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58-735: Other Yadava kingdoms in west-central India include: When Pandavas were exiled to the woods, by the Kauravas , the five sons of Pandavas, born to Draupadi , were sent to Panchala , the kingdom ruled by their maternal grandfather Drupada . They later went to the Anarta Kingdom, ruled by the Yadavas , so that they can stay with their step brother and dear friend, Abhimanyu , and learn military science from eminent Yadava warriors. Vasudeva Krishna 's words to Princess Krishna (alias Draupadi, Panchali):- Those sons of yours, are devoted to

116-627: A challenge to the prestige of the Pandavas and declaration of an act of open war. At the formal presentation of the peace proposal by Krishna in the Kuru Mahasabha at the court of Hastinapura, Krishna asks Duryodhana to return Indraprastha to the Pandavas and restore the status quo, or at least give five villages, one for each of the Pandavas; Duryodhana refuses. Krishna's peace proposals are ignored and dismissed, and Duryodhana publicly orders his soldiers to arrest Krishna despite warnings from

174-550: A duel with no clear winner. Drupada and his son Shikhandi go to help Bhima, but they are stopped by Vikarna , one of Duryodhana's brothers, who attacks and injures them badly. Drona kills many Pandava soldiers and both armies' formations are broken. Bhima penetrates the Kaurava formation and attacks Duryodhana, who is defeated but rescued. The Upapandavas (sons of Draupadi ) fight against Ashwatthama and destroy his chariot. Drona kills Shanka, one of Virata's son. Yuyutsu

232-494: A fierce battle over hours. Drona and Dhrishtadyumna similarly engage in a duel, and Drona defeats Dhrishtadyumna, who is saved by Bhima . Duryodhana sends the troops of Kalinga to attack Bhima and most of them, including the King of Kalinga, are killed. Bhishma comes to relieve the battered Kalinga forces. Satyaki , who was assisting Bhima, shoots at Bhishma's charioteer and kills him. Bhishma's horses bolt and carry Bhishma away from

290-701: A historical date to the Kurukshetra war, with research suggesting c.  1000 BCE. However, popular tradition claims that the war marks the transition to the Kali Yuga , dating it to c.  3102 BCE. Although the Kurukshetra War is not mentioned in Vedic literature, its prominence in later literature led British Indologist A. L. Basham to conclude that there was a great battle at Kurukshetra which, "magnified to titanic proportions, formed

348-1078: A pilgrimage over Sarasvati River . The Bhoja Yadava hero, Kritavarman joined Duryodhana with a body of troops numbering an Akshauhini of troops. Another Yadava hero, Satyaki joined the Pandavas, with an Akshohini of troops. the Pundras, the Bhargas, the Kiratas, the Sudeshnas, and the Yamunas, the Sakas, the Nishadhas, the Anartas , the Nairitas, the Durgalas, the Pratimasyas, the Kuntalas, and

406-499: A woman. Shikhandi's arrows fell on Bhishma without hindrance. Arjuna positions himself behind Shikhandi, protecting himself from Bhishma's attack and aimed his arrows at the weak points in Bhishma's armor and defeats him. The Kauravas and Pandavas gathered around Bhishma and at his request, Arjuna places three arrows under Bhishma's head to support it. Bhishma had promised his father, King Shantanu , that he would live until Hastinapura

464-487: Is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indian religions . From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent – Indus Valley (roughly today's Punjab), Western India , Northern India , Central India , and also in areas of the southern part like Sri Lanka and

522-486: Is born on earth in each eon when evil raises its head. Before the battle begins, Yudhishthira drops his weapons, takes off his armor, and walks towards the Kaurava Army with folded hands in prayer. He falls on Bhishma's feet to seek his blessing for success in battle, and he is blessed. Yudhishthira returned to his chariot and the battle was ready to commence. The Pandavas suffered heavy losses and are defeated at

