164. Duryodhana Hides in the Lake

Of Gandhari’s hundred sons, only Duryodhana was left. He used a mantra to disappear under the waters of a lake, but Yudhishthira detected him.

“You can’t hide, Duryodhana!” he shouted.

“I’m not hiding,” Duryodhana replied. “I’m cooling my inner fire. The world is yours now: take it all, everything! You have won!”

“Very generous!” replied Yudhishthira. “But earlier, you would not give us our half of the kingdom, nor five villages, nor even a needlepoint of land.”

Duryodhana emerged from the water, wielding his mace. “I’m still here, and I will fight you all,” he shouted angrily, “one by one.”

165. Duryodhana Duels with Bhima

“Did you fight Abhimanyu one by one?” Yudhishthira said to Duryodhana. “No, you attacked like a pack of wolves. But we respect dharma. We agree to single combat. If you die, you’ll have heaven; if you live, you’ll have your kingdom.”

Duryodhana challenged Bhima first, and they fought. As he had vowed, Bhima smashed Duryodhana’s thigh and then danced in joy around his fallen victim.

“Enough!” said Yudhishthira. “He’s still our cousin, and a prince.”

“But he’ll die soon,” said Krishna. “It’s time to go.”

“I shall attain heaven,” groaned Duryodhana. “Take the earth, if that is what you want.”

166. Duryodhana Summons Balarama

Balarama had refused to choose a side in the war. He had taught Duryodhana and Bhima the art of mace-fighting, and he loved them both. So when Bhima shattered Duryodhana’s thigh with his mace, Duryodhana cried out, “That’s against all the rules! Balarama, my guru, see what Bhima has done to me! To me, who was always your favorite!”

Instantly, Balarama appeared and lifted up his plow to kill Bhima, but Krishna intervened. “Stop, my brother!” he said. “Bhima has only fulfilled the vow he took when Duryodhana taunted Draupadi by slapping his thigh. All is as it must be.”

167. Duryodhana Addresses His Son

As Duryodhana lay dying on the battlefield, they brought his young son, Durjaya, to see him. The little boy ran to his father and went to sit on his lap, but his father had to push him away.

“The Pandavas have broken my thigh,” he said to Durjaya. He then caressed the boy’s hair and said, “They are the victors, my son, my Durjaya. You must serve them now, the Pandavas; they are your uncles. I commend you to their protection because I am leaving soon. Very soon.”

And Duryodhana wept as he thought of all he would leave behind.

168. Draupadi Greets the Victorious Pandavas

The war had lasted eighteen days when the Pandavas declared victory over the Kauravas. Draupadi greeted her husbands as they returned from the battlefield, draping them with garlands of triumph: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva.

“Come, Krishna!” Draupadi said, turning to Krishna who was still standing on Arjuna’s chariot. “I made a garland for you too!”

Krishna smiled; then, as he dismounted, the chariot burst into flames.

“Drona had actually destroyed the chariot days ago with a fire-missile,” he explained.

Thus the Pandavas realized that their victory was all thanks to Krishna: his power had saved them again and again.

169. Barbarika Settles an Argument

After the war was over, soldiers in the Pandava camp began arguing about who had won the most glory. “Arjuna!” said some. “No, Bhima!” said others. Finally, as the argument grew more heated, Krishna said, “Let’s ask the head.”

He meant the head of Barbarika, who had watched the whole war.

They gathered around the head, repeating the claims for the various warriors.

“Arjuna? Bhima?” said the head in surprise. “I saw no warrior but Krishna. Everywhere his Sudarshana-Chakra flew through the air, cutting the unrighteous to pieces, and their blood spilled upon the earth like the tongue of Kali.”

170. Ashwatthama Makes a Final Vow

Over a billion soldiers died in the war.

On the Pandava side, a few thousand survived.

