The Greatest Indian Epic - Mahabharath

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Originally Posted by great

Sorry to interupt the flow .

I have read the curses given to Karna one by brahman guru etc, in the same way i heard even Bhooma devi cursed Karnan bcoz of this only his wheels broke and get struck during the war is it true.

It has been mentioned in the thread that shiva broke Arjuna ego same way there is also saying Arjuna thought he is supreme in archery and no one is near to him and to help crossing the lake arjuna would make a bridge with arrows. He would state no one has power to break this bridge but hanuman would break bridge made by arjuna, is it true .

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Greatna ..Thanks :D

Karna’s curses are a lengthy story !

Parasurama vowed that he will never teach anything to Kshatriyas . Karna , not sure of his caste ( you know he was put in a basket by Kunti & let it in a river which was spotted by a Charioteer & he brings him up. Incidentally, Karna was also called Radheyan ) tlearns the art of archery from Parasurama by telling lie that he is a Brahman & learns the entire art from him. One day while Parasurama was taking rest on the lap of Karna , a bee penetrates deep into Karna’s thighs & blood comes out. Parasurama on seeing it after waking up screams at Karna that a Brahman will not have such tolerance but only a Kshatriya could have such immense strength to withstand such a pain . This baffles Karna who has no clue to convince his guru . At this point Parasurama gets wild & CURSES KARNA THAT WHATEVER HE HAD LEARNT FROM HIM , THE SACRED MANTRAS & THE WAY TO USE THE DIVINE WEAPONS – they will become useless, at the most needed juncture.
Poor Karna will face the impact of this curse when he meets Arjuna after he takes charge as the commander of Kaurava forces after the end of Drona .
Don’t worry – I will give a detailed account of Karna when his part comes up )

Second , upset & frustrated by the curse given by his guru , Karna shoots arrows everywhere & one such kills the cow of a Brahman . The Brahman getting furious curses Karna that as he was totally dependant on the cow for his livelihood , Karna too will lose the services of his chariot oneday when he needed it the most – Now you will realize that the wheel gets struck deep inside when he was facing Arjuna .

To sum up, poor Karna was already made powerless virtually even before the war & he had only 2 strong weapons to his credit – 1 the Shakti which was a quid pro quo act by Indira when he grants his kavacha & kundala & 2 Sarpamugastira – a snake headed arrow which is a potent weapon & which he preserved it to use it only against Arjuna … What happened to both the deadly weapons will be described at the appropriate moment . Pls wait !

All will be covered when Karna parva comes up !

Wish to update you all with what transpired after the end of day 1 with the Pandavas :

After the first day, the Pandava camp assembled together & they had a lengthy discussion .
As we all know, the team was a bit demoralised by the havoc created by Bheeshma at the end of the previous day & this worried Dharmaputhra a lot.
He straight away addressed to Krishna :

O Kesava, the way Bheeshma is running through our side, it seems like he will destroy our army soon.... I am really worried now.

While Arjuna continues to be indifferent, only Bheema was as consistent ever & fighting with 100 % clear frame of mind.

What to do ? Pl guide us .........

Krishna in turn consoles & motivates the Pandavas by saying :

Please do not worry. Though Bheeshma is a great warrior, do not forget that Shikandin is destined to down him soon

And not to forget Dhrishtadyumna who is born to kill Drona .

We have a strong men around us & for sure we will eliminate the Kauravas .....

By saying this, Krishna comforts the Pandavas...

As the next day approached, the Pandavas decide to form a vyuha called -An array known by the name of Krauncharuma, that is destructive of all foes, and that was spoken of by Vrihaspati unto Indra in days of old when the gods and the Asuras fought,--that array destructive of hostile divisions

Thus both sides moved towards Day 2 of the war.....................

Day 2 starts :

When the battle began , Bhishma, showered an arrowy downpour on Abimanyu, and the ruler of the Kekayas and Virata, and Dhrishtadyumna as also upon the Chedi and the Matsya warriors.

Immediately the Pandavas wavered at the onset of that great man. And terrific was the encounter that took place between all the combatants. And horse-men and car-warriors and foremost of steeds fell fast. And the car-divisions of the Pandavas began to fly away.

This made Arjuna furious, angrily asked Krishna. 'Proceed to the place where the grandsire is. As the chariot proceeded forward Arjuna says - it is evident that this Bhishma, with wrath excited, will annihilate for Duryodhana's benefit my host. And this Drona, and Kripa and Salya and Vikarna, united with Dhritarashtra's sons headed by Duryodhana, will slaughter the Panchalas. Even I, therefore, shall stay Bhishma for the sake of my troops, for which Krishna said, 'Be careful, Arjun for I will soon take you, towards the grandsire's car.