580-456: Is debarred from fighting. Karna joins the war later when Bhishma is severely wounded by Arjuna. The Kingdom of Vidarbha , Vidura , and Balarama are the neutral parties in this war. Rukmi , King of Vidarbha, wanted to join the war, but Arjuna refuses because he had lost to Krishna during Rukmini's svayamvara and he boasted about his war strength and army, and Duryodhana does not want Arjuna's reject. Vidura does not want to see bloodshed and

638-492: Is injured by Kripa in a sword fight. Nakula and Sahadeva fight Duryodhana's brothers but are overwhelmed by the number of them. Bhima kills 17 of Dhritarashtra 's sons. Iravan , the son of Arjuna, kills five of Shakuni 's brothers. Duryodhana deploys the Rakshasa warrior Alambusha , who kills Iravan. Bhishma destroys Pandava armies. Arjuna heads to Bhishma but fights him half-heartedly. Krishna, overwhelmed by anger at

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696-590: Is insulted by Duryodhana. The Mahābhārata states that in the year in which the war took place, three solar eclipses took place within a thirty-day period; eclipses are considered ill omens in Hindu astrology . On the first day of the war, as would be on all the following days, the Kaurava Army stood facing west and the Pandava Army east. The Pandava Army was organised by Yudhishthira and Arjuna in

754-640: Is present. He orders the Samsaptakas (the Trigarta warriors headed by Susharma , who had vowed to either conquer or die) to keep Arjuna busy in a remote part of the battlefield, an order which they readily obey on account of their old hostilities with the Pandava scion. Arjuna defeats them before the afternoon, then faces Bhagadatta , who had been creating havoc among the Pandava troops, and defeated Bhima, Abhimanyu and Satyaki. Arjuna and Bhagadatta fight and

812-486: Is right and what is wrong, Arjuna turns to Krishna for divine advice and teachings. Krishna, who Arjuna chose as his charioteer, advised him of his duty. Krishna instructs Arjuna not to yield to degrading impotence and to fight his kin. He also reminds him that it is a war between righteousness and unrighteousness ( dharma and adharma ), and it is Arjuna's duty to slay anyone who supported the cause of unrighteousness, or sin. Krishna reveals his divine form and explains that he

870-671: The Vyākhyāprajñapti / Bhagavati Sutra ( Jain text ) Northwest Ancient India – Indus River Basin Other regions of Ancient India ( India Intra Gangem ) Narayani Sena Overlord Yudhishthira Commander-in-chief Dhrishtadyumna (day 1-18)  † Other-Commanders Bhima Drupada   † Virata   † Chekitana   † Satyaki . Shikhandi   † The Kurukshetra War ( Sanskrit : कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध ), also called

928-529: The Kurukshetra War . Some Yadava heroes allied with Kauravas while others allied with the Pandavas . Vasudeva Krishna allied with the Pandavas and promised not to take any weapons in the battle. Thus he took part in the war not as a warrior, but as a diplomat, an ambassador of peace, an adviser on war-strategy and as the guide and car-driver of Arjuna . The army owned by Vasudeva Krishna , called

986-652: The Mahabharata War , is a war described in the Hindu epic poem Mahabharata , arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas , for the throne of Hastinapura . The war is used as the context for the dialogues of the Bhagavad Gita . The Mahābhārata is an account of the life and deeds of several generations of a ruling dynasty called the Kuru clan. Central to

1044-611: The Maldives through and after a complex process of migration, assimilation of other peoples and language shift. (पञ्च जना – Páñca Jánāḥ / Pancha-janah ) The pancha Jana are five tribes inexplicitly listed together during the ( Āryāvarta of this time, c. 1700–1500 BCE, roughly corresponds with the Punjab and closer regions) (see the map of Early Vedic Period ) After roughly 1700 BCE Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes were swiftly expanding through ancient northern India , therefore

1102-489: The Narayani Sena was given to Duryodhana . The Narayani Sena consisted of a large body of cowherd warriors, all of whom are able to fight in the thick of battle. Another hero Bala Rama , took a neutral standpoint, though he wished to aid Duryodhana , because he cannot fight against his brother Vasudeva Krishna , who had already joined the Pandavas . Thus he will not fight for any of the parties and wished to set for

