Mahabharata storyImage Credit source: AI
On the 18th day of the Mahabharata war, when almost all the charioteers of the Kaurava army had fallen, Duryodhana hid in a lake to save his life. Duryodhana came out after being searched and challenged by the Pandavas. It was decided that there would be a mace fight between Bhima and Duryodhana. Both were adept in wielding mace and both had learned it from Balram ji. The war of Mahabharata was not only a clash of weapons, but it was also the most difficult test of religion and unrighteousness. There were many such incidents in this fierce battle that lasted for 18 days, which till today raise questions on morality, rules of war and justice.
One of these is the attack on Duryodhana’s thigh by Bhima, which was carried out in the presence of Shri Krishna himself and which was called an unjust war in the scriptures. But the question is that when Mahabharata is called a religious war, then why was this war considered unjust? Did Bhima break the rules or was it a necessary act against injustice? Let us know the whole story of this controversial war.
The attack that shocked everyone
The mace war continued for a long time. Duryodhana’s body was as hard as a thunderbolt, hence Bhima’s attacks were ineffective on him. Then Shri Krishna signaled Bhima and pointed towards his thigh. Bhima understood and went against the rules of war and gave a fierce attack on Duryodhana’s thigh with his mace. Duryodhana fell down bleeding and his death was certain.
Why was it considered unrighteous?
According to the rules of ancient mace warfare, it was prohibited to attack any warrior below the navel.
Rules of War: Mace warfare is fought only on the body above the waist. Hitting the thigh was a direct violation of the rules.
Balram’s anger: Balram, the guru of Bhima and Duryodhana, became very angry after seeing this scene. He tried to punish Bhima by calling it deceit and unrighteousness, but Shri Krishna pacified him.
Although it was against the rules, there are three major reasons behind this step of Bhima.
Draupadi’s insult and vow: When the Pandavas lost in the gambling game, Duryodhana signaled Draupadi to sit on his naked thigh in front of the gathering. At the same time, Bhima had vowed that one day he would break this very thigh of Duryodhana with his mace.
Gandhari’s boon: Duryodhana’s mother Gandhari opened her blindfold and with her vision turned Duryodhana’s entire body into a thunderbolt. However, due to the cleverness of Shri Krishna, part of Duryodhana’s waist and thigh remained covered and that was his weak point.
End of unrighteousness: Shri Krishna believed that if Duryodhana had survived, the injustice would never have ended. Duryodhana himself had resorted to deceit and unrighteousness throughout his life like Lakshagriha, giving poison, gambling with Shakuni, hence violation of rules became necessary for his end.
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Disclaimer: The information given in this news is based on the mythological stories of Mahabharata. TV9 Bharatvarsha does not confirm this.