Now Bhishma, struck Arjuna with seventy-seven arrows and Drona also struck him) with five and twenty, and Kripa with fifty, and Duryodhana with four and sixty, and Salya with nine arrows; and Aswathama with sixty, and Vikarna with three arrows; and Saindhava with nine and Sakuni with five. Arjuna , in return pierced Bhishma with five and twenty, and Kripa with nine arrows, and Drona with sixty, , and Vikarna with three arrows and Duryodhana also with five. And then Satyaki, and Virata and Dhrishtadyumna and the sons of Draupadi, and Abhimanyu, all surrounded him, as a mark of support. Then Dhrushtradyumnan, supported by the Somakas, advanced towards Drona . Then Bhishma, pierced Arjuna with eighty sharp arrows, upon which the combatants on Kauravas were much thrilled. Hearing the shouts of Kauravas, Arjuna entered into the midst of Kauravas

Bheeshma pierced Partha again with nine shafts. And Arjuna pierced him in return with ten shafts penetrating into the very vitals. Then, Arjuna showered Bheeshma with 100s of shafts


Day 2 continues................

Both Bheeshma & Arjuna -well-pleased, and both delighting in battle, fought with each other without each gaining any advantage over the other, and each desirous of counteracting the other's feats.
The successive flights of arrows shot from Bhishma's bow were seen to be dispersed by the shafts of Arjuna. And so the flights of arrows shot by Arjuna, cut off by the arrows of Ganga's son, all fell down on the ground. And Arjuna pierced Bhishma with five and twenty arrows of sharp points. And Bhishma, too, in that combat, pierced Partha in return with nine arrows.

The 2 two great warriors, piercing each other's steeds, and also the shafts and the wheels of each other's cars, began to sport.

Now Bhishma's shafts struck Krishna on his chest with three arrows.

This upset Arjuna & he pierced in that combat the charioteer of Ganga's son with three arrows. And both heroes, striving with each other against each other's car, succeeded not in taking aim at each other in the combat. And in consequence of the ability and dexterity of the charioteers of both those warriors, both displayed, beautiful circles and advancings and retreatings in respect of their moving cars. And, seeing the opportunity to strike, they frequently changed positions, And the 2 mighty heros twang their bows, both in the same manner. And with the blare of their conches and the rattle of their car-wheels, the very Earth was suddenly rent. And it began to tremble and produce subterranean noises. And nobody, could detect any latches in either of them. Both of them was possessed of great might and great courage in battle, each was other's match. None, observed any difference between the two, just as none finds any transgression in a person observant of morality. And both of them (at times) became perfectly invisible in consequence of clouds of arrows. And soon enough both of them in that battle became visible.

Now the gods with Gandharvas and the Rishis said unto one another. These mighty car-warriors when excited with rage, are incapable of ever being vanquished in battle by all the worlds with the gods, the Asuras and the Gandharvas. This highly wonderful battle would be wonderful in all the worlds. Indeed, a battle such as this will never take place again. Bhishma is incapable of being conquered in combat by Pritha's son of great intelligence, showering his arrows in battle, with bow and car and steeds. So also that great bowman, the son of Pandu, incapable of being vanquished in battle by the very gods, Bhishma is not competent to conquer in combat. As long as the world itself will last, so long will this battle continue equally.

The Devas wondered at the prowess shown by both .

Day 2 continues tomorrow......

Day 2 continues.................

Battle at another corner between Drona & Drishtadyumna :

Drona with diverse arrows pierced Dhrishtadyumna and felled the latter'scharioteer from his niche in the car & this enraged him & in return he pierced Drona in the combat with nine sharp arrows and addressed him, saying, 'Wait--Wait'.

Now Drona, covered with his arrows on Dhrishtadyumna. . Now he took a dreadful arrow for the destruction of Drishtadyumna. In return, he cut off that terrible and blazing arrow also showered an arrowy downpour on Bharadwaja's son

Mid way, Drona destroyed his chariot . Now, Drishtadyumna, taking a large and beautiful shield rushed impetuously towards Drona by foot. Drona now stopped his progress by showering with arrows & this made him unable to proceed further.

Bheema steps in now to rescue his brother in law , with seven sharp-pointed arrows, and speedily made him to take up another chariot. Seeing this, Duryodhana urged the ruler of the Kalingas supported by a large division, for the protection of Drona & they obliged his order & moved towards Bheema .

Drona now shifted his focus towards Virata and Drupada together.
By now , Dhrishtadyumna having recovered from the wrath of Drona , proceeded to support Yudhishthira .

