When Arjuna saw Bhima attacked by King Bhagadatta's elephant army, he ordered Krishna to drive his chariot into the fray.

As soon as Bhagadatta saw them coming, he unleashed a terrible weapon: a Vishnu-astra. Before Arjuna could shoot an arrow in defense, Krishna leaped up and the Vishnu-astra struck him in the chest.

It turned into a garland of flowers.

Krishna then explained. "Bhagadatta received that astra from Bhudevi, the earth-goddess, and she received it from Vishnu when, in the form of the boar Varaha, I pulled her from the sea. I created that astra; only I could stop it."

Bhima's son Ghatotkacha led his rakshasas in an assault on the Kauravas. Using their powers of illusion and supernatural weapons, the terrifying rakshasas routed the Kauravas.

"Save us, Karna!" Drona shouted. "Use the Shakti-spear to kill Ghatotkacha."

"But I can use that spear only once," Karna protested; he had planned to use it against Arjuna.

"Use it now!" Drona ordered.

So Karna launched his celestial spear at Ghatotkacha. Fatally wounded, Ghatotkacha rose in the air, expanded in size, and then hurtled down to the ground, crushing thousands of Kaurava soldiers as he fell.

Thus died Ghatotkacha, Bhima's devoted rakshasa son.

"We must stop Drona," Krishna advised the Pandavas. "We'll tell him that his son Ashwatthama is dead. He'll lose the will to fight, and then we will kill him."

"But who will do these terrible things?" Yudhishthira groaned. "Who will lie to Drona, and who will kill him?"

"You always tell the truth, Yudhishthira," answered Arjuna, "so you must be the one to tell Drona about Ashwatthama, and Dhrishtadyumna will kill him."

Arjuna wept as he contemplated Drona's death.

Bhima, meanwhile, grabbed his mace and felled an elephant. "That elephant was named Ashwatthama," he declared. "It's true: Ashwatthama is dead."

Bhima shouted, "Listen to me, Drona: I have killed Ashwatthama!"

Drona could not believe what Bhima was saying. "Yudhishthira!" Drona shouted. "You have never told a lie. Tell me truly: is Ashwatthama really dead?"

"Ashwatthama is dead!" Yudhishthira shouted, loud enough for Drona to hear him. And then he whispered, "Ashwatthama the elephant."

Drona, casting aside his weapons and armor, sank down in a trance of despair.

Drupada's son Dhrishtadyumna then raced towards Drona and cut off his head with his sword, fulfilling the purpose for which he had been born.

Ashwatthama, however, was very much alive and vowed revenge.

When Ashwatthama learned his father was dead, he unleashed the Narayana-astra, which spewed deadly fire across the sky.

"It will kill us all!" shouted Yudhishthira.

"Don't be afraid," said Krishna. "Bow down to this weapon, and it will spare you. Do not fight; be at peace."

Bhima, however, did not listen; instead, he ran towards Ashwatthama, brandishing his mace. The astra's fire then focused on Bhima, but Krishna and Arjuna intervened, throwing Bhima to the ground and wrenching the mace from his hand.

"This astra won't attack an unarmed man," Krishna explained, and as he spoke, the astra's fire subsided.

When Duryodhana saw that Ashwatthama's Narayana-astra had failed, he shouted, "Launch another! When they see the astra attack them a second time, they will take up their weapons and its fire will consume them."

"I cannot," said Ashwatthama sadly. "The Narayana-astra can be used only once. If I launch it again, the astra will turn back and attack us instead."

"But you must avenge your father's death!" said Duryodhana.

Ashwatthama nodded. "The Pandavas will pay," he vowed, his voice shaking with anger. "Before this war is over, I will make them pay in blood for taking my father from me."

Bhima found Dushasana at last. "Do you remember my vow, cousin?" Bhima shouted, brandishing his sword.

Dushasana did remember Bhima's vow and fled in terror, but Bhima grabbed him and pulled him to the ground.

"Is this the hand that held Draupadi by the hair? The hand that pulled off her sari?" Bhima shouted, as he tore Dushasana's arm off and threw it across the battlefield, where it struck Duryodhana in the face.

Then Bhima bent down and drank Dushasana's blood, fulfilling his vow.

Next, he summoned Draupadi, who washed her hair in Dushasana's blood, just as she had vowed.

The time had finally come: Karna and Arjuna were going to fight.

Karna had long waited for this moment, and so had the naga Ashwasena. When Khandava forest burned, Arjuna killed all the nagas fleeing the fire. Ashwasena alone survived, and he now turned himself into a serpent-arrow inside Karna's quiver, ready to kill Arjuna.

But when Karna fired at Arjuna's head, Krishna lowered Arjuna's chariot. The serpent-arrow knocked off Arjuna's crown; it did not hit him.

When Ashwasena begged Karna to try again, Karna refused. "I cannot use the same arrow twice. I must kill Arjuna some other way!"

As Karna battled with Arjuna, Shalya, Karna's charioteer, said, "I see you're feeling anxious, understandably. Arjuna is a great warrior."

"You are my charioteer!" Karna shouted angrily. "Not Arjuna's!"

But Shalya failed to offer Karna any encouragement.

The duel went on and on as Arjuna and Karna fired arrows at one another, wheeling their chariots around to face each other again and again.

Then Karna's chariot got stuck in the mud. "Get out and free the wheel!" Karna told Shalya.

But Shalya refused. "That's no task for a king like me."

So Karna leaped down to free the wheel himself.

As Karna worked to free his chariot wheel, he shouted, "Arjuna! Krishna! You are honor-bound to let me fix my chariot."

"What kind of honor was it to humiliate Draupadi?" replied Krishna. "What honor was there in butchering Abhimanyu?"

Karna said nothing, still struggling to free the wheel.

Hearing Arjuna's chariot draw nearer, he decided to launch the Brahmastra. But suddenly he could not remember the mantra.

It was all just as Parashurama had foretold.

"Kill him!" Krishna shouted.

Arjuna hesitated, seeing Karna standing defenseless in the mud, but he obeyed Krishna's command.

Arjuna's arrow struck Karna and killed him.