Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas

88
Book VIII. Bhishma-Badha
(Fall of Bhishma)
[296] All negotiations for a peaceful partition of the Kuru kingdom having
failed, both parties now prepared for a battle, perhaps the most sanguinary that
was fought on the plains of India in the ancient times. It was a battle of nations,
for all the warlike races in Northern India took a share in it.
Duryodhan’s army consisted of his own division, as well as the divisions of ten
allied kings. Each allied power is said to have brought one akshauhini troops,
and if we reduce this fabulous number to the moderate figure of ten thousand,
including horse and foot, cars and elephants, Duryodhan’s army including his
own division was over a hundred thousand strong.
Yudhishthir had a smaller army, said to have been seven akshauhinis in number,
which we may, by a similar reduction, reckon to be seventy thousand. His
father-in-law, the king of the Panchalas, and Arjun’s relative the king of the
Matsyas, were his principal allies. Krishna joined him as his friend and adviser,
and as the charioteer of Arjun, but the Vrishnis as a nation had joined
Duryodhan.
When the two armies were drawn up in array and faced each other, and Arjun
saw his revered elders and dear friends and relations among his foes, he was
unwilling to fight. It was on this occasion that Krishna explained to him the
great principles of Duty in that memorable work called the Bhagavat-gita which
has been translated into so many European languages. Belief in one Supreme
Deity is the underlying thought of this work, and ever and anon, as Professor
Garbe remarks, “does Krishna revert to the doctrine [298] that for every man, no
matter to what caste he may belong, the zealous performance of his duty and the
discharge of his obligations is his most important work.”
Duryodhan chose the grand old fighter Bhishma as the commander-in-chief of
his army, and for ten days Bhishma held his own and inflicted serious loss on
Yudhishthir’s army. The principal incidents of these ten days, ending with the
fall of Bhishma, are narrated in this Book.
This Book is an abridgment of Book vi. of the original text.
I. Pandavs routed by Bhishma
Ushas with her crimson fingers oped the portals of the day,
Nations armed for mortal combat in the field of battle lay,
Beat of drum and blare of trumpet and the sankha’s lofty sound,
By the answering cloud repeated, shook the hills and tented ground,