Abhimanyu and Chakravyuh

I have been thinking about it, I know popular details of what happened on that day but I don't understand how did it happen?

Chakravyuh had foot soldiers, Chariots, Elephant etc rotating in a circle, it had 7 circles

So, Abhimanyu takes down two warriors from the side which opens a gate to enter the vyuh but why couldn't Pandavas follow?

What are the possibilities of Jayadratha being there?

Even if he was there, it was a rotating wheel, why didn't warrior other than Pandavas try to kill Jayadratha to enter the vyuh behind Abhimanyu? As far as I understand, everyone came with support army of Chariots and foot soldiers, Pandavas couldn't do anything but surely other could do it as Jayadratha was focusing on Pandavas?

As I said it is a rotating wheel, If Jayadratha wasn't a part of the vyuh and wasn't rotating with other warriors, one of the Pandavas could have tried going in from a different place

Now, why would it take such a long battle to kill one person in something like a Chakravyuh? If you go near the first circle, people behind it will kill you

Why wouldn't they kill someone who is entering the vyuh by killing people?

There was trick to enter into this vyuha without getting killed. That was not revealed in MB at all. 😳

However, here's an interpretation of the vyuh by Dr Ramanand Sagar:

Originally posted by: proteeti

There was trick to enter into this vyuha without getting killed. That was not revealed in MB at all. 😳

However, here's an interpretation of the vyuh by Dr Ramanand Sagar:

Abhimanyu didn't enter from the opening, He killed two people on the side to make a gap and enter before soldiers rearrange

I think the best way to end a Chakravyuh is not entering it, the key aspect is to decrease the density of it, I mean try killing people from outside and there won't be soldiers to rearrange in form of a circle then you can do the same to next circle

Entering it seems possible for someone like Arjun who can kill multiple people at one time

Originally posted by: proteeti

There was trick to enter into this vyuha without getting killed. That was not revealed in MB at all. 😳

However, here's an interpretation of the vyuh by Dr Ramanand Sagar:

I don't understand what would anyone achieve by entering it, if it was a machine which could be turned off at the middle, I could understand someone going inside to switch it off or something which happened on day 14 with Arjun's target Jayadratha being in the middle

What was Abhimanyu trying to do by entering it?

Originally posted by: NoraSM

Abhimanyu didn't enter from the opening, He killed two people on the side to make a gap and enter before soldiers rearrange

Yup, that I think is indicated by the green arrow.

I think the best way to end a Chakravyuh is not entering it, the key aspect is to decrease the density of it, I mean try killing people from outside and there won't be soldiers to rearrange in form of a circle then you can do the same to next circle

Here one potential problem that can arise is the sheer number. There's only so many people you can kill in a given length of time. Both Pandava and Kaurava armies were beyond this number and hence for Rathis like YBNS, it wasn't physically possible for them to break it this was.

Entering it seems possible for someone like Arjun who can kill multiple people at one time

Yes. 😳

Originally posted by: NoraSM

I don't understand what would anyone achieve by entering it, if it was a machine which could be turned off at the middle, I could understand someone going inside to switch it off or something which happened on day 14 with Arjun's target Jayadratha being in the middle

What was Abhimanyu trying to do by entering it?

All the warriors were inside the vyuh in various places. The only way to access those people (who were so far and so much separated from enemies) was archery (par-excellence level) and no one but Arjun was capable of doing that and he was whisked off away from the whole structure.

YBNS needed Abhi to break in and either make the vyuh structure smaller or to lure the warriors out. The proposal to follow Abhi was to get closer to these people.

Originally posted by: proteeti

Most people of Kaurava army were inside the vyuh hence restricted to some extent, Pandavas could have moved like an envelope to it in layers, This one is difficult to form as they already had a vyuh in place which could destroy every attempt of forming a layer.

They could have shot in form of a triangle with force increasing in each layer, First layer of mace fighters directly in contact with the vyuh, archers behind them to take down people in the back from a distance

Originally posted by: proteeti

All the warriors were inside the vyuh in various places. The only way to access those people (who were so far and so much separated from enemies) was archery (par-excellence level) and no one but Arjun was capable of doing that and he was whisked off away from the whole structure.

YBNS needed Abhi to break in and either make the vyuh structure smaller or to lure the warriors out. The proposal to follow Abhi was to get closer to these people.

I think Mahabharata writer made a Chakravyuh keeping warriors other than key players like Drona, Karna, Dusashana, Duryodhana etc constant. Vyuh would end if you focus on these soldiers, big ones had to be idiot, if the battle which I read actually took place between them and Abhimanyu

I think the replenishment of the broken layers was not internal. Rather there were benched soldiers sitting outside who ran to fill the outer gaps. This made entering the vyuha almost impossible.

But, in the inner circles, this replenishment was not possible, so the only way to break this vyuh was to enter and then start killing in a spiral manner, but keep the outer layer intact so benched soldiers cannot join in.

Originally posted by: NoraSM

I think Mahabharata writer made a Chakravyuh keeping warriors other than key players like Drona, Karna, Dusashana, Duryodhana etc constant. Vyuh would end if you focus on these soldiers, big ones had to be idiot, if the battle which I read actually took place between them and Abhimanyu

Big ones were inside hence not directly accessible I think. Someone had to enter to ensure they are reached to. On the other had the top Kauravas from inside were constantly targeting the Pandava army

The Chakravyu is not clearly defined in detay either. Probably it was something we aren't able to decipher