Duryodhana asked his warriors to protect Bheeshma so he could slay the Pandavas. Bheeshma formed the Sarvatobhadra vyuha. The Pandavas prepared their army and launched themselves at the Kaurava formation.
Abhimanyu showed his prowess by attacking the Kauravas and killing their soldiers mercilessly. He fought so fiercely that everyone thought there were two Arjunas fighting on the battlefield. An angry Duryodhana then asked Alambusha to kill Abhimanyu just like he killed Iravan.
The demon then charged towards the Pandavas and attacked them. The demon meanwhile kept killing hundreds of soldiers. Abhimanyu took on Alambusha charging at him shooting arrows. He was supported by the sons of Draupadi. Prativindhya struck Alambusha with so many arrows that he looked like a porcupine.
The arrows shot by the sons of the Pandavas caused the demon to faint. He got quickly and increased his size. He killed the horses and charioteers of Draupadi’s sons and charged at them intending to kill them. Abhimanyu then attacked Alambusha.
Both shot arrows at each other. When Alambusha was unable to defeat Abhimanyu, he used his powers of Maya and created darkness in the battlefield. The soldiers who could not see in the darkness were attacked by the demon. They ran here and there in panic trying to escape the attack of the demon.
Abhimanyu then invoked the Bhaskara astra. He created light through the weapon and dispelled the darkness. The demon was exposed from the light and had to face Abhimanyu’s wrath. He struck Alambusha with so many arrows that the demon screamed in pain and fled from the battlefield.
Kripa fought with Satyaki. Just when Satyaki was about to strike Kripa, Ashwatthama cut down his arrows. Satyaki then took on Ashwatthama. He launched a ferocious attack, causing Ashwatthama to fall. The angry son of Drona showered arrows on Shini’s descendant. When Drona came to support his son, Satyaki greeted him with blazing arrows.
Arjuna then came to the support of his disciple and attacked his teacher. Drona and Arjuna struck each other powerfully, with sharp arrows. Susharma and his Trigartas took on Arjuna, showering him with thousands of arrows. An angry Arjuna released the Vayavya weapon that created a gale storm that blew away the Trigartas.
Drona used the Shila astra to stop the impact of the Vayavya weapon. Arjuna was then surrounded by Duryodhana, Ashwatthama, Shalya, and other kings, while Bheema was attacked by Bhagadatta and Shrutayu.
Using his mighty club, Bheema charged at the elephant brigade attacking them. He slaughtered elephants and the warriors who rode on them. Unable to defend themselves from this terrible attack, the Kaurava soldiers fled from the battlefield.
Bheeshma killed thousands of Pandava soldiers and was confronted by Dhrishtadyumna, Drupada, Shikhandi, and Virata. Ignoring Shikhandi, he attacked the others, breaking their bows. Satyaki and Draupadi’s sons came to their defence.
A river of blood was created on the battlefield resembling the Vaitarani river of Yamaloka. The dying soldiers cursed Duryodhana for causing this massacre. An angry Duryodhana shouted at his warriors, asking them to fight fiercely.
Unable to bear Arjuna’s attack, the Kauravas started to flee from the battlefield. Seeing this, an angry Duryodhana asked Bheeshma to attack Arjuna. Abhimanyu in the meanwhile, fought with Chitrasena and defeated him. Bheema destroyed Bahlika’s chariot making him flee in Lakshmana’s chariot.
Shalya fought with Yudhishtira but had to face Bheema’s wrath. Bheeshma, who was surrounded by the Pandava warriors, blazed against them, showering arrows. 14,000 warriors from the Kashi, Chedi, and Karusha kingdoms were slaughtered by Bheeshma.
Arjuna then angrily attacked Bheeshma and destroyed his bow. Bheeshma picked up a second bow, but Partha broke that too. Bheeshma took a third bow and rained arrows on Arjuna and Krishna. The arrow struck Arjuna repeatedly. Seeing Arjuna’s mild attack, Krishna was angry.
Descending from his chariot, he took out a whip and charged towards Bheeshma, roaring in anger. Bheeshma bowed to Krishna and asked him to slay him and relieve him from this world. Arjuna ran behind Krishna and grabbed his legs, forcing him to stop. He requested Krishna not to break his vow by fighting in the war. He promised the son of Vasudeva that he would kill Bheeshma.
Even as Bheeshma continued to massacre the Pandava soldiers, the sun set. The two armies then retired to their camps.
Yudhishtira then appealed to Krishna to help them and advise him on how to stop Bheeshma. Krishna told Yudhishtira that Arjuna could kill Bheeshma. He said that Bheeshma had lost his intelligence and had failed to uphold his duty.
Yudhishtira then suggested that they go and meet the grandsire and seek his advice. Krishna agreed, and the Pandavas went to meet Bheeshma. The son of Shantanu welcomed them. Yudhishtira then asked him how they could attain victory. Bheeshma told him that without killing him, they could not win the war.
Bheeshma then asked the Pandavas to place Shikhandi in front of Arjuna and attack him. He told them that he would not attack Shikhandi and, struck by Arjuna’s arrows, he would fall. The Pandavas then left even as Arjuna was distraught at the thought of killing Bheeshma.
Krishna then advised Arjuna to do his dharma and kill Bheeshma so that the Kauravas could be defeated. Since Shikhandi was born a woman and became a man later, Bheeshma would not kill him. He asked Arjuna to obey Bheeshma’s orders and kill him. Arjuna agreed, and the Pandavas retired for the night.