INDIA’S INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT TO UNITE NATIONS

STUDY GUIDE

COMMITTEE : MAHABHARAT

AGENDA : THE KURUKSHETRA WAR

 MANDATE

(Image Source: radiosurvivor.com)

Mahabharata1 is one of the oldest and greatest epics of all times. It was written by Vyasa in the
famous hindu language, Sanskrit. Vyasa was a main part of this great story and he considered all the
traditions and values very seriously. The events took place in around the 8th and 9th centuries BCE
and by the early Gupta period, which is the 4th century CE, it had reached its last form. The
Mahabharata is known to be the longest poem ever written in history with an average of 1.8 million
words and over 200,000 individual verse lines or shlokas. It’s 4 times the size of the Ramayana,
another Sanskrit based epic of ancient India. The value of the Mahabharata has exceeded all bounds
and is being compared with the Bible, the Quran, the works of Homer, Greek Drama and lastly by
the works of William Shakespeare by W.J.Johnson.

This exceptional story took place when Sage Vyasa2 was born. He composed this poem but he
couldn't write it down as his thoughts ran faster than his pen, so he started looking for a vyse who

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could write it in the same speed while he narrated it but he could not find one also. He invoked the
lord of Brahma and he recommended Lord Ganesha3 for this job. Vyasa called Lord Ganesha, the
Elephant headed god and asked him to write the poem while he recited it. Lord Ganesha agreed but
on one condition that when he is writing Vyasa cannot hesitate, the pen should not stop while
writing because if it stops then it will not start again. Vyasa thought for a while and agreed but he
too had a counter condition that Lord Ganesha cannot write a single word or verse without
understanding the meaning of it. Lord Ganesha agreed to it and they started but whenever Vyasa ran
out of content he would add difficult words and complicated phrases in the middle to buy out some
more time while Lord Ganesha thought and understood while he composed more in his mind. This
is how the epic story of the Mahabharata took place with this beautiful collaboration between Vyasa
and Lord Ganesha.

INTRODUCTION

The Commencement of Kurukshetra War

Bheeshm negotiated Dhritarashtra's wedding with Gandhari, and Pandu's with Kunti and Madri.
Pandu dilated the dominion by gaining control of the surrounding areas, and brought in a wide war
pillage. A curse prevented Pandu from fathering youngsters, however, Kunti asked the gods to
father in Pandu's name. As a result, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were born. A
few years later after their exile and Pandu’s death, Kunti went back to Hastinapur. Gandhari’s boon
comes true and Dhritarashtra and his wife are blessed with 100 sons and 1 daughter. All of the one
hundred five princes were afterwards entrusted to the care of a teacher: Kripa initially and, to boot,
Drona later. Drona's faculty at Hastinapur attracted many alternative boys; Karna, of the Suta tribe,
was one such boy. It was here that hostilities quickly developed between the sons of Dhritarashtra
and the sons of Pandu. The enmity and jealousy that developed between the cousins forced the
Pandavas to depart the dominion. While their exile the five conjointly married Draupadi4 and meet
their cousin Krishna. Though the Pandavas come back to the dominion, they're once more exiled to
the forest, this point for twelve years, once Yudhishthira loses everything in a very game of dice

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with Duryodhana5, the eldest of the Kauravas. After twelve years, the Pandavas went concealed for
a year, living within the Virat kingdom. Yudhishthira became the king's counsellor while Bheem
worked within the royal kitchens. Arjuna turned himself into a eunuch and educated the palace
maidens the way to sing and dance. Draupadi became a handmaiden to the queen while the twins
worked at the royal stables. Despite Duryodhan's best efforts they weren't discovered. When the
Pandavas disclosed themselves, the Virat king was overwhelmed and he offered his daughter in
marriage to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu. After this started the greatest wars of all time - Mahabharata.

