The day of the war had arrived. The army of Matangpur was at the borders of Pratapnagar. Rudradev was sitting on the back of his black horse named Pavan. The armour and the weapons were his ornaments and the 'tilak' on his forehead was his crown of blessings.

The royal palace of Pratapnagar :

"Jyeshth, what shall we do now? Matangpur has attacked us all of a sudden. We could not even prepare for the war.", a man who was not older than twenty three years, said to the king, who was also his brother. Anushrava, the king of Pratapnagar said,"Udbhava, when did you start worrying about your own life? Are you not the same man who had challenged a wild elephant when he was fifteen years old?"

Udbhava got angry. He said sternly,"Jyeshth, do you think that it is the time for jokes? What has happened to you? Are you not in your senses? The enemy is at our doorstep." Anushrava placed his hands on his frustrated brother's shoulders and said to him,"Udbhava, is our life not a joke? We had been preparing to attack Matangpur since last year. But they attacked us suddenly before we could complete our preparations. Why are you scared? Have you already accepted defeat? Remember! A war is fought in the mind before it is fought in the battlefield. If you lose the war in your mind, then you will surely face defeat in the battlefield. Go and prepare the army. If they have attacked us, we will defend our kingdom even more efficiently." Udbhava nodded his head and left.

Anushrava entered the queen's chamber to meet her. He saw her sitting absent mindedly.
He approached her.

Anushrava placed his hand on her head and said,"Vadaba, will you not perform the 'arti' today?" Vadaba looked at him. There were tears in her eyes. She hugged him and said,"Swami, I am in a dilemma. Being the  daughter of a Kshtriya, I am supposed to hand you the sword and send you to the war. But the wife of Anushrava is not allowing me to do so. She is worried about her husband. For her, this kingdom and luxuries mean nothing. She will be satisfied to sleep on the ground and eat  from an earthen plate, if she has her husband beside her. Swami, I do not want anything. I do not want this palace. I want you beside me. I want to die in your arms."

Anushrava wiped the tears of his weeping wife. He said to her,"Vadaba, that husband of yours is also the king of Pratapnagar. He has vowed to protect the pride of his kingdom. I have to go. Do not build walls of tears for me. Allow me to go."

Vadaba performed the 'arti'. Anushrava looked at her face for the last time before leaving.

Vadaba handed the arti plate to a maid. As she saw her husband galloping away on the horseback, she said to herself,"Swami, please return to me. Swami, please return safe and sound."

The battlefield :

The army of Matangpur had chosen the Garuda Vyuha (battle formation). It was a battle formation which was shaped like Garuda.

Kirita, the commander-in-chief of the army occupied the beak of Garuda Vyuha which is the foremost position of this array. One of the eyes was occupied by a commander named Kanva and the other eye was occupied by Jayendra, the elder brother of Sambhava. The neck was formed by  war elephants. Rudradev and Sambhava were at the back of the Garuda Vyuha.

The army of Pratapnagar chose the Ardha Chandra Vyuha. It was a battle formation which was shaped like a crescent moon.

Udbhava was chosen to fight on the left horn and the commander-in-chief Kritavarma was chosen to fight on the right horn. Anushrava was stationed in the middle of the formation with some of his trusted commanders to protect him.

The army of Pratapnagar was much smaller than the army of Matangpur. So, they had chosen this formation.

The conch shells were blown and the war began.

The soldiers fought with all their might. Before the war had started, it seemed that Matangpur was going to win. But the truth seemed to be far from imagination. The army of Pratapnagar had caused heavy damage to Matangpur.

Udbhava was an able commander. He knew that Matangpur would bring elephants to the battlefield. So, he had already cautioned his soldiers. The soldiers of Pratapnagar, carefully took pots filled with fire. Some others, took firelit torches. When the elephants saw the fire, they panicked. The decision to bring elephants to the battlefield proved disastrous when those elephants started attacking the soldiers of Matangpur. The mahouts were unable to calm down the elephants. Taking advantage of this situation, the soldiers of Pratapnagar attacked the elephants with spears. Within a short span of time, all the elephants dropped dead.

Rudradev was shocked. Never in his life, he had heard of something like that. He had to think something fast. He said to Sambhava,"Go to Senapati Kirita and tell him that it is the time to execute the other plan. If we do not execute it now, we will have to regret." Hearing his words, Sambhava smirked and galloped towards Kirita.

Sambhava returned after delivering Rudradev's message to Kirita. Rudradev and all the other commanders signalled their forces. Within no time, the army of Matangpur broke away from the Vyuha and scattered across the battlefield. By now, Pratapnagar's army was attacking Matangpur's army in a definite order. But this sudden action surprised them.

With another signal, the army of Matangpur surrounded the army of Pratapnagar. Then on Rudradev's command, all of them started to attack the soldiers of Pratapnagar. The soldiers of Pratapnagar were not prepared for this.

Another troop of soldiers arrived at the battlefield. This troop of soldiers was instructed to hide and arrive on the battlefield only after being called. Rudradev led this troop and attacked from the side where the shield was the weakest.

Rudradev's concentration was on Udbhava. He was the most able commander of that army. Killing him would demoralise their army. Instead of engaging in a duel, he took a spear from a soldier and shot it at Udbhava's direction. Udbhava was engaged in a fight. Even before he could see the spear coming towards him, it had pierced his chest. Udbhava died on the spot.

Anushrava got down from his horse and ran towards his brother. He was devastated on seeing his brother lying dead on the ground. The fire of fury was fueled by the thirst of revenge. He mounted on his horse and attacked the enemies. Whoever appeared before him, met his death.

Anushrava was stopped by Jayendra. Anushrava engaged in a duel with him. Jayendra wounded Anushrava's hand with his sword. Anushrava got angry and pushed him. Jayendra fell from his horse. His head started bleeding. Anushrava got down from his horse. He lifted his sword and ended Jayendra's life.

Anushrava was behaving like a wounded lion. He was not able to see anything or judge anything. He just wanted to kill. He ran towards Rudradev. Rudradev got down from his horse and engaged in a duel with him. Anushrava was attacking Rudradev furiously. Rudradev just defended himself. After attacking Rudradev for a long time, Anushrava got tired. Rudradev had been waiting for this moment.

A man blind with fury often wastes his energy on unnecessary things.

Rudradev punched Anushrava's nose. He could not stop the blow. Anushrava's nose started bleeding. Rudradev punched him a few more times. Anushrava started losing his balance. At that moment, Rudradev lifted his sword and decapitated him.