#7 Bhishma Parvan: Fixed Effect of a Phoney War

The Bhishma Parva is the sixth book of the Mahabharata, and it covers the beginning of the Kurukshetra war — including the first ten days when Bhishma is commander of the Kaurava army. This is also the parva where the Bhagavad Gita is delivered to Arjuna on the battlefield.

Your phrase “Fixed Effect of a Phoney War” is an interesting way to describe it — it can refer to how, despite a massive war effort, the initial phase (under Bhishma’s command) feels restrained. Bhishma fights with a vow not to kill the Pandavas outright, and both sides follow certain ethical limits (no fighting at night, no attacking non-combatants). This creates the sense of a measured or incomplete war — a kind of “phoney war” where the full destructive potential has not yet been unleashed.