Subject: Re: what happened on day one of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra ?

[Paramananda das]

Subject: Re: what happened on day one of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra ?

Subject: what happened on day one of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra ?

what happened on day one of the Battlefield of Kuruksetra?
Well first we have Arjuna hearing the whole Bhagavad Gita from Sri Krsna, sadly the whole Pandava and Kaurava Army are not listening to that private conversation, Krsna and Arjuna and in Hastinapure thanks to Sanjya, the disciple of Srila Vyasadeva, Dhrtarasta also hears the Bhagavad Gita from Sanjaya:

Before Bhisma and the other warriors blow their conches, Yudhistira Maharaja goes (he gets of his chariot) and pays respect to Bhisma and Drona and Kripacarya they all bless him to win the war that agitates Duryodhana

this is a good online summary
Day 1
When the battle commenced, Arjuna put his forces in a diamond formation (Vajra Vyuha), while Bhishma chose a complex formation: a circular group at the front with a long supporting body behind (Sarvattobhadra or Sarvatomukhi Vyuha). Bhisma's forces went through the Pandava formation wreaking havoc wherever he went, but Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son, seeing this directly attacked Bhishma, the commander of the Kaurava forces, and defeated his bodyguards. However, the young warrior couldn't match the prowess of Bhishma and was defeated. The Pandavas suffered heavy losses and were defeated at the end of the first day. Virata's sons, Uttara and Sweta, were slain by Shalya and Bhishma. Krishna consoled the distraught Yudhishthira saying that eventually, victory would be his.

my personal Note : You may remember Uttara Kumara the prince of Virat that went with Arjuna dressed as Brhadnala facing the Kauravas during the last year of the Pandavas exile ,and he ran away at first when Arjuna revealed who he was ,and Uttara Kumara asked Arjuna to please reveal his 10 names because he was a big admirer of Arjuna, Arjuna was his superhero and now all of a sudden Krsna had allowed him to serve Arjuna . Sweta was another dear friend and prince of Virat and as we see when Shalya killed Uttara Kumara he almost killed Shalya,but Bhisma came to the defense of Shalya and killed Sweta,thus this is all glorious as everyone killed on Kuruksetra went back to Godhead, though in Mahabharata it is stated the Kauravas went to the heavenly planets after being killed . Are you familiar with Shalya? If not please read this important link about who he is and as the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva and King of Madra which is current Pakistan: Shalya - Wikipedia
Shalya was tricked by Duryodhana to join his side, actually also one thing I should mention is that Shalya was told by Yuddhistira that since you joined the Kauravas I will personally kill you and on day 18 of Kuruksetra, Yuddhistira fought him and killed him with his spear . Yuddhistira also said before the war if anyone thinks they are fighting on the wrong side please go to that side , Yuyutsu one of the brothers of Duryodhana joined Yudhistira Maharaja, he was the only brother of the Kauravas that was a real gentleman and protested the disrobing of Draupadi Yuyutsu - Wikipedia he survived the war and after the Pandavas retired, Yujutsu was made the King of Hastinapure for some time until Pariksit Maharaja the son of Abhimanyu was read and grown-up ,he was a son of Dhrtarasta and a maid, sometimes the kings had children with the maids, also as you recall Vidura was born when Ambika and Ambalika refused to again have children with Srila Vyasadeva and instead send a maid, thus Vidura was a stepbrother to Dhrtarastra and King Pandu

Here is a summary also : It was the Day 1 of the War. The Kurukshetra was like no other war, with its complexity, twists, turns, loss & victories. When the two sides charged against each other, it seemed like two planets about to crash. The collision of warriors shook the ground. The very atmosphere was filled with noises of blowing conches, clanging shields, clashing swords, pounding maces & the battle cries of fierce warriors, creating terror in the hearts of even the Gods. Both sides used different weapons, battle strategies, vyuhas (formations) in the war.
Image result for kurukshetra day 1
Arjuna fought with Bheeshma, Bhima with Duryodhana & others with their respective equals. When Arjuna left to help his army, Abhimanyu filled for him & put up such a brave fight that he made Bheeshma salute his valour. He proved to be the worthy son of the archer-legend. Meanwhile, as the Sun was about to sleep, Uttara ( Virata’s son ) who was mounted on a large elephant came face-to-face with King Shalya. Although he put up a brave fight, he was not a match for the valiant spearman, Shalya. Shalya first killed the elephant with a sharp spear dislodging Uttara. Then, with a great aim he threw his javelin at Uttara which pierced him even before he touched the ground. Shweta, Uttara’s brother was filled with rage and broke Shalya’s chariot. Shalya fled, but Bheeshma quickly released a shower of arrows which pounced on Shweta killing him. With these deaths, the Day 1 ended with a sad note for the Pandavas. The Kauravas rejoiced in their camp at the end of a fruitful day.