The Greatest Indian Epic - Mahabharath

Day 3 continues

The harsh words of Duryodhana created a deadly impact on the great Grandsire Bheeshma that he took control over the proceedings now .

And a dreadful river of blood began to flow


And in that combat Bhishma, with bow incessantly drawn to a circle, shot shafts of blazing points, resembling snakes of virulent poison. And shooting continuous line of arrows in all directions, that hero of rigid vows smote the Pandava car-warriors naming each beforehand, And displaying his extreme lightness of hands, and dancing (as it were) along the track of his car, he seemed, to be present everywhere like a circle of fire. And in consequence of the lightness of his movements, the Pandavas in that battle, along with the Srinjayas, beheld that hero, though really alone, as multiplied a thousand-fold. And every one there regarded Bhishma as having multiplied his self by illusion. Having seen him now on the east, the next moment they saw him on the west. And so having seen him on the north, the next moment they saw him on the south.

And the great Bheeshma was thus seen fighting in that battle. And there was no one amongst the Pandavas capable of even looking at him. What they all saw were only the innumerable shafts shot from his bow. And heroic warriors, beholding him achieve such feats in battle, and thus slaughtering their ranks, uttered many lamentations.
kings in thousands came in contact with Bheeshma, thus coursing over the field in a superhuman way, and fell upon that fire represented by the enraged Bhishma like flights of senseless insects upon a blazing fire for their own destruction. Not a single shaft of that light-handed warrior was futile, falling upon the bodies of men, elephants, and steeds, in consequence of the numbers . With a single straight shaft shot in that battle, he despatched a single elephant like hill riven by the thunderbolt. Two or three elephant-riders at a time, cased in mail and standing together, the Grandsire pierced with one shaft of sharp point. Whoever approached Bhishma, seen for a moment was, next beheld to fall down on the ground.

A vast host of king Yudhishthira , thus slaughtered by Bhishma of incomparable prowess, gave way in a thousand directions. And afflicted with that arrowy shower, the vast army began to tremble in the very presence of Vasudeva and Partha. And although the heroic leaders of the Pandava army made great efforts, yet they could not check the flight of (ven the great car-warriors of their side afflicted with the shafts of Bhishma.

BHEESHMA WAS AT HIS DESTRUCTIVE BEST AT THIS PHASE OF WAR

Day 3 to continue tomorrow........

Day 3 continues ...

On seeing the plight of the Pandava army running to every corner of the battle field & panicking , Krishna says now to Arjuna., 'The hour is now come, O Partha, which was desired by you. Strike Bhishma, O tiger among men, else, thou wilt lose the senses. O hero, formerly, in the conclave of kings, thou had said,--'I will slay all the warriors of Dhritarashtra's sons, headed by Bhishma and Drona--all in fact, who will fight with me in battle'. O son of Kunti, O chastiser of foes, make those words of thine true. Behold, O Vibhatsu, this army of thine is being routed on all sides. Behold, the kings in Yudhishthira's host are all flying away, seeing Bhishma in battle, who looketh like the Destroyer himself with wide-open mouth. Afflicted with fear, they are making themselves scarce like the weaker animals at sight of the lion.

for which Arjuna replies - Plunging through this sea of the hostile host, urge on the steeds to where Bhishma is. I will throw down that invincible warrior, the reverend Kuru grandsire'. Then Madhava urged those steeds of silvery hue to where, the car of Bhishma was, that car which, like the very sun, was incapable of being gazed at.

And beholding the mighty-armed Partha thus rushing to an encounter with Bhishma, the mighty army of Yudhisthira rallied for battle.

The battle resumes between the 2 again !

