Story Unfolds :
On the 10th day of Mahabharata war: At midnight:
A man was stark awake even in this dead of midnight. He had no sleep in his beautiful doe shaped eyes. He had lost his mental peace. Along with his 8 dead sons whom he had burnt one by one. In his very own hands. He hated Pandava siblings till now. For killing his first son Sudama (real name of the boy was Barunansh as he was Son of Barun Dev) mercilessly. He had to hate those Pandava now too as Nakul, Arjuna and Bheem had killed his eight other young sons who were at the prime of their young lives and ages. The eldest one among those loyal boys was 20 (Satyasen) while the youngest one was just 13 (Prasen). All others of them were in between them. Among them only three of them were even at the verge of starting a happy married life with their respective spouses. For example, Chitrasen was engaged to be married to Kana (only daughter of the charioteer of Karna, Surath and the best friend of Uruvi, Priyadarshini). Shatrunjay was secretly married with Paridhi (daughter of Vikarna and his wife Madirakshi). Dpitatva was going to be married to his fiancee Sunanda (daughter of Yutyutsyu and Ashavari, the same arrogant Prayag Princess who had insulted to marry Karna at her Swayambar). Kana was lying on the bed. Since the death of Chitra. As she was broken heart. Pari and Nanda went Sati at the pyres of Shatru and Dip. His family destroyed by the war. He had to feel hatred to those five Pandava siblings. Yet he could not. For he had been told about his identity at that time. He identified himself as the eldest Kaunteya as Rajmata Kunti had at that time came to him to beg the life of her younger son Arjuna. It was the 10th day of Mahabharata war and Mahamahim Bhism had been put on his Sara Sajya (bed of arrows) cleverly by Lord Krishna and Arjuna. He had been forced to be unarmed by seeing Shikhandi, the reincarnation of Devi Amba, at the battlefield. He promised her to accept his death from her own hands. He admitted his death. He was at his death bed now. Waiting so very patiently for his death call. He had been included into the Kaurava army immediately after the fall of Bhism so that he could fight under the able guidance of commander general Guru Dronacharya now.
The man touched his bow Vijay and a sigh came out of his mouth. He was not against Mahamahim. Then why that old man was always against him so much?!! Why he condemned him to take part in the ongoing battle for which reason now he had left only 2 sons alive Vrish or Vrishasen and Vrishi or Vrishaketu?!!! He felt so impatient that he wanted to go to ask him the reason!!!
He decided what to do and bolted out of his tent room. To reach to the same place where Pitamah Bhism was now lying on his Sara Sajya.
Within few minutes he reached there. He stood dead at his track by seeing his arch enemy Arjuna was present there too. He narrowed his eyes but did not say anything. He at that time knew that he was the elder brother of Arjuna!!!!
"Pitamah!!!" Arjuna cried aloud in deep pain. By folding his palms to the old man. As if he was begging his own mercy to his grandfather.
Middle Pandava Arjuna
"Ah!! Balako bhati bilap mat karo tum Putra. (Oh please!!! Don't cry like a young boy!!!)" The old man scolded him and then added calmly "Abhi toh keval suchana hain. Abhi toh tumhe aur tutna hain. Aur marna hain. Aur bhi rona hain. (My dear, his is just the beginning. You have to break apart. You have to die every single day. You have to ask the mercy of death every day. You have to lament hard.)" with a sigh. He could foreseen the future too perfectly!!! He could see the reaction of Arjuna after killing Karna!!!! That was the reason why he did not allow Karna to fight under his banner!!! He did not want to see the death of elder brother in the hands of his younger one!!! But that did not stop the death of 8 Karna sons among whom Arjuna single-handedly killed 2 then and 3 after killing Vrish!!!
"Jao, Putra. Agami yudhha tumhara pratiksha kar raha hain. (Go, my son. The war of the next day is waiting for you eagerly.)" He answered Arjuna too calmly. He too was waiting for the arrival of Karna!!!
Arjuna touched his feet with devotion and he blessed him.
"Bijayi Vab!!!! (Be successful!!!)"
But the wise old man ommited to say in what cost he had to be successful in this war!!! The blood of his relatives, young cousins, young nephews, elder brother Karna, his mentor Drona and grandfather Bhism!!!! The success was not so sweet as Arjuna had assumed!!!
