Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (48 page)

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! Then King Duryodhana, Shakuni Soubala, your son Duhshasana and the invincible son of the suta assembled and consulted each other. How could the sons of Pandu, together with their followers, be vanquished in battle? King Duryodhana spoke to all his advisers, addressing particularly the son of the suta and the immensely strong Soubala. ‘I do not know the reason why Drona, Bhishma, Kripa, Shalya and Somadatta’s son are unable to resist the Parthas in this battle. They are not being killed, but are demolishing my army. O Karna! In this battle, my army is becoming weaker and my weapons are being exhausted. I have been deceived by the Pandavas. They cannot be slain, even by the gods. I am full of doubt as to what I should do in this battle.’ O great king! The son of the suta then spoke to the king. ‘O best of the Bharata lineage! Do not grieve. I will do what is agreeable to you. Let Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, withdraw from this great battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When Gangeya has withdrawn from the battle and has cast aside his weapons, I will kill the Parthas, together with all the Somakas, while Bhishma witnesses the battle. O king! This is the pledge I truthfully take. O king! Bhishma has always acted kindly towards the Pandavas. Bhishma is incapable of vanquishing those maharathas in battle. Bhishma is proud of his prowess in battle and always loves an encounter. O father!
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How
can he defeat the Pandavas when he encounters them in battle?
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Therefore, you should quickly go to Bhishma’s camp. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You should request Bhishma to cast aside his weapons in battle. When Bhishma casts aside his weapons, you will see the Pandavas killed. O king! I will alone accomplish this in the battle, together with their well-wishers and their relatives.’ Having been thus addressed by Karna, your son, Duryodhana, spoke these words to his brother, Duhshasana. ‘O Duhshasana! Let all those, who will come with me, be appropriately dressed. Quickly make all the arrangements.’ O king! Having thus spoken, the lord of men then addressed Karna. ‘O supreme among men! O scorcher of enemies! Having requested Bhishma to withdraw from the battle, I will swiftly return and come before you. O tiger among men! You will then act in this battle.’ O lord of the earth! Without any delay, your son departed.

‘“He left with his brothers, like Shatakratu with all the gods. His brother, Duhshasana, quickly made his brother, who was a tiger among kings and with the valour of a tiger, ascend a horse. The king was adorned with armlets and bracelets and wore a crown on his head. O great king! Dhritarashtra’s son was as resplendent as the great Indra. He was smeared with fragrant sandalwood paste. He looked like a
bhandi
flower
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and had a golden complexion. He was clad in garments that had no dirt on them. The king proceeded with the sporting gait of a lion. He was as beautiful as an autumn sun with unblemished rays. That tiger among men departed for Bhishma’s camp. He was followed by great archers, who were famous in all the worlds as archers. His brothers, great archers, also followed him, like the thirty gods with Vasava. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were others astride horses, and still others astride elephants. Others on chariots, the foremost of men, surrounded him in every direction. His well-wishers had taken up arms for the sake of protecting the lord of the earth. They were
with him, like the immortals with Shakra in heaven. The maharatha among the Kouravas was worshipped by the Kurus. O king! He went towards the illustrious Gangeya’s abode. The king was followed and surrounded by his brothers in every direction. Occasionally, he raised his right arm. It was as muscular as the trunk of an elephant and was capable of destroying all enemies. He raised that arm and accepted the worship of the kings, who were in every direction, hands joined in salutation. He heard sweet words from the residents of many countries. The immensely illustrious one was praised by bards and minstrels. The lord of all the lords of the worlds honoured all of them in return. Great-souled ones surrounded him in every direction with golden lamps, with fragrant oil as fuel. The king was surrounded by these auspicious and golden lamps. He was as beautiful as the moon, surrounded by the resplendent large planets. There were attendants with golden headdresses, and with drums and sticks in their hands. They gently asked the people in every direction to make way. Having reached Bhishma’s beautiful abode, the lord of men got down from his horse and approached Bhishma. He paid his respects to Bhishma and sat down on an excellent and golden seat. It was beautiful everywhere and was covered with a wonderful carpet.

