Sanjaya Comes Back From The Field Again Having recounted the first ten days of battle, Sanjaya returned to Kurukshetra. And another five terrible days passed before the blind king could have more news; anxiety corroded him … Read More
The Fall Of Bhishma While hundreds of men, many of whom he knew personally, continued to fall by his hand, suddenly the eldest of the warriors was assailed by a deep disgust towards war, towards his … Read More
The Tenth Day At dawn on the tenth day, Bhishma got up in a happy mood: not many days would pass and he, after such a long time, would return to his celestial planet, to his … Read More
The Pandavas Go To Bhishma That evening Yudhisthira was speechless. He had seen Bhishma’s terrible destructive abilities up close, and now he felt more dismayed than ever. If their grandfather had continued to fight like that, … Read More
The Ninth Day Duryodhana seemed particularly excited that morning. “This is the day of our victory,” he told his brother Duhssasana. “Our Bhishma assured me last night that he would do wonders today. We must protect … Read More
Kunti Visits Karna In Vidura’s house no one talked about anything else. For hours, the mahatma had been talking to Kunti, expressing the immense pain that the situation caused him. “At night, I can no longer … Read More
Karna and the Mystery Of His Birth Before leaving for Upaplavya, Krishna wanted to speak privately to the one who was Duryodhana’s closest friend and ally: Karna. He was the only one of the great warriors … Read More
When Dhritarastra learned that Vasudeva’s divine son was coming, he had the city embellished to offer him a worthy reception. He also thought of giving him vast riches so that he would become well disposed towards … Read More
Sanjaya and Vidura’s Advice Sanjaya entered the council chamber with a look of disgust on his face, and Dhritarastra anxiously asked him what his nephews had replied. His answer was: “I come directly from Upaplavya and … Read More
Dhritarastra’s Message The Brahmana who had been sent by Drupada as an ambassador returned from Hastinapura without any positive results. Duryodhana had been very arrogant and threatening in his responses and therefore the last chances of … Read More
The Arrival Of The Armies The king of Madra, the famous Shalya, brother of Madri and therefore uncle of the Pandavas, had learned that the latter had finished their period of exile, and of course he … Read More
In Bhishma’s Tent What had happened during the day was unbearable for Duryodhana. The arrogance of the early days had disappeared: more and more he was finding that not only would the battle not end so … Read More
The Eighth Day The sun rose for the eighth time over that expanse of men and animals gathered at Kurukshetra. After performing his morning devotions, Bhishma paused to reflect on what had happened the previous … Read More
The Seventh Day When the warriors reappeared on the field of Kurukshetra at sunrise, they realized what they had been able to do the day before. The victims had been many tens of thousands. That morning … Read More
The Sixth Day Early in the morning the battle became as intense as the day before. Drona preferred to avoid confrontation with Bhima and concentrated on decimating the soldiers. He too, like Bhishma, could not conceive … Read More
The Fifth Day At dawn on the fifth day, Bhishma, the supreme master of Dhanur Veda, arranged the army according to the forms of the makara. To these the Pandavas responded with the tactical disposition of … Read More
The Fourth Day On the fourth day the usual themes were repeated: Bhishma on the one hand, Arjuna on the other, raging in the enemy ranks, sowing death and terror. But that morning also Abhimanyu was … Read More
Arjuna And Duryodhana In Dvaraka After being properly instructed on what to say in front of the Kurava’s assembly, the ambassador left. On the same day, the allies of the Pandavas had returned to their kingdoms … Read More
The Third Day The previous day’s defeat had warned Bhishma, who more prudently organized his armies into the Garuda formation. He had placed himself in the beak of the gigantic bird; in the eyes stood Drona … Read More
The Second Day With the image of Bhishma still before their eyes, the Pandavas deployed their troops in the form called krauncha, deeming it more effective in countering his action. Seeing this, Duryodhana became alarmed and … Read More
