A great war, as never fought before,
Fratricidal, ruthless sure,
Was being fought in Kurukshetra,
Between the Kauravas and Pandavas,
Led by two cousins, Duryodhana and Yudhishthira.
The bone of contention was the throne,
Duryodhana wanted it for himself alone,
The old king Dhritarashtra was born blind,
Also to his son's misdeeds, and plots of any kind.
Pandavas were duped, denied,
Banished, humiliated, their murders tried,
Draupadi, their common wife was
Publicly insulted,
Their patience, and tolerance being tested.
Everyone in the royal court, helplessly viewed,
Didn't protest, remained mute,
Only Krishna, from a distance,
came to her,
And she was, just in time rescued.
Krishna went to Duryodhana with a peace proposal,
He was arrogant, conveyed refusal,
He couldn't agree to give,
Even five villages to the five brothers,
Solutions couldn't be easier, smoother.
Soon alliances were formed,
Huge armies were raised,
More than ten million people were engaged,
In the most destructive war ever,
Precious lives couldn't be saved.
Both armies faced each other on the battlefield,
Krishna stood with the Pandavas as mentor, trusted shield,
Arjun was hesitant initially,
On the other side were present,
People whom he was, ever
Attached with emotion.
That was when the knowledge of Gita was delivered,
By Krishna to Arjuna and his eyes were opened,
He took up arms
And till victory, won't sit calm.
After Bhishma and Dronacharya fell,
It was Karna, Arjun's arch rival,
Who was asked to lead, attack and repel?
In the middle of the fierce battle,
Karna's chariot, all of a sudden,
began to rattle,
Sank in the mud, tilted,
Shooting arrows to the adversary were to be halted.
He got down, asked for time,
While trying to pull the wheels out,
Those had sunk too deep,
Nothing was working out.
Krishna cautioned Arjun,
It was your time to stand,
Avail it, lest it slip out of your hand,
Arjun was hesitant, a bit reluctant,
Everything is fair in war,
Told Krishna, Arjuna to understand.
He shot one final arrow,
That killed Karna in shock and sorrow.
Having killed his strongest rival,
Arjun had a mixed feeling,
Having a sense of guilt for keeling,
Karna was without arms,
And at a time he was busy lifting,
His chariot's wheels anxiously,
Not expecting any blow seriously.
He had also a sense of pride
Of successfully eliminating
The greatest obstacle to the victory,
A feeling, he couldn't hide.
And why did Karna sided with Duryodhan,
Friendship, kingdom, respect
without discrimination,
The most potent factor perhaps was jealousy,
He could hit the target with the same accuracy,
But was denied a chance by the princess Draupadi,
And he couldn't forget that insult That led to the ultimate human tragedy.
Arjun remained his rival since,
Even Kunti, his mother couldn't convince,
Come to the side of your step-brothers,
I regret my mistake as an unmarried mother
Had he listened to her sound advice,
He didn't have to pay a price.
Lust, jealousy, greed, ego,
Have been the cause of many destructions earlier,
When will the good senses prevail upon human beings,
What is our purpose and objective,
We have gone astray, it is clear.

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