Drona Falls
His brahmashtra had been neutralized, but Drona did not give up and trying to avoid clashing with Arjuna, continued the attack on another front. The soldiers, tired, could no longer contain him and, believing their sacrifice useless, fled, leaving him alone. Krishna and Arjuna saw their soldiers flee in panic but could not intervene.
“We absolutely must stop it,” Arjuna said, turning to Krishna.
“Yes. We are now one step away from victory, but as long as Drona lives we can never be sure. He is capable of doing anything on a battlefield. Have you seen how he killed Virata and Drupada? When he becomes furious, he loses all control and it becomes dangerous. We must eliminate him without waiting any longer.”
At Krishna’s invitation, the Pandavas withdrew from combat for a few minutes in order to work out a plan.
“Drona is like Bhishma, he is absolutely invincible,” said Krishna. “He knows all the fighting techniques and is in possession of formidable celestial weapons. But just like Bhishma, he has a weakness, and that is he does not put his heart into this war. He has never accepted Duryodhana’s behavior and therefore is not glad to be here to fight against us. We will only be able to kill him as we did with Bhishma, that is, by making him himself lose the desire to live.”
“But in many things he is different from Bhishma,” Yudhisthira retorted, “mainly because he still has valid reasons to continue living. In this he is not like Bhishma.”
“Actually he wants to live still because he is fond of his son,” Krishna interjected, “but if we told him that Asvatthama is dead I am sure he would lose all desire and Dhristadyumna could face him with the certainty of suppressing him.”
“But Asvatthama is not dead,” Yudhisthira objected, “nor does it seem easy to kill him. He is a skilled fighter, and even Arjuna has found it difficult to duel against him these days.”
“I know. Asvatthama cannot be killed by anyone. He has received a kind of blessing that will allow him to enjoy a life as long as Brahma’s. But telling Drona that his son is dead remains the only way to defeat him; therefore, we’ll have to make them believe it even if it’s not true.”
Yudhisthira lingered: he didn’t like it at all. One of his most sacred principles was not to tell lies, and in his entire life he had never had to tell one; moreover this would have been quite serious as it would have implied the death of his teacher.
Although it was advice from Krishna himself, he could not find the courage to do such a thing. Yudhisthira was so pure that his chariot did not even touch the ground, just like the Devas who never put their feet on the ground; yet as soon as he had that indecision in obeying the incarnate Supreme Lord, the wheels of the chariot hit the ground. The Pandava was speechless.
But there was someone who certainly had fewer scruples than he.
“Brother, why are you hesitating?” Bhima said. “You will not fall into sin at all because you will only have done justice. Do not forget that he participated in the killing of Abhimanyu and contributed greatly to our misfortunes. It is true that he has always been our guru, but now we are on a battlefield and we can’t stop a for anything. If you don’t have the courage to do it, let me take care of it.”
And without waiting for an answer, the mighty son of the wind Deva returned to the battlefield and struck down with a club an elephant named Asvatthama. Then making his way through the throng of combatants, he went to Drona.
“Listen,” he shouted, “Asvatthama is dead. I killed him with my own hands.”
Drona was baffled for a moment: he knew the nature of Bhima and did not believe his words. Instead, he redoubled his combat efforts and unleashed a veritable hell among the enemy ranks, sowing death wherever he turned. Having noticed that Drona used celestial weapons, the Devas, accompanied by his father Bharadvaja, came down to this world and spoke to him.
“Drona, what are you doing? Why are you sinking into sin fighting like this? You know that it is not right to use these weapons among the human species. So you who are superior to all these men, why are you worrying so much? We want you to you abandon this war and return with us to Svarga.”
Hearing those words from his father’s mouth, his desire to live in this world faded. He thought back to Bhima’s words, and the thought that his son might be dead almost completely extinguished the flame of life in him.
In the distance he saw running Dhristadyumna, the man who was born to destroy him and above him he saw omens that indicated his death. Then he turned in the direction of Yudhisthira.
“Dharmaputra, your brother told me that Asvatthama is dead, but I don’t believe him. Bhima can lie. You can’t. You have always been a truthful man, and I will believe you blindly. Tell me, then, is it true?”
Yudhisthira hesitated again, keeping everyone in suspense; then he said:
“Yes, Asvatthama is dead.”
Under his breath he added:
“Asvatthama, the elephant …”
But in the clamor of the battle those last words were not heard by Drona. And at that moment the great and glorious acharya, who had taught martial arts to the princes of the best families, lost all interest in life and observed with disgust everything that was happening around him. For years he had lived side by side with impiety, with sin; now he didn’t want to play that game anymore. And as bitter duels erupted all around, Drona saw Dhristadyumna next to him. He responded to his attacks, but his heart was no longer there. Saddened and distracted, Drona continued to fight almost automatically, even against Satyaki who had attacked him violently. Then Bhima also came and scolded him with harsh words.
“You were my teacher and I owe everything I know to you,” he shouted at him. “But for this very reason I feel a greater disgust towards you, as you, a Brahmana, instead of preaching truth and righteousness, have shared your time with the demons, defiling any good thing done previously. Shame on you.”
It was at those harsh words of Bhima that Drona stopped fighting and laid down his arms in his chariot.
“Kaurava soldiers,” he said, “from now on I don’t want to shed any more blood. Tell Duryodhana, that I, like many others, have always given him advice aimed at his good. But unfortunately he never wanted to accept it. I’m tired and I quit fighting. Now I will begin to meditate and soon I will leave my earthly manifestation. As for you, since the blind Kaurava does not intend to hear reasons, continue to fight valiantly and thus deserve the celestial planets.”
Having said that, he sat down on the chariot and closed his eyes, beginning to fix his thoughts on the primordial Lord Vishnu, thus purifying his mind and body.
A few minutes had passed when Dhristadyumna saw his sworn enemy sitting on the unarmed chariot. Oblivious to the fact that he was sitting in the yoga position and that he had sunk into the thoughts of the Supreme, he jumped on top of him like a great raptor, and while everyone begged him not to, with a mighty stroke of the sword he beheaded him. The instant the head was separated from the trunk, everyone saw a spark of light, the spiritual soul, come out of that body and ascend into heaven.
While friends and foes scolded him, Dhristadyumna still stood on Drona’s chariot, sword in one hand and head in the other, soaked in blood, similar to Yama himself in the act of slaughtering living entities. The prophecy had come true, his oath too.
Bhima was one of the few to exult; with transport he embraced him and together they danced in great ecstasy.
“And when Karna and Duryodhana and all his brothers are dead, my friend, we will dance again, happy to have freed the world from the torment of these asuras.”
Bhima said these words to Dhristadyumna with so much gaiety that he almost seemed to be singing.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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