The first half of the eleventh day of the great war was consumed, in terms of attention, by the arrival of Karna into the battlefield. He had visited Bhishma twice, after the latter's fall and resting on the bed of arrows, and sought his blessings to join war. Bhishma asked him to consider trying to... Continue Reading →
Day 8 of the Yuddha-Yajna: Eight Ahutis by Bhima
After a fierce round of fighting involving various duels, the 7th day of the great war had ended. Both sides took adequate medicines, and rest, overnight and returned to Kurukshetra, all eager to resume the battle. Bhishma was still leading the Kauravas with great energy in spite of constant chiding by Duryodhana at the end... Continue Reading →
Bhima Parakrama: Day 6 of the Great War
At the start of day 6 of the Mahabharata war, the Kauravas had suffered 4 continuous days of defeats, after their notional victory on day 1. Duryodhana was furious and was keen on Bhishma and Drona fetching him a victory. He urged them to come up with a special formation to attack the Pandavas. Bhishma... Continue Reading →
Bhimasena’s Destruction of the Elephant Brigade
It was day 4 of the great war. The first day after Arjuna had finally given up his inhibitions against fighting his own family for the sake of Dharma. Bhagavan Sri Krishna had achieved the dual purpose of fulfilling his devotee Bhishma's wishes of holding a weapon in the war while at the same time... Continue Reading →
Bhimarjuna Veerya: Karna-Shalya Garvabhanga
The Swayamvara of Draupadi had reached its climax. After all the powerful rulers of Bharata - from Shishupala to Jarasandha to Duryodhana and Karna - had failed to even string the Kindhura, the divine bow of Lord Shankara, Arjuna easily lifted and strung it and pierced the matsya-yantra with five arrows. Raja Drupada's joy knew... Continue Reading →
Bhima’s Defeat of Ashwathama
Bhimasena and Ashwathama meet several times during the 18 day war in the Mahabharata. Bhima ends up with an upper hand every time in those duels. However, the most important fight between the two of them takes place on the 16th day of the war. This was immediately after the coronation of Karna as the... Continue Reading →
Bhima’s Defeat of Karna – I
On the 14th day of the great war, Arjuna had taken a vow that he would slay Jayadratha - the main culprit in the brutal and adharmic killing of his son Abhimanyu - before sunset. If he failed, Arjuna had vowed to give up his life by entering into a pyre. Drona, the commander in... Continue Reading →
Yoga: The Endeavour of Bhimasena
This post is in continuation of the series of posts highlighting the ten guNas that bhimasena displays in the mahabharata. The ten gunas have been explained by Sri Madhwacharya in his mahabharata tatparya nirnaya as follows भक्तिर्ज्ञानं सवैराग्यं प्रज्ञा मेधा धृतिः स्थिथिः | योगः प्राणो बलं चैव वृकोदरो इति स्मृतः || २-१४१ || Vrikodara is... Continue Reading →
Medhashakti of Bhima: The Right Time for Dharma
This post is a part of the series of posts highlighting the ten guNas that bhimasena displays in the mahabharata. The ten gunas have been explained by Sri Madhwacharya in his mahabharata tatparya nirnaya as follows भक्तिर्ज्ञानं सवैराग्यं प्रज्ञा मेधा धृतिः स्थिथिः | योगः प्राणो बलं चैव वृकोदरो इति स्मृतः || २-१४१ || Vrikodara is... Continue Reading →
The Narasimha Yajna of Bhimasena
It was the seventeenth day of the great war — the bhubhaaraharana kaarya of Sri Krishna was in full swing — ably assisted by the five Pandavas — and of course Ashwatthama. Karna had defeated Yudhisthira pretty badly, and the elder Pandava had to return to his camp to recover from the injuries, after being rescued by Bhimasena. Bhima sent Arjuna... Continue Reading →
Pranasutra 