As the battle went on, Bhishma and Arjuna were forced to fight each other. In the end, Arjuna was victorious and Bhishma fell. This caused everyone in the battleground to weep over the fallen hero. Bhishma told Arjuna to honor Yudhishthira and end this war. Then, Drona took Yudhishthir captive.
In the midst of chaos, Jayadratha escaped and went to help the enemies. Because of this, Arjuna lost his son and he vowed to destroy Jayadratha. With the help of Krishna, Arjuna was able to gain his revenge. Then, Bhima’s son, Ghatotkacha was slain. The Pandava brothers tricked Drona into thinking his son had died. When Drona was distressed over this, the Pandava general took the opportunity to attack and slay Drona.
Bhima sought to take revenge on Duhshasana because he put Draupadi to shame all those years ago. Bhima cut off Dushasana’s head and drank his blood. The Kaurava warriors fled because of the gruesome sight. Meanwhile, Arjuna and Karna were waging a deadly battle as well. Thinking of his poor son, Arjuna sent an arrow into Karna’s head.
Having lost his best men, Duryodhana retreated to dwell in a lake. However, the brothers found him and Bhima struck him in the knee. When night came, Ashwatthaman came to slay the brothers while they slept. Draupadi lost her brother and her five sons. Out of sorrow, she went to find Ashwatthamann and take his great jewel.
All the families came to mourn their lost ones. After all the bodies were slain, Yudhishthira was made rajah of the city of Hastinapura. To atone for his sins, Yudhishthira performed a horse sacrifice. This horse went on to have many adventures and finally, it returned to Hastinapura. Then, Yudhishthira performed many rituals and he finally became the king.
One day when the brothers and Draupadi went to the place of their elders, Vyasa came and said the ones they lost would be returned to them. After meeting them, the royal family returned to the kingdom with new sorrows. Krishna and Balarama retreated to the forest where they were slain.
After this, Vyasa once again appeared to the Pandavas and told them their time on earth had come to an end. One by one, all of the heroes ascended into the rising sun.
Bibliography: Public Domain Edition: Mahabharata
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