Bhagavatam skanda 1 part- 3

           Story of king PARIKSHIT.(part-1)

       ( Continuation of blog Bhagavatam 

                       Skanda 1 part-2.) 

         PARIKSHIT is the king of Hastinapur, grandson of 5 Pandavas ( yudhishthira, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva), 

son of the great warrior Abhimanyu ( son of Arjuna). His birth story is very exciting. So we will learn his story today. 

          Long time ago in Dwapara yug, Pandavas and Kauravas fought in kurukshetra ( a place in present Hariyana, India.) With an army of 7 Akshaunis and 11 Akshaunis respectively for the throne of Hastinapur empire. 

           ( 1 Akshauni = 21,870 chariots; 21,870 elephants;  65,610 horses and 109,350 infantry.) 

            Pandavas won in that war.  But in Kauravas army a warrior called Ashwathama ( son of guru Dronacharya) is alive and killed all 5 sons of Pandavas when they are in deep sleep. But Pandavas where not present at that time of Ashwathama attack. So Ashwathama killed 5 sons of Pandavas, shikandi, drushtadyumna (commander of Pandavas army) and many soldiers by violating the rules of the war. And he escaped from that place. When Pandavas came to their place after celebrations, they observed the bloodshed done by Ashwathama. Draupadi (wife of Pandavas ) went on  weeping for the death of her 5 sons. Due to this adharma act done by Ashwathama, Bheema ( second brother of 5 Pandavas) was in a very angry mood like a volcano which is ready to blast. Bheema promised to Draupadi that he will bring the Ashwathama alive and handover to Draupadi. So that she can take her revenge by giving the unbearable punishment. Soon Bheema took a chariot and went into the forest where Ashwathama was hiding. Other 4 Pandavas namely yudhishthira, Arjuna, nakula, sahadeva also followed the Bheema to help him. There was also the prime lord sri krishna who played a crucial role in Pandavas winning the battle also followed them. Sri Krishna is the brother in law for Pandavas and he likes pandavas very much because Dharmam is present in Pandavas side. 

    (**  In latter blogs I will deeply discuss about the krishna, Pandavas, and Kauravas and the war between them.**)

           After a long search, Pandavas found Ashwathama where he was hiding in sage vyasa's hermitage. Ashwathama afraid by seeing the Pandavas and krishna approaching to him. So he aimed to Pandavas and attacked with a powerful weapon called "Brahmashironamak astra". By seeing the astra, Arjuna also used the same weapon on Ashwathama. But the colloiding of these 2 astras can destruct the whole universe. So vyasa stopped these astras by his penance powers. But he can't stop the astras for long time and requested both Arjuna and Ashwathama to upasamhar ( take back or withdraw) their Brahmashironamak astra. Arjuna who knew the upasamhar mantra took back his astra. But Ashwathama don't know the upasamhar mantra. So vyasa adviced him to reduce the power and change it's direction. Because Pandavas should rule the kingdom in a dharma way and they are the hope of future Hastinapur. So Ashwathama ready to change his astra's direction but his wish to defeat Pandavas was not fulfilled, so he decided to end up their ( Pandavas) race. Because he thought that if there is no race of Pandavas alive, then Pandavas will live there life difficulty by thinking of their son and grandson's death. But at that point of time there were no sons of Pandavas. All their sons have died in that terrific battle. The only one who alive in Pandavas race was the grandson of Pandavas and son of  Abhimanyu; in Uttara's ( wife of Abhimanyu, daughter in law of Arjuna. ) Womb. So Ashwathama targeted the Uttara's womb to kill Pandavas race. The Brahmashironamak astra targets the Uttara's womb and attacking the baby in her womb. Also Bheema's patience boundary is destroyed, he caught Ashwathama and beat him black and blue. Bheema tied him with ropes and dragged him towards Draupadi. Then Bheema said to Draupadi that to punish him as your will. Instead of punishing him, Draupadi in deep sorrowful mood asked Ashwathama about how he was able to kill his little, innocent children with that harsh sword. Ashwathama doesn't have any answer to her distressed question. And Draupadi ordered her husbands to leave this Ashwathama, because Ashwathama is a brahmin and especially he his the child of their Guru Dronacharya i.e. teacher's son. But Bheema not accepted the proposal of leaving Ashwathama alive. So krishna adviced him that to take off his jewel which was in his forehead. So that his prestige and power  will be lost. Bheema took the jewel from Ashwathama's head forcefully and freed Ashwathama.

               But, Ashwathama's weapon in Uttara's womb is active and slowly killing the baby inside her. Uttara went on weeping due to the power of Brahmashironamak astra in her womb. All Pandavas, Draupadi, Kunti ( mother of Pandavas) are worried about the baby in Uttara's womb. Then everyone worshipped lord Krishna to help them. Krishna agreed to help them and used his full thapopalam ( penance power) to save the baby. He removed all the power of Brahmashironamak astra in her womb and gave the new life to the dead baby. And after that incidents yudhishthira became king of Hastinapur. He ruled his kingdom best to his subjects. After a few months, a son named Parikshit was born to uttara. All the people of Hastinapur celebrated that their future hope was born. Whole Hastinapur empire is celebrating the birth of Parikshit. 

                 In next post, we will discuss the Parikshit accepting the throne and his ruling and his story towards his death.