One of the most secretive military formation, the mythical Chakravyuha, and why exactly Arjun was the only one who knew how to break it?
Chakravyuha - the deadliest of the formations & Arjun
Just
yesterday only, I was watching the wonderful animated movie "Arjun – The
Warrior Prince", which is incidentally the first proper animated movie to
come out of Indian movie industry and is head and shoulders above in its
quality than all previous attempts till date. Of course Walt Disney pictures
were involved in the making of this movie and helped with their knowhow, as
Disney touch was evident across most of the scenes.
Arjun aiming at the Fish, from underwater during the Swayamvar of Draupadi, in the movie "Arjun -The Warrior Prince".
However,
this is just the good thing about watching this movie. The better thing is
about this story, which speaks about a very brief part of the epic, and
showcases the immense skills and valour of Arjun, the great warrior, when he
single-handedly defeated an entire opponent army while breaching effortlessly
through the most bewitching of all military formations – ‘Chakravyuha’. This
made me revisit the story behind why Chakravyuha became such a legend, and I
put my efforts on uncovering the mystery.
To be
honest, anyone who knows a few things about Indian epics, definitely must have
heard about Mahabharata (Sanskrit Mahābhārata महाभारत, IPA: [məɦaːˈbʱaːrət̪ə]), which is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient
India, the other being the Ramayana. And it is needless to say that, how
fascinating the story and corresponding backstories are from this hugely rich
epic, and I would suggest anyone who loves reading to at least try to read this
once in his/her lifetime. It definitely is among the greatest of them
all.
I have been fortunate enough to read this story during my childhood days as an abridged version and watch the same as a part of Sunday special tele-serials which seemed to be fairly accurate enough. Particularly since, except for representations and acting skills in general in most cases, and barring some of the stories, this tele-serial tried to cover as much as they could, which was an epic effort nonetheless. Of course, I have read the translation of the complete version years later, and it took me more than 3 months to just finish the book, even when I was totally engrossed with the events.
The complete version of Mahabharata book, with English translations.
To me, the “Mahabharata” is unquestionably the greatest epic of all time. No other stories, comes even remotely anywhere close to it. Not in terms of the chronological canvas, or the hundreds of different and uniquely intriguing characters, or the fantastic intricacy of the storyline. People generally attribute the “Geeta” as the most important takeaway from the epic. But for me, each and every smallest of the incidents in this story is as fascinating nonetheless, as they all contributed to the epic conclusion and to the Indian culture in every sense.
I have
frequently wandered over the numerous little nuances of this story, while
trying to figure out why things happened as the way they did, how exactly that
ended up in the corresponding results and what are the justifications for
certain actions. Furthermore, I was always fascinated in the layered nature of
the tale, as in every scene it usually contained layers of message, and I
usually tried to figure out the hidden message in them all.
Thus,
while watching the aforementioned movie, I happened to rekindle the learning
side of mine to revisit the mysterious and mythical formation of Chakravyuha.
Particularly since, Chakravyuha was later used by the Kauravas, under the
command of their legendary general and martial arts teacher Dronacharya, to
trap and kill Arjun’s famous son Abhimanyu, the myth of Chakravyuha increased
even more. Thus, I have always wandered about how exactly this Chakravyuha
might look like, and why exactly it was so difficult to breach? Furthermore,
why it was feared so much, and why apart from Arjun no one else could
successfully destroy Chakravyuha for Pandavas?
From my own reading, and consequent
Internet research I have been trying to find the answers which I was seeking
for. As with any epic that has been handed down through countless generations,
the anecdotes from Mahabharata have been interpreted and presented in various
ways by various people, over the years. One of the most famous being the Sunday
9am version tele-serial, courtesy B.R. Chopra which enchanted the nation hugely
in the 90s. Although as I said before, it tried to portray the incidents as
best as it could, all the while the real story being far more vast and with far
more intricacies. Owing to these various sources, since I have encountered
various interpretations of the Chakravyuha incident as well, I have tried to knit
together a theory that satisfies most of them.
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So, what is
Chakravyuha?
From Wikipedia, the following definition can be found.
“The Padmavyuha (Sanskrit: पद्मव्यूह) or Chakravyuha (चक्रव्यूह) refers to a Military formation narrated in the
Hindu epic Mahabharata.