The battle raged for eighteen days. The military totalled eighteen akshauhinis, seven on the
Panadava facet and eleven on the Kaurava. Casualties on either side were high. Yudhisthira was
crowned king after the war. The Pandavas dominated for thirty six years, after which they abdicated
in favour of Abhimanyu's son, Parikshit. The
Pandavas and Draupadi proceeded on foot to the
Himalaya, meaning to live out their last days
ascending the slopes heavenward. On the way, they
fell one by one. Yudhisthira reaches heaven alive
with a dog which had followed them. Later,
Parikshit’s son Janamayeja succeeded his father. He
commanded a giant sacrifice, at which this whole
story was recited for the primary time by a disciple of
Vyasa referred to as Vaishampayan. (Image Source:
indus-meetindus.blogspot.com)

Dharma
Dharma6 is the central theme of the Mahabharata. Dharma, most easily put, is the destiny and
responsibility of a private. Everyone features a different dharma, and it's his or her obligation to
follow it. Yudhisthira has been portrayed as a righteous king who followed his dharma, while
Duryodhana, the eldest of Kauravas is claimed to measure in defiance of his duties and dharma.
Hence, the conflict between these drives this story acts as a lesson about man's conflict in
accordance with dharma versus failing his dharma.

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 THE STORY OF THE KURU CLAN

King Shantanu7 ruled over the vast part of northern India and Hastinapur was the capital of this
kingdom. One day he was strolling through the banks of the river and taking in the beauty and the
fresh air when his eye caught the attention of a beautiful maiden rising from the water and walking
towards the banks and Shantanu was completely awestruck and in love by her immense beauty. He
asked her to marry him immediately and the lady agreed if the king agreed to her few conditions.
Her conditions included not enquiring about her past or identity, not asking about her actions and
that if he broke her promises, she shall leave him forever. The king was not in his senses and did not
think through and just agreed to all of her conditions and married her.

The lady dropped their first 7 babies into the river and Shantanu was left in utter shock and
devastated. He wanted to scream at his wife and ask her for justifications but couldn’t, so he
remained quiet. After the 8th baby was born, he couldn’t contain himself and asked for justification
and broke his promise due to the anger of so many years. The queen introduces herself as the
Goddess of the river, Ganga8 and the 8 sons she drowned were the 8 vasus of heaven, who were
cursed to be born as humans and go through the sufferings like them. Only the 8th vasu who
committed the crime was to be born and suffered like a human being, the other 7 had to just be born
and Ganga was assigned to be the mother of them, saying that she left as her promise was broken.
She named him Devavrata, also popularly known as Bhishma9. She assured Shantanu that she
would train him very well and return him one day and then disappeared into the waters.

Shantanu would stroll through the river everyday for years and one day he saw a boy playing so he
approached him and was about to ask who he was, when Ganga appeared and told him that this was
his son, who she had trained and he had mastered everything and was very powerful. He had learnt
all the tricks and skills by his guru, the great sage, Parasuram. This made the king ecstatic and very
excited. He became the most popular and won everyone’s heart in Hastinapur. He had proved his
strength, loyalty and love towards his father and his people several times through his several
courageous actions. Shantanu proclaimed Dev Vrata as the crown prince of Hastinapur. Soon after

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the king used to feel lonely at times and miss Ganga even though he had his son to fill his
happiness.

One day, he was walking near the river banks like always but this time
he got attracted by a strong scent and was curious to find out. He saw
a beautiful woman sitting on a boat and the fragrance coming out of
her body and attracting the king. He forgot about Ganga and felt that
this was his destiny and asked Satyavadi to marry him. She agreed but
her father, the king of the fisherman tribe, Dasharaj had to agree. He
went to him and asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage but
Dasharaj had a few concerns of his own. With hesitation and
humiliation he spoke, when Satyavadi has her own children, they will
get overshadowed by Bhishma and his children because he is the crown prince and deserves it but
what about his grandchildren. If he promised that Satyavadi’s sons would be next in line to the
throne after him then he had no objection but this time the king did not lose his senses and left. The
king came back extremely sad and remained for a few days and Devavrata noticed it and he
enquired with the ministers and everyone else. When he found out the truth he left to talk to
Satyavati’s father as to why he rejected the greatest king. When he found out about the real reason,
he immediately took an oath of not claiming the throne of Hastinapur but the father was yet not
satisfied as his children might take over the throne so Devavrata decided to never marry and remain
celibate forever. Satyavati’s father was so impressed by this that they started chanting Bhishma and
from then it became his name. He gave Satyavati’s hand for marriage to the king of Hastinapur.
(Image Source: alamy.com)