On the Kaurava side, there were three survivors: Drona’s son, Ashwatthama; Ashwatthama’s uncle, Kripa; and Kritavarma, a Yadava commander, plus Duryodhana, who lay dying beside the lake where the Pandavas had left him.

The three survivors knelt beside Duryodhana, and they listened to the sounds of rejoicing in the Pandava camp.

Ashwatthama still refused to admit defeat. “I will kill the Pandavas yet!” he vowed.

Duryodhana nodded, unable to resist the force of Ashwatthama’s rage. “Do it,” he said. “Kill them if you can.”

171. The Kauravas Raid the Camp by Night

“We are only three,” said Kripa.

“What can we do?” asked Kritavarma.

Then they saw a single owl kill a flock of crows sleeping in a tree.

“We can do that!” said Ashwatthama. “We’ll sneak in and kill them as they sleep.”

Ashwatthama found Draupadi’s brothers, Shikhandin and Dhrishtadyumna, and killed them both. “That is for Bhishma,” he whispered, “and for my father!”

Next, Ashwatthama beheaded five warriors sleeping together, thinking they were the Pandavas, and put their heads into a sack. Finally, he set fire to the camp, while Kripa and Kritavarma shot down soldiers who fled the fire.

172. Ashwatthama Returns to Duryodhana

Ashwatthama returned to Duryodhana, proudly carrying the bag of five heads.

“I killed the Pandavas!” he said.

“Show me,” Duryodhana said in disbelief. “Give me Bhima’s head.”

Ashwatthama gave him a head, and Duryodhana took it and crushed it between his fingers.

“No!” said Duryodhana. “This is not Bhima; I would not be able to crush his head so easily. Who have you killed?”

Then Ashwatthama realized: he had killed the five sons of Draupadi. These were not the Pandavas.

“I have lost the war,” Duryodhana sighed, “but the Pandavas… they too lost everything.”

And with those words, he died.

173. The One Hundred Kauravas

Duryodhana, Dushasana, Duhsaha, Duhsala, Jalasandha, Sama, Saha, Vinda, Anuvinda, Durdharsha.
Suvahu, Dushpradharshana, Durmarshana, Durmukha, Dushkarna, Vivinsati, Vikarna, Sala, Satva, Sulochana.
Chitra, Upachitra, Chitraksha, Charuchitra, Sarasana, Durmada, Durvigaha, Vivitsu, Vikatanana, Urnanabha.
Sunabha, Nandaka, Upanandaka, Chitravana, Chitravarman, Suvarman, Durvimochana, Ayovahu, Mahavahu, Chitranga.
Chitrakundala, Bhimavega, Bhimavala, Balaki, Balavardhana, Ugrayudha, Bhima, Karna, Kanakaya, Dridhayudha.
Dridhavarman, Dridhakshatra, Somakitri, Anudara, Dridhasandha, Jarasandha, Satyasandha, Sada, Suvak, Ugrasravas.
Ugrasena, Senani, Dushparajaya, Aparajita, Kundasayin, Visalaksha, Duradhara, Dridhahasta, Suhasta, Vatavega.
Suvarchas, Adityaketu, Vahvashin, Nagadatta, Agrayayin, Kavachin, Krathana, Kunda, Kundadhara, Dhanurdhara.
Ugra, Bhimaratha, Viravahu, Alolupa, Abhaya, Raudrakarman, Dridharatha, Anadhrishya, Kundabhedin, Viravi.
Dhirghalochana, Pramatha, Pramathi, Dhirgharoma, Dirghavahu, Mahabahu, Vyudhoru, Kanakadhvaja, Kundasi, Virajas.

174. Krishna Curses Ashwatthama

Only seven warriors survived Ashwatthama’s raid on the camp: the five Pandavas themselves, plus two Yadavas, Krishna and Satyaki.

Draupadi wailed over the bodies of her sons, beheaded in the night. Her brother Dhrishtadyumna’s charioteer had seen it all. “Ashwatthama did this,” he said. “He beheaded the boys.”