The Chakravyuh or Padmavyuh, is a
multi-tier defensive formation that looks like a blooming lotus (padma, पद्म) or disc (chakra, चक्र)
when viewed from above. The warriors at each interleaving position would be in
an increasingly tough position to fight. The formation was used in the battle
of Kurukshetra by Dronacharya, who became
commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army after the fall of Bhishma Pitamaha.”
A depiction of the Padmavyuha
or Chakravyuha formation as a labyrinth.
This depiction seems mostly accurate as it
is more labyrinths oriented and is very close to the depiction of Chakravyuha
in the ancient rock carvings, and ancient Indian temple structures as well
(most notably in Belur of Hassan district in Karnataka).
However, there are other varieties of
descriptions in different sources as well, most notably in the B.R. Chopra Sunday
mega-serial, which has shown Chakravyuha as a formation consisting of 7
concentric circles of warriors rotating in unison.
The depiction of Chakravyuha in the tele-serial Mahabharat as shown by B.R. Chopra
Most of the colloquial art form describes
Chakravyuha as a spiral though. The concept of spiral seems more legitimate as
the warrior has to enter through layers after layers to properly reach the
centre of the spiral labyrinth where the major opponent warriors are protected
safely. According to some theorists, Chakravyuha consisted of four spirally winding circles of elephants, chariots, horses and infantry.
An artistic description of Chakravyuha. For the sake of simplicity, it is shown as a spiral.
Although we can assume that the colloquial
art forms usually were made without extreme details, and maybe a spiral form is
too simple. However, the concentric circle is even simpler in that sense, so if
Chakravyuha was concentric circles, then more numbers of references supporting
that could have been found. So, apparently B.R. Chopra with his simplistic view
of Chakravyuha is probably partially incorrect. As the concept of rotating
labyrinth can be a more plausible explanation.
A simplistic spiral description of Chakravyuha.
However, it can be further argued that due
to the easier nature of understanding for the spirals, in comparison to the
mythical nature of the fabled Chakravyuha, possibly most of the art forms
resorted to the idea of representing it as a spiral, or in some cases as
concentric circles.
Furthermore the concurrent archaeological
evidence suggests Chakravyuha as a form of a labyrinth.
The Mangarh fort, popularly known as the Piplu Fort, it is located some 30-35 kilometres
away from Hamirpur district headquarters, in Himachal Pradesh. A replica of a
labyrinthine design of Chakravyuha [चक्रव्यूह] that was created by Kauravas in the Mahabharata
is present there till now. It is believed that when Pandav's reached that
region during their exile period, they cleared the whole region within one day
and made it a plane area. The replica of labyrinth was reported by ‘Aaj Tak - सबसे तेज’, an
Indian news channel. The replica is no more in a good position because there is
no reach of the state government or state tourism department or archeological
department.
People
say that water would enter from one side, travel through mazes and come out of
the other side.
Even the modern representations portray the
Chakravyuha as a labyrinthine maze. Army from India, Pakistan, China, Burma, Indonesia, Japan and a few more have made studies over this mythical formation.
A modern thematic representation of Chakravyuha in an army headquarter in northern India.
However, to counter the question that why
it could not be breached straight up, a possible explanation can be drawn from
the idea that, probably this labyrinth was rotating continuously. Hence,
Abhimanyu as it is said in Mahabharata was equipped with the knowledge of
entering the Chakravyuha at the right time and right place. This may suggest
that, Abhimanyu knew exactly when the labyrinth rotates in its orbit and may
have a weak link and consequent further weak links to breach. Furthermore all
the Maharathis (great warriors) from Kaurava side guarded various entries for
each of these inner layers, which seems kind of an opening is presented for the
one who is intending to breach, while a battle with a great warrior is required
to get through that opening.
Hence in most logical case, a Chakravyuha
must be a multi-layered circular labyrinthine maze where each of the layers are
rotating in same or opposite direction, in which weak and strong warriors are
strategically placed, and each of the layers are presented with possible
openings which are closely guarded by one of the main highly ranked warriors
and his personal troops.
Who all had
the knowledge of Chakravyuha? How did Abhimanyu get to know about the tactics
to breach Chakravyuha?
