Hastinapur Palace

Duryodhana (shouting), ' Arjun! Arjun! Arjun! Always that wretched Pandavs. I don't understand why everyone is praising them. As if we Kauravas are nothing. 'Arjun, the best archer, Arjun the favorite student. I just hate Guru Dronas' and Pitamaha's bias towards them.'

Dusshashan, 'Those Pandavas always try to belittle us. They do not leave any chance to prove themselves superior than everyone. Mamaji, we need to do something.'

Shakuni, 'My sons, have patience. We cannot do directly anything to them. Otherwise your pitamaha will have your heads. '

Duryadona, 'But we cannot sit here like these. Otherwise those Pandavas will snatch my throne.'

Shakuni, 'No one can snatch your right, as long as your Mamashree is here. But right now we need to use our intelligence rather than our strength. I have an idea.'

Dusshashan, 'What idea?'

Shakuni, 'After completion of your training, it is time to give your Gurudakshina to Acharya Drona. I know he wants to take revenge from Panchal. If you can defeat Panchalraj, then you can prove yourself superior to the Pandavas.'

Aswatthama entered the room. Aswatthama, 'What happened friends? Why are you so tensed?'

Duryodhana, 'Ashwatthama, I am angry on that Pandavas. They are really getting on my nerves. I just want to defeat them and show everyone in Hastinapur that only Duryadhana has the ability to be the king of Hastinapur.'

Aswatthama,' Dear friend, if you can defeat Panchalraj then you can show your prowess to my father. Even I am tired of his blind faith in Arjuna. I also want to see their defeat.'

Duryodhana, 'I shall defeat Panchalraj and be the king. No one can stop me.'

Shakuni (in mind), 'My dear nephew you will be just a puppet of mine to achieve my dream. You will sit on the throne and I will control everything. First I need to remove those Panduputras from my path, then I will become invincible. I will avenge my fathers' humiliation.'

Shakuni was thinking about the time when Bheesma invaded Gandhar as Shakunis father declined his offer to marry Gandhari with the blind Dhritarashtra. Shakuni lost his uncles, cousins and his brother in the war. He still remembered how his father was humiliated when they were imprisoned. The soldiers of Hastinapur treated them as slaves. It was his sister who begged Bhisma to release his family. Bhisma still justified his action as 'to establish Dharma in Gandhar.' But the truth was still now Gandhar was a part of Kuru empire and the people were treated as second-class citizens. Shakuni's father died as he could not bear the humiliation or his daughter's conditions. On that day Shakuni vowed to destroy Kuru dynasty. He would tarnish their pride one day. To did that, he sacrificed his pride and stayed in his sister's household. He poisoned Dhritarashtra's mind against his brother Pandu, then he turned Duryadhana against Pandavas and the Kuru elders. Now it was time to make Duryadhana the crown prince and for that, he needed someone who could stand against Arjun.

Shakuni (thinking), 'I know there must be someone who can be my weapon to help Duryodhana. Aswatthama is a great warrior and I know Guru Drona will choose his son over his student. But I am still not sure if he is enough for those Pandavas. Aswatthama is also greedy. All he wants is to be a king of any region and that is why is always flattering Duryodhana. As long as his ambition does not harm my plans, I am okay with him. But I also need Aswatthama to convince Guru Drona to give him Brahammastra.'

Karna's house

Karna was having dinner with his family. His younger brothers were very excited and continue chatting about the contest. But Karna was tensed. During the contest, he felt the immense tensions among the cousins. The tournament would turn into a real battleground if the elders did not intervene to stop them. 'That is why Parbhau Narayan wants me to come here. I need to fulfill my duties in my mortal life by helping my family. But I don't think Prabhu's ultimate goal is to make Yudhishtir the king. He must be planning something really big. Now to know my family better, I need to stay near them. I have to find a way to go to the palace.'

Krishna (Thinking), 'You are right Karna. Making Yudhishtir a king is not my plan. My goal is to make the person the king of aryavart, who can treat people with equality, compassion and respect. I want to teach all the present and future leaders in the world that a true king is not the one who has the royal palace and treasure, but who has the love of all his people. Duryodhana is an arrogant and volatile person but he respects people's talents and treats people accordingly. For him the caste or position of the person is irrelevant. While Yudhstir though a humble and righteous person but tries to follow Dharma blindly and to do that he becomes insensitive to others' feelings. Right now Yudhishtir only respects the Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Karna, it is your duty to teach both of them the true meaning of the duty of a king and find who is more deserving.'

Rukmini, 'Arya, what are you thinking?'

Krishna, 'Devi I gave Karna a big responsibility. His decision is not only going to effect the entire Aryavart now, but the future of mankind also will depend on it.'

Next Day, HP royal court

Guru Drona demanded Panchalraj's defeat as gurudakshina. All 105 princes agreed to wage a war against Panchal. All of them started preparations. Meanwhile Karna came to the palace with his father. He was standing near the stable when he saw Yudhishtir, Bheem and Arjun coming towards him.

Bheem, 'I don't know why Jyasht agreed to Duryadharna's demand. He and his 99 brothers will attack first and we will have our chance. What will happen if they won the war, then how are we going to prove our strength?'

