Now we get to the most important part of the story of Mahabharata: the war. Previously, we learnt about what the Panadava brothers went through, which had established a clear animosity on both sides, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, that is.
But, why the war?
Pandavas had fulfilled both the exile conditions imposed on them. It was only natural for them to go back to their kingdom of Indraprastha. However, Duryodhana had other plans. He wasn’t willing to concede an inch of land to the Pandavas. Still, could the war have been avoided? Should violence be an option to claim one’s right? Is it justifiable to kill another person? These are some of the questions that Arjuna asks Krishna (who is Arjuna’s charioteer on his request) as they stand facing the Kauravas in the battlefield. What comes next is some of the most profound wisdom as a response to these questions and is known as the Bhagavad Gita.
As we have seen so far, there are multiple sides of the Mahabharata story — it’s not a straightforward tale. In an interesting turn of events, Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, goes to Karna and asks him to not kill the Pandavas, as they were his brothers. “I promise you that,” says Karna, with moist eyes, as it’s the first time his biological mother has come to him and asked for a favour. He could not say no, he never did.
The stage was set, in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Sounds of conch shells and trumpet calls of elephants vibrated in the air. It was time to fight. The war went on for eighteen days. Let’s break it down to understand what unfolded on each day.
Day 1: In the first day of the war, the Pandavas suffered heavy losses. The loss made them wake up to the realities of what was coming their way. It was also on the first day that the Bhagavad Gita was revealed to Arjuna.
Day 2: Pandavas planned well and fought fiercely, especially Bhima, who chased the Kaurava army like a juggernaut.
Day 3: On the third day, Bhishma, the commander of the Kaurava army, planned new formations. This was to be led by Duryodhana. There was a close contest between Bhima and Duryodhana, which left the latter unconscious for some time.
Day 4: Pandavas were in high spirits. Ghatotkach, Bhima’s son, caused a havoc in the Kaurava Army.
Day 5: Pandava army continued to gain momentum. Arjuna was proving to be too powerful a warrior to deal with. His arrows claimed many lives on the enemy side.
Day 6: Pandava army stood in Crab formation. Kaurava army was in Bird formation. The battle turned out to be barbaric. Even Duryodhana got badly injured.
Day 7: Bhishma adopted a new strategy. But he was challenged by Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son.
Day 8: Bhishma set his army in Turtle formation. But Ghatotkacha attacked and threw a secret weapon at Duryodhana, who barely escaped while his elephant got killed.
Day 9: So far Pandavas had had the upper hand. It’s time for Duryodhana to challenge the advancing Pandava army.
Day 10: Before going into the tenth day, Arjuna took a vow that he would put Bhishma’s out of action on that day. And this is exactly what happened. The old man was finally put to death.
Day 11: Drona becomes the new commander of the Kaurava army, after Bhishma’s death.
Day 12: It was a hard day for the Pandavas. Yudhishthira was severely attacked and he somehow managed to escape. Arjuna was attacked too, but he fought back with great zeal.
Day 13: Drona was getting desperate to capture Yudhishthira, so he continued with his attacks. At the same time, Abhimanyu was caught in a trap, set by Drona. It was called Chakravyuh, a formation of circle within a circle. Only Arjuna, on the Pandava side, knew how to breach it. Not Abhimanyu. So he was killed.
Day 14: Arjuna had taken a vow to slay the killers of his son. And he succeeded in this. Ghatotkacha was also killed on the fourteenth day, which was a huge blow for the Pandavas. Following this, Bhima killed Drona.
Day 15: After Drona, the Kaurava army had a new commander — Karna. This was the day of an ultimate battle between two of the finest warriors, Arjuna and Karna. Arjuna, with the help of Krishna, came out as winner. Karna kept his promise he had made to Kunti, and died.
Day 16: Now the Kaurava army was led by Shalya, who was actually the maternal uncle of the Pandavas. The maternal uncle of the Kauravas, Shakuni, was killed on this day by Sehdev. Most of the Kaurava warriors were dead by now.
Day 17: Duryodhana had disappeared while everyone looked for him. He was hiding in a place, unwilling to fight. According to the rules of the war, you could not kill a non-combatant. However, Bhima lured him to get into a fight. Duryodhana fought well, but, after the instruction of Krishna, Bhima broke his thigh (a move not allowed in battle) and killed him. This raised concerns, but Krishna justified it by recounting the ills that Duryodhana had done.
Day 18: Ashwathama, a mighty warrior of the Kaurava camp, thought of killing the Pandava brothers at night (another illegal move). Unfortunately, he ended up killing the wrong people. Eventually he got killed too. This was the end.
The war was over. Pandavas got their lost kingdom and they became the rulers of the entire Hastinapur. The years went by. During this period, Lord Krishna passed away too. The final part of the Mahabharata is about Pandavas’ pilgrimage to the Himalayas, during which, they all die and face the god of justice.
Kalampedia 