swooned.
The charioteer skilfully drove Abhimanyu who inflicted a heavy defeat
the car away and saved Salya.
When the Madra king (Salya) was seen
retreating from the field Duryodhana's
army lost heart and the twin sons of Madri
blew their conchs in triumph. Taking
advantage of the situation, they inflicted
heavy damage on Salya's forces.
At noon, Yudhishthira led an attack on
Srutayu. The latter's well-aimed arrows
intercepted Dharmaputra's missiles, and
his armor was pierced and he was severely
wounded.
Yudhishthira then lost his temper and sent
a powerful arrow that pierced Srutayu's
breast-plate. That day, Yudhishthira was
not his normal self and burnt with anger.
Srutayu's charioteer and horses were
killed and the chariot was smashed and he
had to flee on foot from the field. This
completed the demorahsation of
Duryodhana's army.
In the attack on Kripa, Chekitana, losing
his chariot and charioteer, alighted and
attacked Kripa's charioteer and horses
with mace in hand and killed them.
Kripa also alighted, and standing on the
ground, discharged his arrows. Chekitana
was badly hit. He then whirled his mace
and hurled it at Kripacharya, but the latter
was able to intercept it with his own
arrow.
Thereupon they closed with each other,
sword in hand. Both were wounded and
fell on the ground, when Bhima came and
took Chekitana away in his chariot.
Sakuni similarly took wounded Kripa
away in his car.
Ninety-six arrows of Dhrishtaketu struck
Bhurisravas. And the great warrior was
like a sun radiating glory, as the arrows,
all sticking in his breast-plate, shone
bright around his radiant face. Even in
that condition, he compelled Dhrishtaketu
to admit defeat and retire. Three of
Duryodhana's brothers attacked
on them but spared their lives, because
Bhima had sworn to kill them. Thereupon,
Bhishma attacked Abhimanyu.
Arjuna saw this and said to his illustrious
charioteer: "Krishna, drive the car towards
Bhishma."
At that moment, the other Pandavas also
joined Arjuna. But the grandsire was able
to hold his own against all five until the
sunset, and the battle was suspended for
the day. And the warriors of both sides,
weary and wounded, retired to their tents
for rest and for having their injuries
attended to.
After this, for an hour, soft music was
played, soothing the warriors to their rest.
That hour was spent, says the poet,
without a word about war or hatred. It was
an hour of heavenly bliss, and it was a
glad sight to see. One can see herein what
the great lesson of the Mahabharata is.
71. THE EIGHTH DAY
WHEN the eighth day dawned, Bhishma
arrayed his army in tortoise formation.
Yudhishthira said to Dhrishtadyumna:
"See there, the enemy is in kurma vyuha
(tortoise formation). You have to answer
at once with a formation that can break it."
Dhrishtadyumna immediately proceeded
to his task. The Pandava forces were
arrayed in a three-pronged formation.
Bhima was at the head of one prong,
Satyaki of another, and Yudhishthira at
the crest of the middle division. Our
ancestors had developed the science of
war very well.
It was not reduced to writing but was
preserved by tradition in the families of
kshatriyas. Armor and tactics were
employed suitably to meet the weapons of
offence and the tactics that the enemy
used in those days.
The Kurukshetra battle was fought some
thousands of years ago. Reading the story
of the battle in the Mahabharata, we