The sun had just about risen the day after the two sides agreed on the rules of war. Each side blew trumpets to give the order for their armies to march. Dussasana lead the Kaurava army keeping Bhishma in front. The Pandavas marched forward from the other end, lead by the powerful Bhima in his chariot.
Veteran fighters blew their conch shells heralding their entry. The two armies rushed against each other. War cries erupted from thousands of throats. Horses neighed and elephants trumpeted. The battle field was filled with marching soldiers, horses, elephants and chariots. The roar that Bhima let out from his powerful throat could be heard, above all these sounds, creating terror in the enemy ranks.
Soon the battle field was filled with flying arrows and javelins. Arrows aimed at enemies were cut down before they reached the targets. Many found the targets on enemy chests piercing through the protective armour. Elephants and horses were also hit and blood flowed, making streams all around.
Great duels
Initially it was only a confused picture, difficult to know who was fighting against whom. It was one big mass of fighting soldiers with raised swords and pointed javelins.
Soon, one could see veteran fighters facing each other in duels. Bhishma appeared prominent from the Kaurava side. He wrecked havoc in the Pandava forces. The powerful arrows sent by the master Kaurava warrior found their target on thousands of enemy soldiers. It created real panic among the Pandavas. Abhimanyu could not tolerate this massacre let loose by the aged Kaurava. He faced Bhishma boldly and sent powerful arrows to meet the shafts coming from Bhishma’s bow on the way. There was a fierce battle between the aged and the young and for a long time it was not clear who had an edge over the other. The valiant son of Arjuna, after a prolonged battle, managed to bring down the mast of Bhishma. This raised cheers among the Pandava ranks.
Bhishma, initially, was surprised and even pleased to find the young Pandava prince giving him such a stiff resistance. Soon, he realized that he would have to use his full force to check the onslaught of Arjuna’s prodigious son. When the other Pandavas realized that their young hero might be exposed to real danger they soon joined to give support to Abhimanyu.
Salya kills Uttara
In another part of the battlefield Salya was making great advances fighting fiercely and causing large scale destruction to the Pandava army. Prince Uttara, the son of Virata, noticed the advance of the king of Madra. He turned his chariot right in front of the Madra king and challenged him for a duel. The two fought fiercely for a while. At the end a powerful javelin from Salya pierced the heart of the valiant Uttara.
Sweta to avenge the death of his brother
The elder brother of Uttara, by name Sweta, saw what happened to his brother and turned towards Salya to take revenge. He challenged Salya for a stiff battle. He fought valiantly . Thousands of Kaurava soldiers were killed by the shower of arrays from the Matsya prince. Others took plight, unable to stand the fury of Sweta. Duryodhana’s men found that Salya’s life was in danger and took him away from the battle.
Then, Bhishma came on the scene. The two fought fiercely against each other. After giving a fierce fight to Bhishma Sweta swung his mace with great force at latter’s chariot and crumbled it into pieces. Bhishma jumped down just in time to save himself. At the same time he sent an arrow carefully targeting the heart of Sweta. The young prince of Matsya could not escape the swift arrow and he also fell down dead.
It appeared that there was the formidable Bhishma wherever one turned, with the string of his bow pulled as far as his ears and sending showers of arrow in every direction. It was difficult to assess the damage he caused to the Pandava army. It was, as though death appeared in person to swallow the entire Pandava army in one go.
When the first day’s battle ended the Pandavas had suffered great losses in their ranks. Yudhishthira’s heart sank thinking about all the warriors who sacrificed their lives on his behalf. He opened his heart to Krishna wondering whether here was any point in continuing with the war. Krishna consoled him saying the Pandava side still possessed all the great warriors like Bhima, Arjuna, Satyaki and so on. Krishna, himself was around to steer them to victory against all odds. Krishna’a soothing words helped to complains to Krishna. Krishna advised him to plan for the next day’s attack rather than brooding over the losses.
Thus ends the first day of the great Mahabharata war .