Arjuna passed by Karna and before going out glared at him. In hatred. He tilted his head to left. Karna in the same time had looked to his rifht. His doe shaped eyes met with his lotus shaped eyes of his brother's. Brown orbs met with Hazel orbs now looking black in anger and hatred. Arjuna was angry inside. Karna was calm. Arjuna hated him. Karna stopped hating him as he knew his own destiny. To die in the hands of his brother Arjuna. The first one glared at the second while the second one just arched his right eyebrow slightly in amusement. He enjoyed the hatred in Arjuna till the end day of his life!!!
Arjuna looked genuinely surprised by seeing Karna here. He greeted his own teeth in anger and stomped his feet in rage. God knew why this man always felt so intimidated by the presence of Karna?!!! He then faded away. Karna looked at his disappearing silhouette and smiled at his mind. He felt that the anger of Arjuna was meaningless as always!!! That boy loved to hate him most!!!!
When he was looking intently at the shadow of his arch enemy Arjuna he listened a deep husky baritone voice in his eardrum
"Pranam, Jyestha Kaunteya (Bow to you, eldest son of Kunti)!!!!"
He opened his eyes wide in horror. He identified the voice. It was of Bhism!!! The same man's who never liked him in his entire life!!! Then suddenly he sharply turned back to face the lying man in his bed of arrows. Something had clicked in his mind. He knew that Karna was the eldest Kaunteya!!! But how?!!! He failed to comprehend that a bit!!!!
Mahamahim Pitamah Bhism
The old man folded his palms to his most neglected grandson. In pain. He never accepted him till now. Even if he knew all about his identity. Since the day of archery competition. The reaction of Kunti after seeing Karna had told him everything. Her pride, joy, happiness, fear, sadness and then losing her senses had been enough to this old man to realize everything by himself. He was old but not a fool. Unless he could not be able to control Shakuni and his cunningness so very long!!!!
Karna rushed to the dying man and clutched his palms in his own. Then he asked him in shock "Pitamah, ap jante the?!!! (Grandfather, you know that too?!!)"
Bhism nodded his head in agreement while caressing the palms of his elder grandson. That man loved all of his grandsons equally even if he prefered Arjuna most.
"Kyse?!!! (But how?!!)" Karna asked him again. In shock.
Bhism lifted his eyes calmly to the face of Karna and answered him "Ap ke Mata ne bataya. (Your other had told me.)" He suppressed the fact that he guessed it!!!
Karna looked at him with shock. He knew that!!!! Then why he hated him so much?!!! To that extent to condemn to fight under his commandorship?!!!
Bhism guessed his unasked question perfectly and smiled brightly while uttering this "Ham Kunti ki dono hi putra ko banchana chahte the!!! Ek santan hara Mata ke man ke pirah aj sambhabta tum samjh sakoge!!! Putri Supriya ko dekhne ke bad!!! (I am just trying to save two sons of Kunti!!! As now you will definitely understand the pain, suffering and endless agony of a childless mother by seeing your wife Supriya!!!)"
He sat beside him lifelessly!!! He had no urge to contradict his grandfather as he knew how very right he was at that moment!!!! His eyes were moister yet his mind vacant!!!! He knew that his Devi was dying day by day!!!
Eldest Kaunteya Karna
............................
At the Royal tent of Kaurava:
One beautiful woman was sitting at the bed side of another pale girl. The second girl was lying limply on the bed. She lost her consciousness every now and then. Whenever she gained Her senses she was moaning aloud by calling the name of her eight sons!!! The Royal doctor had used sedatives to put her in sleep!!!! They were the helpless Devi Vrushali scared for the life of her baby sister Supriya and the second one was of course her beloved baby sister Devi Supriya herself.
"Kya?!!! Isse honsh kyun nahin a raha hain, Vaidya Raj?!!! (What happened to her?!! Why she is not awaking till now, o Royal doctor?!!!)" Padma asked to the doctor Sushim. She was truly anxious for the well-being of her two foolish and naive baby sisters.
Devi Vrushali Padmavati
"Maharani, sadma ke karan aisa huwa hain. Inki Mano pirah ke karan inki honsh pe ana anischit hain. (O My queen, due to the sadness of loosing her sons she was heart broken and was in deep trauma. That's why she is unable to gain her consciousness once again.)" The old doctor answered her query.
