile, Lord Krishna gave him assurance and told him to keep patience. Next day, He made Shikhandi stand in front of the mighty Bhishma, who put down his weapon because he thought he couldn't raise his weapon against a woman (Shikhandi was transgender, though).

And then Krishna told Arjuna to shoot arrows; this was something unimaginable and despicable for Arjuna. Shooting arrows at an unarmed warrior? Not just that but Bhishma was his beloved grandfather. He remembered an incident from his childhood when he used to run after his grandfather to hug him, thinking of him as his father. While fondling his grandson's back, Bhishma used to reply: "I've told you many times, son, I'm not your father. I'm father of your father."

Krishna had to snap His devotee out of this flashback. He forced Arjuna to shoot arrows, which a little later he did. Within minutes, Bhishma collapsed on the ground, lying on the bed of arrows made by Arjuna.

If you look at codes and conduct of war, it's against the rules to attack an unarmed soldier. But Krishna broke this rule and used deceit to kill Bhishma. How can God be deceitful?

Then came the turn of Drona to die. Lord Krishna told Bhima. "Go and tell Drona, 'Ashwathama hatha—Ashwathamah is dead.'"

The intention behind this was, Krishna knew Drona had taken a vow that he would stop fighting only if his son, Ashwatama, dies. Needless to say, a shiver of fear chilled Drona's spine when he heard about his son's death. 

He went to Yudhishthira to confirm the death of his son, who has the reputation of never telling lies all his life. He spoke with a gentle voice: "Is it true, my son is dead?" This request landed Yudhishthira on the horns of a dilemma. He would prefer embracing death, instead of saying the truth.