We’re at an extremely important juncture wherein the marquee war at Kurukshetra has just commenced and we’ve witnessed the proceedings of day one in brief. The event commences with the “Vajra Vyugam” wherein the Kauravas come up with a near-impossible army buildup which can be breached from any point. However, the Paandava army is nothing less brilliant than their Kaurava counterparts as they break open the “Vajra Vyuham” and enter inside. Abhimanyu leads the pack and he picks up a fierce battle with Bhishmachaarya on the other side. Even though it was a contest between the senior-most and the junior-most in both the camps, the fight was nothing less than intense and fierce. Both of them attack each other with all possible “Asthras” and arrows, but none of them seem breachable by the other! Ultimately, Bhishmachaarya leaves the place without harming Abhimanyu any further and even Abhimanyu moves away owing to the respect and affection that he has towards Bhishmachaarya. Subsequently, two people from the Viraata Desha come in the firing line of Bhishmachaarya and both of them get neutralized. Hence, at the end of day one, the Kaurava army had an upper hand over the Paandavas, as two of the main warriors were killed!
Thus, the first day of the war completely belongs to the Kaurava army, as they were extremely successful in scattering the opponent everywhere! The entire Paandava army started scampering for shelter, unable to give a resistance to Bhishmachaarya’s prowess in attacking! Thus, the first day is completely marked by Bhishmachaarya’s unrelenting fights and he is already in the cruise mode of attack! It is to be remembered here by readers that Karna is yet to enter the battlefield. We’ve seen earlier that Karna had taken a pledge that he is not going to enter the battlefield unless and until Bhishmachaarya is dominating the proceedings, as both of them share a bitter relationship with each other since beginning. Thus, Karna is away and is not part of the first day’s battle.
Moving forward thus, we enter into the second day. As the dawn breaks out, the entire army on both sides start marching towards each other. The Paandava army sets up a “Krauncha Vyugam” to tackle the Kaurava army, which sticks to its previous “Vajra Vyuham” today also. As mentioned earlier, the “Vajra Vyuham” concept is done to have a block from every corner of the army to prevent any form of entry from the enemy. Thus, as the two armies face off, the marquee battle that happens on day two is between Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya! This is the first time in this battle that both of them come in front of each other. Arjuna, as we know, is with a renewed rigour, thanks to Bhagawan Krishna. On the other side, Bhishmachaarya is on a rampage mode, having gained enormous confidence after killing two great warriors from the Viraata Desha on the previous day. The marquee battle begins and both Arjuna and Bhishmachaarya attack each other with powerful arrows. Arjuna’s “Asthra-Prayoham” (Employment of important “Asthras”) is beyond question, and Bhishmachaarya’s unique capability of neutralizing all that Arjuna throws at him is definitely a great matchup between the two of them!
As time progresses on day two, the battle continues without a break between the two, as Bhagawan Krishna keeps watching as a mute spectator. As Bhagawan Krishna observes Bhishmachaarya, He finds that Bhishmachaarya is going full throttle upon Arjuna, however, on Arjuna’s side, Bhagawan Krishna sees that he is going slightly low on Bhishmachaarya. In other words, Bhagawan notices that Arjuna is not fighting up to his full potential against Bhishmachaarya for some reason. Thus, even as Bhagawan Krishna is watching, at a point of time, Bhishmachaarya gets frustrated with Arjuna’s defiance and defence, as he suddenly trains his guns towards Bhagawan Krishna! As Bhishmachaarya’s two powerful arrows hit Bhagawan Krishna, He gets hurt and blood starts flowing out of Bhagawan’s divine physical body. As Bhishmachaarya’s anger grows more and more and as he wants to attack Bhagawan Krishna more, Bhagawan too encourages him to go for it. He is receiving blow after blow from Bhishmachaarya with a smile on his face. Bhagawan Krishna never gets angry with Bhishmachaarya’s act!
As this is happening, after sometime the king of Kalinga Desha comes in the middle and intercepts this fight. Actually a fight is happening on the other side in parallel between Bheemasena and the king of Kalinga Desha. Eventually as Bheemasena is evolving more powerful amongst the two, the King of Kalinga starts to flee away from the battlefield, before he intercepts the marquee battle between Bhishmachaarya and Arjuna / Bhagawan Krishna! Eventually as Bheemasena chases the King Of Kalinga from the other side, he flees away quickly and now, Bheemasena joins hands with Arjuna in the battlefield. Both of them start fighting against the Kaurava army like two “Kaala Devatas”. The intensity of their assault is in such a way that the entire Kaurava army will be destroyed within the next few minutes itself! Both the Paandava brothers go on a rampage mode and start killing hundreds of soldiers, elephants, warriors, etc. whoever comes on their way! At one stage during the second day, both Bheemasena and Arjuna look highly invincible together! Realizing this quickly, Bhishmachaarya decides to stop the war for the day, because the extent to which the Kaurava army is facing destruction is too huge to manage! Thus, Bhishmachaarya takes out his “Shankam” and blows it aloud and with this, the war on day two comes to an end!
Thus, on day two, unlike day one, the Paandava army has the upper hand and the Kaurava army is made to run for its money! So for today, let us understand up to this point and we shall continue this discussion in the next episode to witness what happened subsequently! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 