About Kurukshetra! #Last blog- We saw the most important part of Mahabharata , the first chapter! Now we move forward in this great epic! Chapter 2 -Parvasangraha Dwitiyam adhyayam. Sage Shounak and his disciples asked " Sutanandana Ugrashrava , in the starting of this great history you mentioned a place called Samanta-panchak-shetra (Kurukshetra) , we all want to know more that place and everything related to it As It Is!" Sage Ugrashrava said. " Now I will narrate the history , stories and incidences in which you will come to know about Samanta-panchak-shetra , Listen carefully!". In the end of Tretayuga and commencement of Dwapaaryuga , the greatest in warriors - Parshuram had killed many Kshtriya kings because of his anger towards them. Glowing like a raging fire Parshuram killed almost every Kshtriya and made Five Lakes from their blood in samanta-panchak-shetra. He then in anger conducted a ritual for his forefathers by dedicating the blood lakes to them. The Ruschik and other forefathers descended from heaven and said " Great Ram, the abled Bhruguvanshi Parshuram , we are amazed with your bravery and dedication towards your forefathers! U may ask for anything you wish for!" Parshuram said " Then let me ask you to forgive me for my sin of killing the Kshtriya kings and bless these 5 lakes for becoming a place of spirituality in future." So it shall be said his forefathers and again went to their abode! Also they adviced Parshuram to forgive the remaining Kshtriya's and stop the bloodshed. Thus Parshuram became calm once again! The lands near the 5 lakes were know as samanta-panchak and is a place with spiritual influence. The land which is famous for a particular thing or for a particular sign that land should be named according to that sign ,thus is said by the experts. Then when Dwapaaryuga ended and Kaliyuga was about to commence , the great war was fought between the Pandavas and Kauravas in Samanta-panchak-shetra. A total of 18 akshohini army gathered in that spiritual place for war. And all were destroyed on that land itself, hence it was called samanta (* SUMANT meaning destruction of everything gathered). Then Shounak and other sages said " We would like to know more about the word akshohini. In an akshohini sena (army) how many soldiers on foot , horses , chariots and elephants troops are there? Please explain to us in detail" Sage Ugrashrava said " 1 chariot , 1 elephant , 5 soldiers and three horses are together called as 1 Patti! Experts say three times of this Patti is called as 1 Senamukh and three times of this Senamukh is called as 1 Gulma , three times of this gulma is called 1 Gana. 3 Ganas make 1 Vahini and 3 Vahini's make 1 Prutana. Three times of Prutana is 1 Chamu and three times of Chamu is 1 Aneekini. And finally 10 Anikeeni's make 1 Akshohini!!!. The great mathematician's have thus calculated that one Akshohini army has 21,870 chariots , 21,870 elephants , number of soldiers are total of 1,09,350 in one akshohini army and horses are 65,610 in number! According to the experts this is the precise calculation of one akshohini army which I said to you. Thus Pandavas and kauravas had a total of 18 akshohini army with them. Thus in time this much army gathered in Samanta-panchak-shetra and also were destroyed there itself! " Further Sage Ugrashrava says " Warrior Bhisma fought for 10 days and Acharya Drona fought for a total of 5 days and protected the Kaurava army. Great archer Karna fought for 2 days and King Shalya fought for half a day. After that Bheem and Duryodhana's fought for half a day. After 18 complete days , Ashwathama , Krutavarma and Krupacharya attacked at night and killed sleeping soldiers of King Yudhisthir's camp. This great history which I am narrating right now was narrated by Vedvyas's brilliant disciple Sage Vaishmapayan in King Janamejaya's Sarpasatra. As body cannot work without food and is dependent on it so is every story on earth is dependent on Mahabharata , no story is independent from it. Every poem serves Mahabharata. Every reason , logic and intellectual concepts are described in this Mahabharata. There are a total of 100 parvas (sections) in Mahabharata each containing a particular number of chapters. Within Mahabharata itself there are those 18 Purana's , just like on this earth itself there are various species of living organisms. When a person wants to travel the ocean, he is in need of a ship, thus one who wants to understand this great ocean of knowledge "The Mahabharata" , one requires this 1st and 2nd chapter the same way. " " श्रुत्वादौ भवति नृणां सुखावगाहं विस्तीर्णं लवणजलं यथा प्लवेन ॥३९६॥ " #Next blog - 3rd adhyaya Paushya parva and start of the first story from this great epic!!
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