In the previous episode, we had witnessed the proceedings of the second day at Kurukshetra wherein it is Bhishmachaarya vs. Arjuna first round. Both of them attack each other fiercely, but both are invincible in nature. As Bhagawan Krishna is watching this battle closely, He is somehow not satisfied with the intensity with which both of them are fighting. At one stage, as Bhishmachaarya is unable to breach Arjuna’s prowess with the bow and arrows, he directs a few arrows towards Bhagawan Krishna in frustration! In turn, Bhagawan Krishna endures all the hits from Bhishmachaarya with a smile on His face even as blood flows out from His divine physical form! Bhagawan is clearly hurt, but He still manages to have a smile on His face! Meanwhile, Bheemasena comes in the middle and diverts the attention of Arjuna away from Bhishmachaarya. Both Bheemasena and Arjuna start going on a rampage mode and destroy swathes of the Kaurava army within no time. At one stage, Bhishmachaarya starts fearing that if both of them go on at this rate, the entire Kaurava army would be washed off within no time, and hence, he decides to blow his “Shankam” and stop the war. With this, the proceedings of the second day at Kurukshetra comes to an end, and this day belonged to the Paandava army as they had the upper hand towards the end!
It should be noted here that once the sunset happens, the war will be stopped for the day. This happens on all the eighteen days of the war. If we look at the proceedings closely, we will find that only for two days the Paandava camp faced a huge downfall. The first two days were almost equal for both sides, but the remaining fourteen days, the Kaurava army faced a lot of destruction. Now, coming to the third day of the war proceedings, both the camps arrive at the battlefield in the morning. The Kaurava army formed a “Garuda Vyugam” and in turn, the Paandava army formed the “Ardha-Chandra Vyugam”. When we talk about the “Garuda Vyugam”, the army is shaped to take positions in the form of the “Garuda” (Vulture) bird. In the centre of the “Garuda” formation, the leader of the army will be standing. In the place where the Garuda’s eyes and wings would be, all the key “Senapatis” would be positioned. Along the tail portion, important soldiers who are seated upon horses and elephants take their positions.
Now, this “Garuda Vyugam” is done so that the attack on the enemy is easier and the key warriors at the enemy camp can be easily accessed. For this, the Paandava camp also has to create a counter strategy isn’t it? In order to capture key warriors from the Garuda Vyugam”, the main strategy from the Paandava side is to make them come inside their fold. Once they come in, the Paandava army would cover them up from all sides, so that the enemy is trapped into their fold. This is called “Artha-Chandra Vyugam”. Thus, as the war begins, the first in the list of key battles is Bheemasena vs. Duryodhana. A fierce fight between the two of them begin and both of them attack each other at lightning speeds with their powerful arrows. At one stage, Bheemasena decides that arrows are not going to be the solution to tackle Duryodhana and that only his muscle power is going to be more efficient! Hence, Bheemasena gets down from his chariot with his “Gadha” and starts walking towards Duryodhana. Upon seeing Bheemasena walking towards him, Duryodhana also gets down from his chariot and walks towards him. A fierce one-to-one battle begins between the duo and both of them seem to be experts in employing the “Gadha” on each other. After a long battle, at one stage, Bheemasena starts emerging victorious amongst the two and towards the end, Bheemasena lashes out a huge blow upon Duryodhana, which makes Duryodhana fall on the ground unconscious! Upon seeing Duryodhana fallen on the ground, the entire Kaurava army is in a state of shock and disbelief and people start running away in chaos! The entire Kaurava army’s morale is brought down by Bheemasena single handedly.
After a while when Duryodhana wakes up again, regaining his breath, he sees his army running here and there for shelter. The Paandava army is on a rampage in pushing back the advancement of the Kaurava army. Upon seeing this, Duryodhana quickly gets up and straightaway goes to Bhishmachaarya and asks a few tough questions! So what is Duryodhana going to ask Bhishmachaarya and how is Bhishmachaarya going to respond to Duryodhana? Let us wait till the next episode to find out! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 