Bhishma laid on his bed of arrows. Just two days since he fell to the prowess of his grandson Arjun and his charioteer Krishna. He had sworn that he would not leave the Earthly plane till the Kuru dynasty was in safe hands. He had no choice but to wait for the outcome of the war of Kurukshetra.
From the camps of the Kauravas he could hear loud noises and sounds of elation. While the Pandavas camp was quiet and mournful. Something terrible had happened, of that he was certain. He asked his torch-bearer if he knew what the commotion was about. The torch-bearer nodded and hung his head in shame. "Looks like the war is over Pitamah, the Kauravas have won."
Bhishma creased his brow and narrowed his eyes,"Tell me what has happened Manav," he asked his torch-bearer.
"It is the thirteenth day of the war, as you know Pitamah, but a day that will go down as the most shameful day in the history of the Kuru," the torch-bearer said sorrowfully. "They have killed a hapless sixteen year old boy today Pitamah, the Kauravas have."
"Don't mince your words boy, tell me what is it?!!" thundered the Pitamah.
The torch-bearer nodded, "Dronacharya had arranged the armies of the Kauravas in the dreaded chakravyuh formation. He knew that only Arjun and Krishna could get into it. So they kept both Arjun and Krishna busy while the battle formations thundered into the Pandavas armies. They killed thousands of soldiers. Yudhishtra, Bheem, Nakul and Sahadev were helpless against the cunning formation. As you know well that Arjun's son Abhimanyu knew how to get into the formation but he did not know how to get out."
"Did they risk the poor boy's life?" the Pitamah asked worried.
"The plan the four Pandavas made was to follow Abhimanyu with their chariots and dent the formation but.. but.. Jayadrad brought his elephant column in the way and blocked the four following chariots;leaving Abhimanyu alone in the chakravyuh."
The Pitamah took a deep breath knowing the story that was to come.
The torch-bearer continued the tale of woe, "The boy fought valiantly.....very valiantly. He began to kill soldiers in hundreds and chariots with their archers. Finally the great warriors all surrounded him. One boy in the middle of Dronacharya, Duryodhan, Dushasan, Karan, Aswathama, Kripacharya, Bhurisrava and Salya. He fought them all with everything he had. He actually had Aswathama running for his life. But in the end it was too much for him alone."
"Are you sure this happened Manav? Because this breaks all codes of battle conduct. So many against one lone boy?"
"Yes, I met the soldiers who saw this happen with their very own eyes." the torch-bearer confirmed.
Bhishma let out a muffled sound of anguish. His eyes brimming with tears. "What happened next?"
The torch-bearer braced himself," Then Dushasan's son took the mace and raising it in the air brought down on the head of the boy, killing him. Abhimanyu's head cracked open."
Bhishma let out a wail of pain and felt his old body wracking with sobs. "This is Adharma. It is deceit. This is not the Kuruvansh I stood for!"
"They say that Arjun has taken an oath that if he doesn't kill Jayadrad by sundown tomorrow he will swallow fire and kill himself. So the Kaurav are happy. All they have to do is protect Jayadrad all day and then by night Arjun will die and the war is over!" the torch-bearer said putting into place the sounds of the jubilation.
Bhishma laughed, scornful, "Yes the war is over but it's over not for the Pandavas but for the Kauravas. They have begun a battle of deceit now and they will pay for it."
"I don't understand," the torch-bearer said, confused.
"Krishna, my boy, Krishna. They have angered a man who knows deceit like no other on Mother Earth. History will remember this war for Krishna's deceit but they will forget who started it and how it began. It began with the smashing of the skull of a lone, unarmed young boy. He will fight their deceit with his deceit. This has now become a battle of Krishna versus the Kauravas. They are finished, all of them. All of them."
In the battle of encampment of the Pandavas Krishna stood atop a platform and looked at the glimmering fire torches of the Kauravas. He had finished crying over Abhimanyu. He whispered into the wind, "I am coming for you Duryodhan. Me and me alone."
The wind carried the whisper across the bloodstained battlefield and into Duryodhan's ear. The goblet of wine fell from his hand. Panic stricken he looked around but there was no around him. He could swear he heard Krishna speak into his ears.
~ Borrowed from the internet
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