Battle of Kurukshetra: Summary of Drona (Episode-3)
On the eleventh day of the battle of Kurukshetra, Dronacharya entered the depths of the Pandava voyage to capture Yudhisthira and appeared right in front of Yudhisthira’s chariot. However, at the last moment, Arjuna appeared there and thwarted Dronacharya’s attempt. After returning to the camp that day, the Rajaraja of the Kaurava forces came together for a consultation. Dronacharya told Duryodhana that it was impossible to capture Yudhisthira if Arjuna was present on the battlefield and he had informed Duryodhana about this beforehand. He advised Duryodhana that one of the Kaurava forces should call Arjuna to battle and take him to the far side of the battlefield. Arjuna never rejected the call for war. So Dronacharya’s calculation was as follows: Arjuna will be engaged in battle at one end of the battlefield, and on that occasion, he will capture Yudhisthira.
After hearing Dronacharya’s statement, King Susharma of Trigarta remarked that they had never harmed Arjuna but had harmed them along with Arjuna. He promises that either the soldiers of Trigarta under his leadership will kill Arjuna or they will all be killed by Arjuna. After Sushrama made this solemn vow, 10,000 Rathis led by his brothers Satyaratha, Satyavarma, Satyabrata, Satyeshu and Satyakarma made the same promise. Then another 20,000 cavalries of the Kaurava forces made similar promises. These stern promises are known as ‘sansaptak’.
The twelfth day of the war: the death battle of the sages, the heroism of Dronacharya and the final battle of Bhagadatta
On the morning of the twelfth day of the battle of Kurukshetra, troops from both sides gathered on the battlefield, and the guards took up positions at the south corner of the battlefield, urging Arjuna to fight against them. Arjuna seeks Yudhisthira’s permission to wage war against the sages. Yudhisthira replied that Dronacharya had planned to capture him and in this situation, Arjuna should act so that Dronacharya’s plan failed. Arjuna appointed Satyajit, the prince of Panchal, as Yudhisthira’s bodyguard and advised Yudhisthira to retreat from the battlefield as soon as Yudhisthira was killed in battle. Yudhisthira then allowed Arjuna to go to war against the sages.
The Sanskrit formed a ‘crescent moon’ to fight against Arjuna, meaning they were decorated crescent shapescent. The sages were happily waiting to fight against Arjuna. Seeing them, Arjuna remarked to Krishna, “Look, Devakinandan! These warriors of Trigarta (who are about to perish in battle) are full of joy at a time when they are supposed to be in a state of weeping. Or, of course, it is a time of joy for them because (Heaven) will get what the cowards do not deserve. ” After making this remark, Arjuna lifted his deva-given conch ‘Devdatta’ and sounded the conch very loudly and as a result of its loud sound, the devotees became unconscious for a moment. But soon, they regain their senses and simultaneously attack Arjuna. A fierce battle broke out between Arjun and his followers.
Meanwhile, soon after Arjuna set out for the war against the Sansthapats, Dronacharya formed the ‘Garuda Vuha’ with the Kaurava soldiers equipped the Kaurava forces in the form of an eagle/eagle. Yudhisthira formed a ‘crescent moon’ with the Pandava soldiers to counter this. He arranged the Pandava army in the shape of a crescent moon. As soon as the tactics of both sides were formed, a fierce battle broke out between them and Dronacharya proceeded directly towards Yudhisthira.
Yudhisthira was worried about his own safety because of the Kauravas’ tactics and Arjuna’s absence. He told Dhrishtadyumna to take such measures so that Dronacharya could not capture him. In reply, Dhrishtadyumna assures Yudhisthira that he cannot capture Dronacharya Yudhisthira while he is alive. Assuring Yudhisthira, Dhrishtadyumna approached him to fight against Dronacharya and stopped him.
Dronacharya considered meeting Dhrishtadyumna at the beginning of the war as an ominous sign, because Dhrishtadyumna was born to kill Dronacharya. In this situation, Durmukh (Duryodhana’s brother) advanced towards Dhrishtadyumna and engaged in a dual war against him. In this gap, Dronacharya again advanced towards Yudhisthira and many Pandava soldiers were killed on its banks. Dronacharya approached Yudhisthira while inflicting heavy casualties on the Pandava forces and shot at him.
At this time, Yudhisthira’s bodyguard Satyajit advanced and stopped Dronacharya and engaged in a double war against him. After a fierce but brief battle, Dronacharya’s chariot driver lost consciousness due to Ray’s arrow shot and the chariot’s flag was cut off. Dronacharya’s arrow cut off Ray’s bow, but Ray picked up another bow and fought against Dronacharya. At that time, Pandava Rathi Brik came and joined Satyajit and attacked Dronacharya. But after a while, Dronacharya’s arrow cut off the arrows of Satyajit and Brik. Then Dronacharya’s arrow hit Brik’s chariot rider and the horses attached to the chariot, and Brik himself was killed.