As part of their Martial Arts, Battle
intelligence and various weapons training sessions that they had to undertake, various
vyuhas (military formations) were studied by the Kauravas and Pandavas alike. Most of these vyuhas can be beaten using a counter-measure
targeted specifically against that formation. To successfully implement any
vyuha in the form of battle described in Mahabharata, it was important to place the powerful fighters in
those positions where they could inflict the maximum damage to the opposing
force, or defend the attacks from key warriors of the opposition.
The Chakravyuha/Padmavyuha was a special
formation and only a few exclusive Pandava warriors, namely, Arjun, Abhimanyu, Krishna and Pradyumna knew
how to crack and penetrate this vyuha. However to the Pandavas disappointment,
Pradyumna did not participate in the Mahabharata war, Pradyumna’s father, lord
Krishna officially did not participate in the war. Arjun's son Abhimanyu only knew
how to penetrate the Chakravyuha but not how to exit the formation. He learned
the techniques to enter the formation when he was still inside the womb of his
mother Subhadra, since her Husband, Arjun was discussing
the formation and its conquest with her. Ironically, Subhadra fell asleep (as
she found this knowledge of war quite boring) while Arjun was explaining, and Arjun
was called away by Krishna for the Khandava forest extermination in
the middle of his lesson. Thus, Arjun could not finish explaining
to Subhadra how to escape from the Padmavyuha, and Abhimanyu never
got the chance to know the technique to break free from Chakravyuha.
Arjun after his marriage with Subhadra, was explaining the battle tactics of various formations. Subhadra had Abhimanyu in her womb, who learnt most tactics then. However, Abhimanyu could learn only partially about Chakravyuha.
Hence without the knowledge of escaping
from the Chakravyuha, Abhimanyu was thus killed in the Kurukshetra
War while trying to break free this formation. Mahabharata also
has references wherein the rules of war were broken by Kauravas to
kill Abhimanyu. After Abhimanyu penetrated the sixth tier of
spiral formation, all the Kaurava warriors attacked him in unison, though the
main killer was Jayadratha. It was against the rules of Dharmayuddha,
which stated that multiple warriors should not attack a single warrior.
Apart from Arjun, Krishna, Abhimanyu and Pradyumna,
also Dronacharya and Bhishma knew how to breach Chakravyuha, as both Vishma and
Dronacharya formed Chakravyuha in separate occasions. Also possibly Karna knew how
to breach Chakravyuha too, as he was always referred as equal to Arjun in every
respect (although no instance of him breaching Chakravyuha is known). Finally,
Aniruddha who was the son of Pradyumna and grandson of Lord Krishna also knew
about the breaching techniques for Chakravyuha.
How many
times Chakravyuha was formed during the Kurukshetra war?
In the Mahabharata story, the Chakravyuha
was formed 3 times in total. Chakravyuha was once formed just before the
Kurukshetra war by Bhishma to counter Arjun, who was defending the Kaurava
invasion on the kingdom of Virat (insisted by Duryodhan and aimed at uncovering
the anonymity of Pandavas, during their 1 year anonymous exile, following the
previous 12 years exile – the success would have sent Pandavas for another 12
years exile). Arjun single-handedly defeated all Kauravas including Bhishma,
Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Karna, Ashwathwama, Kritavarma, Jayadratha, Shalya, Dushshashan
and Duryodhan.
After the completion of 13 years of exile, Arjun is approaching the Chakravyuha of entire Kaurava army alone, while protecting the kingdom of Virat, with young Uttar Kumar as his charioteer.
The second time Chakravyuha was formed to
capture Yudhishthir during the 13th day of the war. Abhimanyu was
protecting Yudhishthir and Arjun was distracted into another battle with
Samshaptakas (mercenaries who vow to return from the battlefields only upon
victory, or die) by Kaurava’s master-plan (as Arjun could easily destroy
Chakravyuha). Chakravyuha was rotating along the battlefield and was destroying
Pandava’s army in thousands (as Chakravyuha is hugely offensive formation as
well). Lacking Arjun, Yudhishthir and other Pandavas were hopeless and without
any counter-measures. Abhimanyu suggested that he can breach the vyuha, but
does not know how to come out of it. Although Yudhishthir initially was not
inclined to let his 16 year old nephew to lead such a dangerous counter-attack,
but seeing the circumstances he agreed by having a plan of other 4 Pandavas to
closely follow Abhimanyu into the vyuha and break it open from inside. However,
as soon as Abhimanyu breached through the first layer, Jayadratha who was
guarding the opening, shut it down from other Pandavas. Owing to a boon that he
possessed from lord Shiva that no Pandavas except Arjun could defeat him for
one day, he cut the connection between Abhimanyu and other Pandavas, thus
trapping Abhimanyu within the Chakravyuha. The other Pandava brothers kept on
fighting from outside but without any effect. Abhimanyu meanwhile defeated all
of the Kauravas single-handedly as he kept on breaching the Chakravyuha till he
reached the centre. Being desperate, the Kauravas resorted to unethical means
(the rule of engagement in the war was one is to one battle at any point of
time) by joining hands and attacking on Abhimanyu together, all at once.
