War – Day (continued)

Introduction

It is worth mentioning a couple of interesting points on the war at this stage. It started as one with strict principles ( Dharma Yuddha). That meant that all tried to follow the rules strictly, at least in the beginning. One guiding principle was that enmity was only on the battle field. When the battles ended for the day all were supposed to forget any hard feelings and mix among themselves as friends. It is heartening to read the description of the opposite camps mixing freely in good spirit in the evenings.

It is true, that each warrior faced his enemy with a resolve to fight until death, either of his own or of his opponent. Yet, there was good sportsman spirit on the field. Show of bravery and skill was normally applauded even by the enemy.

There was a festive atmosphere all around in the wars, in spite of their seriousness. When great battles were fought those in combat nearby forgot their own, watched the heroes demonstrating their superior skills and applauded. That even gods and other celestial beings assembled in the sky to watch the famous battles is a testimony to this.

Other important encounters on the seventh day

Iravan, the brave son of Arjuna, faced Vinda and Anuvinda that day, alone. The Naga prince harassed the two Avanti princes right from the beginning and finally made the two flee from the battle field.

Ghatotkacha fought bravely against Bhagadatta for a long time. The formidable son of son Bhima normally was fearless. Yet, the demon was made to run away from the field by the king of Pragjyotisha, who then inflicted heavy casualties on the Pandava army.

Nakula and Sahadeva found themselves face top face against their own uncle, Salya. The king of Madra scored in the beginning by killing the horses of Nakula. He, then, continued to fight from the chariot of his brother, Sahadeva. Sahadeva, after a while, managed to drive a few of his shafts into the chest of Salya with the result that the latter fell down on the floor of his chariot, losing his consciousness.

Kripa, the teacher of the Kauravas and Pandavas, faced Chekitana, the Vrishni prince. The two fought bitterly for a long while. Both lost their chariots, and yet, continued to fight on the ground. They used maces and sword and were determined to fight to the end. Finally, both lost their consciousness and fell down on the ground. Friends from either side came to take them away.

Abhimany stood firm against three sons of Dhritarashtra. He could have killed all the three that day. But, he remembered the pledge taken by his uncle, Bhima, that he would, himself, kill all the sons of Dhritarashtra . So, Abhimanyu let the Kaurava princes flee from the field.

Yudhishthira in an unusual mood

The Pandava king was not his usual self that day. He found thousands of his men perishing at the hands of the grandsire. He got into an extreme mood of anger and fought ferociously against the veteran, Bhishma, without worrying about his own safety. Slowly, all his brothers joined him one by one. The Paqndavas knew that the war will not turn in their favour as long as Bhishma lived. So, Yudhishthira openly called on his brothers to put an end to the life of the grandsire. He even ridiculed Sikhandi that it was a hollow promise that he made, that he would kill Bhishma.

The Kauravas realized that there was danger to the life of their commander. Kripa, Salya and other veterans on the Kaurava side soon joined Bhishma to thwart the attack from the Pandavas. The battle only grew in intensity as the sun turned red in the western horizon. But, all started feeling the exhaustion from the long day’s battle and it was decided that fighting should stop for the day. Then, all forgot their enmity and took rest freely mixing with the opposite side.

With this ends the seventh day’s war.