Abhimanyu

Five thousand years ago an epic battle was fought between the forces of evil and the righteous. The latter were outnumbered and outclassed. In the eighteen-day Mahabharat war, the thirteenth day would be remembered by all children till eternity. They would be proud that a noble sixteen year old child pitted himself against mighty warriors. Despite his tender age, his mastery in warfare and phenomenal valour wreaked such havoc that the enemy leaders resorted to the most treacherous and cowardly means to do away with him. His name was Abhimanyu, son of Arjun.

At dawn on the thirteenth day, the evil Duryodhan cunningly arranged the Kauravs in a battle formation known as Chakravyuh. ‘Chakra’ means circular. At its centre Drona kept Duryodhan. To guard him he arranged seven circular formations radiating outwards. In these he placed formidable warriors known as Maharathis, such as Dushasan, Karna, Kripacharya, Ashwatthama, Shakuni, Shalya, Bhurishrava and Jayadrath. When the Pandavs and their leader Yuddhisthir saw the Chakravyuh their high spirits dropped below zero! Nobody among them knew how to break the Chakravyuh. It was impregnable. Only Arjun and his son Abhimanyu knew the secret. But Arjun was tied up far away.

Therefore Yuddhisthir appointed the sixteen year old Abhimanyu to smash the Chakravyuh. However Abhimanyu did not know how to come out.

They then formed a battle strategy. When Abhimanyu broke through, the Pandavs would follow him to create a wider opening and protect him. They would prevent the outer layer from closing in.

Abhimanyu then climbed his chariot. In an instant he was streaking like a lightning bolt towards the Chakravyuh. The mighty warriors of the Pandav army followed.

The handsome young Kshatriya clashed with the Kauravs at the outer ring. He charged through. The Chakravyuh was busted! Like a mighty lion he entered under the nose of Drona, his ‘grand guru’. A mere sixteen year old had managed to outwit the seasoned and formidable Drona! Abhimanyu shot off arrows like flashes of lightning. The arrows smashed chariots and cut down soldiers. Arrows to the left, arrows to the right and arrows to the front. A menacing rain of arrows. Those who dared fight him, either died or beat a hasty retreat ! He was a tornado, whirling through and churning up the Kaurav army. Unbelievably, the tornado reached Duryodhan! The seventh layer had been busted. Like an earthquake, a hue and cry reverberated through the Kaurav army. Maharathis rushed to protect Duryodhan.

Meanwhile Yuddhisthir and the other Pandavs clashed with Jayadrath at the outer layer, just after Abhimanyu crashed through. However, Jayadrath effectively stopped their progress with a wall of elephants. The Pandavs could not help Abhimanyu, who had sped in so fast. And he was crashing through the ranks, deeper and deeper into the Chakravyuh. And he did not know how to get out. So Abhimanyu was now on his own. All alone!

At the centre, a gruesome skirmish ensued. Abhimanyu fought valiantly. He smashed and destroyed the hundreds of arrows fired at him by Kripacharya, Ashwatthama, Duryodhan, Shalya and Bruhadbal. On several occasions, all of them had to flee his tremendous volley of arrows. He cut down many other Maharathis. When he felled Lakshman, Duryodhan’s son, the Kauravs seethed with fury. Karna then asked Drona how Abhimanyu could be defeated. Drona admired Abhimanyu’s unexcelled valour and supreme archery. Yet he had no choice but to reveal the secret of defeating Abhimanyu. As the master of warfare, only he knew how. He said, “If you can, break his impenetrable armour, kill his two charioteers and destroy his chariot. Then cut the string of his bow. So long as he sits in his chariot with his bow, even the devas or demons cannot defeat him !”

The six Kaurav Maharathis did just that. Mercilessly, treacherously, they pounced like six angry tigers on a lone, wounded elephant. However the gallant young Kshatriya fought right till the end. Arjun and Shri Krishna would be proud of him. Despite his death, he had fought for Dharma (righteousness). That is why the sixteen year old child was the supreme hero of the thirteenth