Abhimanyu fought with valour and bravado, but in the end was killed by combined
efforts of all Kaurava Maharathis. Upon the knowledge of this shameful act on
his beloved son, made a resolute Arjun take an oath that by the next day’s
sunset he will kill Jayadratha (as he was the person who primarily cut down the
connection unethically, while he was shown mercy previously by Pandavas), or
else he would himself jump on a burning pyre.
Abhimanyu fights bravely, alone against all the Maharathis from Kaurava side, who breaks the rule of the war and attack together against one. In the end, Abhimanyu being totally unarmed, tried to fend off everyone while holding the wheels of his chariot, but was brutally murdered.
The third time, Chakravyuha was made was in
the 14th day of the war, to protect Jayadratha from getting killed
by Arjun (which according to Arjun’s vow will result into Arjun’s self-immolation,
and will further result into an easy victory for Kauravas). Chakravyuha (Wheel
or Disc formation), Sarpavyuha (Snake formation) and Soochivyuha (Needle
formation) were made to protect Jayadratha. Consequently Arjun broke all the
formations with his incredible skills and bravado (and some help from Lord
Krishna as well), and by the end of the day killed Jayadratha, thereby
completing his vow.
Arjun, upon knowing the treachery from Kauravas to murder his son, vows to kill Jayadratha by sunset of next day. he goes on a killing spree and kills more than hundred thousand people in a day before finally killing Jayadratha.
What exactly
was the technique for breaking into the Chakravyuha?
The rotating nature of Chakravyuha, gave it
a unique advantage, as the warriors that made the Chakravyuha confronted any
particular opponent very briefly, and each people attacked/defended in turn as
the formation kept rotating. This strategy effectively nullified the plans from
the opponents, which they might have devised against any particular warrior
within Chakravyuha, and thus confused them off their strategies.
The rotating Chakravyuha consisted of
warriors of various calibres. The Other Pandavas or anyone in general could not
breach it because of 2 primary reasons. Firstly, they usually attacked the
stronger warriors in the ring and consequently were repelled. Secondly as soon
as they started to get an upper hand on one particular warrior, the ring
rotated and another Kaurava warrior confronted them.
Abhimanyu overcame this strategy by
attacking the warriors to the left and right of him, instead of the ones
directly in front. As the layers of the ring rotated, the gap he had created to
his left or right came in front of him and he penetrated the Chakravyuha accordingly.
He repeated the same for all the further layers of the rings.
Another version of the story says that
Arjun mentioned a “right time to enter” the Chakravyuha, also the “right words
to enter” as well. This seems to indicate that apparently there was some sort
of key to solve the jigsaw puzzle, using which one can break the Chakravyuha.
This may indicate the weak points of the Chakravyuha to attack probably. This
further approves the fact that probably the rotating wheel formation must be
having its inner labyrinthine maze and its corresponding layers rotating too,
also possibly in different directions and in varying speed too. That complex
nature of coordination would require a precise time to attack, during which the
formation could be its most vulnerable with a possible alignment of an attack
path through the various layers. The right time, and right word can thus
signify the time to find such possible course of alignment within the
Chakravyuha, and the exact usage of weapons (assuming various war cries were
associated with various weapons) during the attack.
Why
Abhimanyu could not break free from Chakravyuha?
As I have mentioned before, the story says,
Abhimanyu couldn’t learn about how to break free, as he could hear only the
part of getting in, while he was an unborn child in the womb of Subhadra. Thus,
as he entered the first layer of Chakravyuha, the rotating nature of
Chakravyuha closed the entrance behind him, hence trapping him inside.
