Final Three Days of War

The last three days of war ended up with the Pandavas on the streak of victory and the Kauravas suffering losses. On the sixteenth day of war, Sakuni was killed by Sahadeva, and the king of Madra (the new commander-in-chief after Karna) was killed by Yudhisthira. The army of Hastinapura was vanquished by the sixteenth day. The Pandavas and their army was very much in strength, while the Kaurava side had only four people left: Duryodhana, Krpacarya, Asvatthama, and Krtavarma.

The seventeenth day involved the duel of Bhima and Duryodhana. Duryodhana was given a special boon of strength which made all of his body, except for his lower body, metallic. Bhima and Duryodhana engaged in mace warfare. This duel took a great amount of time. However, Bhima was getting tired as Duryodhana was nearly invincible that day. Krsna suggested that Bhima strike Duryodhana on the thigh, as Bhima made this promise. Such a tactic is unethical and violates the code of war. Duryodhana’s metallic boon was taken away and he had fallen. Duryodhana was holding onto his life as long as he could, nearly on the verge of death. That night, Krpacarya, Krtavarma, and Asvatthama were very upset to see their leader fallen. Asvatthama decided to take vengeance in his own hands. While everyone was asleep in the Pandava side, Asvatthama decided to use unethical means to kill Drstadyumna and Draupadi’s five sons while they were asleep and defenseless. When Asvatthama returned to Duryodhana to deliver the news, Duryodhana scolded such an act and disapproved of Asvatthama’s behavior. In frustration, Duryodhana died and Asvatthama decided to seek repentance.

When the Pandavas woke up the next day, they were shocked to see their five sons all dead. They recognized the arrows of Asvatthama. Arjuna made a vow that he will take a bath upon Asvatthama’s head, in order to pacify Draupadi’s grief. Asvatthama sought shelter at Vyasadeva’s hermitage. Krsna took the Pandavas to where Asvatthama was hiding. Asvatthama made an attempt to kill the Pandavas with a powerful nuclear weapon of Brahma. When this failed, he took that very weapon and attacked the embryo of the unborn child of Uttara and Abhimanyu, which is the seed of the Pandava’s future generation. Krsna protected the unborn child from the attack of Asvatthama. Krsna ordered that Arjuna kill Asvatthama, but Draupadi requested that he be released free, as she does not want his mother to weep like her. Such exemplary compassion by Draupadi forced Krsna to curse Asvatthama that he roam throughout the earth throughout the duration of Earth being disfigured and rejected by society. This eighteenth day ended the Mahabharata war. All five Pandavas survived, but all of the allies, except Lord Krsna, and all of the Pandava’s sons were killed. The entire clan of the Kauravas were killed except for Krtavarma, who surrendered to Lord Krsna, and Krpacarya. Such were the terrible consequences of this war.