On the third day of the war, Bheeshma arranged the Kaurava army in the Garuda or eagle formation. He stood at the mouth of the formation while Drona and Kritavarma were the eyes. Seeing this formation, Arjuna and Dhristadhyumna organized the Ardha Chandra or half-moon formation.
At one end of the formation was Bheema with Arjuna at the other end. As the battle started, Arjuna unleashed himself on the Kauravas, slaughtering their chariot archers. While Bheema protected the Vyuha of the Pandava side, Drona ensured the Vyuha of the Kauravas was not broken.
There were fierce fights as chariots, elephants, and foot soldiers fought with each other. The clash of arrows, swords, and spears was heard even as blood flowed on the battlefield. The ground was soon filled with dead soldiers and animals.
The dust clouds in the Kurukshetra battlefield had obstructed the view of the soldiers, but the flow of blood helped to settle down the dust. Each of the great warriors fought with each other as both the sides fought desperately.
Seeing Arjuna massacre their army, the Kauravas charged towards him. They hurled various types of weapons at him, but he countered them all using his powerful arrows. The Gandhara army destroyed Satyaki’s chariot, but he climbed on to Abhimanyu’s chariot and continued to fight with the Gandhara army.
Duryodhana fought with Bheema and Ghatotkacha but was hit on the chest by Bheema’s arrow. He swooned and had to be taken away by his charioteer. The Pandavas gained the advantage with Satyaki and Abhimanyu slaughtering the Gandharas while Arjuna attacked the others, causing many of them to flee.
Duryodhana stopped his fleeing soldiers. He then accused Bheeshma of favouring the Pandavas, which is why the Kaurava army was in trouble. An angry Bheeshma then announced that he would destroy the Pandavas.
Bheeshma’s attack was so fierce that it seemed as though he was in many places at the same time killing Pandava soldiers. Thousands of arrows filled the air as Bheeshma went around the battlefield, causing panic in the Pandava ranks. None of the Pandava warriors could stop Bheeshma’s rampaging attack.
Krishna then told Arjuna that the time had come for him to take on Bheeshma and kill him. Arjuna then attacked Bheeshma fiercely. Arjuna cut down Bheeshma’s bow. When he picked another, he cut that too. Bheeshma then proceeded to launch a terrible attack, showering arrows on Arjuna and Krishna.
Krishna was angry seeing that Arjuna was fighting mildly. He took out his discus and charged towards Bheeshma, intending to kill him. Bheeshma asked Krishna to kill him and end his life of suffering. Arjuna then fell at Krishna’s feet and requested him not to fight. He promised he would fight fiercely and destroy the Kurus.
Krishna then relented and got back into the chariot. Arjuna then showered arrows on Bheeshma and Bhurishravas who came to help him. When Duryodhana and Shalya joined in the attack against him, Arjuna then used the Aindrastra and a shower of arrows emerged from the sky. Thousands of enemy soldiers, horses, and elephants were killed.
A river of blood flowed through the battlefield. So many soldiers died that hyenas, jackals, and vultures rushed to feast on the corpses.
Seeing Partha’s amazing deed, the Matsyas, the Panchalas, and the Chedis roared with joy and attacked the Kauravas fiercely. There was widespread death and destruction in the Kaurava camp.
Even Bheeshma and Drona were injured in Arjuna’s terrible attack. Ten thousand charioteers and seven hundred elephants were killed. Seeing the sun descend, Bheeshma sounded a retreat to avoid further slaughter of his soldiers. The dejected Kauravas returned to their camp while the victorious Pandava forces celebrated.