She closed her eyelashes tightly. Pearl like tear drops emerged from her own eyes and rolled down her pink cheeks. Her throat was dried up. She felt so dreadful herself. Yet she was bound to console her baby sisters. In their this distress. Supriya was sinking fast and Uruvi's mental health seemed to her was deteriorating day by day. Those two girls took her as their inspiration. So she could not cry aloud. Yet her God know how she was feeling dead inside herself too!!! She was in love with those eight boys too!!! Like her Supriya and Uruvi!!!!
"Madhava!!! Aisa hi kyun kiya?!!! Ek Mata ko apni Putroke mara muh kyun dikhaya?!!! Jis mata ne apne santano ke age apne khushi tak nichawar kar diya usko hi yeah kathortam dand kyun?!! Ap ka bhi Koi Mata hogi na!!! Koi patni joh apke apni Putroke Mata hain!! Unke sath aisa hota to kya kar te ap?!!!! (O Lord Krishna!!! Why you did so?!!! A mother who loves her all sons equally and had sacrificed her own love and happiness for their sake several times is she deserves this?!!! You too have two mothers!!! 8 wives who are mother of your sons!!! What will happen to them when they also feel the same way?!!)" Her heartfelt lament came out of her mouth in an instance. It was not a curse at all. Just a lament of a grief stricken mother. It took shape as a curse at the time of the destruction of Yadu dynasty. Along with her, the curses of Mata Gandhari and Sati Uruvi would soon bring the disaster too. It proved one thing that when you do some wrong to others take the responsibility of it and be afraid that you will not be spared a little bit. Even if a God had to accept the curse of his devotee!!!!
From the next room shrill laughter of her another baby sister Uruvi rang in her eardrum repeatedly.
Ha... Haaa... Haaaaa....
Then She heard the scream of her anger "Koi nahin banchega. Sab kuch binash ho jayega. Sab bidhansh hoke rahega. Yeah ek Mahasati ki taraf se hamara Avishap hain. (Nobody will be spared of the sin. Everything will be perished. All will be doomed. Very soon. This is a curse on the behalf of a loyal wife.)" Then she was seen to tore down something.
Devi Basavi Uruvi
Padma gasped in shock. It meant that Uruvi was again in the shock. She ran to comfort her this baby sister. Till the death of Karna she had this work. To take care of the falling physical health of Supriya and mental health of Uruvi one after another simultaneously. She consoled Uruvi and gave her some medicines. Then came back to Supriya again.
Karna entered the tent room and had looked at the sinking pale face of his Devi. He knew that his rime was now numbered. So also of Supriya's. But he did not predict (like always) that was also of Uruvi's. They had to perish altogether. At this blood thirsty war of Mahabharata.
All of a sudden a beautiful girl had entered into the tent room with pride. And she sat down on the floor before Padma and Karna.
"Kyon?!!! (Who?!!)" Karna exclaimed worriedly. He did not know that girl.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him brightly while telling this "Main Vatsyala hoon. Maharathi Karna ke jyestha kul badhu. Beer Vrishaen ke Patni. (I am Vatsyala. I am the elder daughter-in-law of Karna and wife of his eldest son Vrishasen.)"
Vatsyala touching Karna's feet
Karna closed his eyelids slowly. He was touched by the love and devotion of this young girl yet he was afraid that her fate would be similar with Kana, Pari and Nanda. Yet he could not tell it to her. What to say?!!! That she should be prepared herself for the destruction too!!! She could be widow at any moment now!!! God!!! Why could not she marry his Vrish some times before?!!!!! At least they could spent some quality time together!!!!
Padma cried aloud and ran to her. She hugged this girl tightly in her arms. Then she broke into a heartfelt cry. Of happiness. As a mother she too had a desire to see her son married but not in the battle ground!!!!
The girl wiped her tears gently and assured her "Mate, ham unhe apne Swami man chuke hain. Bahat purb se hi. (Mother, I admit him as my own husband. Long ago.)" She hinted her mother-in-law how proud she was to be a part of her family!!!
Padma hugged her tightly. She could not control her tears more. Tears of joy and sadness both. Joy of her elder son's marriage and sadness of gaining this happiness over the dead bodies of her other eight sons.
..................................
