The Vote Of The Trigarta
While the doctors took care of the numerous wounded and the tired soldiers went to seek, in a few hours of sleep, some relief from the fatigue of the battle, as every evening, Duryodhana complained bitterly. This time it was Drona’s turn to lift the Kaurava’s mood.
“You promised me to take Yudhisthira prisoner and in the afternoon you also had the chance, but when everything seemed done you stopped and let him escape: why? If we want to win this war you have to capture him as soon as possible. We can’t sustain the massacres done by Bhima, Arjuna and all the others.”
“I told you very clearly,” Drona retorted dryly. “I warned you that I could only do it if Arjuna wasn’t present. But today, just when I found myself having Yudhisthira at hand, Arjuna arrived. Yudhisthira is also very strong and I cannot catch him if I have to at the same time look after the mighty son of Indra. You must be the one to make sure you always keep him away.”
Susharma was also present at that discussion and decided to speak.
“My brothers and I have an old account to settle with the Pandavas and especially with Arjuna, and we are looking for nothing but the opportunity to fight him. Tonight my four brothers and I will take the vow called samsaptaka. Tomorrow itself, therefore, we will launch a challenge to Arjuna, which he will not be able to escape: he will be forced to follow us to the southern area of Kurukshetra and face us. In the meantime the acarya will be able to capture Yudhisthira”.
Relieved by those courageous words, Duryodhana embraced his friend, who as he had promised, that same evening, together with the other brothers made the solemn vow to kill Arjuna. If not, they would lose their lives. That vote in fact precluded any possibility of withdrawing from the fight.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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