Yudhishtir, 'Bheem, this is a war against Panchal, not among the Kuru princes. If we fought with each other, it is not good for the prestige of our family. Let Duryadhan go first. If he wins then we will try something else to pay our gurudakshina to Acharya Drona.'

Karna (thinking), 'Yudhishtir is a good person but not good in politics. As a king one shall not leave their chance. He shall try to convince Guru Drona to let them go first. And what I know about Panchalraj, he is famous for chakravyuh and using illusions. Arjun may be able to break the vyuh but not the illusion. I need to help him.'

Kara, 'Pranaam rajkumar,'

Bheem, 'Hey who are you?'

Karna, 'I am Karna, my father is a charioteer of your uncle, King Dhritarashtra. So, all of you are preparing for the upcoming war? Can I come with you, I can help you as I am also good at driving chariots and other war stuff.'

Bheem, 'No we don't need any more charioteer. And what other war stuffs you are talking about. You are a Suta, and Sutas are only good in being servants, nothing else.'

Karna felt bad. 'I have no idea that my brother Bheem is so arrogant. I hope others are not like him.' So he asked Arjun. 'Prince Arjun, I heard that Panchalraj is famous for making chakravyuh and illusions. Can you break them?'

Arjun, 'I am Arjun, the best student of Guru Drona and you are asking me if I can break the vyuh. I am a warrior and I don't care about the petty magic tricks. So you Sutputra, do your works and don't disturb us.'

Karna (thinking), 'Oh God, all these princes are just same, but it is my duty to help them as an elder brother.' (aloud) Sorry Rajkumar, I have no right to ask you anything about warfare but you know sometimes it is good to watch a person's eyes as eyes are the mirrors that can say many things.' Saying that he left.

Bheem, 'What did he say? Eyes, mirrors?'

Arjun, 'Don't bother. He is trying to confuse us. Maybe Duryadhan sent him.'

Krishna (in mind) ,'Parth, be careful. Your brother is trying to help you. Try to change your attitude or it will create a huge problem not only for you but also for your eldest brother.'

Panchal war

After the panchal war, Duryadhana was defeated and imprisoned by Dhrupad. Then the Pandavas attacked. They rescued the Kauravas. Arjun easily broke the vyuh and reached the center to attack Dhrupad. Then he saw that in the middle 5 persons who are exactly lookalike of Dhrupad were standing. At first, he was confused, then suddenly he attacked a specific person and that was now other than actual Dhrupad.

Back in the tent, Bheem asked, 'Arjun how did you know that the person you attacked is real Dhrupad.'

Arjun, 'At first I was also confused, then I saw four of them were looking at one person and was trying to imitate his actions. Then I realised that he is the real Dhrupad.'

Bheem,'Very clever Arjun. But Jyasht what are you thinking? It is time to celebrate. '

Yudhishtir, 'Bheem,Arjun, I was thinking about the charioteer whom we met before coming to the war, Do you remember what he said?

Bheem, 'Come on Jyasht, I don't want to waste my time on those servants.'

Sahadev, 'What did he said Jyasht?'

Yudhishtir, 'He said," sometimes it is good to watch a person's eyes as eyes are the mirrors that can say many things" Today Arjun identified the real Dhrupad by looking into their eyes. I was just wondering how did he know about this mystery?'

Bheem, 'Come on Jyasht, I think he was just blabbering to gain attention. We all know they are mere servants.'

Yudhisthir, 'Bheem it is not good to insult others. It is against Dharma. We shall treat the servants properly as they are helping us.'

Returning to the camp, they took Dhrupad to Drona's tent. Drona was very happy and he reminded Dhrupad about his promise and forced him to make Aswatthama the king of half of Panchal. After Aswatthama's coronation, Drona let Dhrupad go to rule on other half of Panchal. Dhrupad left but he vowed mentally to kill Drona.

Back to Hastinapur

Duryodhana was very angry as his plan to be the crown prince of Hastinapur was failed.

Duryodhana, 'Mamashri, do something. That Pandavas defeated me. I can't bear the humiliation.'

Shakuni, 'Don't worry my son, as long as your Mama is here, no one can take away your throne. Just wait for some time. Even if Yudhishthir is made the crown prince, he will not be the king. I will not allow it.'

Then Shakuni went to Aswatthama and asked him to force his father so that he could give him Brhammastra. Aswatthama himself was a greedy person asked his father about the Brhammastra. Drona though at first was reluctant but then gave up and thought him about those celestial weapons. But he also warned Aswatthama, 'Son these divine weapons are sentient. They can feel the inner strength of the wielder. You should not use it unless you are ready both physically and mentally. It is easy to use this weapon but difficult or almost impossible to take it back or nullify its effect. So don't use them now as you are not ready yet.'

Aswatthama agreed to his father but thought, 'Pitashree I am your son and I am ready to use these weapons. I will test this weapon but for that, I need a proper place.' Then he remembered a vacant place near the Ganga river outside the city. There was no locality around except for a Suta village. He decided to test this weapon the next day in the morning.

Next episode- Karna stopped Brahmastra. Lord Parshuram's Gurudakshina.