1 day prior: At another room of the tent:
Vatysala came to Vrishasen who was planning to avenge the loss of his all siblings. They had proved their mettle and excellence on the battlefield. They were killed brutally by the Pandava. They had thought of him as their only saviour yet none of them ever called for him once. They did not want to distract his focus. Yet he had come back. To found out that all of them were long gone now. The clothes and Ladoo of Bana, unfinished paintings and bows of Chitra, books of Satya, maces of Shatru and Dip, armors of Sushen, favorite pearl necklace of Prasen all were there. Only they were absent. Their smells were there. Their laughter was there. Their pranks too were there. Their meaningless sibling rivalry was there. But they were not. Mother Supriya was now sinking fast while Mother Uruvi was out of her mind. Whose fault it was?!!! Pandava right!!! Even if they were his uncles but he could not forgive them like his father Karna. Yes like Shatru he knew the real identity of his father Karna too. That was the reason why he was so angry on Pandava brothers. He was determined to avenge the death of his siblings. Unless he would ready to die happily with them.
Karma Son Vrishasen
Vatsyala entered into the room and without any hesitation lifted her own right palm to him. It held a pot of Vermilion or sindoor.
Vrish with a jolt looked at her face and tilted his head towards her. He did not hear her footsteps.
"Bhar do. (Put it on my parting.)" She demanded from him. With pride.
He narrowed his eyes to her. Was she a mad girl or something?!!! What the hell was going on here?!!!
"Ap janti bhi ho is ka arth kya hain!!! Koi mazak nahin hain yeah!!! (Do you ever have any knowledge what it is meant to be?!!! It is not a prank!!!)" He twisted his nose in anger. Then he had added calmly "Ham yudhha main ja rahe hain. Na bhi laut sakte hain. Ap ka kya hoga tab?!!! (I am going into a war. I am not sure whether I will be back alive or not. Then what will happen to you?!!)" His voice seemed choked abruptly. He liked this foolish girl very much yet he was not ready to marry her. He was once ditched by Laxmana. He did not want to burn his hands down again. It happened often when a boy's first love refute him!!! He had been scared to open his heart to another girl again!!!
She looked at his face intently and then replied slowly "Main sadiyo se tumhara path taka hain. Sadio se tum hare pratiksha kiya hain. Agar Aisa kuch huwa toh main apne man ko yeh dilawasa de dungi ki main apki Patni thi. Yeahi meri liye sab kuch hain. (I have waited too long for you. I have loved you since my childhood days. You are my childhood crush. And if after marriage anything happens to you then I will console myself for being your wife. I want to marry only you.)" Then with a deep thoughtful look the added this "Agar apne hame swikar nahin kiya aur Chitra aur Dip ki tarah chodke gaye toh saugandh hain ham bhi Sati ho jayenge. Yeah Balram Putri ki vachan hain apse. (If you try to ditch me like your two younger brothers then I promise you to burn myself down to in your pyre. It's a promise of daughter of Lord Balram.)"
He opened his eyes wide in shock. He dis not realize that when he was as first drooling over and then grieving for Laxmana this girl was so much on love with himself. He thought her just as a friend while she had given her everything to him. It had happened seldom too!!! We forgot to find out our love in our best friends!!! Syala (Nick name of Vatsyala) was his best friend till the childhood while to her he was her childhood sweetheart!!!!
He blushed in his mind for his own foolishness!!!
"Par!!! (But!!!)" He tried to open his mouth to protest but she stopped him by nodding her head dismissively. She was not going to listen to him!!! She knew that the boy would never return back from the battlefield!!! It was all due to a curse on his father Karna who was unjustly cursed that none of his children would be 25 before their demise!!! Vrishasen was 25 at that very moment!!!!
With a sigh he put the vermilion on her forehead and told her gently "Ab tumhe mere mata Pita ko manana hoga. (Now it's your duty to declare it to my parents.)"
She smiled at him and ordered him "Hath pakdo. (Take my hand and let me meet them.)"
He made a grumpy face yet he obliged him. He was delighted to know that there was a selfless soul like her who was waiting eagerly for him. He was feeling proud of himself!!! For being her husband!!!
Then he took her to his parents. To take their blessings. There what had happened you all know it before.
Vatsyala came to the sleeping Supriya and touched her feet in respect while uttering this slowly "Mate, ashirwad do ap jysi ban saku!!! (Mother, bless me so that I can be like you!!!)"
Supriya smiled brightly in her sleep. God knew what this sinking girl had realized in her mind!!!! But a faintest smile appeared in her lips that made her look extremely happy. For the last time in her life.
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What will happen now? Will she gain her consciousness once more? What is in the fate of Vrishasen? Stay tuned for more updates.
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