Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (39 page)

‘“At that time, Drona, foremost among the wielders of weapons, confronted Drupada and pierced him with three terrible arrows. O
king! Having been thus pierced by Drona in the field of battle, King Drupada remembered his earlier enmity.
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O king! He fled. Having thus defeated Drupada, the powerful Drona blew on his conch shell. On hearing the sound of this conch shell, all the Somakas were frightened. The energetic Drona, supreme among the wielders of weapons, heard that your sons had become unconscious in battle because of the pramohana weapon. O king! In his anxiety, Drona swiftly went to that part of the battlefield. Bharadvaja’s powerful son, the great archer, saw Dhrishtadyumna and Bhima wandering around in that great field of battle. The maharatha saw that your sons were overcome by unconsciousness. He unleashed the weapon known as
prajna
, to counter the
mohana
weapon.
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Your maharatha sons again regained their breath of life. They returned to the battle against Bhima and Parshata.

‘“Yudhishthira summoned and addressed his own soldiers. ‘Let twelve brave rathas armour themselves. And with Subhadra’s son at the forefront, to the best of their ability, follow the footsteps of Bhima and Parshata in the battle. Let us find out what has happened to them. My mind is not at peace.’ Having been thus addressed, those brave and valiant warriors, all of whom prided themselves on their manliness, agreed and accepted what they had been asked to do. They departed together, when the sun had reached the midpoint in the sky. The Kekayas, Droupadi’s sons and the valiant Dhrishtaketu had Abhimanyu at the forefront and were surrounded by a large army.
²⁴⁴
In that battle, those destroyers of enemies arranged themselves in the vyuha known as
suchimukha
.
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In that battle, they broke through the ranks of chariots that belonged to the sons of Dhritarashtra. Those great archers advanced, with Abhimanyu at the forefront.
O lord of men! Your soldiers were terrified of Bhimasena and had lost their senses because of Dhrishtadyumna. They were incapable of resisting and were like a woman in the streets, who faces a person who is drunk. Those great archers advanced with standards that were decorated with gold. They advanced swiftly to protect Dhrishtadyumna and Vrikodara. On seeing the great archers, with Abhimanyu at the forefront, those two were delighted and began to slaughter your soldiers.

‘“Brave Parshata of Panchala suddenly saw his preceptor advancing towards him.
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He gave up the desire to kill your sons. He made Kekaya take Vrikodara up on his chariot and advanced in great rage against Drona, skilled in the use of weapons. At this, Bharadvaja’s powerful son, the destroyer of enemies, became angry and used a broad-headed arrow to slice down his bow. For the sake of Duryodhana’s welfare and remembering the food he had obtained from his master,
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he released hundreds of arrows towards Parshata. But Parshata, the destroyer of enemy heroes, took up another bow and pierced Drona with seventy gold-tufted arrows that had been sharpened on stone. Drona, the destroyer of enemies, sliced down his bow yet again. The valiant one then swiftly used four supreme arrows to despatch his four horses to Vaivasvata’s
²⁴⁸
eternal and terrible abode. He despatched another broad-headed arrow and killed his charioteer. With his horses killed, the mighty-armed maharatha descended from his chariot and climbed onto Abhimanyu’s great chariot. While Bhimasena looked on and while Parshata looked on, the infinitely energetic Drona shattered the forces and made their army of chariots, horses and elephants tremble. The assembled maharathas were powerless to counter this. Having been killed by Drona’s sharp arrows, those soldiers swayed, like a turbulent ocean. When they saw those soldiers in that state, your troops were delighted. They saw the enraged preceptor consume the ranks of the enemy. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All the warriors roared in applause.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Having regained his senses, King Duryodhana once again repulsed the undecaying Bhima with showers of arrows. Yet again, your maharatha sons united together. With raised weapons, they fought with Bhima in that battle. In that battle, Bhimasena again climbed onto his own chariot. The mighty-armed one went to the spot where your sons were. He grasped an extremely forceful, firm and colourful bow that was capable of slaying the enemy. In the battle, he pierced your sons with arrows. At this, King Duryodhana pierced the immensely strong Bhimasena in his vital parts with an extremely sharp iron arrow. Thus pierced by your archer son, the great archer’s eyes became red with rage. He forcefully drew his bow and wounded Duryodhana in the arms and the chest with three arrows. But despite being wounded, the king remained there, like an immobile king of mountains. All of Duryodhana’s brave younger brothers were ready to give up their lives. In the battle, they saw the two angry ones striking one another and remembered their earlier resolution of afflicting the one whose deeds were terrible. O great king! As they descended on him, the immensely strong Bhimasena rushed against them, like an elephant against other elephants. O great king! In great rage, the energetic one struck your immensely famous son, Chitrasena, with an iron arrow. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He also struck your other sons in that conflict, with many different kinds of arrows, gold-tufted and extremely fast.

