Mahabharat : Sri Krishna

Sri Krishna was not directly involved in the war of Mahabharat. Initially he tried to solve the dispute between brothers through mutual agreement. But Duryodhana was adamant. He said that he would not part with an inch of land without war. So the war could not be averted.

Sri Krishna was related to both the Kaurvas and the Pandavas. Both Duryodhana and Arjuna approached him for his assistance in the war. Duryodhana asked for the huge army of his kingdom.But Arjuna said that he wanted Sri Krishna alone on his side. Sri Krishna made it clear that he would not fight against any of them personally. So finally he agreed to be the charioteer of Arjuna. But since Duryodhana’s had taken a wrong stand, Sri Krishna supported the just Pandavas throughout.

In the beginning, when Arjuna seeing his own relatives before him in war field, showed reluctance to fight against his own kith and kin, Sri Krishna advised him just to do his duty. This advice of Sri Krishna is recorded as a message of Geetha in Mahabharat.

Kaurvas had a fatal weapon called ‘Brahmastra’ which they wanted to use against Arjuna. The weapon was sure to hit and kill. One could not escape. Guessing their motives, Sri Krishna initially urged the giant son of Bhima, Ghatotkachh to fight. Ghatotkachh created such a havoc that the Kaurvas were compelled to use their Brahmastra against him. The result was that Ghatotkachh died and with his huge body, he crushed thousands of Kaurva Sainiks underneath his dead body. And thus Arjuana was saved.

When Duryodhana molested and disgraced Draupadi in the court, Bhima had taken a vow to break the thighs of Duryodhana because he had asked Draupdadi, the Pandvas wife to sit on his thighs. Sri Krishna knew of it. In the end of the war, when Duryodhana had lost all his colleagues and was left alone, he was then afraid to fight with Bhima, the war of knobbed clubs. His mother, the queen Gandhari called him and said that she had been a devoted wife throughout. She had bandaged her eyes because her husband, the King Dhritrashtra was blind. The penance had given her power that with her glance at someone’s body, the body will become as strong as stone. So she asked Duryodhana to come stark naked before her, so that with her glance, she could make him strong and invincible. Duryodhana agreed and went to undress himself. Suddenly Sri Krishna approached there, seeing Duryodhyana, he enquired why he was moving naked. Duryodhana told him the fact. Sri Krishna said, it is alright, but it does not look nice that he should go stark naked before a lady. He could at-least wear a Langot (an underwear). Duryodhana agreed. The result was that when she glanced at his body, his body became strong like stone, but the portion that was covered with the Langot remained mortal and unsafe. The queen was sorry for him for this lapse.

When the final fight between Duryodana and Bhima took place, Bhima found difficulty in defeating Duryodhyana. His hard hits were least affected. At that time, Sri Krishna hinted him to hit at the portion where the Langot is tied. The result was that finally Duryodhana was defeated. The war ended. The Pandavas had won. The entire credit goes to Sri Krishna because he was on the side of Pandavas.