My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 26: Vicious Plan

After our thumping victory over the Yavanas, we returned to Hastinapur and were greeted with rapturous welcome. People of the kingdom flocked to Hastinapur palace to warmly applaud us and were relieved to know that Yavanas had surrendered. Yavanas were a persistent thorn for Hastinapur not only from the perspective of safety but also to the trading activities of Hastinapur, as some of the busy trading routes of Hastinapur intersected with those of Yavanas. Pitamah Bhishm was not only delighted at the outcome but also at the short work we made of Yavanas. Pitamah Bhishm expressed that he expected our victory but was pleasantly surprised to know some of the strategic war formations we employed during the battle. He called for Guru Dron and appreciated Acharya for making us learn all the critical war strategies and training us so effectively. Acharya Dron humbly accepted the praise but responded back saying learning theory of war strategy was one thing and employing it in real-time in the battlefield was another. Vidur kaka, Guru Kripacharya, Gandhari mata, Kunti maa, Yudhi bhai, Vikarna, Yuyutsu, Dushshala and others were immensely pleased with our victory. The only ones who were simmering with anger and jealousy were Bade Pitashree, Shakuni mama, Duryodhan, Karna and Dushshasan. By now, almost everyone in the Hastinapur knew the deep seated hatred and jealousy Duryodhan and company(Shakuni mama, Karna, Dushshasan) had for us and how they were scheming in various ways to sabotage us.

As time passed by, we Pandavas became overwhelming favourites of the people of the kingdom. Citizens wanted to see Yudhi bhai crowned as the King as they were impressed by his gentle speech, knowledge on rule of law, knowledge of scriptures, courtesy and respect extended to others and so on. They were of the opinion that Yudhi bhai would make a great king similar to our late father Maharaj Pandu. They were dreaming to see the glimpses of our late father Maharaj Pandu in Yudhi bhai, who would rule the kingdom for long and with justice. These developments were causing a great distress to Duryodhan and he along with uncle Shakuni, Karna and Dushshasan hatched a vicious plan to eliminate us. They plotted to send us to a place called Varanavat and have us burn down there in a house built of lac and he got the approval of our Bade Pitashree as well for this vicious plan. In fact, our Bade Pitashree with his sweet speeches was regularly recounting to us the glory and beauty of Varanavat, saying it was an ideal place for entertainment, hunting and sporting. Also, he mentioned a festival of Lord Shiva called 'Pashupathinath' pooja is held annually at Varanavat on a grand scale, so we should not miss that great opportunity to witness it and seek the blessings of Bholenath. Even though, we were impressed to hear the beauty of Varnavat and were looking forward to the impending festival of Lord Shiva but somehow in our hearts we were doubting the intentions of our Bade Pitashree to send us to Varanavat. Anyhow, finally Bade Pitashree was successful in coercing Yudhi bhai to visit Varanavat, Bade Pitashree knew it well that Yudhi bhai will not reject any suggestions or orders from elders at any cost. This trait of Yudhi bhai was to be used brutally by our Bade Pitashree in future too.

To execute the barbaric plan to burn us alive, Duryodhan sought the help of a person named Purochan and lured him by promising not only immense wealth but also a good position in the kingdom once he becomes the king. Duryodhan ordered Purochan to build a beautiful and palatial house in Varanavat for our stay and have it built by mixing large quantities of inflammable materials like lac, hemp, oil, clarified butter and so on. The plan was to have Purochan keep an eye on us and ensure we are provided with all the luxuries at Varanavat and bide time for some months. After some months have passed by, when an opportune time strikes, have us burn down alive in that house when we were fast asleep.

