The war under the leadership of Drona

After the fall of Bheeshma, the kings in the Kaurava camp approached Karna and asked him to save them from defeat. He promised to fight fiercely and kill Arjuna. Karna then went to the battlefield to take Bheeshma’s blessings. Bheeshma blessed him, saying he was also like his grandson and he asked Karna to protect Duryodhana’s army.

Karna then proposed to Duryodhana that Drona, who was the senior-most warrior, should be made the commander. Drona was thus made the commander of the Kaurava forces. Drona then planned a strategy to seize Yudhishtira so they could force him to play the game of dice and send him again into exile. He asked Duryodhana to ensure Arjuna was kept away. Hearing of this, Arjuna swore to protect Yudhishtira.

The battle began the next day with Drona organizing the cart formation and the Pandavas responding by making the Krauncha formation. The battle commenced with Drona launching a fierce attack and slaughtering Pandava soldiers.

A fierce fight took place between Ghatotkacha and Alambusha. Abhimanyu fought with Paurava and when that king cut his bow, he rushed at him with a sword and prepared to behead him. Jayadratha saved Paurava and fought with Abhimanyu, but his sword was broken. Shalya then hurled a javelin at Abhimanyu, who caught it in his hand and hurled it back to destroy Shalya’s chariot.

Bheema then fought with Shalya and Vrishasena, the son of Karna, took on the Pandavas. Drona attacked Yudhishtira and killed the prince of Panchala who was with him. He then charged towards Yudhishtira to capture him. Just as it seemed the war would be lost, Arjuna arrived. He launched such a terrible attack that the sky turned dark with a dense barrage of arrows. Arjuna thus saved the day for the Pandavas.

Drona was upset that Arjuna could not be stopped and complained about it in the post-war meeting. The Trigarta king Susharma then told him he and his brothers had taken a vow to kill Arjuna to die. They were the Samashapatakas, who were determined to finish Arjuna.

The next day, they challenged Arjuna, and he accepted the challenge. He asked Drupada’s son, Satyajit to protect Yudhishtira. The battle between the Samshapatakas and Arjuna was terrible. One by one, Arjuna slaughtered the Trigartas, but they kept attacking him. There was such a terrible shower of arrows that the sky became dark.

Arjuna then used the Vayavyastra to create a gale that blew away the shower of arrows and the Trigartas. Meanwhile, Drona had arranged the Garuda vyuha while Yudhishtira formed the Ardhachandra Vyuha. There was a furious battle between Drona and Satyajit that ended with Satyajit’s death. Drona then killed Virata’s brother, Shatanika.

Bheema then entered the battle and had to face the Kaurava warriors. Duryodhana attacked Bheema with an elephant division but was defeated. Then Bhagadatta entered the arena seated on his mighty elephant Supratika, looking like Indra on Airavata. Bhagadatta then killed the King of Dasarnas. He defeated Yudhishtira and Satyaki and made Bheema flee from the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Krishna saw the cloud of dust and realized that it was Bhagadatta. He asked Arjuna to quickly deal with the Samashapatakas. Arjuna used the Vajra and destroyed the Samashapatakas. Krishna then took Arjuna to Bhagadatta. A fierce fight took place. Despite the opportunity to kill Bhagadatta from the side, Arjuna refused to do so because it was adharma.

Bhagadatta dislodged Arjuna’s crown with his spear. An angry Arjuna then destroyed his bow and pierced him with arrows. The furious king of Pragjyotisha who was the son of Narakasura used the Vaishnavastra on Arjuna. Krishna stood up and the weapon struck him on his chest. Seeing its master, the weapon of Vishnu turned into a garland. Bereft of his mighty astra, Bhagadatta was weakened and Arjuna finally killed him.

Shakuni used his powers of illusion to fight Arjuna, who used celestial weapons to counter him. Meanwhile, Ashwatthama fought with Nila and killed him. Arjuna killed three brothers of Karna. The battle was terrible and the two armies suffered huge losses.

… to be continued