01The last commander
Kripa urged Duryodhana to make peace on the night Karna fell. Duryodhana would not. At Ashvatthama’s word he anointed Shalya of Madra as commander for the eighteenth day. The Kaurava army that morning was a remnant of the eleven akshauhinis it had been. Yudhishthira, the gentlest of the five, went out against Shalya himself, as Krishna advised. Near midday he hurled a great spear, and Shalya fell, his arms spread as if to embrace the earth.
02Shakuni’s end
After Shalya, the Kaurava ranks broke. Sahadeva, the youngest, had sworn in the dice hall to kill Shakuni, the man whose loaded dice had sent them all into the forest. He first slew Shakuni’s son Uluka. Then he found the king of Gandhara, still on his horse and fighting, and with a broad arrow cut off his head. Of the whole Kaurava host only Duryodhana, Kripa, Kritavarma and Ashvatthama were left alive. Sanjaya, taken captive by Satyaki, was freed at the word of Vyasa.
03The lake Dvaipayana
Duryodhana, alone, wounded, with only his mace, walked away from the field to a lake called Dvaipayana. He went into it and by his power of maya held the water still above him. Some hunters who brought meat to Bhima’s kitchen had heard the three surviving warriors speak with him there, and told the Pandavas. They came to the shore. Yudhishthira called on him to come out and fight like a kshatriya, and offered him a fair duel: one of the five, any weapon he chose, and the kingdom if he won.
04Balarama’s tirtha-yatra
Balarama had loved both Bhima and Duryodhana as pupils of the mace, and would fight for neither side. Before the war he set out on a pilgrimage along the Sarasvati. The Shalya Parva walks with him from tirtha to tirtha down the river, telling the katha of each: where Soma was freed from his wasting, where the rishis did tapas, ending at Samantapanchaka, the Kurukshetra of the sacred texts. He came back on the last day, forty-two days after he had left, in time to see his two pupils meet.
05The mace duel
Duryodhana chose Bhima and the mace. At Balarama’s word they moved to Samantapanchaka and fought there. Duryodhana was the finer hand with the mace, and for a long time Bhima could not get the better of him. Krishna told Arjuna that Bhima had sworn in the dice hall to break the thigh Duryodhana had bared to Draupadi. Arjuna struck his own thigh where Bhima could see. When Duryodhana leapt, Bhima swung low and broke both his thighs. Then, in the heat of victory, Bhima set his foot on the fallen king’s head, and Yudhishthira rebuked him.
06Balarama’s anger, Duryodhana’s boast
To strike below the navel was against the rules of the mace. Balarama raised his plough and ran at Bhima. Krishna held him back and reminded him of Bhima’s vow and of the Kali Yuga now at hand. Balarama would not be satisfied; he called Bhima a crooked fighter and left for Dvaraka. Duryodhana, lying broken, reproached Krishna for every trick of the war. He said he had studied, given gifts, ruled the earth to the sea and stood on his enemies’ heads, and asked who had a better end than he. Flowers fell on him from the sky.
07Ashvatthama is anointed
Krishna went to Hastinapura that evening to console Gandhari before her grief turned into a curse. He reminded her that in the assembly she had told Duryodhana: where there is dharma, there is victory. On the field, Kripa, Kritavarma and Ashvatthama found Duryodhana dying in the dusk. Ashvatthama swore he would send all the Panchalas to Yama’s house that very night. Duryodhana asked Kripa for a pot of water and had Ashvatthama anointed commander of an army of three.
Famous verses
अधीतं विधिवद्दत्तं भूः प्रशास्ता ससागरा । मूर्ध्नि स्थितममित्राणां को नु स्वन्ततरो मया ॥
I have studied as the rule prescribes, I have given gifts, I have ruled the earth with its seas, I have stood on the heads of my foes. Who has had a better end than I?Mahabharata 9.60.47 (BORI CE)