1160-561: The 4th millennium BCE. Parpola sees the finds as ox-pulled carts, indicating support for his proposal for a first wave of Indo-Aryan migrations into the Indian subcontinent at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, prior to the migration of the Rig Vedic people. In the beginning, Sanjaya gives a description of the various continents of the Earth , the other planets , and focuses on

1218-594: The Bharata battle, which would imply improbably long reigns on average for the kings listed in the genealogies. There are also analyses of parallel genealogies in the Puranas between the times of Adhisimakrishna (Parikshit's great-grandson) and Mahapadma Nanda. Pargiter estimated 26 generations by averaging 10 different dynastic lists and assuming 18 years for the average duration of a reign, arrived at an estimate of 850 BCE for Adhisimakrishna and approximately 950 BCE for

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1276-454: The Bharata battle. Despite the inconclusiveness of the data, attempts have been made to assign a historical date to the Kurukshetra War. The existing text of the Mahābhārata went through many revisions, and mostly belongs to the period between c. 500 BCE and 400 CE. Within the frame story of the Mahābhārata , the kings Parikshit and Janamejaya are featured significantly as scions of

1334-575: The Brahmana literature itself to show that it cannot have been much earlier". Puranic literature presents genealogical lists associated with the Mahābhārata narrative. There are two pieces of evidence of the Puranas: there is the direct statement that there were 1,015 (or 1,050) years between the birth of Parikshit (Arjun's grandson) and the accession of Mahapadma Nanda , commonly dated to 382 BCE, which would yield an estimate of about 1400 BCE for

1392-468: The Indian subcontinent, then gives an elaborate list of kingdoms, tribes, provinces, cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, and forests of the ancient Indian subcontinent ( Bharata Varsha ). He also explains the military formations adopted by each side on each day, the death of each hero and the details of each war-racing. As a last attempt at peace is called for in Rajadharma, Krishna travels to

1450-468: The Kaurava Army. Bhishma accepts on the condition that, while he would fight the battle sincerely, he would not harm the five Pandava brothers. He also says that Karna would rather not fight under him, but serve as Duryodhana's bodyguard as long as he was in the battlefield. Having little choice, Duryodhana agrees to Bhishma's conditions and makes him the Major General of the Kaurava Army, while Karna

1508-574: The Kauravas ever happened cannot be proved or disproved. It is possible that there was a small-scale conflict, transformed into a gigantic epic war by bards and poets. Some historians and archaeologists have argued that this conflict may have occurred in about 1000 BCE. According to Finnish Sindhologist Asko Parpola , the war may have taken place during the later phase of the Painted Grey Ware , c/ 750–350 BCE. Popular tradition holds that

1566-479: The Kingdom of Hastinapura to persuade the Kauravas to see reason, avoid bloodshed of their kin, and to embark upon a peaceful path with him as the "divine" ambassador of the Pandavas. Duryodhana is insulted that Krishna turns down his invitation to accommodate himself in the royal palace. Duryodhana plots to arrest Krishna and insult, humiliate, and defame him in front of the entire royal court of Hastinapura as

1624-505: The Kuru clan, and Michael Witzel concludes that the general setting of the epic has a historical precedent in the Vedic period , where the Kuru kingdom was the center of political power during roughly 1200 to 800 BCE. According to Professor Alf Hiltebeitel , the Mahābhārata is essentially mythological. Indian historian Upinder Singh wrote: Whether a bitter war between the Pandavas and

1682-504: The Kusalas; Yadu Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European This

1740-428: The Major General of the Kaurava forces according to Karna's advice. Duryodhana wants to capture Yudhishthira alive; killing Yudhishthira in battle would only enrage the Pandavas more, while holding him as a hostage would be strategically useful. Drona cuts down Yudhishthira's bow, and Arjuna stops Drona from capturing Yudhishthira. Drona tells Duryodhana that it would be difficult to capture Yudhishthira as long as Arjuna

