The Greatest Indian Epic - Mahabharath

[viggop]

In that yagnam, Draupada wanted only a son.He will not want a daughter.But still Draupadi will be born first.She will be born as a mature girl and not as a baby, i think.Draupada will be unhappy because he wanted a son who can kill Drona.So, he'll continue the yagnam till a son is born.Finally, Drishtadyumna will behead Drona in the war.

[S.Balaji]

In that yagnam, Draupada wanted only a son.He will not want a daughter.But still Draupadi will be born first.She will be born as a mature girl and not as a baby, i think.Draupada will be unhappy because he wanted a son who can kill Drona.So, he'll continue the yagnam till a son is born.Finally, Drishtadyumna will behead Drona in the war.

My reference is from Rajaji's Vyasar Virundhu....
Draupadha will specifically pray to get one daughter who can marry Arjuna so that he will be with him forever...
and a son who can kill Drona...

[viggop]

Also, Dronacharya will ask for the panchala kingdom as a gurudakshina after their teaching is over.First the kauravas will try to get the kingdom but will lose.In the mahabharatha serial on TV, it'll be shown as if Karna will not be able tie the string on his bow in this war.I dont know how far is this authentic.Then, Drona will ask for the same thing from the Pandavas.These 5 people will go and destroy panchala army and capture Draupada alive.Though Drona will forgive him and give back the whole kingdom(?), Draupada will desire for vengeance following his humiliation.Actually, Drona's desire to capture Draupada alive is also vengeance because Draupada will humiliate him when he went asking for wealth.

[viggop]

It is sad that people like Dronacharya and Draupada , who were well versed with Vedas and other scriptures , well read during their times desire base things like revenge!

[S.Balaji]

Viggop,

You are right… Drona and Durupadha were childhood friends and Durupadha will tell Drona that once he becomes a king he will help him.
Drona was a poor Brahman and after marriage , he will need money to sustain and will approach Durupadha.. However Durupadha will scold him saying that a King and an ordinary man can never be friends… and will send him away….
Drona will keep this in mind and will look for an opportunity . In further pursuit of money, he will approach Parasurama who at that time was distributing all his wealth to others as a dharma.
It will be too late for Drona when he reached Parasurama. However Parasurama will suggest that he has only the Divine Astras as wealth now and if Drona wishes, he will teach the entire range of Astra war fare… Drona will accept it and will learn the entire range of astra warfare and will go home.
One fine day, he will come across the Pandava and Kaurava princes trying to get the ball which fell in the well. Drona will ask Yudhistra if he can take it out, what he will give in return. Yudhistra will say that he will arrange for a good Bhojana for the Brahman…
Drona will just chant some mantras on a piece of stick and will throw into the well. He also form a range of continuous sticks and will easily get the ball out of the well.
Yudhistra will be amazed by the act of Drona and will ask him who he is. Drona in turn will say , please narrate this incident to Bhishma .. When it was narrated , Bhishma will realize that its Drona and will invite him to be the Guru and Acharya for both the groups… That’s how Drona will become their Guru….
Its an established fact that Drona liked Arjuna only as he was the most dedicated student…
As a gurudakshina , he will ask the entire group to win Durupadha as a revenge but nobody could beat him ( I mean Gauravas ). However, Arjuna will beat him quite easily and get the entire Panchala kingdom for Drona and will also capture Durupadha as a prisoner for Drona.
Drona , on seeing Durupadha will tell… Friend, you said earlier that a king and an ordinary person cannot be equal. Now I have beaten you… Atleast now you and me are equal..
And gracefully, he will half of the kingdom back to Durupadha… but alas Durpadha will not forget this incident and will look for revenge and rest is history..

The moral of the story probably is…..Even the best of the friends can become bitter enemies ….

Oops.. when we address a topic in Mahabaratha, we will have to go back by several steps to get into the root… Because Mahabaratha is such a fabulous epic , with small small stories with multiple sub stories and branches………….

[S.Balaji]

It is sad that people like Dronacharya and Draupada , who were well versed with Vedas and other scriptures , well read during their times desire base things like revenge!

Dear Viggop,

I too wonder on this aspect. Infact the great Chanakya also had mentioned about this friendship factor in Arthasastra...
He says, even the best of the friends may become worst enemies in life and in such an event, he says, it will be terrible...
He also says , one should never share the best of the secrets to anybody ... not even to his best friend and not even to his wife !!!
The reason he states, the best friend may become a worst enemy and whatever he had shared will be exposed totally
Sorry for this digression...

[viggop]

SO, Drona's guru is parasurama.I never knew about this one.I have heard about the story of how Drona will retrieve the ball using blades of grass powered with mantras.
What did Drona do with the other half of the Kingdom of Panchala? He would have no use of a kingdom.
Drona was invincible in war just like Bhishma.WHile Bhishma was defeated using Shikandi, Drona will be killed using his love for his son.But still not defeated in war.He'll bve doing tapas after throwing away his weapons and Drishtadyumna will kill him from behind using this oppurtunity.