Bhishma, repeatedly roaring like a lion, quickly covered Dhananjaya's car with an arrowy shower. In a moment that car of his, with standard and charioteer, became invisible, shrouded with that arrowy downpour. Vasudeva, however, endued with great might fearlessly and summoning all his patience, began to guide those steeds mangled by Bhishma's shafts. Then Partha, taking up his bow, caused Bhishma's bow to drop down, cutting it off with his keen shafts. Bheeshma took up another and stringed it within the twinkling of the eye. And he stretched that bow whose twang resembled the roar of the clouds, with his two hands. But Arjuna, cut off that bow also of his. Bheeshma got thrilled & applauded that lightness of hand (displayed by Arjuna), saying--Excellent, O Partha, O thou of mighty arms, excellent, O son of Pandu. O Dhananjaya, such a mighty feat is, indeed, worthy of thee. I have been pleased with thee. Fight hard with me, O son.
And having applauded Partha thus, and taking up another large bow, Bheeshma shot his shafts at Partha's car. And Vasudeva then displayed his great skill in the guiding of chariot, for he baffled those shafts of his, by guiding the car in quick circles. Then, Bhishma with great strength pierced both Vasudeva and Dhananjaya with keen shafts all over their bodies. And mangled by those shafts of Bhishma, those two tigers among men looked like two roaring bulls with the scratches of horns on their bodies. And once again, excited with rage, Bhishma covered the two Krishnas on all sides with shafts in hundreds and thousands. And with those keen shafts of his, the enraged Bhishma caused shiver. And laughing loudly he also made Krishna to wonder.
Drona, and Vikarna, and Jayadratha, and Bhurisrava, and Kritavarman, and Kripa, and Srutayush and the ruler of the Amvashtas and Vinda and Anuvinda, Sudakshina and the westerners, and the diverse tribes of the Sauviras, the Vasatis, and the Kshudrakas, and the Malavas, all these, at the command of the royal son of Santanu, quickly approached Kiritin for battle. And the grandson of Sini saw that Kiritin was surrounded by many hundreds of horse, and infantry, and cars, and mighty elephants. And beholding both Vasudeva and Arjuna thus encompassed by infantry and elephants and horses and cars, on all sides, that foremost of all bearers of arms, viz., the chief of the Sinis, quickly proceeded to that spot. And that foremost of bowmen, the chief of the Sinis, quickly rushing at those troops, came to Arjuna's side .

KRISHNA GETTING UPSET & TAKING HIS SUDHARSHANA CHAKRA !


Though both fight with equal ferocity, Krishna however felt that Arjuna’s heart was still not clear on his arch rival . He gets really upset now & jumps from the chariot , whirling with his (right) arm his discus . And making the earth tremble under his tread, Krishna rushed impetuously towards Bhishma.

Beeshma however was not scared at all by this ! Instead, he says fearlessly :

Come, Come, O Lord of the gods, O thou that hast the universe for thy abode. I bow to thee, O thou that art armed with mace, sword and Saranga. O lord of the universe, forcibly throw me down from this excellent car, O thou that art the refuge of all creatures in this battle. Slain here by thee, O Krishna, great will be my good fortune both in this world and the next. Great is the respect thou payest me, O Lord of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. My dignity will be celebrated in the three worlds.'

Hearing these words of Bheeshma, Krishna rushing impetuously towards him said, 'Thou art the root of this great slaughter on earth. Thou wilt behold Duryodhana slain to-day. A wise minister who treadeth in the path of righteousness should restrain a king that is addicted to the evil of gambling. That wretch again of his race who transgresseth duty should be abandoned as one whose intelligence hath been misdirected by destiny.-

Bhishma, hearing these words, replied , saying,--Destiny is all powerful. The Yadus, for their benefit, had abandoned Kansa. I said this to the king (Dhritarashtra) but he minded it not. The listener that hath no benefit to receive becometh, for (his own) misery, of perverted understanding through (the influence of destiny).

Meanwhile, jumping down from his car, Partha, himself quickly ran on foot after Krishna and seized him by his two hands succeeded with great difficulty. And when Krishna stopped, cheerfully bowed down to him and said, 'Quell this wrath of thine. Thou art the refuge of the Pandavas, O Kesava. I swear, O Kesava, by my sons and uterine brothers that I will not withdraw from the acts to which I have pledged myself. O younger brother of Indra, at thy command I will certainly annihilate the Kurus.'

