Text 47] Prayers by Queen Kunti 431
whole world became involved in this fight between the rival brothers.
Lord Krsna was also there in the side of King Yudhisthira. It is said in the
Mahabharata (Adi, Chap. 20) that 6,400,000 men were killed in eighteen
days in the Battle of Kuruksetra, and some hundreds of thousands were
missing. Practically this was the greatest battle in the world within five
thousand years.

This mass killing simply to enthrone Maharaja Yudhisthira was too
mortifying, so he tried to be convinced with evidences from histories
by great sages like Vyasa and the Lord Himself that the fight was just
because the cause was just. But Maharaja Yudhisthira would not be
satisfied, even though he was instructed by the greatest personalities of the
time. Krsna is designated herein as the performer of superhuman actions,
but in this particular instance neither He nor Vyasa could convince King
Yudhisthira. Does it mean that He failed to be a superhuman actor? No,
certainly not. The interpretation is that the Lord as isvara or the Super-
soul both in the heart of King Yudhisthira and Vyasa performed still more
superhuman action because the Lord desired it. As Supersoul of King
Yudhisthira, He did not allow the King to be convinced by the words of
Vyasa and others, including Himself, because He desired that the King
hear instructions from the dying Bhismadeva, who was another great
devotee of the Lord. The Lord wanted that at the last stage of his material
existence the great warrior Bhismadeva see the Lord personally as well as
his beloved grandchildren, King Yudhisthira, etc., now situated on the
throne, and thus pass away very peacefully. Bhismadeva was not at all
satisfied to fight against the Pandavas, who were his beloved fatherless
grandchildren. But the ksatriyas are also very stern people, and therefore
he was obliged to take the side of Duryodhana because he was maintained
at the expense of Duryodhana. Besides this, the Lord also desired that
King Yudhisthira be pacified by the words of Bhismadeva so that the
world could see that Bhismadeva excelled all in knowledge, including the
Lord Himself.

TEXT 47
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ME UM THAI Test TAZ |
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TEcAT fam: eeaterad Aa voll
aha raja dharma-sutas
cintayan su-hrdam vadham
prakrtenatmana viprah
sneha-moha-vasam gatah
