On the second day of the war, the Pandavas were geared up to face up to Bheeshma’s might. Yudhishtira told Dhristadyumna that the sage Brihaspathi had advised Indra once to use the Krauncha or heron formation to achieve victory. He asked Dhristadyumna to use this formation.
Dhristadyumna arranged the Krauncha formation with Arjuna at its head. To counter this formation, Bheeshma arranged a giant formation with himself at the front. The two commanders blew their conch shells to signify the start of the day’s battle.
The two sides charged at each other, eager to show their prowess in the battle. Learning from the previous day, Arjuna decided that to defeat the Kauravas, it was imperative to stop Bheeshma. He charged towards Bheeshma, showering him with arrows. The Kaurava commander shot arrows non-stop at Arjuna. Supporting Bheeshma were Kripa, Duryodhana, Vikarna, and Shalya. The two great warriors battled long and hard.
Drona fought with Dhristadyumna and injured his horses. Drona then fixed a powerful weapon and released it at Dhristadyumna. An unmoved Dhristadyumna shot down the weapon. He then hurled a spear and club at Drona, who brought down the weapons effortlessly.
Drona broke Dhristadyumna’s bow, killed his charioteer, and smashed his chariot. Without caring, Dhristadyumna rushed at Drona, holding a shield to protect himself from the shower of arrows. Bheema came to Dhristadyumna’s aid and Duryodhana sent the Kalinga army to take on Bheema.
Bheema flung his club and killed the Kalinga prince Shakradeva. The king of Kalinga Bhanuman attacked Bheema, shooting a powerful arrow, but Bheema cut it down. Holding a sword in his hand, Bheema leaped onto the elephant that Bhanuman was riding. Climbing on to the tusks, he jumped in the air. With one swing of the sword, he chopped off Bhanuman’s head.
Bheema created terror in the Kalinga ranks, slaughtering soldiers and elephants at will. Bheema killed 700 hundred warriors of the Kalinga army. Duryodhana sent 2000 more warriors, but Bheema massacred them all.
Abhimanyu fought with Shalya, Kripa, and Ashwatthama repelling them. He then faced Duryodhana’s son Lakshmana in battle. The Kaurava heir struck Abhimanyu with five arrows, and he responded with 500 arrows. Lakshmana bravely faced the attack and responded by breaking Abhimanyu’s bow. He then took another bow and attacked Lakshmana fiercely.
When the Kaurava warriors came to Lakshmana’s support, Arjuna came to his son’s defence. He shot thousands of arrows, destroying the Kaurava army and creating panic. None could stand before Arjuna as he went on a rampage, slaughtering the Kaurava soldiers furiously.
The Kaurava army fled in panic, unable to face the attack of Arjuna. Seeing Arjuna’s attack, Bheeshma told Drona that Arjuna was unbeatable. He saw the sun descending and decided that it was best to withdraw.
The Kaurava army then withdrew and the victorious Pandavas returned to their camp happily.