‘“He joined his hands in salutation and spoke to Bhishma, his voice choking and his eyes full of tears. ‘O destroyer of enemies! We sought your protection and resorted to this war. In the battle, we thought we possessed the enterprise to defeat the gods and the asuras combined, together with Indra, not to speak of the brave sons of Pandu, with their well-wishers and their relatives. O lord! O Gangeya! Therefore, you should show your compassion towards me. Slay the brave sons of Pandu, like the great Indra against the danavas. O mighty-armed one! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! You earlier said that you would kill the Somakas and the Panchalas, together with the Pandavas. Act accordingly and make your words come true. Kill the assembled Parthas and the great archers, the Somakas. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Make those words come true. O lord! O king! If you protect the Pandavas because of compassion, because of your hatred of me, or because of my misfortune, then I seek your permission to allow Karna, the
ornament of any battle, to fight. He will defeat the Parthas, with their well-wishers and their relatives, in battle.’ Having said this, the king, your son Duryodhana, did not say anything more to Bhishma, whose valour was terrible.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “These words spoken by your son were like stakes and Bhishma was pierced by them. He was overcome by great grief, but did not say anything unpleasant in reply. Overcome by grief and anger, he thought for a very long time. Wounded by these stakes, he sighed like a serpent. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The supreme among those who know the worlds then raised his eyes. He seemed to burn the worlds, with the gods, the asuras and the gandharvas, with his anger. However, he spoke these conciliatory words to your son. ‘O Duryodhana! Why are you piercing me with words that are like stakes? To the best of my strength, I have always sought to do that which brings you pleasure. Desiring your welfare, I am ready to give up my life in this battle. When the brave Pandava gratified Agni in Khandava, he defeated even Shakra in battle. That is proof.
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O mighty-armed one! When the gandharvas captured you, Pandu’s energetic son freed you. That is proof. O lord! At that time, all your brave brothers ran away. And so did Radheya, the son of a suta. That is proof. In Virata’s city, he singly attacked all of us together. That is proof. He was angry and defeated both me and Drona in battle. He robbed the garments of Karna, Drona’s son and the great maharatha Kripa. That is proof. Partha vanquished the Nivatakavachas in battle, whom even Vasava found to be invincible in an encounter. That is proof. Who is capable of vanquishing Pandava, who prides himself in an encounter, in battle? O Suyodhana! Because of your delusion, you do not know what should be said and what
should not be said. A man who is about to die thinks that all trees are made of gold. O Gandhari’s son! In that fashion, you are looking at everything in a contrary way. You have yourself created this great enmity with the Pandavas and the Srinjayas. Fight with them in the battle now and show us your manliness. O tiger among men! I will myself kill all the assembled Somakas and the Panchalas, avoiding Shikhandi. Slain by them in battle, I will go to Yama’s abode. Or, I will kill them in battle and give you pleasure. Shikhandi was earlier born as a girl in the king’s abode. By virtue of a boon, she was born as a man.
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This is that lady Shikhandi. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I will not kill him, even if it means giving up my own life. Shikhandi is the one whom the creator made a lady earlier. O Gandhari’s son! Sleep happily. I will fight a great battle tomorrow, one that will be spoken about as long as the earth exists.’ O lord of men! Having been thus addressed, your son departed. He paid respects to his elder by lowering his head and left for his own residence. Having returned, the king asked his attendants to leave. The destroyer of enemies quickly entered and having entered, the king passed the night.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “When night passed and it was morning, the king arose. The king instructed all the warriors, ‘Prepare for battle. In the encounter today, the angry Bhishma will kill all the Somakas.’ O king! On hearing Duryodhana’s many lamentations in the night, he
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regarded them as instructions unto himself. He was supremely depressed and censured what the other had said. Shantanu’s son thought for a long time and desired to encounter Arjuna in battle. O great king! Duryodhana understood from the signs what Gangeya
had been thinking about and instructed Duhshasana. ‘O Duhshasana! Let chariots quickly be yoked, so that Bhishma can be protected. Let thirty-two entire divisions be instructed accordingly. What we have thought about for many years has now come to pass. With their soldiers, the Pandavas will be slain and the kingdom will be obtained. I think that Bhishma’s protection is our task now. Protected by us, he will cheerfully slaughter the Parthas in this battle. The one with the pure soul said, “I will not kill Shikhandi. He was a lady earlier. Therefore, I should avoid him in battle. O mighty-armed one! The world knows that, in an attempt to bring pleasure to my father, I gave up women and a prosperous kingdom earlier.