Satyavati10 became the queen of Hastinapur soon and when Shantanu got to know about his son’s
vow, he was heartbroken. Bhishma consoled his father that he would do anything to see a smile on
his father’s face so the king gave him a blessing that Bhishma could decide when he wished to die.
Soon Satyavati gave birth to 2 boys, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya11. Chitrangada grew up and
joined Bhishma in the battlefield but soon lost his life and after Shantanu too died due to health
problems. Vichitravirya was crowned and Bhishma managed all the affairs of the kingdom.

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When Vichitravirya became of age, Satyavati started finding a girl for her son so they could have an
heir. Bhishma received news that the king of Kashi had arranged a swayamvar for his 3 beautiful
daughters, Aamba, Ambika and Ambalika12 and he felt deeply humiliated that the king did not invite
the Kurus. Bhisma decided to go and win the 3 princesses of the Kashi by force for his brother,
Vichitravirya. He brought the 3 girls back to the kingdom and presented them in front of Satyavati.
Amba, the oldest sister, told the queen that she chose Prince Salva as she loved him. The other two
got married to the king. Amba went back but prince Salva didn’t accept her and told her to go to
Bhishma as he had won her. She went back and asked Bhishma to marry him but he didn’t accept it,
in anger she left the palace and warned him that she would come back soon and take revenge.

The sudden death of Vichitravirya after the marriage left everyone in shock. He did not leave a
legacy as well so the Niyoga system, where the wife could have a child from a virile man or family
or from a noble origin, was followed. Satyavati asked Bhishma to help continue the legacy but he
was adamant on not breaking his promise. Satyavati asked Vyasa, the wise son of hers to follow the
Niyoga system.. Ambika was sent to Vyasa’s room, but she was scared by his looks and kept her
eyes shut the entire time. She received a child but he was blind because she kept her eyes closed the
entire time. Ambalika too had to go to Vyasa for a child and she was instructed to not close her eyes
but she too was very scared so she turned pale and the next day Vyasa told his mother that she will
receive a powerful child but he will be pale and frail looking.

Ambika gave birth to a child named Dhritarashtra and Ambalika gave birth to a child named Pandu
but Satyavati was not satisfied so she called Vyasa again to have another child with Ambika but she
was not ready. She sent one of her maids instead and she wasn’t scared of Vyasa and she had a great
son and the wisest and learned of all. The boy’s name was Vidura. Dhritarashtra turned out to be
very powerful, Pandu to be a very great archer and Vidura was the most learned and wisest of all.
Due to Dhritarashta's blindness, Pandu was appointed as the king and Vidura as the prime minister.
Pandu was a great ruler and accomplished immensely in wealth, land, dynasty and winning people’s
hearts.

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Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari and she decided to tie herself in a permanent blindfold as per
her husband’s fate. Due to this, Gandhari’s brother, Shakuni13 was not happy about this, so he vowed
to take revenge on Bhishma, Pandu and the Kuru clan. Kunti, who was the adopted child of
Kuntibhoja, had chosen Pandu as her husband at the swayamvar arranged by her father for her.
Pandu also married another princess, Madri, the daughter of King Shalya. Pandu went hunting one
day, where he heard a rattling sound from behind the bushes, he aimed and hit his arrow. Soon after,
he heard the screams of a woman and a man and Pandu ran over to see. The woman had died
immediately and the man was Sage Kindama and he was bleeding profusely. Pandu was deeply
embarrassed and apologetic for killing a Rishi but the Rishi didn’t listen to anything he said so he
cursed him that whenever he tried to make love to a woman, he would die in pain and then the rishi
too died. To repent, Pandu decided he would leave all the palace luxuries and live in the forests like
a hermit and maybe it would help him release his curse by the sacrifice he is making. He lived in
the forest as an ascetic with his wives, and left the kingdom to his brother.

