When we talk of the Great War, we refer to it as the war between the dharma. The Kurukshetra War was fought between the Pandavas and the Kauravas with all the kingdoms of Bharatavarsha participating in the war on one side of the war. The war was crucial because it decided the destiny of the world.
It is important to know about this war because this was the war to exterminate evil. Shri Krishna had come to earth for the protection of the good and destruction of the evil. The Great War was fought to reduce the burden on earth. As the world moved towards the Kali Yuga, it was time for a churning.
The churning was needed to rid the earth of evil. That was why the Great War occurred. Of course, for the record the war was fought because Duryodhana refused to return the kingdom of Indraprastha that belonged to Yudhishtira. As per the agreement in the dice game, the Pandavas lived in exile for thirteen years.
They spent the thirteenth year in exile in disguise and were not discovered, even though Duryodhana was not ready to accept it. As per the terms of the game, Indraprastha had to be returned to them. When Duryodhana refused to do so, war became inevitable. Both Yudhishtira and Duryodhana started scouring for allies. This is how the two sides looked before the war:
Interestingly, the Pandavas did not have any army of their own and entirely depended on the allies.
The kings listed above are those who contributed one akshouhini of forces. Many other minor kings were part of the war and served under one of these leaders. Before going ahead, we need to know what an akshouhini is?
An akshouhini comprised the following
- 21,870 chariots that had a chariot warrior in it. There would also be one or two charioteers and two chariot protectors (for most of the key warriors).
- 21,870 elephants that would be a warrior seated on it, with a mahout.
- 65,610 cavalry soldiers seated on horses.
- 1,09,250 infantry soldiers on foot.
There were 2,18,600 soldiers and warriors in one akshouhini. The actual number would be more if the chariot protectors were counted.
With 7 + 11 or 18 akshouhinis on the battlefield, there were around 40,00,000 warriors and soldiers on the battlefield. Apart from these, there were many more who were not fighting like drummers, guards in the camp, cooks, cleaners, and so on.
The numbers are stupendous! Questions have been asked whether it is possible for so many people to have assembled in the Kurukshetra. There have been questions on what was the population of the nation? We must understand that every able man would have been drafted into the army. This explains why there were such huge numbers on the field.
In subsequent posts, we will look at each day of the war in detail. Before that, here’s a quick look at all the key warriors on the two sides.
It is very evident that the Kauravas were numerically superior to the Pandavas in all possible ways. Yet, victory favoured the Pandavas. The reason was simple! The Pandavas had one person on their side who made all this difference. And that was Krishna!
That brings us to the summary of the war, which is Yato Krishnastatho Dharma! Yato Dharmastato Jaya! (Where there is Krishna, there is Dharma. Where there is Dharma, there is victory).