[viggop]

Also, before the war starts, Bhishma will classify the greatest warriors on both sides known as mahaarthis(i think).He'll classify Arjuna and Bheema as mahaarthis in the Pandava side>Whom will he classfy in Kaurava side?
I think he'll not include Karna here so Karna will get angry at this insult and will not participate in the war for first 10 days(atleast till Bhishma falls).Will Bhisma classify Drona as a maharathi in Kaurava side? anybody has information on this?

[S.Balaji]

SO, Drona's guru is parasurama.I never knew about this one.I have heard about the story of how Drona will retrieve the ball using blades of grass powered with mantras.
What did Drona do with the other half of the Kingdom of Panchala? He would have no use of a kingdom.
Drona was invincible in war just like Bhishma.WHile Bhishma was defeated using Shikandi, Drona will be killed using his love for his son.But still not defeated in war.He'll bve doing tapas after throwing away his weapons and Drishtadyumna will kill him from behind using this oppurtunity.

yes, Parasurama was the Guru to Drona for archery and use of weapons...
I think Ashwathama will be made the ruler of the half of Panchalam..

About Drona taking charge from the 12th day of the war.... I need atleast 2 days atleast to describe the destruction he made on Pandava army.. the kind of damage he inflicted on the pandava army was so terrible...that Krishna will summon the entire pandavas and will tell them clearly as follows :

IN WAR THIS BRAHMAN CAN NEVER BE DEFEATED... AND THE WAY HE IS CONDUCTING THE WAR , SOONER OR LATER.. YOU ALL WILL BE WIPED OUT AND WILL BE SMITHEREENS...
Better use AHARMA ways to eliminate him...

Followed by this, he will highlight the fact that Drona is very very affectionate towards his son Ashwathama and if somebody can tell a lie that Ashwathama is dead, Drona will not have any interest left out and it will be an easy task for us…
Nobody will come forward.. Infact Arjuna , as a true warrior, will refuse outrightly to utter any falsehood and that too to his Guru..
Even others will refuse…. Finally, of all the persons, Yudhistira will come forward… for the sake of kingdom…..
Ultimately, Bhima will kill an elephant by name Ashwathama and will run before Drona and will loudly shout saying that I HAVE KILLED ASHWATHAMA… but again he will lower his head in disgrace and out of shame…
Drona was about to use BRAHMASTRA at this juncture…. Knowing the terrible effect and the impact of this greatest of the astras, Yudhistra will be very concerned and also Krishna…
Drona on hearing the shouts of Bhima will not believe his words… He will refer to Yudhistra … the basic reason is … of all the persons, Yudhistira is well known for following truthfulness and dharma….
However, even Yudhistra will utter the biggest of the lies in the world by saying… ASWHATHAMA ATHAHA… ( loudly )…. KUNJARAHA ( low voice )…. But Drona will hear the first words only and will be totally down… He will lose all his interests now and will drop all his armoury and weapons and will sit in Yoga posture….
At this moment…. Drustadyumnan will storm in and will cut the head of Drona……

Thus , Drona will end his life….. its really a sad sad sad event…

Again, it goes to prove that the Pandavas could have never won the war ….but for the aharma ways they adopted to eliminate their KEY RIVALS…

I will do a separate posting on WHAT KIND OF DESTRUCTION DRONA INFLICTED ON PANDAVAS DURING THOSE 5 DAYS OF DRONA AS THE COMMANDER AND WHAT TECHNIQUES HE USED … especially the ploy to capture Yudhistra alive…

[S.Balaji]

Also, before the war starts, Bhishma will classify the greatest warriors on both sides known as mahaarthis(i think).He'll classify Arjuna and Bheema as mahaarthis in the Pandava side>Whom will he classfy in Kaurava side?
I think he'll not include Karna here so Karna will get angry at this insult and will not participate in the war for first 10 days(atleast till Bhishma falls).Will Bhisma classify Drona as a maharathi in Kaurava side? anybody has information on this?

Actually its called .. MAHARATHI...

The most highly skilled of all warriors are called "elephant-riders" or in hindi "maharathi. A maharathi is said to be one who could safely defend himself against several thousand ordinary soldiers or cavalry men. An Atiratha is one who can defend himself against 10000 men. Athiratha is one who does the war by riding on a Chariot....
karna and Arjuna belong to that elite group .. Ofcourse Bhisma and Drona were the pioneers of that art.

One story goes like this...

Bheeshma knew long before that Karna is kunti's son and had high regards for him as a skilled warrior. Also, Bheeshma wanted somedbody who is equally loyal to Hastinapur like him and who can do the war in case he is out of the war... He preferred Karna as the best guy as he is already a good friend of Duryodhana and a skilled warrior as well who can match Arjuna arrow by arrow , astra by astra....
It was deliberate ploy by Bheesma to keep Karna away from the battlefield

In Kauravas... Bagadhathan was called a Maharathi.. .as he was well known for elephant fighting.... and he had the best of the elephants by name SUPRADHEEPAKAM...( I had mentioned about Supradeepakam earlier )