THE Pandavas, proceeding according to plan, had closely followed Abhimanyu when he broke into the Kaurava formation, but Dhritarashtra's son-in-law Jayadratha, the gallant king of the Sindhus, swooped down upon the Pandavas with all hisforces and enabled the breach in the formation to be effectively and solidly closed up, so that the Pandavas found it impossible to force their way in.

Yudhishthira hurled a javelin and cut Jayadratha's bow, but, in an instant, the Saindhava took up another bow and sent unerring shafts at Dharmaputra.

Bhimasena's arrows made deadly work, crashing down the canopy and flagstaff of Jayadratha's car. But the Saindhava, was alert and re-armed himself, each time his equipment was broken. 'He killed Bhima's chariot horses, and the latter had to go into Satyaki's car.