THE GREAT KURUKSHETRA WAR - TWELFTH DAY

The king of Trigartadesa, Susharma along with his brothers and sons who were fighting on the Kaurava side decided to kill Arjuna.Arjuna gave them a fierce fight in which the brothers fell dead.Drona continued to capture Yudhisthira. The Pandavas however delivered severe blows to the Kaurava army.

On the twelfth day of the battle, the Kaurava and the Pandava forces reached the battlefield befor sunrise. The Samsaptaka suicide squads reiterated their solemn vows in the presence of Duryodhana and the Kaurava armies to kill Arjuna or be killed by him. They chanted "Victory or Valiant Death". Susarma their leader, his brothers Satyavrata and Satyavarma administered the oaths to ten thousand chariot warriors and their followers. The Narayanagopa soldiers, who were harbouring a grouse against Arjuna for rejecting them, loudly supported the Samsaptakas. They marched to the southern sector which signifies the abode of the god of death. Arjuna said to Yudhisthira, "I have to accept the challenge posed by the Samsaptakas. Please permit me to go," Yudhisthira replied, "Beloved brother, you know that the preceptor has vowed to capture me alive. You know his unrivalled eminence in the art of war and unrelenting resolve. It is upto you to come to a decision." Arjuna replied, "Great soul, Satyajit, the Panchala prince will guard you. Bhima and Satyaki will be watching you. I have no other go." Arjuna bowed to the feet of Dharmaputra and obtained his blessings. He asked Sri Krishna to drive the chariot to the southern sector.

As usual, the two forces charged against each other at sunrise with unprecedented ferocity. Dhrishtadyumna attacked Drona who considered this as an unauspicious beginning. However the hit Dhrishtadyumna bypassed him. In the southern sector, Arjuna pounced on the Samsaptakas like a hungry tiger jumping at the deer. Arjuna hit Susarma and Subahu, Suratha and Sudhava several times. When Sudhanva tried to hit Sri Krishna, Arjuna cut off his head with a crescent shaft. At one point Sri Krishna shouted aloud, "Savyasachi, I am not able to see you or the battlefield. I am driving the chariot rather by instinct. I want reassuring directions from you to drive the chariot, first respond that you are safe and still alive." Arjuna said to Sri Krishna, "Safe, quite safe. Madahava, your words are not mere enquiries addressed to me; I take it as an encouragement. Drive on undaunted." Arjuna continued the merciless slaughter beating back the attackers. In the northern sector, Drona advanced on the Pandava forces with relentless vigour. The old man appeared to have regained his youth and he looked like Kumarasvami, the mythological generalissimo of the gods. As Drona proceeded forward to reach Yudhisthira, Satyajit promptly attacked him ferociously. He broke the bow of the preceptor and hit him thrice. Meanwhile another Panchala Prince,Vrika charged against Drona who in a fit of anger wrecked the chariot of Satyajit and killed his horses. Satyajit got into another chariot and renewed the attack. Drona shot two simultaneous shafts, killing Vrika and breaking Satyajit's bow. Satyajit took another bow but before he could use it, Drona cut off his head with a swift shaft and blew his conch.


Drona fought with all the warriors, establishing his undaunted supremacy. He held Dhrishtadyumna at bay hitting him thrice. Satyaki was hit five times. The rest were hit four or five times. Suryadatta, the brother of Virata rushed to the scene and attacked Drona in frenzy, but his head immediately rolled to the ground. It seems as if there were nothing to prevent Drona from pouncing upon Yudhisthira, who sneaked to a safer place in the rear. But the Pandava forces, in frenzied agony cried aloud, "Yudhisthira is caught", Yudhisthira is caught". Duryodhana was delighted at the performance of Drona and said to Karna, "Look at our generalissimo; he is on the verge of capturing Yudhisthira if he has not already done so. The Pandavas were never personally afraid of Bhishma. Today the preceptor has struck terror into them." Karna replied, " Let us go and support Drona before Bhima reaches the spot." While they were still discussing the matter, the Pandava rallied together for a counter attack on Drona. Yudhisthira, with his crescent flag fluttering over his chariot, driven by grey horses, Bhima exhibiting the lion standard on his chariot, drawn by chestnut coloured seeds, Nakula hoisting the rhino flag drawn by green horses, Sahadeva with the baby elephant standard, together with Virata and Drupada counter attacked Drona who appeared like a mountain peak covered by dark clouds.

