Death of Ghatotkacha
Although we all felt a great loss when Ghatotkacha met his ultimate demise in the Kurukshetra War, his death was valiant and necessary to ensure that the Pandavas would win the war. Even in his final moments, I remember how Ghatotkacha selflessly took out several more Kaurava troops, further guaranteeing that the Pandavas would emerge victorious in the end.
On the 13th day of the Kurukshetra War, Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, fought valiantly and sacrificed his life for the war. A lot of people tend to get angry at me when Abhimanyu died. I knew what was going to happen, of course, but I chose not to tell Arjuna at the time, leading him away from the battle before Abhimanyu's death so that we could secure more allies to join us in the fight against the Kauravas.
I understand why one might be upset with me for my actions, but I justify what I did because I knew who Abhimanyu actually was. He was the incarnation of the Moon God's son, Varchas. When the other gods had pleaded with the Moon God to send his son to Earth to fight in the Kurukshetra War, the Moon God finally agreed to let Varchas be reincarnated as Arjuna's son, but only for sixteen years. This was because Varchas could not bear to be away from his father for longer than that. Therefore, I knew Abhimanyu had to die in the battle when he was 16 years old. Besides, as callous as it may sound, if it weren't for Abhimanyu's death, Arjuna would not have fought as fiercely as was necessary to defeat the Kauravas.
Following the death of Abhimanyu, Bhima realized that the Kauravas were gaining the upper hand and that the Pandavas were losing numbers quickly. He summoned Ghatotkacha for help. Ghatotkacha appeared without hesitation and brought along an army of rakshasas to help fight the Kauravas.
Ghatotkacha fought bravely, using his brute strength and powerful illusions to defeat his opponents. As the battle raged on through the day and into the night, the Kauravas found that, while they were growing tired and weary as the night drew in, Ghatotkacha seemed to be getting even stronger!
Bhima was greatly astonished by this, and he asked Ghatotkacha how he managed to prevent himself from being tired out. Ghatotkacha replied, "Father, rakshasas are stronger in the night than in the day. I and my rakshasa friends will continue to fight into the night while you and the other Pandavas get some rest!" Bhima was delighted to see his son fighting so fiercely, and he went to take rest for the night.
Ghatotkacha terrified all the Kauravas, and they fled to Karna for help. Enraged by the fact that a mere rakshasa could terrify his troops, Karna set off to kill Ghatotkacha. He saw through all of Ghatotkacha's illusions and shot powerful arrows at him. Much to his surprise, however, the arrows had no effect; Ghatotkacha simply swallowed the arrows or caught them and broke them in half! The battle between Ghatotkacha and Karna raged for hours, and it was one of the greatest battles of the war.
Karna battles Ghatotkacha
While deflecting Karna's attacks, Ghatotkacha managed to produce even more powerful illusions to defeat the Kauravas. At one point, Ghatotkacha managed to hit Duryodhana himself!
Seeing their leader wounded, the Kauravas took Karna aside and pleaded with him to use his powerful Shakti, an arrow gifted to him by Indra that will kill the opponent whom it is shot at, no matter how strong the opponent is.
"Please, Karna!" they begged. "Otherwise, that rakshasa will kill us all!"
Karna hesitated to use the Shakti because he obtained that weapon for the purpose of killing Arjuna. He knew that was the only way to defeat Arjuna and secure a victory for the Kauravas. However, when he looked around and saw all of his men dying, he knew that he needed to use it on Ghatotkacha.
Reluctantly, he aimed his Shakti arrow at Ghatotkacha and shot him in the chest, mortally wounding him. When Ghatotkacha was shot, Bhima fell to his knees and wept, and the other Pandavas all froze with sadness. In his last moments before dying, Ghatotkacha grew to one thousand times his original size. He turned to look at his father and smiled one last time before falling backward and crushing an entire fleet of the Kaurava army.
Ghatotkacha was dead. While the Pandavas mourned for Ghatotkacha's death, I smiled with tears in my eyes. Ghatotkacha would be freed of his burdens as a rakshasa on Earth! No longer would humans treat him as inferior because of his appearance. His kind-hearted nature and moral righteousness followed him all the way to the end. His selflessness did not go unacknowledged by the Pandavas, who knew that, were it not for him, they would have lost the war. We all watched as his soul rose up into the sky all the way to heaven, and we wished that he would rest in peace.
This concludes the death of Ghatotkacha. Throughout his life, Ghatotkacha displayed kindness and humility to all. He never doubted the importance of virtue, despite his demon origins. Throughout his adventures, he made many friends and earned the praise and respect of so many people, and he remained loyal to those he loved, even until the very end. It is my greatest honor to tell the story of my good friend Ghatotkacha. Thank you for taking the time to read Ghatotkacha: The Good Demon!
Author's note:
For this page of my Storybook project, I tell the final story of the mighty Ghatotkacha as he selflessly battles the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra War. Despite his incredible fighting abilities, he is defeated by Karna, the Pandavas' estranged older brother and friend to Duryodhana. Ghatotkacha's death is significant because, as Krishna illustrates, if Karna had not defeated him with his mighty Shakti weapon, then Karna would have used the weapon to kill Arjuna, which would have meant defeat for the Pandavas. It is unclear if Ghatotkacha knew about Karna's weapon or not prior to fighting him. In some versions, the Pandavas ask Ghatotkacha to battle Karna; did they know that they needed to sacrifice Ghatotkacha to Karna's Shakti arrow in order to save Arjuna? I like to think this wasn't the case. Rather, I thought it would be more meaningful if Ghatotkacha did not deliberately attack Karna but only fought with him after Karna started to attack him for terrorizing the Kauravas. The Pandavas were shocked to see Ghatotkacha die; they were so amazed by his fighting prowess and near invincibility. Ultimately, however, I think that his death humanized him. I tried to illustrate the good nature of Ghatotkacha all the way up to his last breath, when he looks back at his father and smiles before falling and selflessly using his body to destroy more Kaurava troops. I also like that, in the midst of all the grief, we see Krishna smiling, because he knows the significance of Ghatotkacha's death. I think that Krishna knew that Ghatotkacha would be forever remembered as a loyal and selfless warrior whose noble death was a pivotal moment during the Kurukshetra War.
Image credits:
Banner image: Death of Gatotkacha.jpg by Ramanarayanadatta astri. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
Karna kills Ghatotkacha: Karna Try To Kill Ghatotkacha.jpg by william jon. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.