Dream - A Karna SI

40. MAHASANGRAM - 01

Notes:

The great war begins.
I have taken inspiration from various sources and primarily from Dr. S. Bapat of BORI and his descriptions of the Mahabharat.
The war started after making the below rules and each of them were violated by the end of the war, by both sides.
1. Everyone will fight with there equal. A Maharathi with Maharathi, an atirathi with atirathi, a Hasti (elephant) with a hasti.
2. No body should attack a weaponless opponent, no should one attack an opponent who is fleeing.
3. People should declare there leanings and issue challenge, before attacking. The challenge must be accepted by your opponents.
4. No poisons, should be used in the battles.
5. The attackers should not gang-up on a single warrior.

Note: Pandavs vyuh in blue and Kauravs vyuh in red. Karn with his Vahini in yellow.

Karn - 43 years

Yudhisthir - 40 years

Bheema & Duryodhan - 39 years

Arjun - 38 years

Nakul & Sahadev - 36 years

Abhimanyu - 16 years

(Kurukshetra, Day 1)

(Karn's POV)

"Tell Prince Arjun that we will be on our watch and hold our position and wait before joining the battle," I ordered, standing atop a dirt mound. We had carefully chosen for our vantage point, giving us an unobstructed view of the battlefield. The position was carefully chosen, giving us an unobstructed view of the battlefield.

Below, the majority of the attacking force of the vahini was on the boats on the hiranyavati river.

The messenger looked at me, bewildered. "Do you mean to say you don't want to fight, Maharathi?" he asked, his voice laced with exasperation, as he gazed towards the men still on boats.

"As I said, we will wait. When the time comes, you'll understand why," I responded calmly, my tone leaving no room for further questioning. The messenger hesitated but then hurried back to the main army with my message.

I turned my gaze to the battlefield, observing the vyuha formations of both armies. The sun gleamed off the weapons and armor, making the soldiers appear like shifting waves of steel. I gestured for my commanders to join me in assessing the strategies employed by the enemy and our allies.

"Arjun has chosen the Vajra Vyuha, a diamond formation," I noted, my eyes narrowing as I scrutinized the formations. "And Bhishma has responded with the Sarvatomukhi Danda Vyuha, the royal club formation."

My commanders nodded, understanding the implications. The placement of warriors within each vyuha was telling-a manifestation of the grudges each warrior bore.