Duryodhana and Karna rallied to the support of Drona together with Kritavarma, Saindhava, Duhsasana, Chitravarma, Salya, Bahlika, Vinda, Anuvinda, Salya and other Kaurava warriors joined the fray. Duryodhana led the elephant division against Bhima supported by the ruler of Vanga. Bhima, who delighted in fighting the elephant hordes, killed many elephants and hurled a missile on Duryodhana with terrific force and roared like a lion firmly believing that it would hit him. However the ruler of Vanga came in between them and he fell dead together with his elephant, thus saving Duryodhana's life. Warriors on both sides blew their conches, one side extolling Bhima's performance and the other rejoicing over Duryodhana's lucky escape. Bhagadatta, the king of Pragjyotisha charged against Bhima, riding his elephant Supratika, the most renowned war elephant of the times. The very name Supratika struck terror into the hearts of the enemies. Bhagadatta, at the time of Mahabharatha war was a pretty old man. His face was wreathed in wrinkles and his drooping eye lids obstructed his vision. So he used to tie thin folds of skin over his forehead with a silken cloth so that they might not block his sight.

Supratika wanted to crush Bhimasena under the elephants belly and knelt down. However he crawled to safety and remained clutching its legs. As Bhima disappeared from the sight, the Pandava army raised a big hue and cry. The shouts "Bhima is crushed" rent the sky. Satyaki attacked Bhagadatta. But Supratika seized his chariot and lifted it up and tossed it in the air. He jumped from his chariot and ran away. Supratika moved forward, wrecking the chariots, killing the cavalry and trampling the infantry under its feet. When the warriors of the Pandava army hurled missiles at it, Supratika's fury increased and Bhagadatta goaded it to greater devastation. The Pandava forces retreated in disorder. Meanwhile, Bhima resumed the fight, equipping himself with a new chariot. However Supratika, lifted up its trunk and blew out blood and bones on the horses. The charioteer could not control the horses and they galloped away in fright. Arjuna who looked at the sky and heard the trumpeting of the elephants realised that it was the havoc wrought by Supratika and asked Sri Krishna to drive the chariot to the northern sector. He feared imminent danger to Yudhisthira. But Susarma and the Trigartas followed his chariot, challenging him again and again. They hurled two powerful javelins, one at Arjuna and the other at Sri Krishna. Arjuna cut them to pieces and Sri Krishna drove the chariot to the north with galloping speed.

Bhagadatta took the golden goad which he used for driving the elephant and induced into it the Vaishnava missile and threw it at Arjuna with terrific force. Seeing the missile burning like a meteor, the Pandava forces cried in consternation, "Krishna and Arjuna perished," "Krishna and Arjuna perished." Sri Krishna with a calm smile lightning up his lips, stood up on his seat and presented himself as the target. The missile, to the utter amazement of all the onlookers, descended gently over Sri Krishna's neck and adorned his chest as a golden garland. Arjuna hit Supratika with a powerful shot and the great elephant fell dead on the ground. At once, Arjuna shot arrows at the silken cloth and Bhagadatta was almost blindfolded. He threw a javelin at Arjuna who aimed two arrows, one hitting the javelin and the other Bhagadatta's neck. The renowned warrior too fell dead on the dead body of his famous elephant. The Samsaptakas came to Arjuna and again challenged him to the fight. They proclaimed, "Some of us are dead; we are defeated." They shouted, "Shame to Arjuna if he does not accept the Samsaptaka challenge." Arjuna immediately asked Sri Krishna to the drive the chariot to the southern zone and resumed the fight. At that juncture, the Narayana Gopas joined hands with Samsaptakas and charged against Arjuna and tried to ambush him. Arjuna hurled the divine missile given to him by Tvasta against them. The Narayana- Gopas were blown to pieces by the whirlwind released by the superhuman missile, which was gradually withdrawn by Arjuna.

Dhrishtadyumna, supported by Abhimnayu and other warriors joined by Bhima attacked the Kauravas. Meanwhile, Arjuna returned from the sector and joined them. Soon Drona realized that it was a formidable combination and asked Karna to attack Arjuna. Soon Karna and Arjuna were locked in a single combat, for the first time in the Great war. The two renowned warriors fought with supermissiles. Karna hurled the fire missile against Arjuna who countered it with the rain missile. It was an equal combat and the indecisive battle continued for a long time to the delight of both the contending armies. After some time, three brothers of Karna attacked Arjuna fiercely and Arjuna made short work of them and they fell dead in the battlefield. Equally fierce battle raged between Satyaki and Asvatthama, Sakuni and Sahadeva, Satnika and Srutavarma , Sikhandi and Vikarna, Srutasena and Salva, Subahu and Nakula, Yudhisthira and Salya. The two armies fought till sunset, when the truce for the day was proclaimed. Duryodhana and the Kaurava warriors repaired to their camps wading their way through darkening shadows, down cast with a sense of deepening dejection and damping despair. The Pandavas returned to their residences in high spirits.