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O foremost among men! Therefore, I will not kill in battle anyone who has been born a woman, or has been a woman earlier. I am telling you this truthfully. O king! Shikhandi was a woman earlier and you have heard me tell you this when preparations were being made for the war. She was born as Shikhandini. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having been a woman, she was born as a man and wishes to fight. But I can never release arrows at her. O son!
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But if there are any other kshatriyas who desire the victory of the Pandavas in battle, I will kill them all—as soon as they come within reach of my arrows.” These were the words spoken to me by Gangeya, foremost among the Bharata lineage and skilled in knowledge of the sacred texts. Therefore, with all my heart, I think that Bhishma’s protection is most important. In the great forest, a wolf can kill a lion that is unprotected. Let Shikhandi not be like a wolf that kills a tiger. Let our maternal uncle, Shakuni, Shalya, Kripa, Drona and Vivimshati make endeavours to protect Gangeya. If he is protected, victory is certain.’ On hearing Duryodhana’s words, all the kings surrounded Gangeya from every direction, with a large number of chariots. Your sons surrounded Gangeya and got ready to fight. The earth and the firmament trembled and the Pandavas were agitated. The maharathas
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possessed chariots and well-trained elephants.
Armoured, they stationed themselves and surrounded Bhishma in that battle. Just as the thirty gods protect the wielder of the vajra in a battle between the gods and the asuras, in that way, all of them were stationed to protect the maharatha.

‘“King Duryodhana again spoke to his brothers. ‘Yudhamanyu is protecting Arjuna’s left wheel and Uttamouja the right, while Arjuna is protecting Shikhandi. O Duhshasana! Act so that he cannot kill Bhishma, while protected by Partha and while he
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is abandoned by us.’ On hearing his brother’s words, your son, Duhshasana, left with the army, with Bhishma at the forefront. On seeing Bhishma surrounded by that large number of chariots, Arjuna, best of rathas, spoke to Dhrishtadyumna. ‘O unblemished one! Let Shikhandi, tiger among men, be placed in front of Bhishma. O one without decay! Establish the Panchala there and I will myself be his protector.’ Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, then advanced with his soldiers. In that encounter, he stationed his soldiers in the form of a large vyuha known as
saravatobhadra
.
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O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Kripa, Kritavarma, maharatha Shaibya, Shakuni, Saindhava, Sudakshina from Kamboja and all your sons were stationed in front of all the soldiers and in front of the vyuha, together with Bhishma. O venerable one! Drona, Bhurishrava, Shalya and Bhagadatta armoured and stationed themselves on the right flank of the vyuha. Ashvatthama, Somadatta and the two maharathas from Avanti protected the left flank, together with a large army. O great king! O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! To counter the Pandavas, Duryodhana stationed himself in the midst of the vyuha, surrounded by the Trigartas. Alambusa, best among rathas, and maharatha Shrutayu armoured and stationed themselves at the rear of the vyuha and behind all the soldiers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Thus did those on your side construct a vyuha. When they were armoured, they looked like blazing fires. At this, King Yudhishthira, Pandava Bhimasena and Madri’s sons, Nakula and
Sahadeva, armoured and stationed themselves in the vyuha, ahead of all the soldiers. Dhrishtadyumna, Virata and maharatha Satyaki, the destroyers of enemy ranks, stationed themselves, with a large army. O great king! Shikhandi, Vijaya,
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the rakshasa Ghatotkacha, the mighty-armed Chekitana and the valiant Kuntibhoja were ready for battle, surrounded by a large army. The great archer, Abhimanyu, maharatha Drupada and the five brothers from Kekaya were armoured and stationed ready for battle. O venerable one! Thus did the brave Pandavas, invincible in battle, create a great vyuha as a counter-vyuha in that encounter and were ready to fight.

