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The number eighteen is specially significant so far as the epic Mahabharatam is concerned.
 The Kurukshetra war between the cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, lasted eighteen days, in which eighteen 'Akshauhinis' (armies), eleven of the Kauravas and seven of the
Pandavas, fought.
One 'Akshauhini' implies an army of 21,870 chariots (plus as many rider-warriors and charioteers), 65,610 horses (plus horsemen) and 1,09,350 soldiers (warriors on foot: bowmen, swordsmen, mace-wielders, etc.) A quick calculation would give you the total figure of participants (including horses, elephants, other helpers, medical attendants, cleaners etc.), as approximately five million (fifty lakhs), an astronomical figure for those days! Only about a dozen survived the war: the five Pandavas, Aswatthama, Kripa, Kritavarma, Satyaki, Sri Krishna and one or two others!
The Contributors
The epic gives details of the contributing rulers: On the Pandava side, Dhristaketu, the king of Chedi, Jayatsena (son of Jarasandha, who was killed by Bheemasena about fifteen years earlier) of Magadha, the Kekaya ruler, Drupada, the father-in-law of the Pandavas, Virata, the Matsya king, the Pandyan king, and the ruler of Mahishmati brought one Akshauhini each.
For the Kauravas, the supporters were Bhagadatta (the son of Narakasura), Salya of Madra (uncle of the Pandavas who was, unwittingly, a victim of a clever, trick masterminded by Duryodhana), Bhoonisravas, Kritavarma, Jayadrata (the brother-in-law of the Kaurava brothers one hundred), Sudakshina, the Kambhoja king and
Anuvinda, the Avanti brothers, and some others brought one Akshauhini each accounting for a total of eleven.
Greater Numbers
 Numerically, the Kauravas had greater strength. The one vital difference between the two armies was that Sri Krishna, the Lord, was with the Pandavas and that mattered most! Sanjaya, the advisor to King Dhritarashtra says, just before the battle began, "It is my considered and well-founded judgement that where there is Lord Krishna to bless the foremost archer Arjuna, there will be eventual, eternal
all round victory!" - Yatra Yogesvara Krishno (Supreme Master Performer) Yatra Paartho (Arjuna, son of Prita: Kunti) Dhanurdharah Tatra Shreervijayo (prosperity, victory, happiness and firm policy) Bhootirdhruvaa Neetirmatirmama (Bh. Gita: ch.18: last verse: no.78).
Coming back to number 18, the Bhagavad Gita, the song of Lord Krishna, has eighteen chapters. The war itself lasted eighteen days. The epic has eighteen chapters (Parvas) too! If you add the two digits in 18, that is one and eight, you get the mystique number nine. Dharmaputra ruled for 36 years after the war, and these two digits, three and six, when added, give again the number nine! And, most importantly, Lord Sri Krishna helped the Pandavas in eighteen different, meaningful ways, blessedly so, which won for them all their cherished goals, as we shall see!
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