Kaurava warrior prince Bhurishravas attempted to give up his body through yoga, on battlefield in Mahabharata war after shameful act against fallen foe and then losing his arm

This event happened on the 14th day of Mahabharata war. After the fall of Bheeshma, from the 10th day onwards, Drona was the chief commander of the Kauravas, and under Drona's leadership the Kauravas were flouting the rules of Dharma in the war. Abhimanyu's killing on the 13th day of the war by trapping him in the Chakravyuhu and then being attacked by many Kaurava warriors together, was a prime example of how the Mahabharata war had turned savage with rules of war being flouted, after the 10th day.

Arjuna, father of Abhimanyu, had taken an oath to kill Jayadratha who was the key Kaurava warrior who had blocked the other Pandavas from following Abhimanyu into the Chakravyuhu, thereby isolating Abhimanyu within the Chakravyuhu which was full of Kaurava warriors. The oath was that he would kill Jayadratha by sundown on the next day, 14th day, or else Arjuna would give up his life.

The Kaurava plan was to protect Jayadratha on the 14th day and that if they succeeded in protecting Jayadratha, Arjuna will give up his life, after which the Kauravas would easily win the war.

Satyaki, who was from Krishna's clan of the Vrishnis, and a disciple of Arjuna, follows Arjuna deep into the Kaurava ranks, as Arjuna is trying hard to reach Jayadratha. In course of that, Satyaki is challenged to a duel by Bhurishravas. Note that there was family enmity between Satyaki and Bhurishravas with Bhurishravas waiting for an opportunity to take revenge for an insult against his father, Somadatta, by Satyaki's grandfather, Sini.

Bhurishravas defeats Satyaki with Satyaki falling on the ground unconscious. Then Bhurishravas takes revenge for the insult against his father by placing his feet on the chest of the unconscious Satyaki and dragging him by the hair (Bhurishravas' father Somadatta was insulted in a similar way by Satyaki's grandfather, Sini). This act of Bhurishravas is viewed as an outrage by many others in the war, including many Kauravas, as Satyaki was unconscious and not in a position to defend himself.

Then Bhurishravas takes his sword and gets ready to cut off unconscious Satyaki's head. Arjuna who has been watching this, shoots an arrow that cuts off the arm of Bhurishravas holding the sword.

Bhurishravas condemns Arjuna for attacking him without warning! Arjuna condemns him and other Kauravas for the way they killed Abhimanyu, and also condemns him for attempting to kill Satyaki when he was unconscious.

Bhurishravas acknowledges the truth of Arjuna's words by lifting his other hand, and bends his head down in shame. Kamala Subramaniam writes in her Mahabharata book on page 643, "He (Bhurishravas) had no more wish to live. He spread kusa grass on the ground and sat on it prepared to abandon his body by yoga. The army was breathlessly watching the immense drama that was being enacted. The great Bhoorisravas (Bhurishravas) had renounced the world and had decided to die."

Ravi: Death through yoga on the Kurukshetra battlefield! Very interesting!

But Bhurishravas did not die that way. Satyaki regained consciousness and cut off Bhurishravas' head with a sword when Bhurishravas was defenceless, had lost an arm, had withdrawn from battle and was focusing his mind on the "other world" (after-death world). This act again was viewed as an outrage by most warriors of both sides, and was viewed as a great blemish on the otherwise great reputation of the warrior prince Satyaki.

Readers may also want to read the following related articles:

*) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhurishravas

*) SATYAKI AND BHOORISRAVAS, https://erenow.net/common/the-mahabharata-a-modern-rendering-vol-2/67.php

*) http://www.mahabharataonline.com/rajaji/mahabharata_summary_89.php