Furthermore Jayadratha tackled the rest of the Pandava brothers who couldn’t
penetrate the formation likewise (also, Jayadratha used the boon that he
received from God Mahadev, by which he was invincible against anyone but Arjun
and Lord Krishna), while Arjun and Krishna were engaged in a separate fight
with Samshaptakas (mercenaries who vow to return from battlefields only upon
victory or death) during this saga.
As he breached through each of the further
layers of the Chakravyuha, Abhimanyu continued to defeat each every great
warriors including Jayadratha, Dronacharya, Karna and Ashwathama in 1st, 2nd, 3rd
and 4th layers respectively. After defeating Dushshashan and Kripacharya in the 5th ring, when he
entered the 6th ring, an enraged Duryodhan attacked him. Abhimanyu defeated him
too ad left him bleeding and chariot less, but did not kill him to protect the
oath taken by Bheem (his uncle and Pandava brother). Abhimanyu killed Lakshaman
who came to fight him while helping his father Duryodhan. Upon this a further enraged Duryodhan
ordered everyone to attack simultaneously, as in one-on-one fight (which was
the rule of engagement for the war), Abhimanyu was unbeatable, and was causing
extreme damage within the vyuha. Thus, all Kaurava warriors joined hands to
attack him in unison (illicitly), which resulted in his demise.
An artistic representation of Abhimanyu, where it shows how all the Kaurava Maharathis attacked him simultaneously.
However, additional reasons for his
inability to break free can be the resulting fatigue, after fighting with
number of opponents while getting in. Also, the mental factor could creep in, from
the fact of being in the centre of such a deadly vyuha and in the middle of so
many deadly opponent warriors. Being in the middle of the formation with 7-8 Maharathis
and fighting them, instead of 1-2 Maharathis while penetrating the formation,
could put anyone in immense pressure.
Also, probably the combined attack from the
Kauravas nullified his tactics to break free in the same manner of breaking in
(also perhaps the timing sequence of breaking for the exit was disrupted; hence
he had to wait longer in the middle, which exposed him vulnerably).
The exact answer may not be found, as even
Ved Vyas, who recited this great epic, himself did not know the secret (only
known by Lord Krishna, Bhishma, Arjun, Dronacharya, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Karna
and Abhimanyu). Hence the ancient secret may have been lost forever.
Was
Chakravyuha a physical formation, or was it an allegorical alliteration of a
deadly method?
According to some of the theories,
Chakravyuha may not be a physical disc formation or full of labyrinth. These
theories suggest Chakravyuha to be a representation of a brutal form of
assault. Most suitably, Chakravyuha is a form of group assault to be most
effective (hence it was implemented only after Bhishma’s fall, who had earlier
set the rules of war being strictly one-on-one only). According to this theory
Chakravyuha could represent a ring formation that could hover across
battlefield and consume opponent soldiers within (once someone was consumed in
the ring, was brutally killed by multiple opponents). Thus, fighting such a
deadly war method can be psychologically very damaging. Thus, Chakravyuha that
leaves such a mental scar can be a representation of a mental blockage too,
which in later years might have been represented as a complex labyrinth by
later literatures, thus attaining a mythical status.
An artist's representation of Chakravyuha as a sacred code of cryptic knowledge, where reaching the centre requires extreme skills, as well as coming out of it.
However, some other theorists say, it was a
physical formation which caused devastation due to its strategic and military
superiority as well as its psychological impact. Fighting the Chakravyuha can
be mentally damaging, but it was a combination of a deadly formation and its
corresponding psychological effect that escalated Chakravyuha to its mythical
level. Placement of key warriors in strategic locations could cause mental
stress for incoming force significantly. The knowledge of getting trapped
inside due to the rotating nature of each layer can demoralise any warrior.
Thus, one thing is confirmed, that
irrespective of its physical formation; the psychological impact of Chakravyuha
was huge. Hence mostly it is understood that Chakravyuha was a deadly formation which could kill too many people in a very short span of time, and its psychological impact was extreme.
Why was not
Chakravyuha implemented more often?
First of all, Kauravas did not implement Chakravyuha more often, primarily due to the presence of Arjun, who knew how to breach the Chakravyuha, as well as how to escape it successfully. Also, it is evident that when Chakravyuha is breached then it can cause a lot of damage for the warriors within the vyuha. Furthermore, Arjun had all the Divyastras (divine weapons of mass destruction) with him. So, he could easily kill everyone around him and cause carnage among Kauravas.