Its Bheema vs Kalinga now . While Bheema was supported by Chedis, the Kalingas were backed by Ketumat , the son of the king of Nishadas. And the ruler of the Kalingas with many thousands of cars, and Ketumat with ten thousand elephants and the Nishadas, surrounded Bhimasena, on all sides.
Then the Chedis, the Matsyas, and Karushas, with Bhimasena at their head, with many kings impetuously rushed against the Nishadas. And then commenced the battle, fierce and terrible, between the warriors rushing at one another from desire of slaughter. And terrific was the battle that suddenly took place between Bhima and his foes.
The king of the Kalingas, his son known by the name of Sakradeva, both began to strike Bheema with shafts & cut his steeds. But Bhimasena, staying on his car whose steeds had been slain, hurled at Sakradeva a mace made of the hardest iron which kills him . The king of the Kalingas beholding his own son slain, surrounded Bhima on all sides with many thousands of cars. Bheema now abandoning mace, took up a scimitar.

Bhanumat then covered Bhima with a shower of arrows, and set up a loud shout, making the welkin resound with it. Bhima, however, in that fierce battle, could not bear that leonine shout.

Himself endued with a loud voice, he also shouted very loudly. And at these shouts of his, the army of the Kalingas became filled with fear. In that battle they no longer regarded Bhima, as a human being. Then, having uttered a loud shout, Bhima, sword in hand impetuously jumping on (Bhanumat's) excellent elephant aided by the latter's tusks, gained, the back of that prince of tuskers, and with his huge sword cut Bhanumat, dividing him in the middle. Thus Bheema slains the prince of the Kalingas.
Then, beholding Srutayush at the head of Kalinga troops, Bhimasena rushed at him. And seeing him advancing the ruler of the Kalingas, pierced Bhimasena with nine arrows. Struck with those shafts shot by the ruler of the Kalingas, like an elephant pierced with the hook, Bhimasena blazed up with wrath like fire fed with fuel. Then Asoka, that best of charioteers, bringing a car decked with gold, caused Bhima to mount on it. And thereupon he rushed at the ruler of the Kalingas, saying,--'Wait, Wait'. The mighty Srutayush excited with wrath, shot at Bhima many sharp arrows, displaying his lightness of hand, and Bhima, forcibly struck with those nine sharp arrows shot by Kalinga from his excellent bow, yielded to great wrath. Bheema slew the ruler of the Kalingas with seven shafts made wholly of iron. And with two shafts he slew the two mighty protectors of the car-wheels of Kalinga. And he also despatched Satyadeva and Satya to the abode of Yama. Bhima also, with many sharp arrows and long shafts, caused Ketumat his end

Day 2 continues tomorrow........

Day 2 forenoon continues.........

Struck with panic in consequence of Bhima of wonderful achievements, all the Kalinga combatants fled away in all directions. When, however, they were rallied again, Dhrishtadyumna ordered his own troops, saying,--'Fight'. Hearing the words of their commander, many leaders (of the Pandava army) headed by Sikhandin approached Bhima, supported by many car-divisions accomplished in smiting. Now Yudhishthira the just, followed all of them with a large elephant force he blew his conch in battle and uttered a leonine roar.

Now, Bheema, Dhrishtadyumna & Satyaki started getting deep into the Kaurava army. They all cried aloud, saying. 'This is Death himself that is fighting in Bhima's shape with the Kalingas.

Sensing the seriouness , Bheeshma quickly proceeded towards Bhima, himself surrounded on all sides with combatants in army. Thereupon, Satyaki and Bhimasena and Dhrishtadyumna, rushed towards Bheema to support him. And all of them quickly surrounding Ganga's son in battle, pierced Bhishma, each with three terrible shafts, without losing a moment.

Bheeshma however coutered them with ease .Ffirst he destroyed Bheema’s chariot . Bheema now taking up a heavy mace speedily jumped down . Now Dhrishtadyumna quickly took away, in the very sight of all the combatants, Bheena.

Now Satyaki then from desire of doing what was agreeable to Bhima, felled with his shaft the charioteer of Bheeshma. Upon his charioteer being slain, Bhishma, was borne away from the field of battle by his steeds with the speed of the wind. Bhimasena then resumed slaying all the Kalingas and none could withstand him.

And worshipped by the Panchalas and the Matsyas, he embraced Dhrishtadyumna and then approached Satyaki.

This completes the forenoon part of the day 2

The afternoon part –

Drishtadyumna engaged himself in battle with these Drona's son, Salya, and Kripa.

Seeing this, Abimanyu came in to support him & showered with arrows .

Now, Lakshmana, the son of Duryodhana , raced towards Abimanyu.

