My friend Vasant was up in town for a coupe of days to catch David’s retirement and get some work done. We took advantage of his being in town to get together for lunch.

Vasant is a really smart guy and quite a Hindu scholar. We were talking about our kids.. and specifically Sam. Vasant once told me that there is no word in Sanskrit for a father that has lost a son.He told me a story from the Mahabharata today on that theme..   It was about Droṇācārya… or Drona… who was a powerful warrier that could not be killed while he had his bow in his hand. The story tells how Lord Krishna  defeated Drona with a lie. He made up a story about Drona’s beloved son, Aśvatthāma, having been killed.. He knew that Drona would stop fighting when if he heard his son was dead. … and that Drona would have to hear the news from a truthful man, Yudhisthira., to believe it was true.. Now,  Yudhisthira could not lie.. and Aśvatthāma was not really dead.. so Krisha arraigned for a complicated lie about the killing  of an elephant with the same name of Aśvatthāma.He then had Yudhisthira say to Drona  “Aśvatthāma hathaḥ iti, narova kuṃjarovā….” (Sanskrit: “अश्वत्थामा हतः इति, नरोवा कुंजरोवा…” meaning ‘Aśvatthāma is dead. But, I am not certain whether it was a human or an elephant’. at the moment Yudhisthira said the … “But, I am not certain whether it was a human or an elephant” part, Krishna blew his Conch so that Drona couldn’t hear that part. Drona only hear the part “Aśvatthāma is dead“. he fell down in grief and was killed

It’s quite a story.. read here from wikipedia..

In the war, Yudhiṣṭhira was targeted by Droṇācārya to get captured. For this plan to be successful, Duryodhana invited King Bhagadatta, who was a son of the asura Narakāsura, in order to fight against the Pāṇḍavas.

Bhagadatta was the King of Prajokiyatsa (in present-day Assam or Burma). As Krishna had killed his father Narakasur, Bhagadatta agreed to join the Kauravas opposing Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But in spite of Bhagadatta’s support, Droṇa failed to capture Yudhiṣṭhira alive. The Kuru commander and preceptor did, however, kill hundreds and thousands of Pāṇḍava warriors, thus advancing Duryodhana’s cause.

On the 15th day of the Mahābhārata war, Droṇa got instigated by King Dhritarastra‘s remarks of being a traitor. He used the Brahmadanda against the Pāṇḍavas. Brahmadanda was a spiritual divine weapon that contained the powers of seven greatest sages of Sanātana Dharma (Sapta Ṛṣis). But Droṇācārya did not impart this knowledge either to Arjuna or to Aśvatthāma. Thus, he proved to be unconquerable on the 15th day of war.

Observing this, Krishna devised a plan to bring down the invincible Droṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa knew that it was not possible to defeat Droṇācārya when he had bow and arrow in his hands. Śrī Kṛṣṇa also knew that Droṇācārya loved his son Aśvatthāma very dearly. So, Śrī Kṛṣṇa suggested to Yudhiṣṭhira and other Pāṇḍava brothers that, if he were convinced that his son was killed on the battlefield, then Droṇācārya would get dejected to such an extent that he would lay down all his arms on the ground and it would be easier to kill him.

In order to find a way out, Śrī Kṛṣṇa suggested Bhīma to kill an elephant by name Aśvatthāma and claim to Droṇācārya that he has killed Droṇa’s son Aśvatthāma. Following this plan, Bhīma located and killed an elephant named Aśvatthāma, i.e. the same name as Droṇa’s son. He then loudly proclaimed that he had slain Aśvatthāma, so as to make Droṇācārya think that his son was dead.

Droṇācārya however, did not believe Bhīma’s words and approached Yudhisthira. Droṇa knew of Yudhiṣṭhira’s firm adherence to Dharma and that he would never ever utter a lie. When Droṇācārya approached Yudhiṣṭhira and questioned him as to whether his son was truly slain in the battle by Bhīma, Yudhiṣṭhira responded with the cryptic Sanskrit phrase “Aśvatthāma hathaḥ iti, narova kuṃjarovā….” (Sanskrit: “अश्वत्थामा हतः इति, नरोवा कुंजरोवा…” meaning ‘Aśvatthāma is dead. But, I am not certain whether it was a human or an elephant’).

Just previously, revered sages of old, come to Drona and chastise him for his cruel acts and unrighteous fight.^[16]

Śrī Kṛṣṇa also knew that it was not possible for Yudhiṣṭhira to lie outright. On his instructions, the other warriors blew trumpets and conches, raising a tumultuous noise in such a way that Droṇācārya only heard that “Aśvatthāma is dead”, but could not hear the latter part of Yudhiṣṭhira’s reply.

Out of grief, and believing his son to be dead, Droṇācārya descended from his chariot, laid down his arms and sat in meditation. Closing his eyes, his soul went to Heaven in search of Aśvatthāma’s soul.

In the meantime, Drupada’s son Dhṛṣṭādyumna took this opportunity and beheaded the unarmed Droṇācārya who was not aware of the whole proceedings on Earth. This was considered an act of cowardice on Dhṛṣṭādyumna’s part. All fifteen sons of dhristadyumna were killed by drona.

In this way, Droṇa was killed in the Mahābhārata War. His death greatly aggrieved and enraged Arjuna, who had immense affection towards his teacher, and had hoped to capture him alive rather than killing him.

 

A wild story.. told to me by a good freind.. who was trying to tell me that he felt for our loss…

Thank you for that

-nite all, nite sam

-me