“I want Ashwatthama’s head as vengeance!” Draupadi moaned.

“No,” said Krishna. “The killing is over. Capture him alive, and we will subject him to a punishment worse than death. I curse Ashwatthama to live forever, driven from civilization and shunned by all humanity.”

Thus Ashwatthama became one of the Chiranjivi, the immortals.

175. Kunti Searches the Battlefield

The Pandavas then saw their mother Kunti walking slowly across the battlefield, bending down to look at the faces of the fallen Kaurava soldiers. “Mother!” they shouted. “What are you doing? Those are the Kauravas.”

“I am looking for your brother,” she said.

They stared at her in confusion.

“I am looking for Karna, my first-born son.”

At her words, Arjuna felt faint. “You mean I killed my own brother?” he gasped.

“And did Karna know this?” Yudhishthira asked.

“Yes,” said Kunti sadly. “He knew, and he promised I would see five sons survive the war. He kept his promise.”

176. The Pandavas Honor Karna

The Pandavas were stunned when Kunti told them the story of Karna’s birth.

Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva now realized why Karna had spared them on the battlefield; that had been his promise to Kunti.

Arjuna remembered the years he had spent hating Karna, when he should have loved him instead as a brother.

“Why did you not tell us?” Arjuna asked Kunti.

Krishna answered for her. “If she told you, you would not have fought,” he said. “But you had to fight. It was dharma. All is as it must be.”

Then they honored Karna with a hero’s funeral.

177. Gandhari Searches the Battlefield

Gandhari spent the night on the battlefield, stumbling among corpses, seeking her sons.

But suddenly, she felt hungry.

So very hungry.

Smelling a mango, she jumped and grabbed, but the mango was out of a reach. Then she made a pile of stones to reach the mango.

It was delicious!

As she ate, she realized these were not stones.

They were skulls.

She had been standing on the skulls of her sons to reach the fruit.

“All we see is maya, the illusion of the world!” she groaned. “Blindfold or no blindfold, we are all maya’s fools.”

Then Gandhari wept.

178. The Pandavas Return to Hastinapura

Having won the war, the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura to claim the kingdom.

Dhritarashtra greeted them. “Where is Bhima?” the blind king asked. “I wish to embrace him.”

But Krishna had foreseen this moment and warned the Pandavas to give Dhritarashtra an iron statue of Bhima to embrace instead.

With the power of his grief, Dhritarashtra crushed the statue. Then, realizing what he had done, he burst into tears. “Oh Bhima, my nephew, what have I done?”

“That was only a statue of Bhima,” Krishna said reassuringly. “You have had your revenge.”

Dhritarashtra wept with gratitude and embraced Bhima warmly.

179. Gandhari Curses Krishna

Gandhari, however, was inconsolable. “Are you happy now, Krishna?” she said. “Your tricks killed all my sons.”

“Not so,” Krishna replied. “Their karma killed them: the consequences of their actions and the wicked choices that they made. But in death they are transformed; you should rejoice that they are in heaven.”

“Your words mean nothing,” shouted Gandhari, “and your actions also have consequences. Hear my curse: all the people of your tribe will destroy one another, and you will be left to die alone.”

Krishna said nothing, as he already knew of these events to come.

All actions have consequences.

180. The Pandavas Mourn the Dead

Mourning the dead, the survivors went to the banks of the sacred river. The Pandavas were there, along with Dhritarashtra and Vidura, and all the women: Gandhari and Kunti, and all the wives, the widows, all the mothers and sisters and daughters.

The rishi Narada joined in the mourning.

“Do you rejoice in your victory?” he asked Yudhishthira.

“I see only death,” Yudhishthira replied. “I see only defeat. Worst of all, I have learned that Karna was Kunti’s son. Karna knew, and said nothing. My elder brother is dead now, and I rule a kingdom that should have been his.”