One day, Pandu wished to become a father and hence, Kunti told him about her boon from Durvasa.
She told him about the mantra, which gave her the power to invoke any god and get a child with
that god. Pandu was ecstatic with joy and excitement and asked her to get a son for him.

Kunti evoked the god of Dharma, the god of righteousness and religion so they could have the
wisest child of all. She chanted that mantra and in no time she had a beautiful baby boy named
Yudhishtir14. She invoked more 2 gods, Vayu, the god of the winds and Indra, the king of gods. She
named them Bhima15, the strongest of all and Arjuna16, who was the greatest warrior and archer in
the world. Pandu requested Kunti to share the mantra with Madri as well. Kunti disagreed as it
would be exploiting the blessing of the Rishi but after Madri pleaded with her she agreed but to use
it just once and then neither of them would use it. Madri invoked the twin gods, the Ashwins and
received twins named Nakul and Sahadev. They were called the Pandavas.

Meanwhile, in Hastinapur Dhritarashtra and Gandhari were not happy as Gandhari had been
pregnant for two years. She became impatient so she called a maid with an iron rod and asked her to
hit her stomach very hard with it. The maid was scared and hesitant but she followed orders. After
hitting her several times on her belly, she went into labour and something dropped out of her womb.
She asked the maid if it was a boy or a girl but the maid said it was a ball of flesh, hard as a rock
and Gandhari was devastated and cried out a lot and told her to throw it away.

Suddenly, Vyasa appeared and told the maid to not throw it away. Gandhari spoke in anger and
annoyance that he had given her a boon of being blessed by 100 sons but all she gave birth to was a
hard ball of flesh. He instructed the maid to take that ball and put it in a fresh jar of water and it
would soon break into 100 foetuses. Then take each foetus and put them in a separate jar filled with
ghee and other nutrients. After a few months, 100 boys were born. The first one was Duryodhana
and next Dushasana followed by 98 more sons and she even gave birth to a girl, Dushala. They
were known as the Kauravas.

Soon after this, Pandu was taking a stroll in the forest with Madri when he felt an irresistible urge
towards her and couldn’t control himself around her anymore and embraced her. Madri remembered
the curse and tried to escape from his arms but failed to do so and just then Pandu felt a sudden pain
in his chest and fell off and died within a few minutes in Madri’s arms. After his death, Kunti took
the Pandavas along and went back to the palace. The Pandavas and the Kauravas already had a lot
of jealousy and childish fights between them but it was just the immaturity at that time until they
grew older and the feelings became stronger. The Pandavas together were the strongest even though
the army of the 100 Kauravas was greater in strength.

THE KURUKSHETRA WAR

The war has been described in Jaya, which is the core

of Mahabharata. It is written in the form of a
dialogue between Dhritarashtra, who could not see
and Sanjay, his chariot driver having a divine vision.
He describes events of the war which spanned across
18 days to the king in great detail. The War started with Lord Krishna and most warriors blowing
their conch-shells. (Image Source : sampoorngita.wordpress.com )
Day 1
Bhishma led the Kaurava armies and Bhima led the Pandava armies. Dushasana fought Nakula,
Dhrishtadyumna fought Drona, Yudhishthira fought Shalya and the King of Panchala fought the
King of Sind. Bhishma overpowered Pandava army and he also saw Draupadi's five sons. On the
very first day, the Pandava army suffered huge losses, one of which was the death of King Virata’s
son, Uttar.

Day 2
To reverse the losses from the first day, Arjuna planned to try killing Bhishma, seeing the loss he
did to the Pandava army on the first day. Krishna helped Arjuna locate Bhishma and then they both
fought a fierce battle for hours. On the other hand, Drona and Dhrishtadyumna engaged in a battle
where Dhrishtdyumna had to be rescued by Bhima. Duryodhana then sent Kalinga forces to attack
Bhima, but the king of Kalinga lost his life. Seeing all this, Bhishma came to rescue the rest of the
Kalinga troops, but Satyaki aimed at Bhishma's charioteer, killing him. Causing the chariot to go
out of control and Bhishma had to be carried away from the battlefield. This resulted in great loss to
the Kaurava army.

