As the second day of the war stood poised to begin, the sons of Pandu arranged their hosts in the crowned-bird formation, placing warriors of noble chivalry at points of greatest strength and resolve. Across the field the enemy camp burned with the sharpness of the previous day’s encounters, and Prince Duryodhana, addressing Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Ashwatthama, Kripa, Shalya, and Kritavarma, spoke with fierce confidence. He praised them as transcendent heroes, each sufficient to conquer the Pandavas alone, declaring that even the great god of destruction could not prevail against their united might. Yet, though he lauded their immeasurable prowess, he urged caution, for the Pandavas had devised a formidable counter array, and only a strategy equal or superior could meet it.
Sanjaya, describing the scene to the blind monarch Dhritarashtra, reported that the Kaurava forces were arrayed in a carefully balanced design of combat, intent on crushing the foe. Dussasana, Vikarna, Vinda, Anuvinda, Surasena, Yavana, and the Trigartha kings formed one wing, while Drona stood firm with the kings of Kuntala, Dasarna, and Vidarbha, each supported by their fourfold armies. Bhishma took his place between these mighty divisions, surrounded by his chosen warriors, as the host was ordered into a threefold arrangement capable of resisting attack from any quarter. Duryodhana stood to the rear with his brothers, flanked by the kings of Kashi and Asmanthaka, while both armies readied themselves amid the thunder of conches, kettledrums, tabors, horns, pipes, and other instruments of war.
As Sanjaya continued his narration, Duryodhana waved his hand, urging his men to advance and claim victory. With great excitement the Kaurava forces surged forward and clashed with the Pandavas. Bhishma, the commander in chief, drove straight into the heart of the crowned-bird array, shattering one wing and cutting down warriors as he advanced, striking at neck and chest with relentless force. His movement was swift, fierce, and unrestrained, appearing in every quarter like the lord of death himself, eyes half-closed, raining arrows in all directions and breaking the enemy’s resolve.
Arjuna, observing Bhishma’s deep thrusts meant to sap the Pandavas’ spirit, felt his blood rise and his eyes blaze red with resolve. Turning to Krishna, he declared that the son of the river must be restrained, his ardor quenched, and requested that the chariot be guided straight toward him. Krishna agreed, urging Arjuna to fight with calm, steadfast mind and unwavering perseverance, so that his mastery of archery would win praise even from foes and strike fear into the guardians of Shalya, Drona, and Duryodhana, for their terror would become the renewed courage of the Pandava host.
With this counsel Krishna steered the steeds forward, and Arjuna cut through the forces of Surasena that sought to bar his path. Bhishma answered with seventy-two arrows, while Drona, Kripa, Vikarna, Shalya, and Duryodhana joined in a furious rain of shafts. Arjuna, discerning their heightened fervor, stood unmoved, countering with a steady mind. He struck Bhishma with twenty-five arrows, pierced Drona with six, wounded Vikarna, Shalya, and Kripa with three each, and marked Duryodhana with five, holding his ground though many famed warriors assailed him together.
Seeing Arjuna’s fierce contest with the elders and chief of the Kaurava army, Satyaki, Virata, Dhrishtadyumna, the sons of Draupadi, and Abhimanyu rushed to his support, cutting down those who shielded Bhishma. Bhishma replied with fifty arrows, and the battlefield rang with roars like those of lions. Disregarding the assault, Arjuna drove deeper into the enemy ranks, slicing charioteers and heroes as easily as wet grass, leaving chariots without steeds or guides standing motionless like tree trunks. He scattered the Kaurava forces as a hurricane scatters dry wood.
Sanjaya then recounted how Duryodhana reproached Bhishma, accusing him of standing idle while Arjuna slaughtered their men and of endangering their safety by restraining Karna. These words wounded Bhishma deeply, for they were spoken without justice or timeliness. Turning his chariot toward Arjuna, guarded on one side by Vikarna and Duryodhana and on the other by Ashwatthama, he poured arrows like a rushing flood. Arjuna, supported by his brothers and burning with undying zeal, met him in a clash that dissolved all order into a do-or-die struggle, ranks and rules vanishing amid the chaos.
Thus Bhishma and Arjuna fought with a single purpose of defeat, equal in spirit and skill, stunning all who beheld them. With matching precision they struck each other’s flags and steeds. In the midst of this duel Bhishma wounded Krishna in the chest with a volley of arrows, and the charioteer’s body, drenched in blood, shone like coral jasmine in bloom. Enraged, Arjuna struck down Bhishma’s charioteer, who retaliated by surrounding Arjuna’s chariot in a dense curtain of arrows until it seemed wrapped and hidden from sight. Arjuna endured this storm like a consuming fire swallowing the ocean, replying with fearless shafts that pierced and harried the Kaurava host, while Bhishma, like a monsoon of arrows, checked Arjuna’s blazing assault.
The grandeur of their combat drew the applause of celestial beings watching from the skies, who marveled that only Arjuna could truly contend with Bhishma, and that neither could be measured by ordinary standards of valor. They declared that even the lords of death and heaven could not withstand such warriors, whose strength and skill defied estimation. Siddhas, Charanas, and Gandharvas praised these two battle geniuses as the sun blazed high in the sky.
Amid this tumult Dhrishtadyumna struck Drona with a fierce volley, prompting the master to answer with greater force, cutting down his opponent’s charioteer, felling his steeds, and severing flag and pole. The Kaurava ranks roared with joy, but the enraged Dhrishtadyumna answered with a rain of arrows, breaking Drona’s weapons one by one. Sacred and sharp missiles flew between them, each counter met with equal ferocity, until the cries of both armies swelled. Drona shattered his foe’s bow, cut down the mighty weapons hurled against him, broke the heavy mace in mid-air, and tore through armor, soaking Dhrishtadyumna in blood. Thus the battle raged on with unrelenting intensity, as Sanjaya continued to narrate the noble chivalry of Dhrishtadyumna against a master unmatched in the arts of war.
