Character Sketch + info of Mahabharat - Page 4

Originally posted by: soni595

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Originally posted by: set_raj

Combatants
Pandavas led by Dhristadyumna	Kauravas led by Bhishma
Commanders
Arjuna Bhima Yudhishthira Nakula Sahadeva	Bhishma Drona Karna Duryodhana Ashwatthama
Strength
7 Akshauhinis 1,530,900 soldiers	11 Akshauhinis 2,405,700 soldiers
Casualties
Almost Total Only 7 survivors - the five Pandavas, Krishna, and Satyaki	Almost Total Only 3 survivors - Ashwatthama, Kripa, and Kritavarma

The Kurukshetra War

Army divisions and weaponry

Each army consisted of several divisions; the Kauravas had 11 while the Pandavas controlled 7. A division (akshauhini) includes 21,870 chariots and chariot-riders, 21,870 elephants and riders, 65,610 horses and riders, and 109,350 foot-soldiers (in a ratio of 1:1:3:5). The combined number of warriors and soldiers in both armies was approximately 3.94 million.^[3] Each Akshohini was under a commander or a general, apart from the Commander in chief or the generalissimo who was the head of the entire army. It should be noted also that in each of these large number groups (65,610, etc.), the digits add up to 18, making this a very significant number in the text. This number 18 is not only the number of days that the great war lasted, but it's also the total number of divisions fighting (7 Pandava divisions and 11 Kaurava divisions) and the number of total chapters in the Bhagavat Gita.

During the Kurukshetra War, several weapons were used. The weapons, and their most notable users, included the Bow and arrows, the weapon of choice for Arjuna, Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Abhimanyu, the Mace, chosen by Bhima and Duryodhana apart from the Spear and the Dagger / Sword.

If the text is taken as historically accurate, this war was the bloodiest war in history as most of the warriors and soldiers perished during the brief period of only eighteen days. Arjuna, in a fit of extreme anger over the death of his son Abhimanyu, alone killed one akshauhini of Kaurava soldiers in a single day. The war left an extremely large number of widows and orphans and led to an economic depression and beginning of Kali Yuga.