Mahabharata Chapter 53 – WAR: Days 13 to 14 – The Fall of Abhimanyu

In this series I outline the epic of the Mahabharata. The events that happened before and after the Bhagavad Gita.

For those that have not watched my Bhagavad Gita series you can find it on https://youtu.be/BbHCNUNGpRY

For this series I have drawn inspiration from the works of
Sudipta Bhawmik and Avi Ziv in their series “Stories of the Mahabharata” https://shows.acast.com/thestoriesofmahabharata as well as the illustrated “Mahabharata” by Manoj Publications www.manojpublications.com.

Many images are from the visually stunning Mahabharat by StarPlus available on Youtube

Music by ShidenBeatsMusic from Pixabay

Chapter 53 – WAR: Days 13 - 14 – The Fall of Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu continued to cut his way into Drona’s battle formation striking terror into the hearts of even the most veteran of warriors. Eventually Duryodhan’s son dared to challenge the young Prince. But Lakshmana was no match for Abhimanyu. The son of Arjuna cut him down with a single arrow.

Duryodhan, mad with grief and anger, screamed at his Supreme Commander. “Kill him now, by any means necessary”. Until then, Drona had adhered to the agreed-upon rules of engagement. However, unchecked, Abhimanyu would now bring an end to all of them. He consulted with Karna to destroy Abhimanyu’s bow and slay his steed and charioteer. Karna did as commanded.

Then, all the veteran warriors, which included Drona, Karna, Kripa, Kritavarma, Shakuni and Ashvatthama, the son of Drona, attacked the unarmed warrior. Weaponless, Abhimanyu picked up the wheel of his broken chariot and continued his assault on the Kaurava warriors, slaying many. But as the numerous arrows pierced his armour, the young warrior slowed and a mace blow to the back of his head, brought an end to the Princes sixteen years of life. On the 13th day of war, Abhimanyu fell, and with him, all dharma that had remained.

Many miles away, the Princess Uttara wept, as she cradled the unborn son of Abhimanyu within her womb. When Arjuna heard the news, he was overcome with grief. Then, his grief turned to rage. Arjuna blamed his son’s death on Jayadratha who kept his brothers out of the battle formation, thus trapping his son alone.

Arjuna swore to either slay Jayadratha the next day before sunset or take his own life by fire. When the news of Arjunas terrible oath reached Jayadratha, he was terrified and wanted to flee the battlefield. But Duryodhan, Drona and Shakuni saw this as their opportunity to bring an end to the deadliest warrior among the Pandavas.

On the dawn of the 14th day Arjuna began his furious assault on the Kaurava army, targeting Jayadratha specifically. But Drona assembled his armies in a manner that shielded the terrified King. As the day drew to a close Arjuna seemed no closer to fulfilling his vow to slay Jayadratha and the Kaurava army grew in confidence.

Lord Krishna looked to the sky and the moon moved to eclipse the sun. With the battlefield in darkness Jayadratha believed that the sun had set, signalling the end of the days battle. He excitedly came forward to witness Arjuna's self-immolation. As he came out of hiding, the moon moved to reveal the sun once more.

Arjuna released his arrow and Jayadratha, the brother-in-law of Duryodhan, was no more.

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