An idol of the divine chariot of Arjun, carrying him which being charioteered by Lord Krishna.
Then implementation of Chakravyuha requires
an excellent general to plan & execute it or else it can very easily
backfire & end up confusing & decimating one’s own troops. Thus,
Chakravyuha when implemented successfully could cause havoc in opposition army,
but could backfire very easily if there are slightest of mistake in the
coordination of the formation. Furthermore, the human cost involved was
particularly large since, the Chakravyuha (even if formed correctly) would end
up taking (as well as giving) lot of lives in a very short span of time.
As it is known that on the 13th day of the war (on the day the
Chakravyuha was implemented, only after distracting Arjun to another battle),
more than half of their army died in both sides of the war.
Furthermore Pandavas did not implement Chakravyuha
themselves because; it requires an excellent general with full knowledge of it.
Arjun was the only warrior among Pandavas with this knowledge. Also, Pandavas
killed Kauravas by other methods anyway.
Why Abhimanyu
was not taught either by Arjun or Krishna about the know-how to break the Chakravyuha?
According to Krishna, Abhimanyu was an incarnation of a very powerful demon named (Kalayvan) who was capable of killing him at a later point. Abhimanyu's only weakness is his partial knowledge about Chakravyuha. Hence, according to Krishna the Chakravyuha was indeed launched to kill Abhimanyu as this is the only way by which Abhimanyu can attain Moksha. Hence, Krishna never imparts the knowledge of "how to come out of Chakravyuha?" to Abhimanyu inspite of being his guru in Dwaraka. Thus, on the 13th day Lord Krishna does not give any clue to Arjun that the Chakravyuha was launched by Dronacharya inspite of foreseeing it.
Another tale of Abhimanyu’s origin says, Abhimanyu
is the reincarnation of Varchas, the son of the Moon god. When the Moon god was
asked to let his son incarnate himself on earth by the other devas, he made a
pact that his son will only remain on earth for 16 years as he could not bear
to be separated from him. Abhimanyu was 16 years old when he died in the war.
Hence, on the 13th day Krishna does not intervene while the Chakravyuha
was formed by Dronacharya despite knowing that without adequate knowledge, Abhimanyu
would get killed in the battle.
Arjun was never the martial arts instructor
for Abhimanyu, rather Krishna was. Now Krishna being the Lord Narayan himself,
Arjun must have expected Abhimanyu to be properly trained, and must not have
checked about his training at all.
Furthermore, Lord Krishna knew that
Abhimanyu was so powerful a warrior, that he could alone defeat and kill all
the Kauravas, which would not let the Pandava vows to be fulfilled of killing
the Kauravas on their own, and Krishna did not want Mahabharata’s hero to be
anyone else other than Arjun (who was his devotee). Also, Krishna knew that
with the knowledge of such treachery from Kauravas to kill his son, Arjun would
be furious and would be killing all the Kauravas with less guilt in his
conscience.
Arjun's favourite son, Abhimanyu gets slain within the Chakravyuha by 7 Kaurava Maharathis.
Why did not
Abhimanyu teach other Pandavas to breach the formation as well, before entering it himself?
Pandavas might not have expected
Dronacharya to use the Chakravyuha formation in the battle and hence might not
have discussed the way to enter and exit from it amongst them. And when they
saw the formation in the middle of the battlefield, Abhimanyu did not have
enough time to explain the method of entering it to the others.
Perhaps Pandava’s expectations were
legitimate, considering the fact that they also knew that Chakravyuha usually
kills a lot of lives from either of the sides, and backfires too often.
Furthermore they must have been quite happy with the knowledge that Arjun among
them knew all the tactics and techniques of each and every formation.
Also, it is understandable that perhaps the knowledge of penetrating the Chakravyuha, and the synchronisation of the right time, were too difficult for everyone to learn. That further explains, why the knowledge of countering Chakravyuha is so limited.
Thus,I would believe that, the version of accepting challenge does not fully justify
the logic, and I would believe that Chakravyuha was rather a defensive as well
as an offensive formation. Hence to stop it, in the absence of Arjun, the
helpless Pandava relied on Abhimanyu to break in and stop its progress.