1798-518: The Pandavas. After the expiry of the thirteenth year, the five Pandavas took up their abode in one of Virata's towns called Upaplavya . Arjuna brought over Abhimanyu and Vasudeva Krishna , and also many people of the Dasarha race from the Anarta country. Both Duryodhana and Arjuna arrived at the city of Anarta (Dwaraka alias Dwaravati) seeking alliance of Yadavas , to join their side in

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1856-409: The Samsaptakas led by Susharma challenge Arjuna and keep him busy at a remote part of the battlefield the whole day. On the other side of the battlefield, the remaining four Pandavas and their allies find it impossible to break Drona's chakra formation. Yudhishthira instructed Abhimanyu to break the chakra/padma formation. Abhimanyu knows how to enter the chakra formation, but not know how to exit, so

1914-403: The apparent inability of Arjuna to kill Bhishma, rushes towards the Kaurava commander. Ghatotkacha kills the rakshasa Alambusha. Realising that the war could not be won as long as Bhishma was standing, Krishna suggests placing a transgender in the field to face him. The Pandavas put Shikhandi , who had been a woman in a prior life, in front of Bhishma, as Bhishma has taken a vow not to attack

1972-550: The area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts. महाजनपद – Mahajanapada Shodasa Mahajanapadas (Sixteen Mahajanapadas) The Mahajanapadas were sixteen great kingdoms and republics that emerged after the more powerful political entities (initially based on the territories of peoples and tribes) had conquered many others. According to the Anguttara Nikaya , Digha Nikaya , Chulla-Niddesa ( Buddhist Canon ) According to

2030-512: The basis of the story of the greatest of India's epics, the Mahābhārata ". Acknowledging that later "generations looked upon it as marking an end of an epoch", he suggested that rather than being a civil war it might have been "a muddled recollection of the conquest of the Kurus by a tribe of Mongol type from the hills". He saw it as useless to the historian and dates the war to the ninth century BCE based on archaeological evidence and "some evidence in

2088-412: The battlefield, and Duryodhana's forces scatter. Bhishma restores order and Duryodhana returns to lead the army. He is angry at Bhishma for what he saw as leniency towards the five Pandava brothers, and spoke harshly of him. Bhishma, stung by this unfair charge, returns to the battlefield. Arjuna attacks Bhishma to restore order. Arjuna and Bhishma duel again. Bhishma commands the Kaurava Army to move on

2146-443: The battlefield. The Kauravas concentrate their attack on Arjuna, whose chariot becomes covered with arrows and javelins. Arjuna builds a fortification around his chariot with an unending stream of arrows from his bow. Abhimanyu and Satyaki join forces to defeat Shakuni 's Gandhara forces. Bhima and Ghatotkacha attack Duryodhana in the rear. Bhima's arrows hit Duryodhana, who collapses in his chariot. His charioteer drives him off

2204-799: The country. Yudhishthira asks his brothers to organize their army. The Pandavas have seven akshauhinis with the help of their allies. After consulting his commanders, the Pandavas appoint Dhrishtadyumna as the Major General of the Pandava Army. The Kaurava Army is made up of 11 akshauhinis . This includes the Narayani Sena of Krishna, which originally included seven maharathi s (Krishna, Balarama , Samba , Ahuka, Charudeshna, Chakradeva, and Satyaki ) and seven athirathi s ( Kritavarma , Anadhrishti, Samika, Samitinjaya, Kanka, Sanku, and Kunti). Duryodhana asks Bhishma to command

2262-534: The diamond ( vajra ) formation. Ten akshauhinis of the Kaurava Army were arranged in a phalanx . The eleventh was put under the immediate command of Bhishma, partly to protect him. The safety of the supreme commander Bhishma was central to Duryodhana's strategy, as he had placed all his hope on the great warrior's abilities. When the war is declared and the two armies face each other, Arjuna realises that he would have to kill his dear granduncle Bhishma and his respected teacher Drona. Despondent and confused about what

