The Palace of Illusions

The Pandavas arrive in Kurukshetra where the battle between them and Duryodhan will take place. Panchaali is ready for the fight, and she notes, “that day of vindication had finally arrived” (245). She and the other wives go to view the battlefield. Arjun explains that it will be a “civilized war” because the fighting will begin at sunrise, end at sunset, and no women will be harmed (250).

Vyasa appears to Panchaali and reveals that he is father to both Dhritarashtra and Pandu. He grants her the ability to have visions of the war’s most important events. Vyasa also says that he knows how the war will turn out, but he does not reveal this outcome.

That night, Panchaali sees her sons, whom she has only spoken to a few times in the past 13 years. Later, a woman sees Panchaali and flees, making a sign to protect herself against the evil eye.

Each day of battle, Panchaali climbs a hill and falls into a trance. During this time, she cannot eat and only drinks water. She glimpses parts of the war as if they were occurring near to her. She sees some of the main fighters, like Bheeshma and Duryodhan, and her own father fighting his enemy, Drona. At one point, she sees Arjun weeping before he begins to fight. He is “paralyzed by guilt on seeing the kinsmen he’d have to kill in order to achieve victory” (263). Krishna counsels him and encourages him to move forward. Arjun later reports that Krishna appears to him in the form of a god, though Panchaali does not see this. During her trances, she cannot see Karna, who has not yet joined the battle. 

The battles wages on. Bheeshma dominates, “killing thousands single-handedly” (269). On the ninth day, Arjun faces Bheeshma and is unable to fight his grandfather. Krishna tries to intervene, but Arjun promises to fight him the next day.

That evening, Arjun goes to Bheeshma’s tent to ask how he can be killed. Sikhandi challenges Bheeshma, who says he cannot fight him and lays down his weapons. Arjun shoots Bheeshma with arrows; Bheeshma lays on the battlefield and does not die for a while.

Panchaali goes to visit Bheeshma to ask him how he could have allowed her to be humiliated by Duryhodhan. Karna is already with Bheeshma when she arrives, so Panchaali hides and listens to their conversation.

Karna asks Bheeshma for forgiveness, and Bheeshma grants it. Additionally, Karna reveals that he is the son of Kunti and the sun god. He also claims that Kunti set him adrift on the river Ganga as a young mother after she tested out the gods’ boon. He admits that he was the one who came up with the idea of removing Panchaali’s clothes to humiliate her. Despite this, he has always desired Panchaali.

Bheeshma reveals that in his past life he was a demigod named Prabhasa, one of the eight Vasus. His wife wanted a special wish-fulfilling cow that was owned by the sage Vasistha. Bheeshma steals it, and Vasistha curses him and all his brothers, saying that they must be born as mortals.   

Panchaali leaves without asking her question. That evening, she sees Kunti and feels empathy for her. She rubs balm on her mother-in-law’s aching joints.

Drona takes Bheeshma’s place, and he “rides the beast of war,” spurring the Kauravas on (282). Arjun tells a story about Drona from the past. Once, when Arjun studied with him, Drona took all the princes into the forest to hunt. There, they encounter Ekalavya, who is even more skilled at archery than Arjun. Previously, Ekalavya had tried to study with Drona but was turned away, so he studied on his own after praying to a clay sculpture of Drona. Ekalavya is required to give up his right thumb to ensure that Arjun will once again be the most talented archer.

Karna kills Bheem’s son, Ghatotkacha, with Shakti, even though he had been saving the weapon for Arjun. Drona tries to capture Yudhisthir and advances a special lotus formation. Abhimanyu is the only one who can break it, but he does not know how to get out of it. The Kauravas kill Abhimanyu.

The battle gets more desperate, and both the Kauravas and Pandavas “swerved from honor when it was expedient, attacking the unarmed and maimed” (291). Drona kills Drupad as well as Drhi’s three sons. In retribution, Dhri beheads Drona.

Karna assumes leadership of the Kauravas’ army, and he makes sure that the army adheres to the proper rules. Seventeen days later, Karna faces Arjun, and Panchaali states, “It would only end when one of them died” (294). They engage in a duel, calling down astras to fight each other. When it is almost sunset, Karna stoops down to remove the wheel of his chariot from the ground. Arjun kills him in this compromised state at the urging of Krishna. A “divine glow” emerges from Karna’s body and stops next to Panchaali before dissipating (297).