Also, it is understandable that perhaps the knowledge of penetrating the Chakravyuha, and the synchronisation of the right time, were too difficult for everyone to learn. That further explains, why the knowledge of countering Chakravyuha is so limited.
Why would
anyone try to breach Chakravyuha, particularly when it is almost impregnable?
Chakravyuha is as much as a deadly
defensive formation, just as much as it is an offensive one. It rotates along
its axis at the centre with each layer rotating in different directions at varied
speeds, which makes it a great defensive formation, and almost impossible to
penetrate.
However, Chakravyuha also revolves in its
orbit across the battlefield, and destroys everything it encounters, which
allows it to be an offensive and destructive force.
Hence, once Chakravyuha is formed, the
opposition cannot just sit back, as it would roam around in the battlefield and
destroy the opposing army (if implemented properly, else it would backfire). A
method has to be devised rather quickly to stop the advancement of the
Chakravyuha, or else it would impart a lot of casualty, for the opposition.
In the case of Abhimanyu, particularly to
stop the rate of casualty in Pandava army, and to stop the Kaurava plans to
capture Yudhishthir, Abhimanyu decided he can use his knowledge to break into
Chakravyuha.
The other versions of Mahabharata also say,
Yudhishthir accepted the challenge to invade a defensive formation of
Chakravyuha, with the knowledge that Arjun and Krishna knew how to break it.
Now, when Arjun and Krishna was diverted into another battle with Samshaptakas,
Abhimanyu was compelled to step forward with his incomplete knowledge. However,
this theory does not explain the fact that, when did a man of wisdom like
Yudhishthir accept the challenge? Was it in the presence of Arjun or not? If it
is in the presence of Arjun, then why did not Arjun send someone else to fight
with Samshaptakas, since he and Krishna was the only people with the knowledge
of Chakravyuha. And, if Yudhishthir has accepted this challenge in the absence of
Arjun, then how come he is called wise king at all?
A modern badge showing a spiral formation of Chakravyuha, while carrying the name of Abhimanyu in the Indian Navy.
What are the
factors of Abhimanyu’s death and what are the messages of the Chakravyuha saga?
Abhimanyu’s death has number of factors,
namely Krishna’s will (for not letting Arjun tackle it instead), violation of
the rules of war by Kauravas (since none of them could fight with Abhimanyu
one-on-one), Abhimanyu’s thirst for glory (entering the vyuha, without the
knowledge of escaping), Abhimanyu’s complacency (he mocked most of his
opponents before he engaged Dronacharya in the battle), Yudhishthir’s inability
to have a contingency plan (in absence of Arjun), Yudhishthir’s inability to
retreat strategically (by having proper defensive formation), Samshaptaka’s involvement
(as they engaged Arjun into a fearsome battle, and distracted him to the other
side of the battleground, while Chakravyuha was formed), and finally Jayadratha’s
boon (by which he could be invincible against all the Pandavas other than Arjun).
In yudha kanda as Chakravyuha is described,
it has been always depicted as a formation of utmost mystery that induces fear
in the heart of any mortal. Thus, Chakravyuha resembles mystery as well as the
highest challenge that requires skills of highest level to survive. Hence, it
can be a trap for anyone who is not skilled in the highest order. Further it
also says that the trap may not be fair, as some people may forget the ethics
pretty easily in the heat of battle.
The message from the Chakravyuha saga is that, average
people are like Abhimanyus, and not like Arjuns. Lot of people know how to go deep
into the subject, unravelling the mysteries in modern science, with brilliant and
dynamic intellect, uncovering the mysteries of the nature, by going deeper and
deeper. However, mostly people don’t know how to come back. Human cannot keep
quiet and dig the traps for themselves in the process. Therefore it is
necessary that people should try to become Arjuns while dealing with the
Chakravyuha and not Abhimanyu.
Was
Abhimanyu’s entry into the Chakravyuha an act of folly or rather a heroic one?
The story of Mahabharata says that, forced
by circumstances, Pandavas decided to let Abhimanyu take charge and break in
the Chakravyuha. However owing to Jayadratha’s boon from Lord Shiva that he
used to cut off the rest of the Pandavas to follow Abhimanyu, the dynamics of
the decisions changed radically. Abhimanyu was left to fend for himself against
the entire Kaurava army.
