Bhishma and Drona arrayed the Kaurava army into a unique formation and marched into the battle field early on the fourth day. Arjuna saw that and set out with an army surrounded by thousands of elephants to meet the challlenge. There was a fierce battle between the two in the very start of the fourth day. Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son in Subhadra, saw that and joined his father to face Bhishma. Duryodhana dispatched a huge army to give additional support to the grandsire against the combined force of Arjuna and Abhimanyu. But, the father and son fought unconcerned and inflicted heavy casualty in the Kaurava forces.
Sanjaya tells the story of war
It is from Sanjaya, the minister of Dhritarashtra, that we hear the details of war as he reported its progress to the blind king. Whenever his army faced reversals the Kaurava king lamented about it. On all those occasions, Sanjaya would remind the king about his own foolishness in letting the matter out of hand in spite of the wise counsel from himself, Bhishma, Drona and Vidura.
Then, Sanjaya drew the attention of his king to the battle elsewhere where Dhrishtadyumna, the son of Drupada, faced the formidable army of Salya. The Panchala fought tooth and nail against the Madra king. Fearing for the life of his ally, Duryodhana and his brothers encircled the Panchala. But, Dhrishtadyumna thwarted all their attacks. Several veteran warriors were killed by the Panchala prince that day which disheartened the Kaurava forces.
Bhima on the scene
Duryodhana, then, came to assist Salya with a large contingent of elephants. That was the opportunity Bhima was waiting for. He jumped down from his chariot and started destroying the elephant army with his huge mace. Many were killed and the rest dispersed in fright. The fleeing elephants created havoc in the Kaurava army, by trampling thousands to death.
Duryodhana sent a separate contingent of forces to encircle the formidable Bhima. The Pandava fought unconcerned and crushed the attack in no time.
The Kaurava prince rushed himself along with several of his brothers to face Bhima. The sight of the sons of Dhritarashtra whipped up the temper of Bhima. He asked his charioteer to take him straight to the Kaurava princes. He faced a tough time initially. It was then that Satyaki came to his help. Bhima recovered within a short time and, again, faced the sons of Dhritarashtra with well aimed arrows. Many of them perished at Bhima’s hands that day.
Bhagadatta and his brave elephant
Bhagadatta was the king of Pragjyotisha. He had an elephant which was trained for warfare. He was an ally of the Pandavas, but, ended up on the Kaurava side with his sizeable army. The king saw how Bhima was thwarting all attacks that day and came to meet the Pandava, mounted on his elephant. Bhima fought against Bhagadatta with undimished prowess for a while, but, one of the well aimed arrows from the king pierced through the Pandava’s armour. Bhima lost his senses for a while and sat down in his chariot.
Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima in the demon Hidimbi, noticed the predicament of his father and came to his help. He launched a fierce attack on Bhagadatta and his elephant. The brave elephant was tormented to such an extent that it let out a loud cry that reached every corner of the battle field. Bhishma heard the sound and told Drona that Bhagadatta was in trouble. The two drove their chariots quickly to where Ghatotkacha stood. By then, Bhima had recovered and the two were destroying the Kaurava forces in large numbers. Bhishma soon released that his army was exhausted and would not face the combined force of Bhima and the demon any longer. He then ordered his forces to retire for the day
Thus, the Pandavas continued with their record of success on the fourth day also.