‘“In that encounter, the kings on your side suddenly rushed, with great enterprise, to do battle. O king! Placing Bhishma in the front, they advanced against the Parthas in that battle. O king! In a similar way, the Pandavas placed Bhimasena at the forefront, wishing to fight against Bhishma and desiring victory in that encounter. There were war cries and sounds of joy. There were the sounds of saws and cow horns. The Pandavas played on battledrums, drums, cymbals and smaller drums and there was a terrible roar, as they advanced. There were the sounds of battledrums, drums, other drums and conch shells on our side. There were delighted roars, like those of lions, and other shouts, as we roared back in return and quickly advanced against them. We advanced forcefully and angrily and a tumultuous sound arose. They rushed against each other and struck each other. Because of that great sound, the earth began to tremble. Birds uttered terrible shrieks and began to fly around. The sun had risen with all its rays, but now seemed to be dimmed. There was a turbulent wind, signifying great disaster. Fearful jackals began to roam around, howling terribly. O great king! All of this seemed to tell us that a great calamity was at hand. O king! The directions blazed and ash began to shower down. There was a shower of bones mixed with blood. The mounts began to weep and tears began to fall from their eyes. O lord of the earth! Because of their anxiety, they discharged urine and excrement. Man-eating rakshasas began to roar in terrible tones. We saw that jackals, cranes and crows began
to swoop down. Dogs uttered many terrible howls. Flaming meteors struck against the sun and suddenly fell down on the ground. All this signified a great fear. In that great encounter, the two large armies of the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra clashed. There was the din of conch shells and drums and this caused a tremor, like that of a forest agitated by a storm. In that inauspicious moment, kings, elephants and horses clashed against each other and the tremendous noise was like that of oceans agitated by a tempest.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “The energetic Abhimanyu, foremost among rathas, was borne on steeds that were of a tawny colour and advanced against Duryodhana’s large army. He brought down a shower of arrows, like clouds pouring down rain. The bulls among the Kurus who were on your side could not resist Subhadra’s angry son in battle. That destroyer of enemies possessed a great number of weapons and he immersed himself in that inexhaustible ocean of soldiers. O king! In that encounter, he released many arrows that destroyed enemies. They conveyed the brave kshatriyas to the abode of the king of the dead. In that battle, Subhadra’s angry son unleashed arrows that were like Yama’s staff. They were flaming and terrible, like poisonous serpents. Phalguna’s son quickly brought down charioteers from their chariots, horse-riders from the backs of horses and elephant-riders together with the elephants. In that great battle, the lords of the earth cheerfully honoured his extraordinary deeds and praised Phalguna’s son. Subhadra’s son drove away many colourful armies, like masses of cotton blown away by the wind in every direction. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Driven away by him, your soldiers could not find a protector and were like elephants stuck in the mud. O king! Having driven all your soldiers away, Abhimanyu, supreme among men, stood like a flaming fire, without any smoke. All those on your side could not counter that destroyer of enemies and were like
insects, driven by destiny, before a flaming fire. Having struck all the enemies of the Pandavas, the maharatha and great archer was like the wielder of the vajra with his vajra. His bow had a golden back. O king! As it was moved around in every direction, it was seen to be as radiant as lightning.
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The arrows released from his bow in that battle were sharp and yellow. They were like flocks of bees, visiting blossoming trees in the forest. That is the way Subhadra’s great-souled son roamed around. His chariot roared like the clouds and people could not find an opportunity to strike him. He confounded Kripa, Drona, Drona’s son, Brihadbala and Saindhava, the great archer. He moved around with skill and dexterity. O venerable one! As he tormented your army, I saw that his bow was drawn in the shape of a circle and was like the circular halo that is around the sun. Brave kshatriyas saw this and were tormented by his arrows. Because of his deeds, they thought the world now had two Phalgunas. O great king! Oppressed by him, that great army of the Bharatas ran here and there, like a woman intoxicated with liquour. He drove away your soldiers and made the maharathas tremble and delighted his well-wishers, like Vasava after vanquishing Maya.