Day 3
The third day saw use of celestial weapons and military formations. Kauravas adopted an eagle
formation with Bhishma leading the front and Duryodhana protecting the rear. On the other hand,
the Pandavas adopted a crescent shape, where the right side was commanded by Bhima,
Yudhishthira leading the centre and Arjuna holding the left end. None of the forces gave up and
fought tirelessly. Abhimanyu and Satyaki attacked Shakuni’s Gandhar forces and Bhima along with
his son fought Duryodhan’s end. During this, Duryodhan got injured and had to flee the battlefield.

The Kaurava forces aimed for Arjuna position at the left, with Bhishma invoking celestial weapons
to harm large numbers of troops of Pandava armies at once. Krishna then encouraged Arjuna to
fight Bhishma for if not fought, he could alone lead to destruction of the Pandava armies. Arjuna
broke two of Bhishma’s bows. Arjuna then drew a celestial weapon causing bloodshed of the
Kaurava army, ending the day in Pandavas’ side.
Day 4
On the fourth day too, Pandavas maintained their dominance on the battlefield. Bhima along with
his mace attacked Alurava forces, which was countered by Kauravas by sending a large number of
elephants to attack Bhima, but he came down from his chariot and tackled each of them single
handedly. The elephants when hit would scatter into Kaurava forces itself. Duryodhana asked forces
to make Bhima the sole focus of attack, but Bhima overcame it all and killed eight of Duryodhana's
brothers. Duryodhana at the end of the day went to Bhishma, and asked him how Pandavas could
defeat an army which is much larger than theirs. Bhishma replied that truth and justice was on
Pandavas’ side and Duryodhana should make peace with them.

Day 5
Bhishma overpowered Pandavas once again and the Pandava army suffered at his hands.
Meanwhile, Duryodhan sent thousands of soldiers to attack Arjuna, but all of them got killed by
him. To counter Bhishma, Bhima engaged in a fierce duel with him which in the end remained
inconclusive. On one hand, Satyaki could not bear the brunt of Drona’s attacks and had to be
rescued by Bhima.

Day 6
The formations of both armies broke and Drona took the opportunity at hand causing numerous loss
of lives on Pandavas’ side. Bhima too penetrated Kaurava formation and managed to secure an
attack on Duryodhana. Duryodhana got defeated but was rescued.

Day 7
The most significant event on the seventh day was Drona and Ashwathama killing Sankha, who
was the son of Virata. All five Pandava brothers fought together against mighty Bhishma but he
faced them relentlessly.

Day 8
Day eight ended in the death of eighteen brothers of Duryodhana by Bhima and 5 brothers of
Gandhara King Shakuni by Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu was fierce and skilled and defeated anyone
who came afront to tackle him ranging from the biggest of warriors like Duryodhana, Ashwathama,
Dronacharya, Kripacharya, King Jayadratha to a swarm of 6000 giants like elephants.

Day 9
After seeing Arjuna not being able to fight his grand uncle Bhishma, Krishna rushed towards
Bhishma eager to slay him with a broken chariot wheel while Bhishma surrendered to get killed at
the hands of the Lord. Arjuna stops Krishna saying he could not break his vow of not picking up
any weapon in the war. Seeing Bhishma's wrath, Krishna advised Pandavas to use Shikhandi to face
him.

Day 10
As decided, Shikhandi was put in front of Bhishma and Shikhandi’s arrows faced no hindrance
reaching Bhishma. Arjuna hid himself behind Shikhandi to be safe from Bhishma's wrath and
showered arrows on him from there. Pandavas drove away Kauravas surrounding Bhishma and
Bhishma had arrows all over his body. No place on his body larger than the breadth of two fingers
could be seen. He fell off his chariot but his body did not touch the ground but was held at a height
with arrows coming out of his body. In respect of their grand uncle, war was halted and the
Kauravas and Pandavas gathered near Bhishma to seek advice from him.

