The war at night on the fourteenth day

 

The war of Mahabharat continued for eighteen days from its start. Though the incapacitation of Bhishma which was the first setback for the Kauravas, the busiest day in the war perhaps was the fourteenth when the war extended even to the night in contravention of the rules of war as practiced in those days and which continued for a long time. The fourteenth day started with the vow taken by Arjun to avenge the death of his son Abhimanyu in an unfair combat by the Kauravas on the thirteenth day. His wrath fell upon Jayadrath, the brother in law of Duryodhan and he vowed to kill Jayadrath by sunset or else burn himself to death on the pyres.

When Duryodhan came to know about this vow of Arjun, he ordered the Kauravas to protect Jayadrath by any means possible and cause the demise of Arjun by binding him to his own promise. The whole of the day Jayadrath was protected by the Kauravas like a bird protects its eggs and he was hid from view on the battlefield. As the day wore on, frustration was writ large on the faces of Arjun and the Pandavas. Then Krishna, as always came to their rescue. In the afternoon, well before sunset, he arranged the eclipse of the Sun (by his Sudarshan Chakra, the rotating round blade). It brought darkness all around and Jayadrath came out of his hiding place in full view. Krishna then withdrew the Chakra and the Sun came out of the eclipse to give Arjun the chance of slaying Jayadrath.

The war continued that evening as Duryodhana ordered his troops to fight through the night without any break for a decisive result. But this backfired on the Kauravas as Ghatotkach , the son of Bhim , born of the Rakshashi ( she demon ) Hidimba created havoc by his Mayayudh (magical spells) and killed and threatened to demolish all. To counter him, the Kauravas brought in two of their own Rakshas (demon) warriors Alambush and Alayaudh one after the other. But the furious Ghatotkach killed them too. Only Karna could counter his magic aided by the cover of night but the son of Bhim proved unstoppable.

Egged on by the Kauravas and finding no other solution to the menace of Ghatokach , Karna was forced to unleash the divine weapon Ekaghni upon Ghatotkach to kill him . Even in his death Ghatotkach tried to kill as many of his foes possible by inflating himself as a mountain and trampling the Kauravas under the weight of his falling body. The fall of Ghatotkach was a tragedy for the Pandavas and made them very sad. The only exception being Shri Krishna who openly expressed his happiness in a boisterous manner. On being asked the reason for his strange behaviour, Krishna replied that he was happy as now Karna was bereft of the only weapon he had kept to kill Arjun.

The warriors on both sides were tired with the battle and therefore it was suggested by Arjun to have a cessation of the war till the moonrise. This gave both sides some much needed rest before they again engaged in the battle which continued the nextday. This day can be considered to be the most important in the war because it establishes the occurence of a solar eclipse during Mahabharat war (however couched in divine powers it may be). Secondly it also shows to what extent the two sides became desperate that they broke the tradition of fighting only during the day and not after sunset. Thirdly, it also reveals the hidden agenda of clever Krishna to disarm Karna of his most lethal weapon against Arjun and lastly to ensure that the future ruler had no worries about the existence of any more inimical power centers by felling all the Rakshasas including Ghatotkach.