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A list of short descriptions of some of the characters and stories:
* [[w:Karna|Karna]], the noble warrior whose immense powers failed him during the battle because of the two curses laiden upon him by his Guru and a Sage.
* [[w:Bhishma|Bhishma]], the grandsire who had renounced his kingdom and become celibate for the sake of his father's love of a fisherman's foster daughter, and had the gods' boon to choose his time of death. He ended up dying on a bed of arrows laid by his most favorite [[w:Arjuna|Arjuna]], the Pandava brother whose army had fought against Bhishma's side.
*[[w:Bhima|Bhima]] is one of the five Pandava brothers whose strength, size, and loyalty is legendary.
*[[w:Yudishtira|Yudishtira]], the eldest [[w:Pandava|Pandava]], is known never to have told a single lie in his life, and was known as [[w:Dharmaputra|Dharmaputra]], because he was born to [[w:Kunti|Kunti]] by the grace of [[w:Yama|Yama]], the God of Death, who is also known as [[w:Dharmaraja|Dharmaraja]], or the God of Righteousness. Nearing the final days of the war, [[Drona]], a general of fabulous power was wreaking havoc amongst the Pandava ranks. None could defeat him. [[Duryodhana]] repeatedly kept accusing his Commander-in-chief, Drona, that he was not fighting at his best because of his love for the Pandavas. Irked by these accusations, Drona, who had then been fighting within the rules of a [[w:Dharmayuddha|Dharmayuddha]] or righteous war, using fair means, started using unfair means - he started using celestial/divine weapons on ordinary soldiers. <br>In desperation, a plan was hatched to inform Drona that his son [[w:Asswatthama|Asswatthama]] had been killed. [[w:Krishna|Krishna]], the author of the plan reasoned that Drona would lose the will to live on hearing this terrible news and would throw down his weapons. <br> Bhima, one of the Pandava brothers, brought his mace down on the head of a huge war elephant called Asswatthama and it fell dead. Going near the division commanded by Drona, he roared, "I have killed Asswatthama!"<br> Drona on hearing these words asked Yudhishtira if this was true, thinking that Yudhishtira would not utter an untruth, even for the kingship of the three worlds. Yudhishtira stood trembling in horror of what he was about to do, but within himself also was the desire to win. "Let it be my sin", he said to himself and hardened his heart and said aloud: "Yes, it is true that Asswatthama has been killed." But, as he was saying it, he felt again the disgrace of it and added in a low and tremulous voice, "Asswatthama, the elephant" - words which were however drowned in the din and unheard by Drona.<br> When the words of untruth came out of Yudhishtira's mouth, the wheels of his chariot, which until then always stood and moved four inches above the ground, came down and touched the common road of mankind. [[w:Yudishtira|Yudishtira]] is commonly known in India as the paragon of integrity, fallen for his one lapse.<br> Drona on hearing that his son had been slain sat on the floor of his chariot in yogic meditation. At this moment, [[w:Dhrishtadyumna|Dhrishtadyumna]] (Brother-in-law of the Pandavas) climbed into the chariot with drawn sword and heedless of the cries of horror and deprecation from all around, fulfilled his destiny as the slayer of Drona by sweeping off the old warriors head. And the soul of the son of [[w:Bharadwaja|Bharadwaja]] issued out in a visible blaze of light and mounted heavenwards. - ''Paraphrased from C Rajagopalachari's translation of the Mahabharata''
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