Amidst all the vicious planning and preparations, there was one person namely our beloved Vidhur kaka who was composed and watching all the events calmly and not showing any signs of frustration nor anger to evade doubts arising on part of Bade Pitashree, Duryodhan and Shakuni mama. Finally, it was time for our farewell and we took blessings from our elders and to our surprise we found Vidhur kaka speaking in mlechchha language which was foreign to us and none of us understood what he was saying apart from Yudhi bhai. Vidhur kaka wanted to convey the evil intentions of Duryodhan in sending us to Varanavat but at the same time he wanted to ensure other people, specially the spies of Duryodhan not able to decipher what he was trying to convey. He conveyed everything about the plan to Yudhi bhai in mlechchha language in the form of a riddle. Yudhi bhai acknowledged to Vidhur kaka that he understood the warning signals and thanked him in the same language. Just before the start of our journey to Varanavat after everyone had left, Kunti mata approached Yudhi bhai and asked him about the conversation with Vidhur kaka. Yudhi bhai had great knowledge of various languages and was adept at solving complex riddles, so he was able to crack the riddle of Vidhur kaka quite easily and told us about the evil plan of Duryodhan to burn us down. We all thanked Vidhur kaka in our hearts and without his warning signals, we might have perished in the fire. At the same time, the great knowledge of Yudhi bhai came in handy for us to understand what exactly Vidhur kaka wanted to convey to us. After hearing the vicious plan, we were shocked to know the extent Bade Pitashree and Duryodhan would go on to eliminate us, just for the sake of kingdom. More than anger, it was immense sadness that engulfed us after knowing about this plan. It was hard to control Bhim bhai though, he wanted to crack the skull of Duryodhan at that instant itself, but thanks to the wise counsel of Yudhi bhai and Kunti mata, his anger subsided and abandoned his impulsive actions.

Sometime around in the evening, we reached Varanavat and were welcomed grandly by the evil Purochan and showed us the grand house he built for us with all the luxuries. As advised by Yudhi bhai, we all acted in such a way not to sow any doubts in the mind of Purochan and instead appreciated him profusely for building such a magnificent house for us. Yudhi bhai presented him some gold coins too as a token of appreciation, and thus lulling him to believe that we fell into his trap. Even though we were aware of the great dangers but planned to act normally, so we charted out a daily routine at Varanavat, which was to go for hunting and sporting in the morning hours and return in the afternoon and have lunch and rest for sometime and in the evening do weapons practice for few hours and then roam around the city and return at night and have dinner. To keep an eye on the safety of our mata one of us brothers was at home with her all the time and also we kept a tab on our surroundings and the people. In the nights, usually I kept awake to guard our family and keep an eye on the surroundings. Thanks to my habit of practicing archery in the night at the Gurukul, I was able to gain control over sleep and was thus fondly called as Gudakesha (the one who conquered sleep) by our Acharya Guru Dron.

One day, we had a visitor from Hastinapur who introduced himself as Prabhuvan, a skilled miner sent by our kakashree to help us in digging up an underground passage in the house, which would be used by us as an escape route. Prabhuvan was a brilliant miner who in quick time built the underground passage for us, we thanked him for his services and Kunti mata gifted him a costly gold necklace as a token of gratitude. As some months passed by, we were feeling edgy and realized Purochan may execute his plan to burn us down anytime soon, so to counter that Yudhi bhai planned for us to take a preemptive step instead and trap Purochan and burn the house down and plan for the escape through the underground route. Though this plan was a risky one but there was no choice left for us, as we were sure Duryodhan would be chasing us and will be sending his spies after us, if he got to know we escaped alive. Yudhi bhai planned for this to happen on the day of amavasya and ensure we bolted all doors so Purochan could not escape the fire. On the night of amavasya, Bhim bhai set fire to the house, and we used the secret underground passage for our exit and after a while we were very tired and wanted to rest, but Bhim bhai was having none of it and he carried all us brothers and Kunti mata upon his mighty body. We all knew the great strength of Bhim bhai and were not surprised at this super-human effort of his. As I told many times earlier as well, Bhim bhai had immense love for his family and friends and would go to any extent to make them happy and also would go to any level to protect his loved ones. Thanks to Vidhur kaka, Yudhi bhai and Bhim bhai, we were able to escape alive from this vicious plan of Duryodhan.