The Sun That Set

On the evening of the thirteenth day, when Arjuna learned that his son Abhimanyu had been slain - trapped in the Chakravyuha while Jayadratha, king of Sindhu, held the gate against his rescuers - his grief turned to a terrible oath. Before all the host he swore: 'Tomorrow, before the sun sets, I shall slay Jayadratha, who sealed my son's doom; and if I fail to kill him by sunset, I shall enter the fire and end my own life.' So Arjuna bound himself by a dreadful vow that staked his very life upon a single day's deed.

When the Kauravas heard of this vow, they resolved to save Jayadratha by simply keeping Arjuna from reaching him until the sun went down; for if Arjuna failed, he would die by his own oath, and the Pandavas would lose their greatest warrior. So Drona arrayed the whole vast Kaurava army to shield Jayadratha, placing him far at the rear behind layer upon layer of the mightiest warriors and the deepest formations, with orders to hold Arjuna off for a single day. Jayadratha himself, terrified, wished to flee; but Drona and Duryodhana assured him that the whole army would stand between him and Arjuna, and that he had only to survive until sunset. So the fourteenth day dawned upon a single, desperate question: could Arjuna cut through an entire army to reach one hidden man before the sun should set?