At this time, Ray raised another bow and engaged in the battle against Dronacharya. Dronacharya’s arrow repeatedly cuts his bow, but he continues to fight with the new wife. Eventually, Ray was killed by Dronacharya’s arrow. Soon after Dronacharya killed Ray, Yudhisthira retreated on the advice of Arjuna. After the retreat of Yudhisthira, the soldiers of Panchal, Kaikeya, Matsya, Chedi, Karush and Koshal kingdoms simultaneously attacked Dronacharya so that Dronacharya could not pursue him. But a large number of Pandava soldiers were killed on the banks of Dronacharya.
Under the leadership of Shatanik (brother of King Virat of Matsya kingdom), the troops of Matsya kingdom advanced against Dronacharya. However, Shatanik was killed by Dronacharya’s arrow and seeing this, the soldiers of Matsya kingdom started dispersing and retreating. Dronacharya then attacked the rest of the Pandavas army and inflicted heavy losses on them. At this time, Yudhisthira returned to Sedi and under his leadership, the top Pandava warriors simultaneously advanced towards Dronacharya. Yudhisthira, Satyaki, Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, Yudhamanyu, Uttamauj, Kshatradeva, Chekitan, Kshatradharma, Basudev and other top Pandava warriors simultaneously continued to shoot arrows at Dronacharya.
Dronacharya fired back arrows at them and Dridhasena, Raja Khem, Basudev and Kshatradeva were killed by his arrow. At the same time, Satyaki, Shikhandi, Yudhamanyu, Uttamauj, Khemabarma and Sudakshin were pierced on the banks of Dronacharya. Dronacharya then hurried towards Yudhisthira, but Yudhisthira quickly retreated from there. The prince Panchal went to fight against Dronacharya, but Dronacharya’s arrow hit Panchal’s chariot rider and the horses attached to the chariot and Panchal himself was killed.
After Dronacharya killed Panchal, the Pandava army attacked Dronacharya from all sides and the Kaurava army rushed to his aid. During this time, many Pandava soldiers were killed on the banks of the Dronacharya. Satyaki, son of Chekitan, Senabindu, Subarcha and a large number of the top chariots of the Pandava forces were then defeated by Dronacharya. The Kauravas under the leadership of Dronacharya inflicted heavy losses on the Pandava forces and the Pandava troops started dispersing and retreating.
Duryodhana was pleased to observe the plight of the Pandava forces and remarked to Karna that as the Pandava army had dispersed, they would no longer go to war against the Kauravas. But Karna warns Duryodhana that the Pandavas are fighting for revenge and they will not stop fighting so easily. He added that it was difficult for Dronacharya to fight against the entire Pandavas forces and for that, they should help Dronacharya. Otherwise, the Pandavas would attack and kill him at once. Hearing Karna’s statement, Duryodhana, along with his brothers, proceeded to help Dronacharya.
Meanwhile, the top warriors of the Pandavas forces were able to reorganize their dispersed troops and proceeded to fight against the Kaurava forces. The top warriors of the Kauravas and the Pandavas engaged in a double war against each other, and as a result, a large number of double wars took place during this time. At that time, Pandava Rathi Shalva was killed by Bhimrath (Duryodhana’s brother) and Bhurishrabar killed Pandava Rathi Manimat. On the other hand, Kaurava Rathi Bhootkarma was killed by Shatanik (son of Nakula and Draupadi). But the results of the remaining dualities are not mentioned in the Mahabharata.
At that time, Bhima was engaged in a war against the elephants of the Kauravas and a large number of the elephants of the Kauravas were killed on its shores. Duryodhana advanced and engaged in a dual war against Bhima in this situation. After a brief battle, Bhima’s arrow cut Duryodhana’s bow and chariot flag. Seeing this, the king of Anga kingdom rode on an elephant and went against Bhima to help Duryodhana. Note that Karna was also known as ‘Angraj’ because he was the king of the Anga region, which included the kingdom of Kuru. At that time, the Anga region was divided into different parts and one such part was under the Kuru kingdom. Karna was the king of that kingdom. And the king of the limb described here was the king of another part of the limb.
Seeing the king of Anga advancing, Bhima attacked him and Bhima’s arrow killed the elephant carrying the king of Anga. The king of Anga was also falling when the dead elephant fell to the ground, but Bhima killed him by shooting a fast arrow before he could fall to the ground. After the king of Anga was killed by Bhima, the soldiers of Anga dispersed and started retreating.