Battle of Kurukshetra : An epic war for dignity.

Dignity is a big word . When it comes to dignity everyone can fight for it. The battle of kurukshetra or say Mahabharata is known for its brutal war. Lots of bloodshed and massacre  and death of greats forms part of mahabharat. The war for dignity is known by everyone , but in this article you will know more facts about this epic war.

Main causes of Battle of Kurukshetra

Every war in this world occurs due to some reasons . Wars basically have two sides: good and evil.  Ramayana happened due to the abduction of Sita Maa, fighting to defeat evil . Mahabharat happened to avenge Drapuadhi’s dissection and to take back the throne. The Battle of Kurukshetra is not just a war , but one can also learn many things from it. Before that, know the reasons behind this great epic.

Some reasons behind the Mahabharat war:

Bhishma Vow : 

Bhishma’s vow later became a threat for the whole kingdom . His vow for celibacy denied the hastinapur of a worthy king. If Bhishma ji would have become king, then Mahabharat would not happen.

Bhisma’s partially over choosing heir of the throne

Bhisma chose Pandu as king of Hastinapur. Although Dhritarashtra was worthy , he got judged for his blindness. This created hate inside Dhritarashtra and later he supported his son against Pandavas.

Dhritarashtra blind love for his sons

Duryodhan, the eldest of kauravas, hated pandavas from his childhood . He never wanted to share the kingdom with them. Dhritarashtra in spite of knowing that his son is wrong, he supported him blindly.

Yudhishthir’s truthfulness and promise 

It is a fact that excess of anything is bad. Yudhistar’s truthfulness and vow for obeying the elders of kuru dynasty made him suffer at last. His silence, obedience and vow allowed Drapuadhi’s dissection. These things made way for the Mahabharata war. Also the Duryodhan’s ruthless behaviour and way he humiliated Krishna Ji , also open the gates for Mahabharta war. Also the mocking of Duryodhan by everyone denied any chances of reunion with the brothers.  Now we move towards the summary of the great mahabharata war and things we can learn from it.

Summary of 18 days of epic Mahabharata war

1st day: war start and geeta gyan

Geeta Gyan in Mahabharata

Sri Krishna took sides of Pandavas and became the charioteer of Arjun . Duroyodhan took Vaishnavi army of Shree Krishna. Krishna Ji decided not to raise any weapons and will act as advisor of Pandavas.  Both armies stood against each other on Kurukshetra field . Kauravas army was full of great warriors with great caliber like Bheesma , Dronacharya , Suryaputra  Karn and many others. Many horses, decorated elephants and warriors were getting ready for the epic battle. Main things that happened on the first day.

• On the first day of the war, Arjuna became distraught after seeing his relatives in front of him. He decided to put down his weapon and retreat from the war.
• Seeing this, Shri Krishna preached Geeta to Arjun.
• After listening to the guidance, Arjuna decided to pick up his weapons and fight the war again.

2nd day: ( Arjun decides to fight again )

Arjuna Ready to Fight in Battle of Kurukshetra

Arjun decided to fight against his own relatives for protection of dharma. Some of the events of the second day of the fight.

• Arjun decided to fight again for Dharma.
• He arranged his army so that no kaurava army or warrior could invade.
• Bhisma killed Uttar son of King Virata.
• Many soldiers died from both sides.

3rd day: ( Plot against Bhisma )

Bhisma continued his dominance on the third day by killing many people of pandavas. The whole pandavas army starts running here and there to escape the wrath of Bhisma Ji. Bhisma Ji continued his onslaught . Seeing Bhishma’s power , Krishna Ji asked Arjun to fight Bhisma. Seeing Arjun bleeding with Bhisma’s arrows, Krishna ji angrily lifted the chariot wheel to kill Bhsima and broke his vow. He stopped after remembering his vow.

4th to 10th Day: ( death of Bhisma )

Death of Bhishma Pitamaha

The fourth to ten days of battle favored kauravas mostly. Duroyodhan hurted Bhima,  Bishma killed many soldiers of the army and many more. At last Pandavas and Krishna ji gathered together to end Bhisma. Some events from 4 th day to 10 th day of Mahabharta.

