Day 1 - Opening
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Intro
https://crackpot.substack.com/t/bhishma
Bhishma tag describes the complete events of the 18-day Mahabharata war as described in Bibek Debroy’s translation of the Mahabharata in diagram.
Bhagavad Gita - Day 1 Vyuha
Sequence
- positions and shape of diagram derived from text,
'On seeing how the soldiers of Dhritarashtra's sons were arranged in battle formation, Yudhishthira spoke to Arjuna, 'When a small number has to fight with a larger one, the arrangement should be a suchimukha (in the shape of a mouth or needle).' Arjuna replied, 'I will construct a Vajra (lightning bolt) vyuha. Bhima will lead.' The mighty army of the Pandavas seemed to be like the overflowing, surging and moving Ganga. (ribbon-like, fast, fluid formations.) Bhimasena, Dhrishtadyumna, Nakula, Sahadeva and Dhrishtaketu were in the vanguard. Surrounded by 1 army, Virata was at the rear. Nakula and Sahadeva protected Bhima's wheels. Droupadi's 5 sons and Abhimanyu protected the rear. Dhrishtadyumna protected them. Shikhandi protected him, and Arjuna protected Shikhandi. Satyaki protected Arjuna's rear. King Yudhishthira was in the center of the army surrounded by elephants. Yajnasena (Drupada) went behind Virata, with 1 army.Â
- Chapter 878-9. Bhagavad Gita Parva
Legend
Numbers increment in order of appearance in the source text. Excerpts are intended to help the reader sync diagram the with Bibek Debroy’s source text. Chess metaphors are used to describe characters relative importance or strength.
With this publish day 1’s opening vyuha described in the Gita along with the other posts, the ‘English to chess’ translation of vyuhas, events, fights and deaths of all 18 days as described by Bibek Debroy in a chess metaphor is complete.
Day 1 split in three posts. This post describes the starting formation - parts 2 and 3 describe the summary and subsequent day action.
Day 1 - Opening
The bows twanged against arm-guards. There were the footfalls of the infantry and the loud roars of horses. Staffs and goads descended. Weapons resounded. As the elephants dashed toward each other, bells jingled. There was a tremendous roar that made the body hair stand up. There was the roar of chariots, like the sound of the (thunder) clouds. Cruel in…
Day 1 - Endgame
On seeing how the soldiers of Dhritarashtra's sons were arranged in battle formation, Yudhishthira spoke to Arjuna, 'When a small number has to fight with a larger one, the arrangement should be a suchimukha (in the shape of a mouth or needle).' Arjuna replied, 'I will construct a Vajra vyuha. Bhima will lead.' The mighty army of the Pandavas seemed to …
Appendix
Part I
Mhb. Visual Notes
I find visual notes helpful to track when reading Mahabharata texts that are context rich and dense. thought others may too. drop a heart if you do.
Part II Note Attachments
Sahadeva and Nakula’s conquests in Digvijaya were an underrated contribution. Other pdfs include (a) itemized specialized arrow heads, (b) military math chart (more) and (c) 24 field metaphor of the human condition put forth in the Gita.