‘“Those twelve maharathas, Abhimanyu and the others, had been sent by Dharmaraja to follow in Bhimasena’s footsteps. O great king! They advanced against your immensely strong sons. Those brave ones were stationed on chariots that were like the sun and the fire in their energy. All of them were great archers and blazed in their prosperity. On seeing them resplendent in that great battle, with shining and golden armour, your immensely strong sons gave up the fight with Bhima. But Kounteya was unable to tolerate the sight of their leaving alive. In that battle, Abhimanyu, accompanied by Bhimasena, attacked. On seeing them, and on seeing Parshata, your maharatha
soldiers, Duryodhana and the others, grasped their bows. Borne by fast horses, they went to the spot where those rathas were stationed. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In the afternoon, there was a terrible battle between the powerful ones on your side and on the side of the enemy. Abhimanyu killed Vikarna’s extremely swift horses. He then pierced him with twenty-five
kshudraka
²⁴⁹
arrows. O king! With his horses slain, maharatha Vikarna abandoned his chariot and climbed onto Chitrasena’s radiant chariot. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Stationed on a single chariot, those two brothers, the extenders of the Kuru lineage, enveloped Arjuna’s son with a net of arrows. Durjaya and Vikarna pierced Krishna’s son
²⁵⁰
with five iron arrows. However, Krishna’s son did not waver and was immobile, like Mount Meru. O venerable one! In that encounter, Duhshasana fought with the five from Kekaya. O Indra among kings! It was an extraordinary fight. Enraged in battle, Droupadi’s sons repulsed Duryodhana. O lord of the earth! Each of them pierced your son with three arrows. But your son was invincible in that battle with Droupadi’s sons. O king! He wounded each of them separately with sharp arrows. Pierced in return, he was covered in blood and was radiant. He was like a mountain, with streams mixed with minerals flowing down it.

‘“O king! In that battle, the powerful Bhishma killed the Pandava soldiers, like a herdsman driving large numbers of animals. O lord of the earth! The roar of Gandiva was heard then, as Partha began to slaughter the soldiers along the right flank. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, headless torsos stood up in every direction, amongst the soldiers of both the Kurus and the Pandavas. It was like an ocean of blood, with the chariots as the eddies. The elephants were the islands and the horses were the waves. The chariots were boats that tigers among men used to cross that ocean of soldiers. The best of men were without arms, without armour and without bodies. They were seen to fall down, in hundreds and thousands. Crazy elephants were slain, their bodies splattered with
blood. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! The earth seemed to be strewn with mountains. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! We witnessed an extraordinary sight, both among those on your side and theirs. There was no man there who did not wish to do battle. Thus did the brave ones fight, striving for great fame. Those on your side fought with the Pandavas, desiring victory in battle.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “The sun assumed a reddish tinge. Desiring victory and wishing to kill him, King Duryodhana attacked Bhima. On seeing that brave one amongst men, firm in his enmity, advance towards him, Bhimasena was extremely enraged and spoke these words. ‘I have desired this moment for many years and the time has now arrived. If you do not flee from the battle, I will kill you today. I will dispel the misery of Kunti today and the difficulties we faced during our exile in the forest. I will kill you and dispel Droupadi’s woes. At the time of gambling with the dice, you insulted the Pandavas. O Gandhari’s son! Witness the calamity that has befallen you because of your evil act. In earlier times, you relied on the views of Karna and Soubala. You did not think of the Pandavas and did as you wished. When Dasharha came as a supplicant,
²⁵¹
you disregarded him because of your delusion. In delight, you gave Uluka a message to deliver to us. I will kill you today, with your relatives and your kin. I will avenge all the evil deeds you have committed earlier.’ Having said this, he repeatedly stretched his terrible bow. He took up terrible arrows that were as radiant as the great vajra. In great anger, he swiftly shot twenty-six arrows at Suyodhana. They were flaming, with crests like fire, and they had tongues like the vajra. After that, he struck his bow with two and his charioteer with another two. With
four arrows, he despatched his
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swift horses to Yama’s abode. The scorcher of enemies then used two arrows that were released with great force. With these, he sliced down the king’s umbrella from his supreme chariot. With three more, he sliced down the flaming and supreme standard. Having sliced it down, while your son looked on, he emitted a loud roar. That handsome standard, decorated with many gems, fell down from the chariot. It suddenly fell down on the ground, like lightning from the clouds. It was resplendent like the sun and was beautiful with jewels. It was marked with the sign of an elephant. All the kings saw that the standard of the lord of the Kurus had been brought down. In that battle, as if he was smiling, Bhima then used ten arrows to slay his mighty elephant.