Seeing the battle, Duryodhana himself stepped in to support his son !

Now Arjuna also joined the list to offer support to his son !

Ultimately Bheeshma also re entered the scene jointly supported by Drona.

Despite the presence of the 2 great warriors, Arjuna inflicted heavy damages onto the Kauravas & one could see bloody river flowing .

Dead bodies of fighters, charioteers, elephant based warriors & infantry – all thrown out of gear & it was an aweful sight created by the force of Arjuna’s bow .

This went on up to the end of the day ….

Now, Bheeshma smilingly addressed Drona, This mighty and heroic son of Pandu, accompanied by Krishna, is dealing with our troops as he alone is competent to deal with them. Today he was invincible by any means. This vast host again of ours is incapable of being rallied. Behold, looking at one another, our troops are flying away.

As the Sun is likely to set , let us withdraw our troops now as most of our fighters seem exhausted & tired.

Having said this to Drona , Bhishma slowly makes the army to withdraw.

Duryodhana was very upset with the events of day 2 & went back dejected.

And the sun also moves away as twilight set in.


And Day 2 ends with Pandavas emerging victorious & scored some psychological points over their rivals

Hi all,

I shall wait for comments after which I will be proceeding to DAY 3 tomorrow evening

DAY 3 starts now...............

Bhishma formed a new array known after the name of Garuda. And on the beak of that Garuda was Bheeshma himself.

Arjuna , supported by Dhrishtadyumna, started his counter-array in the form of a half-moon.

And stationed on the right horn, Bhimasena shone surrounded by kings of diverse countries abundantly armed with various weapons.
Next to him were those mighty car-warriors Virata and Drupada; and next to them was Nila armed with envenomed weapons. And next to
Dhananjaya, felling in that conflict leaders of car-divisions with his arrows, caused a great carnage.
And equal was the impact of Bheeshma & Drona onto the Pandava army .
Then Bhishma , Drona, Jayadratha, Vikarna, and Sakuni broke the ranks of the Pandavas. And so Bhimasena and the Rakshasa Ghatotkacha, and Satyaki, and Chekitana, and the sons of Draupadi, supported by all the kings (on their side), began to grind Kauravas in return.

Duryodhana, supported by a thousand cars, rushed to battle with the Pandavas and the Rakshasa

And all other kings faced their arch rivals now...

Day 3 continues......


Bhimasena and Ghatotkacha, both achieved mighty feats. Then Duryodhana, approaching, checked them both. The prowess of Gatotkacha wonderful, insomuch that he fought in battle, transcending his father.


Bhimasena, pierced the chest of Duryodhana iwith an arrow which was so powerful that Duryodhana, sat down on the terrace of his car and swooned away. And his charioteer then, speedily bore him away, from battle.

This caused his support army to panic but both Bhishma and Drona, excited with rage and both desirous of Duryodhana's welfare sought to cheek it. Then Duryodhana himself, comforting the combatants, checked that army, then flying away in all directions.
Duryodhana, beholding that army of his rallied for the fight, quickly repaired to Bhishma and said the follg words :

O grandsire, listen to what I say, O Bharata. When, O son of Kuru, thou art alive, and Drona, that foremost of persons conversant with weapons, along with his son and with all our other friends (is alive), and then that mighty bowman Kripa also is alive, I do not regard it as at all creditable that my army should thus fly away. I do not regard the Pandavas to be, by any means, a match for you or for Drona, in battle, or for Drona's son, or for Kripa. Without doubt, O grandsire, the sons of Pandu are being favoured by YOU, inasmuch as thou forgivest, O hero, this slaughter of my army. Thou shouldst have told me, O king, before this battle took place, that thou wouldst not fight with the Pandavas. Hearing such words from YOU, as also from the preceptor, O Bharata, I would then have, with Karna, reflected upon what course I should pursue. If I do not deserve to be abandoned by you two in battle, then, O bulls among men, do ye fight according to the measure of your prowess.


Hearing these words, Bhishma, laughing repeatedly, and turning up his eyes in wrath, said

Many a time, O king, have I said unto your words worthy of your acceptance and fraught with your good. The Pandavas are incapable of being vanquished in battle by the very gods with Vasudeva amongst them. That, however, which my aged self is capable of doing, I will do to the extent of my power, O best of kings, in this battle. Witness it now with your kinsmen. Today, in the very sight of all, alone I shall check the sons of Pandu at the head of their troops and with all their kinsfolk.

Thus addressed by Bhishma, Duryodhana gets back to his cheerful self, caused conches to be blown and drums to be beaten. And the Pandavas also, hearing that loud uproar, blew their conches, and caused their drums and cymbals to be played upon

Day 3 continues