Kurukshetra: The defining Krishna-Arjun journey

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖

Arjun's pov

After Yudhishthir took leave from Bhisma, Dronacharya, Kripacharya and Shalya, the Battle of Kurukshetra commenced.

The first two days belonged to the Kaurava commander Bhisma. He dispatched ten thousands soldiers to Yama's realm each day; Arjun, who had shut off his heart altogether, could not restrain him, and gloom would prevail after sundown in the Pandava camp. Arjun wrote a letter to Panchali each day, trusting Madhav to get it delivered. There were more letters he would have liked to write, to his mother, to Subhadra, to Uttara--especially after his brother's death--but between Drishtadyumna's long strategical meetings, talking to the children, which the five brothers made a point of everyday, and getting some sleep, there simply was not enough time.

On the third day, while Arjun and Bhisma fought, the latter parallelly killing hundreds of soldiers, Madhav stood up straight to face Arjun, caught in an unusual fit of rage.

"If you cannot kill him, Parth, I will."

"No," said Arjun in horror. "You can't--you can't wield a weapon, Madhav--" He swallowed his painful resistance. "I will do it, don't worry--"

To emphasize his words, Arjun dispatched the Weapon of Indra that brought torrents of arrows down from the sky. A tenth of the Kaurava army met their end, forming a river of blood and flesh flowing across the battlefield.

It was ugly, nauseating, distasteful even for a great warrior.

However, it was also cause for celebration. In triumph, Arjun and Krishna blew their conches, the Devdutta and the Panchajana, whose very sound filled their opposition with misery and defeat.

***

The days of war went on, much in the similar fashion. One day Satyaki would be the Pandava's hero, even succeeding in disarming Bhisma once. One day Abhimanyu, leading his cousins, stole the day. The one thing constant was the death of ten thousand Pandava warriors at Bhisma's hands.

The events by day had began blurring to Arjun; when he went to sleep each day, he could not recall clearly what had happened that day, and what on the previous day. After each day of unleashing death, he inevitably found his way, half-asleep, to his best friend's tent. 

Certain incidents stood out better than others. 

On the fifth day, Arjun and Aswatthama got into a fierce duel, piercing each other with many arrows. However, out of respect towards Dronacharya and kinship towards his friend Aswatthama himself, Arjun decided to leave him alone.

Madhav had given him a glance that made it clear he was not pleased.

On the seventh day, Iravan drew much admiration from their side--chiefly from his devoted younger brothers Abhimanyu and Srutakarma--for almost defeating the illusive demon Alamvusha. Shy, soft-spoken Iravan did not say much, but Arjun could tell he was pleased when his father and uncles praised him.

They did not know, then, that Alamvusha was waiting for revenge.

***

When they returned to camp after sunset on the eighth day, there was a slight corpse waiting for Arjun, its head severed from its body.

"Jyesht," Abhimanyu whispered in disbelief, rushing to his brother's body before covering his eyes.

King Virata spoke up, looking sorrowfully at Arjun.

"He killed five princes of Gandhar before Alamvusha challenged him again. He held up for a long time against the ogre, but eventually his illusions got the better of him. Alamvusha killed Iravan when he was confounded."