Kaliṅga Yuddha, Day 2
On the second day of the war at Kurukshetra, the Kaliṅga army fought on the Kaurava side under their king Bhānumanta. His son Śakradeva fought with him. Bhīmasena, the second of the Pāṇḍavas, attacked them, killed both king and son, and broke the Kaliṅga army. This is told in the Bhīshma Parva of the Mahābhārata.
The Kaliṅga army
Kaliṅga is the kingdom on the eastern coast. Its king, Bhānumanta, had joined the Kaurava side. His son Śakradeva came with him, and the Kaliṅga army brought many war elephants. The eastern kingdoms kept strong bodies of war elephants, which could ruin an army of chariots. Bhānumanta brought these to the Kaurava cause.
Bhīma’s attack
Bhīmasena was the second Pāṇḍava, a son of Vāyu, and his bodily strength was beyond that of ordinary people. He drove his chariot, with Viśoka as his sārathi (charioteer), straight into the Kaliṅga formation with full force. Bhīma fought in a direct and crushing way. Arjuna fought with fine skill as an archer, and Yudhishṭhira fought with measured care, but Bhīma sought to destroy completely whatever force stood against him.
In the fight with the Kaliṅgas, Bhīma overcame his enemies one after another in quick order. He struck down war elephants with his arrows and with blows of his mace. He killed the elephant drivers and the warriors who rode the elephants. He broke up the formation from inside.
When Bhānumanta himself came against him, Bhīma killed the king of Kaliṅga. When Śakradeva, Bhānumanta’s son, pressed into the fight, Bhīma killed him as well.
The king and the prince were killed one soon after the other. This broke the spirit and the command of the Kaliṅga forces, and the Kaliṅga army fell apart.
The rest of the second day
Bhīma had vowed to kill all one hundred sons of Dhṛtarāshṭra, and he was keeping that vow day by day. His killing of allied kings such as Bhānumanta was part of the wider slaughter on the field around the main Kaurava force.
On the same day, Bhīshma went on shooting his fierce arrows in the middle of the field and kept the main Pāṇḍava forces busy. On this second day Bhīshma fought with skill and reach against the Pāṇḍava centre, and Bhīma fought with crushing force against the Kaurava flanks and their allies.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva, Chapter 54