Hearing that promise and oath of his, Krishna became gratified. And ever engaged as he was in doing what was agreeable to Arjuna--that best of the Kurus.--he once more, discus on arm, mounted on his car. And that slayer of foes once more took up those reins (that he had abandoned), and taking up his conch called Panchajanya, Saurin filled all the points of the compass and the welkin with its blare. And thereupon beholding Krishna decked with necklace and Angada and ear-rings, with curved eye-lashes smeared with dust, and with teeth of perfect whiteness, once more take up his conch the Kuru heroes uttered a loud cry. And the sound of cymbals and drums and kettle-drums, and the rattle of car-wheels and the noise of smaller drums, mingling with those leonine shouts, set forth from all the ranks of the Kurus, became a fierce uproar.

Thus the battle resumes after a brief exciting moment !

Day 3 continues tomorrow

Day 3 continues :

It seemed like Krishna actually wanted to trigger Arjuna’s ego ! & it worked very well for the Pandavas as Arjuna takes charge from this moment for the day & he was destructive .

Despite the dominant presence of stalwarts – Bheeshma, Drona, Aswathama , Kripa & other kings, none could control Arjuna’s onslaught as he was firing arrows after arrows to all parts of the battle field ferociously , with full of injured ego & anger .

Arjuna slains ten thousand car-warriors, and full seven hundred elephants,the Sauviras, Kshudrakas and the Malavas

And finally, as the day draws to a close, both armies gradually withdrew themselves, then entered their tents illuminated by thousands of torches, and beautified by innumerable lamps , took rest for the night , hearing some pleasant music

It was honours even for Day3 as the first part was won by Bheeshma while the 2nd was by Arjuna

Day 3 ends here………………………………….

Day 4 starts :

The day commences with Bheeshma leading the show as usual & this time Abimanyu advances towards him with shower of shafts !

Seeing his great grandson showing prowess, though the grandsire was happy, he avoids meeting him & moves towards his Father Arjuna ! who welcomes him with innumerable arrows . After fighting with Arjuna matching arrow with arrow, Bheeshma moves ahead to face others

Abimanyu gets surrounded by Drona, Ashwathama, Kripa , Salya & others but he gives them a thundering response that all of them withdraw backwards & they all get forced to defend themselves !

Once again, Duryodhana faced Bheema today .


Bhima, took up his mace & moved towards Duryodhana.

Duryodhana, however, urged the Magadha division consisting of ten thousand elephants . Accompanied by that elephant division and placing the ruler of Magadha before him, king Duryodhana advanced towards Bhimasena. Beholding that elephant division advancing towards him, Bheema, mace in hand, jumped down from his car, moves further towards his foe.

Then the sons of Draupadi, Abimanyu,Nakula and Sahadeva, and Dhrishtadyumna protecting Bhima's rear, rushed behind him, checking all by scattering their arrowy showers.

Then the ruler of the Magadhas, in that battle, urged his elephant , towards the car of Subhadra's son. Beholding that mighty elephant advancing towards him, Abimanyu slew it with a single shaft. And when the ruler of the Magadhas was thus deprived of his elephant, Abimanyu, then struck off that king's head with a broad-headed shaft .

Bhima, penetrated that elephant division, began to wander over the field, crushing those beasts around him . Bheema , in the process kills huge number of elephants

Day 4 continues...................

BEGININNING OF THE END OF DURYODHANA'S BROTHERS :



When that elephant division was blown away, Duryodhana urged his entire army, commanding the warriors to slay Bhima. The whole army , rushed towards Bhimasena who was uttering fierce shouts. With his mace, he fearlessly checked all those kings angrily rushing towards him.

Bhimasena speedily came towards him. However, Bheema, despite being a mismatch for Bheeshma, gave his best shot at. This made the Kauravas cheerless.

However, there was Bhurisravas, the son of Somadatta, quickly motivated them & proceeded towards Satyaki.

Duryodhana, accompanied by his brothers, surrounded Somadatta's son thus striving in battle. Similarly the Pandavas also, quickly surrounding Satyaki in that battle took up their positions around him.

Bhima, with mace upraised, encountered all the brothers of Duryodhana.

