In the Mahabharata, we hear the amazing story of Abimanyu, the son of Arjuna and Subadra, who hold his own when surrounded and simultaneously attacked by most of the senior Kaurava generals. Abimanyu was eventually defeated and killed, but only after several hours of fighting and after destroying a considerable part of the Kaurava army and killing several generals.

The reason for this sacrifice couldn’t be nobler. The Kauravas attacked with a especial formation called chakravyuha, where the army was organized in the form of an unstoppable chakra, that had the goal of penetrating in the Pandava army and killing or capturing king Yudhisthira. Arjuna was the only one who knew how to enter and leave the formation, but on this day he was lured to a distant part of the battlefield and was not there to counteract it.

Abimanyu had heard from his father how to enter the formation, but he didn’t know how to escape it. Bhima offered to cover his retreat, by following him and keeping the opening so he could exit the formation safely. After all agreed on the details, Abimanyu fought very valiantly on his chariot, breaking the formation open and attacking it from the inside. Bhima followed him accompanied with the other Pandavas (except Arjuna), but they were stopped by Jayadrata, who displayed unparalleled prowess and was able to defeat not only Bhima but all the four Pandavas in their attack. As a result, the chakravyuha closed behind Abimanyu and he started his heroic struggle.