The Battle of Realization

Kurukshetra winds swept over the wide, dusty flat, rustling the scarlet pennants of chariots and sending arrows splintered upon the ground like shattered recollections.

Bhishma Pitamaha, the great grandsire of the Kuru lineage, reclined on a bed of arrows, his armor transfixed, his breathing ragged but steady. His eyes, which had blazed with fiery passion and imperious will, now showed the stern hollowness of one who had witnessed empires come and go, blood spilled for pride, and loyalties torn asunder by expediency. 

As the battle paused, Dharmaraja Yudhishthira approached the fallen elder. With folded hands, he asked, “Pitamaha, why did this war ever come to be? Are we not all kin?”

Bhishma looked to the sky and whispered, “Yudhishthira, today I lie here not because of enemies, but because of the interests we all served. Duryodhana fought for power, you for dharma, and I... I for my vow. None of us truly fought for each other.”

A crow landed on a nearby arrow, as if to punctuate the silence. Krishna, observing from afar, closed his eyes in deep reflection. Arjuna, standing beside his brother, said, “But we believed in friendship. In honor.”

Bhishma smiled faintly. “Belief changes with time, my child. Allies today, adversaries tomorrow. Motives shape men. Friendship and enmity are both veils for self-interest.”

That night, the warriors did not fight. They sat quietly, some near their campfires, others alone under the stars, pondering the truth uttered by the dying elder. For on that battlefield, as steel clashed with flesh, the greatest wound was not of war—but of realization.

Moral: 

The world of men is painted with intentions. Often, what we call friendship or enmity is but the shadow of personal motive.

Inspiration:

"Nobody is nobody's friend, nobody is nobody's well-wisher, persons become friends or enemies only from motives of interest." — Maharishi Vyasa