The war
The eighteen days of Kurukshetra
The war lasted eighteen days, and the Kauravas changed their commander four times. Bhishma led for ten days, Drona for five, Karna for two and Shalya for one. Ashwatthama, Drona's son, led only on the night after. Here is what happened on each day, as the Critical Edition tells it.
The armies
Eighteen armies met on the plain of Kurukshetra.
Each of these armies was called an akshauhini. The Kauravas brought eleven of them and the Pandavas brought seven. Every day of the war has one of the five Kaurava commanders at its head. So the easiest way to hold the eighteen days in your mind is to learn the five names, in order.
Five commanders
| Commander | Days | How his command ended |
|---|---|---|
| Bhishma | 1 to 10 | Brought down by Arjuna, with Shikhandi in front |
| Drona | 11 to 15 | Killed by Dhrishtadyumna |
| Karna | 16 and 17 | Killed by Arjuna |
| Shalya | 18 | Killed by Yudhishthira |
| Ashwatthama | The night after 18 | The raid on the sleeping camp |
The Pandavas kept one commander, or senapati, for all eighteen days: Dhrishtadyumna, Draupadi's brother.
Days 1 to 10
Bhishma leads.
| Day | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1 | Before the fighting, Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. Virata's son Uttara is killed. |
| 2 | Bhima destroys the Kalinga army and kills its king, Shrutayu. The Pandavas win the day. |
| 3 | Bhishma pushes the Pandavas back. Krishna drops the reins and gets down with his chakra, Sudarshana, to kill Bhishma. Arjuna promises to fight in earnest, and Krishna returns to the chariot. Arjuna then turns the day around. |
| 4 | Bhima kills fourteen of Duryodhana's brothers. |
| 5 | Bhurishrava, on the Kaurava side, kills ten sons of Satyaki, a Pandava ally. |
| 6 | Hard fighting. The Pandavas do a little better. |
| 7 | Hard fighting, and nothing that stands out. |
| 8 | Arjuna's son Iravat is killed by the rakshasa Alambusa. Bhima kills seventeen more of Duryodhana's brothers. |
| 9 | The Pandavas lose ground. Krishna gets down again and runs at Bhishma with only a whip in his hand. Arjuna holds him back. That night the Pandavas go to Bhishma and ask how he can be defeated. He tells them to put Shikhandi in front. |
| 10 | Bhishma falls, on a bed of arrows. He does not die. He chooses to wait for uttarayana, when the sun turns north. |
Days 11 to 15
Drona leads.
| Day | What happened |
|---|---|
| 11 | Drona takes command and promises to capture Yudhishthira alive. |
| 12 | The Samshaptakas, warriors sworn to kill Arjuna or die, draw him away. Satyajit guards Yudhishthira and is killed by Drona. Arjuna kills Bhagadatta, the old king of Pragjyotisha. |
| 13 | Drona sets his army in a formation called the chakra vyuha. Abhimanyu breaks in alone, and Jayadratha, king of Sindhu, holds the others back with a boon from Shiva. Abhimanyu kills Duryodhana's son Lakshmana and many more, and is killed. That night Arjuna vows to kill Jayadratha before the next sunset. |
| 14 | Arjuna kills Jayadratha. The fighting does not stop at dark. In the night, Karna kills Ghatotkacha, Bhima's son, with the spear he had kept for Arjuna. |
| 15 | Day breaks on a battle still going. Drona kills Drupada and Virata. Bhima kills an elephant named Ashwatthama, the name of Drona's son, and tells Drona that Ashwatthama is dead. Drona lays down his weapons, and Dhrishtadyumna kills him. |
The lie
Yudhishthira said it, but not all of it clearly.
The plan was Krishna's: let someone Drona trusts tell him that his son is dead. Arjuna did not like it. The others agreed, and Yudhishthira agreed last. Drona did not believe Bhima, so he asked Yudhishthira. Since Yudhishthira was a child, Drona had counted on him for the truth.
Krishna told Yudhishthira that when lives are at stake, "falsehood is superior to truth." Yudhishthira was afraid of lying, but he wanted to win. He said, "Ashwatthama, the elephant, has been killed." He said the word "elephant" so indistinctly that it could not be made out.
Until that moment, the text says, his chariot had always moved four fingers above the ground. After the lie, its wheels touched the earth.
Days 16 to 18, and one night
Karna, then Shalya, then the night raid.
| Day | What happened |
|---|---|
| 16 | Karna takes command. Satyaki kills Vinda and Anuvinda of Kekaya. Ashwatthama kills the king of the Pandyas. |
| 17 | Shalya drives Karna's chariot. Bhima kills Duhshasana and drinks his blood. The earth swallows one wheel of Karna's chariot, and Arjuna kills Karna. |
| 18 | Shalya takes command, and Yudhishthira kills him. Sahadeva kills Shakuni, and Shakuni's son Uluka. Duryodhana hides in a lake. The Pandavas find him, and Bhima breaks his thighs with his mace. |
| Night | On the dying Duryodhana's order, Kripa makes Ashwatthama commander. With Kripa and Kritavarma, Ashwatthama attacks the Pandava camp while it sleeps. |
A common mistake
Drona did not lead on day six.
Some day-by-day lists put Drona in command on the sixth day. He could not have been. Bhishma led the Kauravas until he fell on the tenth day, and Drona took over on the eleventh. If a list gets that wrong, check everything else in it too.
From the quiz
Eight questions on this, from the thousand.
Whom did Krishna appoint as the Senapati of the Pandava forces?
Show the answer
Dhrishtadyumna.
On day 2 of the Kurukshetra war, which king of Kalinga did Bhima kill?
Show the answer
Shrutayu.
What great incident happened on the tenth day of the Kurukshetra war?
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Day of Bhishma's defeat.
For how many days did Drona command the Kaurava army?
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Five days.
On the 12th day of the Kurukshetra war, whom did Arjuna entrust to keep Yudhishthira safe from Drona's attack?
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Satyajit.
On which day of the war did Arjuna kill Karna?
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Seventeenth day.
Whom did Duryodhana appoint as the new Senapati after Karna's death?
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King Shalya.
Which three conducted a night raid on the Pandavas camp and slaughtered everyone?
Show the answer
Ashwatthama, Kripa, and Kritavarma.
The quiz has 992 more questions like these.
Play nowWhere this comes from
This site follows the Critical Edition, the text rebuilt at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, in Bibek Debroy's translation. Where the Critical Edition and popular retelling disagree, the Critical Edition wins.
The war fills four books. Days 1 to 10 are in the Bhishma Parva, days 11 to 15 in the Drona Parva, days 16 and 17 in the Karna Parva, and day 18 in the Shalya Parva. The night raid has a book of its own, the Souptika Parva.
Keep reading
Just before the war, Bhishma grades every warrior on both sides, man by man. Read about ratha, maharatha and atiratha. Or find out who narrated the Mahabharata, and how Sanjaya could tell a blind king about every day of this war.