Karna is on the banks of a river performing his early morning puja. Draupadi comes there and mocks him about his valor. She says that Karna is afraid of facing Arjuna in the war and that is why he feigned a fight with Bhishma to escape confronting Arjuna. His cowardice has proved her right in refusing to let Karna participate in her Swayamvara on grounds that he is a sutaputra. Draupadi incites Karna thus and leaves him fuming.
The Kaurava army has arranged their forces in Urmi vuyha. This formation resembles ocean’s waves like the mandala vyuha, but in reverse. In reply to this, the Pandavas use Shringataka vyuha.
Meseengers inform Kunti and Vidura's wife Sulabha about Bhima's eploits. Kunti is happy for a minute but thinks of the agony that Gandhari would be experiencing. She goes to meet Gandhari and offers her condolences, but cannot quell the grief of the bereaved parents. Dhritashtra thanks Kunti but says that they have to learn to deal with their own deplorable condition.
Duryodhana's anger knows no bounds to see his brothers' corpses. Karna commiserates with his friend's state and states that he is ready to fight as 'ardharathi' as stipulated by Bhishma. As usual, Duryodhana shoots out a barrage of abuses on Bhishma. He says Bhishma's oath as a defender of Kuru dyanasty and his vow of Brahmacharya is a deception. This stings Bhishma so much that he swears to kill Pandavas, breaching his own vow of not killing them, with the condition that Karna will not participate in the war. With the power of his life-long Brahmacharya, he invokes a special astra to kill the Pandavas. He explains to them that Pandavas were not ordinary human beings, but they are the offsprings of celestials. Duryodhana is extremely happy, but Bhishma calls him a double-tongued serpent.
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