Week 9 Story: Trusting Yourself

It had been thirteen years since the war first started. The scarred Earth where the once tall trees were now bristled and cracked, and the blackened grass indicated that the battlefield was everything but new. The two battling armies were worn and frazzled, but the fighting had to continue.
A burly man with long thick black hair walked with a mace in his hand toward a golden brimmed tent. The tent was pristine and silky, something that seemed out of place in the battlefield.
As the man ducked his head to enter the tent, his deep voice urgently said, "Yudhishthira. I have a plan that will finally lead this war to an end, but I need your help."
A young, thin man looked up from the war map that was laid out across the wooden table. "Go on, Bhima, you have my attention."

Later that night, Yudhishthira returned to the campsite with an old wobbly elephant that he had bought at a nearby city. He lead the poor elephant to a dark part of the camp where Bhima was waiting. The elephant would soon meet his fate. Bhima looked into the elephant's eyes and quietly said, "Your name is Ashvatthaman, a name you also share with our enemy's son. By ending your life, I will trick our enemy Drona and end this war,. I thank you eternally." Bhima quickly killed the beautiful creature and spared it from suffering as much as he could.

The next morning, Bhima returned to the front lines where he knew he would find Drona. Drona had been at the front lines since the beginning of the war. He knew that as long as his son Ashvatthaman was alive, he would not be defeated, as a great shaman had once foretold. Bhisma stepped out onto the battlefield with a hand raised to the sky and shouted toward Drona, "Ashvatthaman has been slain! Ashvatthaman has been slain!"

Drona quickly caught word from one of his soldiers that Bhisma was claiming Ashvatthaman had been slain. "That's impossible," Drona said aloud. Something was off, why would they go after his son? He walked out toward the middle of the battlefield where Bhisma still had his hand up toward the sky. Once he saw Drona's skeptical face, he placed his hand next to his side and waited for Drona to meet him. Drona's thick gray hair and beard were disheveled, but his black eyes pierced Bhima with uncertainty. "You say my son is dead. I cannot believe only your words, have Yudhishthira come out and tell me what is true, for he cannot lie."

Bhisma called out to Yudhishthira, who was waiting with other soldiers watching the two leaders talk. He walked slowly out to meet them, knowing what was about to happen. "Yudhishthira, truth speaker, tell me is it true? Is Ashvatthaman dead," Drona gazed at Yudhishthira with a straight face, but his eyes gave away that he was fearful. Yudhishthira looked sternly at Drona and nodded his head, "Yes. Ashvatthaman... is dead." Drona's eyebrows rose up and his frown deepened. He didn't want to believe it, but Yudhishthira never lied.

What Drona hadn't heard was Yudhishthira's whisper of "the elephant" after saying Ashvatthaman.

Drona fell to his hands and knees and cried out for his son. Nearby, Bhisma's army general, Dhrishtadyumna, saw his chance and ran toward the grieving Drona. He unsheathed his sword and quickly brought it down on Drona, severing his head and killing him. The army behind them cheered, understanding that the long war was finally over.

In the midst of their celebration, a young man ran out from the opposite army toward the fallen leader. The man dropped to his knees once he reached the body and said with a heavy heart, "Oh, father, why did you trust your enemies and not your friends? I am alive, father, your Ashvatthaman is alive."

          

(Bhima kills the elephant, Ashvatthaman. Wikipedia Commons)

**AUTHORS NOTE** 

In this story, the Kurukshetra war is happening, and Bhima is trying to figure out a way to defeat Drona. As long as Drona's son, Ashvatthaman, is alive he will never be defeated. This gives Bhima an idea. He goes and finds an elephant and names the elephant Ashvatthaman. Bhima then kills the elephant and shouts at the front lines, "Ashvatthaman is dead!" This devastates Drona, but he does not believe it until Yudhishthira, someone Drona knows cannot lie, says it to be true. However, Drona does not hear Yudhishthira say, "Ashvatthaman the elephant" under his breath. As Drona falls to despair, Dhrishtadyumna seizes the opportunity to cut Drona's head off and ultimately kill him, thus winning the battle.

I wanted to focus on the elephant more, because I felt bad that they killed such an innocent creature. I also wanted to bring Ashvatthaman into the scene because I thought it was strange that no one knew or mentioned where he was. My main goal for this story was to emphasize that it is important to listen to the one's who love you and your gut feeling, and not the one's who are against you.

Bibliography: The Deception of Bhima by Sister Nivedita in Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists