In this series I outline the epic of the Mahabharata. The events that happened before and after the Bhagavad Gita.

For those that have not watched my Bhagavad Gita series you can find it on    • Bhagavad Gita Complete Summary  

For this series I have drawn inspiration from the works of
Sudipta Bhawmik and Avi Ziv in their series “Stories of the Mahabharata” https://shows.acast.com/thestoriesofm... as well as the illustrated “Mahabharata” by Manoj Publications www.manojpublications.com.

Many images are from the visually stunning Mahabharat by StarPlus available on Youtube

Music by ShidenBeatsMusic from Pixabay

Chapter 52 – WAR: Days 11 to 13 – The Trap
With the fall of Bhishma the role of Supreme Commander went to Drona, the master Arms Teacher. In addition, Karna now actively joined the war leading battalions of his own.
The forces of the Pandava’s and the Kaurava’s were now evenly matched with the tide of advantage ebbing and flowing. Duryodhan commanded Drona to capture Yudhishthir and bring the war to an end. But the Pandava forces protected their King well and counter attacked to attempt to capture Duryodhan.
Drona used this to his advantage and assembled his forces in a concentric ring, with Duryodhan in the middle, in a plan to lure the Pandava forces into a trap and slay their most valiant warriors.
Drona knew that Arjuna would be the one warrior who could penetrate the formation and as such lured him away to the Eastern part of the battlefield earlier in the day. The one warrior remaining with Yudhishthir, who had the knowledge to enter the formation, was the teenage son of Arjuna, Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu had the knowledge to enter the formation but NOT how to exit it. The Pandavas came up with a plan for the young warrior to lead the charge into the formation with the rest of the battalion following him. Then, together they would be able to break out of the formation with Duryodhan as their captive.

Abhimanyu’s charioteer expressed concern, there was much responsibility placed on the young warrior. Abimanyu eased his worries “Do not fear. I am the son of Arjuna, the greatest warrior who ever lived. I am the nephew of Lord Krishna. Today the war will come to an end.”

Abimanyu charged into the formation with his uncles, Bheem, Sahadev, Nakula and Yudishthir following close behind. Abimanyu left a trail of devastation as he effortlessly cut through the Kaurava warriors striking terror into the heart of Duryodhan himself. Among the warriors defending the formation was Jayadratha, the King who had attempted to kidnap Draupadi while the Pandavas were exiled in the forest. He was captured and humiliated by the brothers, and he thereafter went on a severe penance to obtain from Lord Shiva the means for his redemption.

Lord Shiva granted Jayadratha the ability to stop the advance of the Pandava forces, excluding Arjuna, for a single day. Jayadratha invoked the boon and to the surprise of the Pandava brothers fought all of them and their allies to a standstill keeping them out of the battle formation

This meant that the young Abhimanyu was trapped in the formation alone.