Days two and three: Bhīma among the Kaliṅgas, and Kṛṣṇa runs at Bhīṣma

Classical

On the second day the two armies took up their arrays, the Pāṇḍavas in the Krauñca formation with Arjuna at its head. Bhīṣma and Droṇa fought along the line, and Droṇa fought Dhṛṣṭadyumna hard. Then Bhīma, under pressure from the Kaliṅga army sent by Duryodhana, did what he is famous for. He went into the Kaliṅga ranks, with Satyaki and Dhṛṣṭadyumna behind him, and cut his way through chariots, elephants and horses until he had killed the Kaliṅga king, his son Ketumat, the champion Śakradeva, and thousands more. Blood ran in a river across the ground, and men cried out that Death himself was fighting in Bhīma's shape.

Bhīṣma, hearing the cries, came for Bhīma with his great bow. Satyaki, Bhīma and Dhṛṣṭadyumna surrounded him, but he pierced each of them and killed Bhīma's horses. Bhīma jumped down with his mace. Dhṛṣṭadyumna snatched him up onto his own chariot and drove him out of range, and Satyaki, wishing to protect him, killed Bhīṣma's charioteer. The runaway horses carried Bhīṣma out of the battle. Bhīma, who had been bleeding and breathless, now blazed up again, killed all the Kaliṅgas near him and was embraced by Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Satyaki. By evening Arjuna had routed so much of the Kaurava force that Bhīṣma himself told Droṇa the troops were too panicked to fight and the army was called back for the night.

On the third day Bhīṣma formed his army into the Garuḍa array, with himself at the beak, Droṇa and Kṛtavarman as the eyes, and Duryodhana on the back. Arjuna formed a crescent against it. In the midst of the fighting, Bhīma hit Duryodhana in the chest with an arrow and the Kuru king fainted on his chariot terrace, so that his charioteer had to carry him away. His army broke. Ghaṭotkaca, Bhīma's Rākṣasa son, joined the fray and fought so terribly that people said he outdid his father. Duryodhana recovered, rallied the troops by shaming them, and went to Bhīṣma. He said it was not honourable for the army to run while Bhīṣma and Droṇa lived, and he suggested bitterly that they favoured the Pāṇḍavas.

Bhīṣma laughed and flashed his eyes in anger. He had told Duryodhana many times that the Pāṇḍavas could not be beaten even by the gods. But he would now do all that an old man could, and alone, in the sight of all, he would check the sons of Pāṇḍu with their allies that day. He charged the Pāṇḍava host in the afternoon with his best horses and the battle became fearful. He shot his arrows in a ring, danced on his chariot, and seemed to the Pāṇḍavas to be multiplied a thousandfold. Their army began to run, and the Kaurava soldiers cheered.

Kṛṣṇa saw the Pāṇḍava army breaking. Arjuna was fighting gently, unwilling to strike his grandsire. Satyaki tried to hold the troops. Kṛṣṇa, who had sworn not to fight, jumped down from the chariot and abandoned the reins. He took his sun-bright discus in his arm and ran straight at Bhīṣma, his yellow robes streaming, saying he would throw Bhīṣma and Droṇa from their chariots and give Yudhiṣṭhira his kingdom today. Bhīṣma, bow in hand, called out calmly: ‘Come, lord of the gods! Strike me down. To be killed by you will be my good fortune.’ Arjuna leapt after Kṛṣṇa, grabbed his arms, and was dragged ten steps before he could stop him. He begged him to put away his anger, called him the refuge of the Pāṇḍavas, and swore by his sons and brothers that he would not shrink from what he had promised. Kṛṣṇa climbed back onto the chariot and blew his conch, and the fight went on.

Told by Sañjaya → Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Who: Bhīma, Bhīṣma, Duryodhana, Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, Sātyaki, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Ghaṭotkaca, Droṇa

Bound to

Yudhiṣṭhira seeks the elders' blessing; the first day origin

Days four to six: Bhīma, Ghaṭotkaca, Bhagadatta and the arrays origin

Where Krishna's disc came from mirror

Day nine: Bhīṣma's fury, Kṛṣṇa charges again, and how Bhīṣma can be defeated mirror

Ghatotkacha: the shakti that saved Arjuna, and Gatotkaca in Java mirror

Places: Kurukṣetra

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (read via archive.org copy of the sacred-texts text) Bhishma Parva, Sections LI–LIX

See it on the tree · All stories

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