2320-536: The elders. Krishna laughs and displays his divine form, radiating intense light. He curses Duryodhana that his downfall was certain at the hands of the one who was sworn to tear off his thigh. His peace mission utterly insulted by Duryodhana, Krishna returns to the Pandava camp at Upaplavya to inform the Pandavas that the only course left to uphold the principles of virtue and righteousness is war. During his return, Krishna meets Karna , Kunti 's firstborn (before Yudhishthira), and asks him to help his brothers and fight on

2378-474: The end of the first day. Virata's sons, Uttara and Sweta, are slain by Shalya and Bhishma. Krishna consoles Yudhishthira saying that eventually, victory would be his. Arjuna, realizing that something needs to be done quickly to reverse the Pandava losses, decides to kill Bhishma. Krishna locates Bhishma's chariot and steers Arjuna toward him. Arjuna tries to engage Bhishma in a duel, but the Kaurava soldiers protect him and attack Arjuna. Arjuna and Bhishma fight

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2436-454: The enemies of Pandavas , viz the Kauravas headed by Duryodhana , ruling the Kuru city Hastinapura . Bala Rama , with plough as his weapon, will lead the warriors consisting of bowmen, horsemen, foot-soldiers, cars and elephants. In the fifth book, Chapter 83 of Mahabharata (MBh 5.83), it is mentioned that Pandava 's mother Kunti also stayed for some time in Anarta, during the exile of

2494-419: The epic is an account of a war that took place between two rival families belonging to this clan. Kurukshetra (literally " Region of the Kurus"), also known as Dharmakshetra (the "Region of Dharma "), was the battleground on which the Kurukshetra War was fought. The first Mahābhārata says that this site was chosen because a sin committed on land was forgiven because of the land's sanctity. The events of

2552-666: The epic. John Keay confirmed it and also dated the battle to have taken place in 950 BCE. According to Parpola, the war may have taken place during the later phase of the Painted Grey Ware culture, c. 750-350 BCE. He noted that the Pandava heroes are not being mentioned in the Vedic literature from before the Grhyasutras . Parpola suggests that the Pandavas were Iranic migrants, who came to South Asia around 800 BCE. Excavations in Sinauli unearthed burials with

2610-669: The first right to make his request. Krishna tells Arjuna and Duryodhana that he would give the Narayani Sena to one side and himself as a non-combatant to the other. Since Arjuna is given the first opportunity to choose, Duryodhana worries that Arjuna would choose the mighty army of Krishna. When given the choice of either Krishna's army or Krishna himself on their side, Arjuna chooses Krishna. Arjuna asks Krishna to be his charioteer, who agrees. Both Duryodhana and Arjuna returned satisfied. The Pandavas gather their armies while camping at Upaplavya in Virata 's territory. Contingents arrive from across

2668-412: The latter is killed. Drona continues his attempts to capture Yudhishthira, however his attacks were repelled by Prativindhya that day. The Pandavas, however, fought hard and delivered severe blows to the Kaurava Army, frustrating Drona's plans. Drona's goal remains to capture Yudhishthira. Among the Pandavas, only Arjuna and Krishna knew how to penetrate this formation, and to prevent them from doing so,

2726-476: The number of peoples, tribes and clans was increasing (as well as the number of Indo-Aryan language speakers) and Āryāvarta was becoming a very large area (see the map on the right side). From roughly 1100 to 500 BCE Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes expanded even further throughout ancient northern India (see the map 6). According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised

2784-522: The offensive. When the Kauravas form a chakravyuha , Abhimanyu enters it but is surrounded and attacked by Kaurava princes. Arjuna joins to help him. Bhima appears and attacks the Kauravas. Duryodhana sends a huge force of war elephants at Bhima, who leaves his chariot and attacks them singlehandedly with his iron mace . The elephants scatter and stampede into the Kaurava forces. Duryodhana orders an all-out attack on Bhima, who kills eight of Duryodhana's brothers before being struck by an arrow from Dushasana,