‘“At this, Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu, foremost among rathas, stationed himself on Duryodhana’s flank, supported by many good warriors. O king! Kripa, foremost among rathas, picked up the infinitely energetic Kouravya, the intolerant Duryodhana, on his own chariot. He had been deeply pierced and wounded in that battle with Bhimasena. O king! Duryodhana sat down on the floor of the chariot. Desiring to kill Bhima, Jayadratha surrounded him from all sides. There were many thousand chariots on all of Bhima’s directions. O king! Then Dhrishtaketu, the valiant Abhimanyu, the Kekayas and Droupadi’s sons fought with your sons.

‘“O king! The delicate and famous Abhimanyu’s chariot was surrounded from all directions by eight great archers—Chitrasena, Suchitra, Chitrashva, Chitradarshana, Charuchitra, Sucharu, Nanda and Upanandaka. But the great-souled Abhimanyu swiftly wounded each of them with five straight-tufted arrows. These were like the vajra, or like death itself, and were released from his colourful bow. All of them were unable to tolerate this. They showered down sharp arrows on the supreme chariot of Subhadra’s son, like clouds showering down on Mount Meru. Though he was skilled in weapons and invincible in battle, he was oppressed in that encounter. O great king! But Abhimanyu made all of them tremble, like the wielder of the vajra against the great asuras, in the battle between the gods
and the asuras. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The foremost among charioteers despatched fourteen broad-headed and terrible arrows towards Vikarna. They were like venomous serpents. With these, he cut down his standard, his chariot and his horses and seemed to be dancing around in the battle. Subhadra’s immensely strong son then again used yellow arrows that did not waver from their course. They were pointed and had been sharpened on stone and were shafted with the feathers of herons and peacocks. They descended on Vikarna and pierced his body. Having done this, they penetrated the ground, like flaming serpents. Those gold-tufted and gold-tipped arrows could be seen stuck to the ground. They were drenched with Vikarna’s blood and seemed to be vomiting blood. On seeing that Vikarna had been thus wounded in the battle, all his other brothers attacked those charioteers, with Subhadra’s son at the forefront. They swiftly advanced on their own chariots and attacked those other chariots, which were as radiant as the sun. Invincible in battle, they began to pierce each other in that encounter.

‘“Durmukha pierced Shrutakarma
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with seven swift arrows, sliced down his standard with one and pierced his charioteer with seven. Shurtakarma’s horses were caparisoned with nets of gold and were as fleet as the wind. He advanced closer and killed them with six arrows and then brought down his charioteer. But despite his horses having been slain, maharatha Shrutakarma remained stationed on the chariot. In great anger, he hurled a flaming javelin that was like a giant meteor. The illustrious Durmukha’s large armour was penetrated. Having shattered the armour, it penetrated the ground, blazing in its great energy. The immensely strong Sutasoma saw that he
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was without a chariot. While all the soldiers looked on, he took him up on his own chariot. O king! The brave Shrutakirti
²⁵⁵
then attacked your son Jayatsena in that battle, wishing to kill the illustrious
one. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the great-souled Shrutakirti stretched his bow in battle, smilingly, your son, Jayatsena, sliced it down with an extremely sharp kshurapra arrow. Shatanika saw that his brother’s bow had been sliced down. The energetic one swiftly arrived there, roaring repeatedly like a lion. In that battle, Shatanika firmly drew his bow and pierced Jayatsena with ten arrows. Using another extremely sharp arrow that was capable of penetrating all kinds of armour, Shatanika powerfully struck Jayatsena in the chest. Dushkarna was near his brother then. Senseless with rage, he sliced down the bow of Nakula’s son in that battle. However, the immensely strong Shatanika took up another supreme bow that was capable of bearing a great load and affixed sharp arrows. In the presence of his brother,
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he asked Dushkarna to wait and released sharp arrows that were like flaming serpents. O venerable one! He sliced down his bow with one arrow and killed his charioteer with two. In that battle, he then pierced him with seven more. With twelve sharp arrows, the unblemished one killed all his horses, which were speckled and were as swift as the mind. In that battle, he used another broad-headed and well-released arrow to angrily pierce Dushkarna deeply in the chest. O king! On seeing that Dushkarna had been smitten,
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five maharathas surrounded Shatanika from all sides, wishing to kill him. They enveloped the illustrious Shatanika with a torrent of arrows.