Nandaka, one of the Duryodhana’s brothers pierced Bhimasena of great might with keen-edged and sharp-pointed shafts

Duryodhana,, struck Bhimasena in the chest with nine shafts.
Bhima now said to his charioteer ,'These heroic and mighty sons of Dhritarashtra, all great car-warriors, are exceedingly angry with me and desirous of slaying me in battle. I will slay all these today in thy sight, without doubt. Therefore, O charioteer, guide my steed in battle with care.'

Having said this, Bheema pierced Duryodhana with sharp-pointed arrows. And he pierced Nandaka also . Then Duryodhana having pierced the mighty Bhima with six arrows earlier , pierced Bheema again with three other sharp arrows.

Now, Duryodhana once again pierces Bhima in the midst of his chest thereby causing terrible pain& this makes Bhima down on the terrace of his car. And while seated on he swooned away. Seeing this plight of Bhima, Abhimanyu could not bear it.
Immediately, he , showered on the Kauravas down-pour of fierce shafts.

Then Bhima, regaining consciousness, pierced Duryodhana at first with those shafts and then with five. Bheema also pierced Salya thereby making him blown away from the battle.

Now 14 sons of Dirudhirashtra - Senapati, Sushena, Jalasandha, Sulochana, Ugra, Bhimaratha, Bhima, Viravahu, Aolupa, Durmukha, Dushpradarsha, Vivitsu, Vikata, and Sama, then encountered Bhima.

A roaring Bhima cut off the head of Senapati with a shaft having a horse-shoe head.

SENAPATI WAS THE FIRST OF THE 100 SONS TO BE SLAINED

Delighted , Bhima, pierced Jalasandha with three arrows, despatched him to Yama's abode.

He then, smiting Sushena who also meets with his end.

With a single broad-headed shaft he felled on the ground the head, handsome as the moon, of Ugra

With seventy shafts, despatched Viravahu to yama’s abode.

Bhima despatched both the brothers Bhima and Bhimaratha also to Swarga. ( Interestingly, one of the Kauravas carried Bhima's name ! )

Bhima next killed Sulochana also

Then the rest of the sons all fled from battle from fear of Bhima.


Day 4 continues tomorrow

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Originally Posted by great

I have read the curses given to Karna one by brahman guru etc,

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That is true!

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Originally Posted by great

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.

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in fact, Karna has been cursed six times, without these curses Arjuna wouldn't have had a chance against karna!

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Originally Posted by great

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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well this mentioned by me couple of pages back, where Ishwar will confront arjuna as hunter and demolish his EGO!, u don't mess around with Ishwar do you ? :wink:

But Hanuman was protectin Arjuna all the was, as he was sitting as statue on top of Arjuna's Ratha!!, once at the end of the war, Krishna would take arjuna alone to a place and tell Arjuna to get off the ratha, the minute they both get off, he will ask Hanuman to get off as and he will, and as soon as every one gets off, the ratha will blow up, and Krishna will say 'Partha did you see the power of Karna.it was Hanuman who was protecting you all the way, not your Kaandipam!

but I dont recall any incidents where Hanuman Confronts Arjuna, but he does confront Bheema to destroy bheema's ego in an OLD and weak monkey disguise!

Day 4 continues ......................


Bheeshma, on seeing the destruction caused by Bhima , that of having killed the brothers of Duryodhana , said,

Bhima is slaying sons of Dhritarashtra and other heroic car-warriors united together, whatever their knowledge of weapons, and whatever their bravery. Therefore, seize him.


Thus addressed, all the troops , rushed towards Bhima

And Bhagadatta, on his elephant , suddenly rushed where Bhimasena was stationed. And he shrouded Bhima with his shafts.

Those car-warriors of the Pandava army, could not bear that shrouding of Bhima (with the arrowy showers of Bhagadatta). They, therefore, surrounding Bhagadatta on all sides, poured on him their arrowy down-pours. And they pierced his elephant also with showers of shafts. And struck by all those mighty car-warriors with showers of fierce shafts of diverse kinds that elephant, the ruler of the Pragjyotishas with blood trickling down his body.

Bhagadatta, struck Bhimasena on his chest with a straight shaft.