Day 11
Karna entered the battlefield and Drona was made the commander of Kaurava armies. Drona was
told by Duryodhana to make Yudhishthira hostage to enrage Pandavas. Drona, as planned, attacked
Yudhishthira, cutting down his bow. This feared Arjuna and he came to the rescue of his brother,
defeating Drona.

Day 12
Drona failed to capture Yudhishthira. Thus, he told Duryodhana that it would be difficult with
Arjuna being around and ordered the Samsaptakas to keep Arjuna busy in a remote part of the
battlefield. Bhagadatta, a warrior slaughtering Pandava troops fought a fierce duel on his
humongous elephant Supratika with Arjuna. The latter succeeded in killing him.

Day 13
The aim of Drona was still clear, that was to capture Yudhishthira. So he created a Chakra formation
which is almost impossible to penetrate by most people. Only Arjuna and Abhimanyu knew the
crack to penetrate the chakra. So to prevent them, Samsaptakas challenged Arjuna as per Drona's
plan. Remaining four Pandavas found it impossible to penetrate the chakra. So Yudhishthira
instructed Abhimanyu to break the ChakraVyuh because while in the womb, Abhimanyu was taught
by Arjuna how to enter the Chakra but before he could explain how to exit it, Abhimanyu's mother
fell asleep. So Pandavas had to protect Abhimanyu and for this, they followed him into Chakra but
after Abhimanyu reached the centre, Jaydaratha hindered the Pandavas from entering any further.
Abhimanyu faced the wrath of the greatest warriors while being inside, he killed thousands of them.
To prevent any further damage from Abhimanyu, Drona created a strategy where at a time six
warriors tackled Abhimanyu, some of which included Drona, Karna, Kripa and Kritavarma.
Abhimanyu still kept his calm and fought them all, despite being deprived of his bow, chariot and
shield. He managed to kill Shakuni's brother as well. In the end, he faced Dushasana's son in a mace
fight. The latter was skilled at mace fighting and killed Abhimanyu. When Arjuna heard of his son's
muder, he vowed to kill Jaydratha before day break or step into the burning pyre.

Day 14
The Kauravas, after realizing that Arjuna might kill himself if he doesn't slay King Jayadratha, rally
around the King and protect him. Krishna knows that Arjuna must keep his vow planned out to
eclipse the sun to make the Kauravas think the sun has set. Thus, playing the trick makes the
Kaurvas let their guard down and Arjuna finally puts an arrow to the king’s head. Arjuna asked
Bhima to decimate Vikarna, but Bhima refused because Vikarna had defended the Pandavas during
the Draupadi Vastraharan. Bhima and Vikarna showered arrows at each other. Vikarna is killed by
Bhima’s mace. Ghatotkacha, the rakshasa son of Bhima wreaks havoc among the Kaurava, until he
is felled by the Vasavi Shakti, a weapon given to Karna by Indra.

Day 15
The battle continued from the night to the day, eventually Arjuna met Drona in a fierce battle but it
went out undecided. Krishna suggested using deceit and Bhima agreed. He went on killing an
elephant named Ashwathama and declared in the battle Aswathama was dead. Everyone was scared
because Ashwathama was a big and strong warrior. Drona on hearing it asked the ever truthful
Yudhishthira. He agreed to the fact. Drona’s leg started shaking and was killed to death by
Dhrishtadyumna to avenge his father’s death and satisfy his vow. Kunti requests Karna to join the
side of the Pandavas, telling him the truth of his birth. Karna says that five Pandavas shall live,
meaning he would only attack Arjuna.

Day 16
Karna was made the supreme Commander of Kauravas. He did considerable damage to Pandava
army to which Arjuna reverted by making significant damage to Kaurava armies. Meanwhile,
Bhima broke Dushasana's chariot with his mace and according to vow made after Draupadi's
humiliation, he ripped his right hand and opened his chest and drank his blood. He also carried
some of this blood to pour on Draupadi's untied hair which had been kept untied in lieu of the vow.

