The war began with Bhima at the forefront of the Pandavas and Bhishma leading the Kauravas. Illustrious kings and renowned warriors, in their hundreds, had aligned themselves with either the Kauravas or the Pandavas. They had come with tens of thousands of soldiers. The general tendency was for the kings and the generals of one camp to fi ght the kings and the generals of equal status belonging to the opposite camp.
Soon the battle assumed terrifying proportions. The sound of drums, bugles, and other instruments was often surpassed by shouts and exclamations of those locked in the fight. The war continued for eighteen days. Countless soldiers and their elephants and horses fell every day. Although at the beginning the fi ght used to be called off at sunset, the rule was waived towards the later phase of the war as each camp grew anxious to fi nish off the other at the earliest.
The major weapons used were bows and arrows, swords, spears, and maces. But so far as the heroes were concerned, they used these weapons only as external means; what they fought with were supernatural powers acquired by penance or through boons received from gods or great rishis.They used such powers through their arrows. Two arrows could look alike, but they could be quite different in their effectiveness.
With incredible swiftness, Krishna drove Arjuna through the battlefi eld. Arjuna did not have to worry about his own movement, for his charioteer knew better. The chariot glided from spot to spot, from one strategy to another, to Arjuna’s best advantage.
For the Kauravas, Krishna driving the chariot and Arjuna shooting arrows became an awful sight. The soldiers panicked and fled from the chariot’s passage, instead of blocking it. Some of the Kaurava generals thought that the wisest thing for them would be to deprive Arjuna of Krishna’s guidance. That could be achieved if Krishna was killed. At least one of the generals, King Shrutayudha, who held a mighty mace, tried to achieve this end. Forgetting that it was treacherous to kill a charioteer who was unarmed, he hurled his mace at Krishna.