• The Pandavas took help of Shikhandi . Bhisma had vowed never to fight an eunuch and hence  Shikhandi  can become the shield of Arjun. Arjun will attack Bhsima from the back of Shikhandi.
• Bhisma, wounded with many arrows decided to give up his life
• Yudhisthira took lessons from Bhisma Ji and at last he gave up his life .

11 th to 15 th day: ( Abhimanyu Veergati )

With the death of Bhisma , the kauravas got terrified and went to Karna to take leadership of the army. Karna declined to lead the army and hence Guru Dronacharya took command of the army. Some events from 11 to 15 days of war.

• Ghatotkacha , the son of Bhima took part in the battle and almost finished off Kaurav’s army.
• Karn arrow “Special Vasavi Astra ” can be used only once and so Krishna ji plotted a plan to waste his astra.
• Seeing the condition, Karn used it to kill Ghatotkacha and thus Arjun got saved.
• Abhimanyu was killed in Chakravyuh.
• Jayadratha who killed Abhimanyu took help of Duryodhan to keep himself from Arjun.
• Arjun vow to kill Jayadratha till evening, but an eclipse confused Jayadratha and he came out laughing.
• As the eclipse removed, Arjun on the advice of Krishna Ji killed Jayadratha.

16 to 18 days 🙁 Plot for Killing Dronacharya and Karn )

Ashwathama Gets Cursed on the 18 Dayth of Battle

• Krishna Ji plotted a plan to kill Dronacharya.  There was an elephant named Ashwathama in the army of Pandavas. Krishna ji  asked Yudhisthira to spread the rumour that Ashwathama is dead.
• The rumour spread like fire and reached the ears of Dronacharya and he became sad after that. To confirm that his son is dead, he asked Yudhisthira whether Ashwathama is dead ? Yudhisthira replied Ashwathama is dead but whispered slowly that he doesn’t know whether it is animal or human being. This made Dronacharya and he died of grief.
• Karn took the charge and created chaos in the Pandavas army.
• Soon a ferocious battle between Arjun and Karn began.
• When war was at a crucial time, suddenly the wheels of the chariot of Karn got stuck in the battlefield. It was due to the Parshuram curse. 
• Karn was cursed because of his lie of being a Brahmin boy and taking teaching of war.
• Although Arjun refused to kill karn , buying Krishna ji made him remember the  dissection of Draupadhi.
• So Arjun killed Karn.

End of  Battle of Kurukshetra

End of Mahabharat Battle in Kurukshetra

As a result, all of the Kauravas were slaughtered one by one. Bhima, though, was still unsatisfied. He had pledged to assassinate Duryodhana and Dushasana. He had promised Draupadi that he would swig blood from Dushasana’s chest and dye her hair with blood from Duryodhana’s thigh. To do this, Bhima killed Dushasana in a quick battle with the help of Yudhisthira and Sri Krishna. However, the fight with mace or clubs continued with Duryodhana. It was a wild and ferocious battle. Both Bhima and Duryodhana were physically fit and skilled fighters. Bhima struck his adversary below the belt! He injured Duryodhana’s thigh, leaving him to face a painful and untimely death. As I’ve said before, I don’t wish to excuse Bhima for hitting an off-limits part of his body. However, I believe that Duryodhana’s inappropriate behavior toward Draupadi was unavoidable.  Thus the Battle of Kurukshetra ended with being the largest massacre. You can Also Read Our Blog Vedas.

Things to learn from the Battle of Kurukshetra

Revenge only brings destruction

The epic battle only destroyed both kauravas and Pandavas. No one survived and only bloodshed occured.

Always stand for righteousness

Always support the truth, no matter what the consequences will be. Standing with right takes you to the salvation path.

Make friends like Arjun and Krishna

A true friend like Krishna Ji always guides their friend in every situation . Arjun also helps Krishna Ji when needed. A true friendship is about helping each other in need.

Don’t rely on half knowledge

Abhimanyu, although a great warrior, died because of the half knowledge of breaking chakravyuh.  Get complete knowledge of any work and then proceed to implementing it.

Greed is bad

It is the greed of Yudhisthira and over – obedience for elders that allowed him to gamble and that resulted in Draupadhi dissection.

Never give up is the ultimate truth.

Karna taught us about never giving up. He never give up in any situation . He faced all difficulties to become famous in history.

woman is never powerless

Draupadi’s character and decisions shows power of women. She is inspiration for women. Despite losing everything, she took stand and received justice.