Abhimanyu in the Cakravyūha

On the thirteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, Droṇācārya built the Cakravyūha, the wheel-shaped battle formation that is also called the Padmavyūha. Arjuna was drawn away from the field by the Saṃśaptakas. Of all the Pāṇḍavas, only Abhimanyu knew how to enter the formation, and he did not know how to leave it.

Yudhishṭhira asked the sixteen-year-old Abhimanyu to break in, and promised that the other commanders would follow close behind. Jayadratha then blocked the entrance with a vara (boon) from Bhagavān Śiva and shut Abhimanyu in alone. Six mahārathis (great chariot warriors) joined against him, against the rules of fair fighting. Abhimanyu lost his bow, his chariot and his sword in turn and fought on with a chariot wheel. At last Duḥśāsana’s son struck him on the head with a mace and he fell. His death filled the Pāṇḍava side with grief and led to Arjuna’s terrible vow to kill Jayadratha.

The Cakravyūha

Droṇa made the Cakravyūha on the thirteenth day of the war. Warriors stood in rings, like the spokes and hub of a great wheel, and the strongest commanders stood at the centre. The kings placed at the spokes were as bright as the sun in courage, and they had vowed to fight to the death without turning back.

Duryodhana himself stood at the hub, with Karṇa, Duḥśāsana and Kṛpācārya around him. Droṇa stood at the entrance, and beside him stood Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu. All thirty of Duryodhana’s remaining brothers, with Śakuni, Śalya and Bhūriśravas, stood near the entrance to guard it.

The Cakravyūha is described as impossible to break, like the formation of Indra when a skilled commander guards it. Among all living warriors, only Kṛshṇa, Arjuna, Abhimanyu and Pradyumna knew how to break into it.

The Saṃśaptaka plan

Droṇa’s plan needed Arjuna to be taken away from Yudhishṭhira’s side. The Saṃśaptakas were warriors who had sworn either to kill Arjuna or to die. They made their formal challenge on the southern part of the field. They were led by Suśarmā of Trigarta and included warriors from several allied kingdoms.

Arjuna was bound by his duty as a kshatriya to accept such a challenge. He left with Kṛshṇa in his chariot and drove south. The Pāṇḍava centre was left without its greatest protector.

Yudhishṭhira’s request

Droṇa was advancing in a terrifying way, and the Pāṇḍava commanders could not stand against him. Yudhishṭhira turned to Abhimanyu and said:

Your father Arjuna and Kṛshṇa can break the Cakravyūha, they alone, together with you and Pradyumna. We cannot. I am putting this great burden on you. Go into the formation and open a way for us. We will follow right behind you, and Bhīma will protect you.

Abhimanyu agreed at once. He promised to break in as a moth dives into a flame:

I will enter Droṇa’s terrible formation. Today let the families of my father and my mother see my courage. Let my uncle Kṛshṇa and my father Arjuna hear of my deeds and be glad. Even if Indra on Airāvata, or Śiva himself, stood before me in battle, I would not turn back.

He ordered his charioteer Sumitrā to drive straight to Droṇācārya’s formation without delay.

Entry and early courage

Abhimanyu drove his three-year-old golden horses straight at the Cakravyūha. He went into the formation like a young lion going into a herd of elephants. When he was still twenty steps away, Droṇa and the great Kaurava commanders had to stop and face him.

Inside the formation Abhimanyu fought with great fury. He killed commanders one by one as they came against him, and each time he won the single combat before the next attack came. Among those he killed in this middle part of the battle were these.

• Rukmāratha, the son of Śalya, killed with a single arrow that cut off his head, adorned with jewels and beautiful, at the shoulders.
• Lakshmaṇa, the son of Duryodhana and his dearest prince, killed with a single bhalla (broad-headed arrow) that struck his golden-helmeted head.
• The Sauvalāputra (the son of Śakuni).
• Vṛshasena, whose bow was broken and whose horses were wounded.
• Aśmakaputra and many other commanders.
• Vasātīya, who had boasted that Abhimanyu would not leave alive, killed with a single shaft that pierced his chest.
• The Kāḷikeya (the son of Subala, Śakuni’s son), the Kekaya chariot commanders, and thousands of soldiers.