It is said that, Abhimanyu didn’t listen to
his charioteer before engaging in battle with Dronacharya. He even mocked
almost every opponent, which implies his pride and complacency may have been an
important factor for his eventual downfall. In a mighty battle that followed,
he slaughtered ordinary enemy warriors and mighty heroes alike. Abhimanyu
fought valiantly single-handedly slaying several warriors who came in his way
including Duryodhan's son Lakshaman. Among the others who were killed were Ashmakaís
son, Shalya's younger brother, Shalyaís son Rukmaratha, Drighalochana, Kundavedhi,
Sushena, Vasatiya, Kratha and numerous other great warriors. He wounded Karna and
made him flee, making Dushshasan faint in the battlefield such that he had to
be carried off by others.
Upon seeing the carnage, and after getting
defeated himself, Duryodhan decided to abandon the rules of war and ordered a
simultaneous attack, and consequently murdered an unarmed Abhimanyu brutally.
After the knowledge of Abhimanyu’s illicit
murder came to Arjun and other Pandav’s ears with the details of the treachery
from Kauravas, this actually helped them to annihilate their army swiftly,
without any significant guilty conscience henceforth. In fact, the involvement
of Karna in this shameful act was reiterated by Lord Krishna to Arjun, when
Arjun refused to kill Karna when he was unarmed and was helplessly trying to bring his chariot
wheel up from the ground, after it got stuck. Subsequently Arjun killed an unarmed Karna to avenge his favourite son's death.
Arjun - the greatest warrior of Mahabharata, finally shed all inhibitions upon the knowledge of treachery from the Kauravas to murder his son by illegal means.
Thus, Abhimanyu’s death by illegal means
served as an important catalyst for the Great War to finish within next 5 days.
However then it seems that, the sacrifice of Abhimanyu was preordained by the
gods to invoke the wrath within Pandava brothers, and especially Arjun who
could defeat everyone on his own.
So, Abhimanyu’s death was pre-arranged by
gods primarily. Hence, although his folly is there partially in his acts, but overall
his act is more heroic, as he almost changed what was designed against him, and
almost could be equal to his father, the great warrior Arjun.
Thus, Abhimanyu is justifiably remembered
as a glorious and tragic hero who lost his life in the great battle while
breaching the mythical and deadly Chakravyuha.
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I have completed my article on the basis of Internet based searches, my own reading and understanding of the great epic Mahabharata, the various representations of Chakravyuha in teleserials, movies and research documents. Anyone who can further refine this article is most welcome to share his/her views here accordingly.
Finally, as an ending note, for anyone interested to have a look at the episode (from the 90s Teleserial made by B.R. Chopra) which has shown the Chakravyuha, and the demise of Abhimanyu, can have a look here.
P.S. - The movie which was the reason why I started my research, was an absolute treat to watch. There were number of facts that were not shown there, but none of that can dilute the fact that produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, here is an animation film that works-wonders for children and eminently watchable for adults, including the skeptics who think animation is not their cup of tea. Moreover, it shows that India too can produce some talent in the world of animation. And if the current step is any indication, then with the tall-dark-handsome mythical superhero Arjun, the step seems to be definitely a right one.
P.P.S. - An ancient map of India during the story of Mahabharata.
References :
- Mahabharata : Sanskrit Text with English Translation. Written by Ved Vyas, Translated by M.N. Dutt
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmavyuha
- http://www.gurujinarayana.org/Gurubodh/Volume2/The%20Chakravyuh%20Mantra%20Distributor%20Dilemma.pdf
- http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5GgCZqN_hAgC&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=what+is+chakra+vyuha+formation%3F&source=web&ots=MS1X0raAH2&sig=X20Tc0c8bgingiodRQ3wKzxtN_o&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA239,M1
- http://www.mahabharataonline.com/rajaji/mahabharata_summary_80.php
- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120526/edit.htm#8
- http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/05-09/features1387.htm
- http://asia-major.com/reviews/jussawalla/chakrav2.html
- http://my-mind-space.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/chakravyuha-demystified.html
- http://balshala.com/uploads/Abhimanyu_Debate.pdf
- http://www.urday.in/marjunavow.htm
- http://www.urday.in/mchakravyuh.htm
- "Mahabharat" teleserial as shown by B.R. Chopra
- "Arjun - The Warrior Prince" a movie by Arnab Chaudhuri
