Kurukshetra Vijayadhari

The Hellfire

" How could you let our brother die? We are cousins for God sake . " An aggrieved voice questioned the Kauravas .  Having finished with the gruesome battle , I retired back to my tent to have some rest . But perhaps the sons of Pandu are hell bent on getting on my nerves .

" It was he who invited his own death , eldest Pandava . We had no intentions to start the war but this fool kept on provoking . He had come here to attack my friend when he was resting . Serves him right as he is back to the abode of your father . " defended the eldest son of Gandhari . This was something new as the ever calm son of my elder brother had been affected enough to lose his cool .

" Shut up , you bloody assassin . How dare you defend your friend after he murdered our brother ? Perhaps nothing better could have been expected from a devil like you . " thundered a powerful voice probably should belong to the son of Vayudev .

" Behave yourself , Bheemasena . This isn't your palace . Oh , sorry I forgot , you don't even own it anymore , isn't it ? " mocked Dushasana as the Kauravas were split into laughter .

" You chauvinistic molester , don't you remember the oath of brother Bheema ? Mind you !! you will be ripped apart like the fate of Jarasandha by the same man whom you are mocking . " warned another one perhaps one of the twins trying to scare the second son of Gandhari

" Even your dear brother Arjuna boasted many things while taking his oath . Look how he lies without his head . " The sarcastic comment of the eldest son of Dhritarastra was enough to trigger the undeclared ceasefire between the cousins to break . Now words seemed to be heard less often as thd noise of the clang of swords and maces grew in intensity . I had relaxed for some time yet had no intention to get back into action so soon . The absence of Arjuna perhaps was a relieving factor though Bheema would be absolute a menace for the Hundred hapless beings . Duryodhana could however keep him at bay for some time .

My speculations however proved wrong as I felt sudden warmth and smell of the smoke surrounding me . Looking up I find myself trapped in my tent which had been set fire all over . This was something unexpected and that too so early . But the presence of the demigods and the son in laws of Agnidev warranted this anyway . The Battle outside had perhaps stopped as the screams of my wives had probably drawn the attention of the rest towards my tent . The ferocious fire was literally engulfing everything under its spell except myself and my celestial belongings . The shriek of my friend however clarified that the source of the fire was the unlikely anger of my nephew from my paternal side .

Yudhisthira perhaps was the calmest of the souls of the era . But his anger emitted the fire of the hell itself from his bloodshot red eyes . Perhaps the death of his younger brother had made him go insane enough display this unusual feat . I closed my eyes and focused hard to locate the source using my illusionary gifted vision by the foremost of Gandharvas . In my mind flashed the image of a furious Yudhisthira with Arjuna's headless body in his lap . Gripping the Vijaya firmly , I rotated it circularly and used my usual arrows aiming around the vicinity of the sons of Kunti . My arrows  gathered the force of the hellfire as it richocheted through the crevices formed from within its core . Perhaps , if the cousins had been astonished by the infuriated Yudhisthira , now they were going to witness the shower of fireballs from his brother of his father .

I kept firing arrows after arrows to trap my opponent in his own den as the fire laden arrows encircled the whole area around the two sons of Kunti separating them from the rest of their brothers . Perhaps , the son of Yama hadn't given up yet and this forced me to bring his doom . Using an epitome of intense power filled blow I stretched the string of Vijaya to its maximum limits . Evoking my strength , I sat on my knees like a compressed spring only to be released along with the arrowless twang of Vijaya . The whole of the dome of fire along with remnants of the tent were blown away as though a ferocious storm was unleashed from the core of the earth . The force was enough to counter the cosmic forces of my nephew whose hellfire emitting bloodred eyes almost blinked and widened in awe .

The artificial storm created by myself was forcing Yudhisthira's fire portal back inside his head . As the force of the winds were focused into the portal they made way for my reappearance as well as threw the battling cousins who foolishly wanted to come in its path . Perhaps one of them was the intelligent  twin who had realized what was the consequences of the event going to be . The others were my friends of course who perhaps were wiggling closer only to return fruitlessly ever since Yudhisthira fired the missileless ballistic . My wives were relieved when they saw my frame appear unscathed from the impact . The once dome shaped fire now resembled the golden burning eagle which was ready to prey on its target .

The warriors of Kuruvansh were dumbfounded as the fireborne portal first strained the son of Yama and then proceeded further to devour his eyes . The cosmic energy then marched on to enter his head as it burst out through the openings of his ears . As his brothers realised what was happening it had been too late . The golden eagle shaped fire dome metamorphosis into  the shape of a huge monster's mouth that engulfed the remains of the two adorable grandsons of Bheeshma . Silence was what was the immediate reaction of the cousins that was followed by s series of wail from the brothers of the deceased . They tried too hard fruitlessly to extinguish the fire but weren't successful as the skeletal remains of my  half-brothers exploded together throwing their surviving brothers back .

The fire finally culminated on its own after some time reducing the erstwhile reigning emperor and his exceptionally glorious commander to the dust . Having decimated two of the illustrious sons of Pandu one during the battle while other using the cosmic energies , perhaps I have handed my friend extreme delight as that idiot is brimming with happiness . It could also be possible too due to getting me back unharmed from a sureshot death as he had expected the son of Yama to have me sent to his father's abode . I don't know whether my brother would be aggrieved at his sons death or celebrating at his son's arrival as these celestials were absolutely weird . However I had a bigger task at hand to deal with almost immediately as the emotions were going to take over very soon towards the next step for the bereaved .