Duryodhana himself attacked and was driven off by showers of arrows, and he fled. The whole Kaurava army saw one young warrior alone beating their greatest commanders, and it began to run. Droṇa himself was moved to admiration. He said to Karṇa:

I see no fault anywhere in this boy. All that can be seen is the circling of his bow in battle. He is Arjuna’s equal in every way.

Jayadratha blocks the other Pāṇḍavas

Abhimanyu broke through the formation. The other Pāṇḍavas, Yudhishṭhira, Bhīma, Dhṛshṭadyumna, Sātyaki, Nakula, Sahadeva, Virāṭa, Drupada and others, rushed to follow him through the gap he had made. Then Jayadratha, son of Vṛddhakshatra and king of Sindhu, took his place at the mouth of the formation.

In the Vana Parva, Jayadratha had been humiliated by Bhīma in the matter of the abduction of Draupadī. After that he did hard tapas at Gaṅgādvāra (Hardwar) and pleased Bhagavān Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva gave him a vara: for one day in battle he could hold back four of the five Pāṇḍavas. Arjuna was left out of the vara.

Jayadratha now used this vara. He let loose his divine weapons and stopped the whole Pāṇḍava front at the entrance. Bhīma was driven from his position, with no chariot, onto Sātyaki’s chariot. Yudhishṭhira was struck seventy times. Dhṛshṭadyumna’s bow was broken. None of them could push through.

The Kaurava commanders swarmed to the entrance, helped by Jayadratha. The other Pāṇḍavas watched helplessly from outside while Abhimanyu was shut in and fought alone.

The six commanders join against him

Abhimanyu kept destroying the Kaurava ranks inside the formation. Karṇa and Śakuni told Droṇa that the time had come to join against him. Droṇa had himself praised Abhimanyu’s armour and skill, and now he gave this plan:

His armour cannot be pierced. His skill with the bow has no fault. You cannot face him with weapons from the front, for from the front he is Arjuna’s equal. But strike him from behind. Cut his bowstring. Break the reins of his horses. Destroy the guards at his sides. Once his bow is cut, attack together.

They followed this plan. Karṇa struck from behind and broke Abhimanyu’s bow and bowstring. Kṛtavarmā killed his horses. Kṛpācārya killed the guards at his sides. Then six mahārathis, Droṇa, Karṇa, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāmā, Bṛhadbala and Kṛtavarmā, fell together on the young warrior who now had no weapon and no chariot. Beings in the sky said aloud:

This is not dharma. An unarmed child surrounded by six great commanders: this is not worthy.

The last stand

Without bow, chariot or horses, Abhimanyu drew his sword and shield. He rose into the air and fought from above and from below, striking with wonderful speed. Then Droṇa cut his sword with an ardhacandra (half-moon) arrow, and Karṇa broke his shield. Abhimanyu came down and took up a chariot wheel. He held it high like Kṛshṇa holding the Sudarśana cakra. His form at that moment was so bright and so terrible that even the devas could not look straight at him.

The warriors shot the chariot wheel to pieces. Abhimanyu was worn out by countless wounds and bleeding on every side. He was surrounded, and he still fought with his bare hands and the broken rim of the wheel. At last Duḥśāsana’s son struck him on the head with a mace, and he fell to the ground. His death was like a second sun setting from the sky of the Pāṇḍava army.

The beings of the sky cried out in sorrow. The Pāṇḍava commanders wept openly. The Kaurava warriors celebrated, but their joy was hollow, for Droṇa and others knew that what had been done was not right.

Yudhishṭhira’s lament

At the end of the thirteenth day Yudhishṭhira and the Pāṇḍavas sat together round Abhimanyu’s body with all their armour laid aside. Yudhishṭhira mourned deeply. He blamed himself for sending the boy into the formation, for being unable to protect him, and for the hard place they would be in when Arjuna returned. He said:

How can I face Arjuna? How can I face Subhadrā? What words can I use? We sent this tender youth, who had never known anything but ease and love and honour, into that formation alone. My greed for victory destroyed him.

Arjuna came back to the camp to silence, to eyes cast down and to no celebration, and he learned the truth.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 33–50
• Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapters 51–52
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva (the earlier humiliation of Jayadratha in the matter of Draupadī)