King Dhritarashtra, eager to learn how Arjuna, though aflame with wrath and bound by a dreadful vow, was yet restrained amidst the fury of war, listened intently as Sanjaya unfolded the mighty spectacle. Hemmed in on every side by the vast Kaurava host, where countless elephants moved like dark hills, arrows flew in ceaseless torrents, and proud warriors drew their bowstrings with thunderous confidence, Arjuna stood vigilant. Though his hands were engaged in battle, his mind remained fixed upon a single objective—the destruction of Jayadratha, the Sindhu king. His keen eyes searched every quarter of the field, seeking some opening through which he might penetrate the formidable formation.
At that moment, Prince Dushasana, swelling with arrogance and eager to display his valour, advanced to confront Arjuna. The son of Pandu regarded him with a smile touched with disdain, as one might look upon a vain actor mistaking noise for heroism. Raising the celestial conch Devadatta, Devadatta Arjuna filled earth and heaven with its resounding blast. Then, twanging the Gandiva, Gandiva he loosed a storm of arrows that descended upon Dushasana like a monsoon cloud upon a mountain.
The battlefield was transformed into a scene of dreadful carnage. Horses, maddened by pain, ran wildly in all directions; chariots were shattered; elephants sank into rivers of blood and flesh. The heads of warriors mounted on steeds and elephants tumbled to the ground like birds struck from the sky. Severed limbs, still clutching swords, spears, and bows, floated upon the crimson flood. Unable to endure Arjuna’s terrible assault, Dushasana turned his back and fled.
Arjuna pursued him and cried aloud, “Dushasana, whither do you flee? Can death be escaped by running? Having cast away both strength and courage, how shall you now find refuge? The outrage you committed in the assembly of elders, when you dragged the noble Draupadi and caused all present to weep in grief and shame, has ripened into this hour of reckoning.” Having thus rebuked him, Arjuna pierced Dushasana with ten keen arrows in the shoulders. Wounded and humiliated, the Kaurava prince retreated and sought shelter behind Dronacharya.
Still searching for Jayadratha, Arjuna approached his revered preceptor. With Sri Krishna’s consent, he laid aside his warrior’s pride, folded his hands, and bowed low before Drona. “O best of the twice-born,” he said, “as my father Pandu, as Dharmaraja, and as Sri Krishna watch over my welfare, so too have you borne equal responsibility for my protection and guidance. You have cherished me with the same affection you have shown to Ashwatthama. Today I must fulfil my solemn vow and slay the treacherous Jayadratha. Grant me your blessings, and permit me to break through this formation.”
Drona smiled, pleased by Arjuna’s humility yet unwavering in his duty. “Without first defeating me,” he said, “how shall you ever reach Jayadratha?” So saying, the great preceptor rained arrows upon both Arjuna and Krishna. With respectful resolve, Arjuna sought permission to engage his guru in battle, and Drona nodded his assent.
Arjuna released nine swift arrows, but Drona cut them all in mid-flight. Then, with shafts of astonishing precision, he wounded both Krishna and Arjuna and severed the string of the Gandiva. Weaving a dense enclosure of arrows around Arjuna’s chariot, Drona sought to halt his beloved disciple. Yet Arjuna, moving with dazzling speed, struck down the warriors who surrounded his teacher. His arrows felled elephants as the thunderbolt of Indra shatters mountain peaks. Chariots were hurled aside like trees uprooted by a tempest, and horses and men dropped to the earth like ripe fruit shaken from laden branches. It seemed as though the entire army had been rolled up like a carpet and spread upon the blood-soaked ground.
Drona then shot consecrated shafts that pierced Arjuna’s chest. For a moment the son of Kunti reeled, but quickly regaining his composure, he renewed the contest with greater vigour. Krishna was struck by five arrows, while Arjuna was pierced by seventy-three. Their chariot was covered with innumerable shafts. Bathed in blood, Arjuna shone like the rising sun tinged with crimson rays.
Supported by Drona, the Kaurava warriors closed in from every side, and for a time Arjuna found no passage through the barrier. Then Sri Krishna spoke with firm urgency: “Do not waste precious moments in prolonged combat with your preceptor. Set aside all hesitation. Your vow is your highest duty. Break through the Sakata Vyuha and press onward.”
Arjuna replied, “Whatever you deem wise, O Krishna, let it be done. I shall follow your guidance without question.” Thereupon Krishna, master of celestial steeds, wheeled the chariot with incomparable skill around Drona’s position, while Arjuna maintained a relentless shower of arrows.
Seeing this manoeuvre, Drona smiled and called out, “Arjuna, such conduct does not become a warrior. Without slaying your foe, you seek to pass him by, as though you were beyond mortality itself.” Arjuna answered with reverence, “You are not my enemy, but my guru. To conquer you in battle while you stand in righteous anger is possible only for Lord Shiva.” Having spoken thus, he continued forward, unwilling to squander the moments upon which his vow depended.
Thus Arjuna penetrated deeper into the formation, guarded by the valiant sons of Panchala and by Yuyudhana, Yuyudhana who protected the wheels of his chariot. Krithavarma, the king of the Kambojas, Srutayus, the Kekayas, and the fierce Bhadraka warriors all rushed to obstruct his path. But Arjuna, intent upon fulfilling his pledge, fell upon them as a mighty elephant plunge into a lotus-filled lake, scattering all before him.
Drona once more came near and discharged twenty-five arrows at Arjuna, but the son of Pandu shattered them in the air. Each shaft loosed by Arjuna was likewise cut down by his master. Then Drona enveloped him in a torrent of arrows, like a vast rain cloud concealing a mountain peak. Both Krishna and Arjuna endured the full force of the Acharya’s fierce assault.
Thus did Sanjaya recount to Dhritarashtra the awe-inspiring struggle between teacher and disciple—one bound by affection and reverence, the other by duty and destiny. In that solemn contest, where honour contended with obligation and love with necessity, Arjuna advanced steadily toward the fulfilment of his terrible vow, guided by Krishna and sustained by the blessings of his guru.