2842-404: The refuge of your sons also! And a good preceptor, would unceasingly give them lessons in the wielding of maces and swords and bucklers, in missiles and in the arts of driving cars and of riding horses, being valiant. And he, Pradyumna , the son of Rukmini , having bestowed a very good training upon them, and having taught them the art of using various weapons in a proper way, takes satisfaction at

2900-572: The remains of carts belonging to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP). Several authors proposed to relate the Rig Vedic culture and the war to the OCP, instead of the PGW. While the carts are dated to 1800–1500 BCE (±150), Gupta and Mani state that "in the present state of archaeological evidence OCP seems to be a stronger contender for the Mahābhārata association", dating the war to

2958-543: The second-eldest Kaurava, in the chest and sits down in his chariot dazed. At the end of the fourth day, Duryodhana goes to Bhisma and asks him how could the Pandavas, facing a superior force against them, have the upper hand. Bhishma says that the Pandavas have justice on their side and advises Duryodhana to seek peace. The Pandava Army suffers from Bhishma's attacks. Satyaki is being beaten by Drona , but Bhima drives by and rescues him. Arjuna kills thousands of soldiers sent by Duryodhana to attack him. Bhima engages Bhishma in

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3016-469: The side of dharma. However, as he is being helped by Duryodhana, Karna says to Krishna that he would battle against the Pandavas as he had a debt to pay. Duryodhana and Arjuna go to Krishna at Dvaraka to ask for his and his army's help. Duryodhana arrives first and finds Krishna asleep. Duryodhana chooses a seat at Krishna's head and waits for him to awaken, while Arjuna sits and waits at Krishna's feet. When Krishna woke up, he saw Arjuna first and gave him

3074-471: The study of the science of arms, are well-behaved and conduct themselves on the pattern of their righteous friends. Your father and your uterine brothers proffer them a kingdom and territories; but the boys find no joy in the house of Drupada , or in that of their maternal uncles. Safely proceeding to the land of the Anartas , they take the greatest delight in the study of the science of arms. Your sons enter

3132-462: The town of the Vrishnis ( Dwaraka ) and take an immediate liking to the people there. And as you would direct them to conduct themselves, or as the respected Kunti would do, so does Subhadra (their stepmother) direct them in a watchful way. Perhaps, she is still more careful of them. As Pradyumna is the preceptor of Aniruddha , of Abhimanyu , of Sunitha, and of Bhanu; so he is the preceptor and

3190-443: The valorous deeds of your sons, and of Abhimanyu . O daughter of Drupada! And when your son goes out, in pursuit of (out-door) sports, each one of them is followed thither by cars and horses and vehicles and elephants.’ Vasudeva Krishna , next told to the exiled Pandava king Yudhishthira , that the fighting men of Anarta, consisting of Satwata, Dasarha, Kukura, Adhaka, Bhoja, Vrishni and Madhu tribes will be kept ready to overthrow

3248-623: The war make up more than a quarter of the Mahabharata . These chapters are considered among the oldest in the Mahabharata . The historicity of the war remains the subject of scholarly discussion. The Battle of the Ten Kings , mentioned in the Rigveda , may have formed the core of the Kurukshetra war's story. The war was greatly expanded and modified in the Mahabharata 's account, which makes it dubious. Attempts have been made to assign

3306-426: The war marks the transition to Kali Yuga and dates it to 3102 BCE . A number of other proposals have been put forward: Indian archeologist B. B. Lal used the same approach with a more conservative assumption of the average reign to estimate a date of 836 BCE and correlated it with archaeological evidence from Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites, the association being strong between PGW artifacts and places mentioned in

3364-425: Was secured from all directions. To keep this promise, Bhishma used the boon of Ichcha Mrityu (self-wished death) given to him by his father. After the war ended, when Hastinapura had become safe from all sides and after giving lessons on politics and Vishnu Sahasranama to the Pandavas, Bhishma dies on the first day of Uttarayana . With Bhishma unable to continue, Karna joins the battlefield. Duryodhana makes Drona

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