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Driven away by him in that battle, your soldiers uttered lamentations of woe and these sounded like the roar of the clouds.

‘“O venerable one! On hearing that awful wail amidst your soldiers, like that of the ocean agitated by the force of the wind at the time of the new moon or the full moon, King Duryodhana spoke to Rishyashringa’s son. ‘This great archer who is Krishna’s son
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is like a second Phalguna. He is driving away the soldiers in rage, like Vritra against the army of the gods. I do not see any other great medicine against him in this battle, except your own self. O best of the rakshasas! You are skilled in all forms of knowledge. O brave one! Go swiftly and slay Subhadra’s son in battle. We will kill Partha, with Bhishma and Drona leading us.’ Thus addressed and following the instructions of your son, the powerful and strong Indra among
the rakshasas quickly advanced to do battle. He emitted a loud roar, like the slayer of Bala at the time of the monsoon. O king! At this great sound, the mighty army of the Pandavas trembled in every direction, like a full ocean. O king! Frightened by that roar, many men gave up their beloved lives and fell down on the ground. Krishna’s son was delighted and grasped his bow and arrows. He seemed to be dancing around on his chariot and attacked the rakshasa. The rakshasa was enraged and approached Arjuna’s son in that battle. Stationing himself at a short distance, he started to drive away the soldiers. In that battle, he killed the great army of the Pandavas. The rakshasa attacked them in the encounter, like Bali against the army of the gods. O venerable one! There was great oppression and slaughter among those soldiers. The rakshasa, terrible in form, killed them in that battle. He released thousands of arrows on the great army of the Pandavas. The rakshasa displayed his valour and drove them back in that battle. Thus slaughtered by the rakshasa, terrible in form, the army of the Pandavas was frightened and fled from the field of battle. He crushed those soldiers, like an elephant amidst lotuses.

‘“In that encounter, the immensely strong one then attacked the sons of Droupadi. The great archers who were Droupadi’s sons were armoured and became wrathful. All of them advanced against the rakshasa, like five planets against the sun. Prativindhya swiftly pierced the immensely strong rakshasa with sharp, vigorous and iron arrows. They penetrated his armour and the supreme among rakshasas looked resplendent. He was like a giant mass of rain clouds, penetrated by the rays of the sun. O king! He was struck by arrows that were embellished with gold and Rishyashringa’s son looked like a mountain with a flaming summit. In that great battle, the five brothers pierced the Indra among rakshasas with sharp arrows that were embellished with gold. O king! Pierced by terrible arrows that were like angry snakes, Alambusha became as angry as a king of elephants. O great king! O venerable one! He was pierced within a short instant. Having been wounded, the maharatha remained unconscious for a long time. When he regained consciousness, in his rage, he increased his dimensions to double of what they were. He sliced down their arrows, standards and bows. As if smiling,
he pierced each of them with three arrows. Maharatha Alambusa seemed to be dancing around on his chariot. The rakshasa was angry and in his rage, the immensely strong one killed the horses and the charioteers of the great-souled ones. In great delight, he again pierced them with extremely sharp arrows. He used many different kinds of arrows, in hundreds and thousands. Those great archers were bereft of their chariots by the rakshasa and the traveller of the night swiftly rushed against them, wishing to kill them. On seeing them thus oppressed in battle by the evil-souled rakshasa, Arjuna’s son attacked the rakshasa in that battle. The battle that commenced was like that between Vritra and Vasava. All those on your side and the maharatha Pandavas witnessed it. They encountered each other in that great battle and blazed with rage. O great king! They were immensely strong and their eyes were red with rage. The warriors glanced towards each other, like the fire at the destruction of a yuga. There was a terrible encounter that was fierce and awful. It was like that between Shakra and Shambara,
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during the battle between the gods and the asuras.”’