Dhṛtasena

Dhṛtasena was a Kaurava warrior. He lived through the first seventeen days of the Kurukshetra war. On the night before the eighteenth day he was still with the Kaurava survivors.

Before the last day

Karṇa was killed on the seventeenth day, and the Kaurava army fell apart. The warriors who were left drew back to the foothills of the Himavat range. The Śalya Parva, Chapter 6, names Dhṛtasena among those who spent the night there. The others named with him are:

• Śalya
• Śakuni
• Aśvatthāmā, called mighty
• Kṛpa
• Kṛtavarman of the Sātvata line
• Susheṇa
• Arishṭasena

The group took heart through the night and prepared for the final fight. In the morning they went back to Kurukshetra to fight the last day’s battle with Śalya as commander (senāpati).

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śalya Parva, Chapter 6