Day 17
Karna defeated the Pandava brothers Nakula, Sahadeva, and Yudhishthira in battle but let them live.
Karna later duels with Arjuna where Parashurama’s curse comes true. Karna’s chariot gets stuck.
Karna asked for a pause but Krishna reminded Arjuna of Karna’s ruthlessness while killing his son
Abhimanyu. Arjuna, remembering it, shoots an arrow killing Karna. Karna’s protective armour and
earrings had been taken as alms by Indra, to prevent Arjuna’s death. Thus, Karna dies at the hands
of Arjuna.

Day 18
Shalya took over as the commander of the Kaurava army. Yudhisthira slays Shalya in a spear
combat, as he was the only one who could manage his calm in war. Shakuni is killed by Sahadeva.

Duryodhana fled and headed towards a lake to seek refuge. Krishna takes the Pandavas to the lake
and Bhima forces Duryodhana to get out of it. As they fight an intense battle, Duryodhana is
invincible because of his mother Gandhari’s boon that his body is impenetrable. Bhima strikes
Duryodhana below the waist, mortally wounding him. He is left to die, in great pain.

Under Ashwatthama, the Kaurava army attacks the Pandava camp at night, killing Draupadi’s sons.

The End
At the end of the war, only Krishna, the Pandavas, Satyaki, Ashwatthama, Kripacharya, Yuyutsu,
Vrishaketu and Kritvarma survived. Yudhishthira ruled the kingdom for the next 36 years and
passed it to Parikshit.

(Note: Delegates, kindly note that the committee will be dynamic in nature. The freeze date of the
committee shall be announced in the council. The delegates are advised to go through Vyasa’s
Mahabharata. The events mentioned in the guide may not necessarily be followed in accordance
with the freeze date. The guide is for studying purposes only.)

SUGGESTED MODERATED CAUCUS TOPICS

1. Causes of the Kurukshetra War.

2. Discussing if the war could be prevented.
3. The strengths of the sides of the war.
4. Deciding the rules of the War.
5. Discussing the war strategies to be used in the war.
6. Discussing the unfair treatment to Eklavya and Karna.
7. Revisiting the war with Drupad.
8. Revisiting the Dice game.
9. Discussing the events of Lakshagraha.
10. Discuss the rivalry between Pandavas and Kauravas.

RESEARCH LINKS

Note : Delegates, some of the links are only meant for light reading and may not be accepted as a
source of proof in the council. The decision of the Presiding Officer in regards to the acceptable
sources will be final and binding.

1. https://www.mahabharataonline.com/stories/mahabharata_character.php?id=45
2. https://www.mahabharataonline.com/stories/mahabharata_character.php?id=4
3. https://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/ganges/
4. https://detechter.com/8-interesting-facts-about-shakuni-of-mahabharata/
5. https://mahabharata.fandom.com/wiki/Yudhisthira
6. https://theprint.in/opinion/indians-ignore-what-was-done-to-subhadra-in-mahabharata/41
3423/
7. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arjuna
8. https://www.mahabharataonline.com/stories/mahabharata_character.php?id=60
9. https://vedicfeed.com/draupadi-facts/
10. https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/compilation/puranic-encyclopaedia/d/doc241570.h
tml
11. https://indusscrolls.com/was-duryodhana-a-hero/
12. https://mythgyaan.com/ashwathama-curse-still-alive/
13. https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/wisdom/article/karna
14. https://www.dollsofindia.com/library/kunti-gandhari/
15. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indraprastha
16. https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/astro/dharam-karam/moral-stories/what-draupadi-
said-during-banwas-47722/
17. https://www.hindi-web.com/stories/pandavas-vanvas-story-hindi/
18. https://vedicfeed.com/18-days-of-the-mahabharata-war-summary-of-the-war/
19. https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Kurukshetra_War
20. https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/m/Mahabharata.htm#:~:text=The
%20Mahabharata%20itself%20ends%20with,the%20Pandava%20brothers%20to%20He
aven.
21. https://www.vyasaonline.com/2020/08/02/mahabharata-resources/mahabharata/
22. https://www.vyasaonline.com/2020/08/01/sanskrit-shlokas/mahabharata/