Deeply pierced , Bhima sat down on his car, holding his flagstaff.

Seeing the plight of Bhima, Bhagadatta uttered a loud roar.

Unable to tolerate this act done to his father, Rakshasa Ghatotkacha, there and then disappeared from the view. creating a terrible illusion, he reappeared in a moment assuming a fierce form. Himself riding on an Airavata created by his powers of illusion, the other Dik-elephants, viz., Anjana, Vamana, and Mahapadma, followed him. And those three mighty elephants, ridden by Rakshasas, were of huge form, with juice profusely trickling down in three lines, and endued with great speed and prowess. Then Ghatotkacha urged his own elephant to battle, to target Bhagadatta with his elephant. And those other elephants, excited with fury and each endued with four tusks, urged by Rakshasas, fell from all sides upon Bhagadatta's elephant and afflicted him with their tusks. And the elephant of Bhagadatta, thus afflicted by those elephants, already struck with arrows and feeling great pain, uttered loud cries.

Hearing those terrible and loud cries of that roaring elephant, Bhishma, addressing Drona, Suyodhana and all the kings, said,

Bhagadatta is battling with that Asura & must be in great distress. Let us all go there for rescuing the king, for, if left unprotected, in battle, he will soon give up his life.

Hearing these words of Bhishma, all the kings headed by Ashwathama proceeded with great speed towards Bagadhathan.
On seeing the opponents marching , Yudhishthira, with his troops moved forward to support Gatotkacha. & the battle was too terrible to describe as the asur was growing from strengths to strengths as the day drew to a close.

Bhishma once again addressed Aswathama now ,

I do not like to fight to-day with the son of Bhima. Endued withgreat might and energy, he is at present well-supported. He is invincible now As regards ourselves, our animals are tired now. We have also been greatly mangled by Panchalas and the Pandavas. I do not like fresh encounter with the victorious Pandavas. Let the withdrawal of our army, therefore, be proclaimed today. Tomorrow we will fight with renewed energy.


Hearing these words of the grandsire, the Kauravas, afflicted with the fear of Ghatotkacha, and availing of the advent of night as a pretext, gladly did what the grandsire said.

And after the Kauravas had withdrawn, the Pandavas, crowned with victory uttered leonine roars, mingling them with the blare of conches and the notes of pipes. Thus did the battle take place that day

The Kauravas , vanquished by the Pandavas and overcome with shame, retired to their own tents when night came.

And the sons of Pandu, their bodies mangled with shafts, proceeded towards their encampment, with Bhimasena and Ghatotkacha, at their head.

Filled with great joy, the entire Pandaavas, worshipped the 2 heros of the day.

Duryodhana, cheerless at the death of his brothers, passed some time in thoughtfulness, overcome with grief and tears. Then making all the arrangements for his camp according to the rules of military science, he began to pass the hours in meditation, scorched with grief and afflicted with sorrow on account of his slain brothers.

DAY 4 ENDS NOW

DAY 5 OF THE WAR

Bhishma formed the shape of Makara.

Pandavas arranged their troops in the form of Syena.

In that fierce battle, Sikhandin rushed against Bhishma and Drona

However, Bhishma ( who had vowed earlier that he will not take up arms against a woman ) avoided him, remembering the femininity of his sex.

The day’s main feature was Aswathama battling Arjuna face to face & his deeds were appreciated by Arjuna himself

Now Arjuna says to Krishna :
This one is the son of my guru. He is especially a Brahmana, and, therefore, worthy of my regard.

Saying this, Arjuna leaves Aswathama & moves towards others.

Now Duryodhana meets Bhima . The fight went on for several hours with both matching stroke by stroke

This day was not that significant except that both armies lost considerable numbers but the loss to Gauravas was more .

Shikandin showed his skills

Arjuna as usual was destructive self

Bheeshma continued to torment the pandavas & wherever he was present, the Pandavas had little clue on how to tackle him

Burisiravas & Satyaki fought a terrible battle & both suffered bleeding injuries


As the Sun God completed his part for the day, the troops withdrew , anxiously looking for the much needed rest

Day 5 ends