Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (53 page)

‘“Shantanu’s son consoled your son. ‘O Duryodhana! O lord of the earth! Be patient and listen to what I have to say to you. O immensely strong one! In earlier times, I had taken a pledge that I would kill ten thousand great-souled kshatriyas every day and would then return from the battle. O bull among the Bharata lineage! For the sake of your welfare, I have carried out the pledge I made to you. I will perform an even greater task in this great battle today. I will sleep after being slain, or I will kill the Pandavas today. O tiger among men! I will today free myself from the great debt I owe you. O king! You offered me food as my master. I will be slain at the forefront of the army.’ Having spoken these words, the best of the Bharata lineage scattered arrows among the kshatriyas. The invincible one attacked the Pandava army. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Gangeya stationed himself in the midst of the army, like an angry and virulent serpent, and the Pandavas surrounded him. On the tenth day, he exhibited his strength. O king! The descendant of the Kuru lineage killed hundreds and thousands. He sucked out the energy from the best of the Panchalas and the immensely strong princes, like the sun sucking up water with its rays. O great king! The spirited one killed ten thousand elephants and then killed ten thousand horses, with their riders. The best of men killed two hundred thousand foot soldiers. Bhishma was dazzling in that battle, like a flame without smoke. No one among the Pandaveyas was capable of looking at him. He was like the scorching sun, when it is on its northern path. But though they were oppressed, the Pandaveyas, great archers, together with the maharatha Srinjayas, attacked and sought to kill Bhishma. There were many who fought with Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, then. The mighty-armed one looked like a mountain that was occupied by clouds. Your sons surrounded Gangeya from every direction, together with a large army, and the battle raged on.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O king! Arjuna then witnessed Bhishma’s valour in battle. He told Shikhandi, ‘Advance towards the grandfather. You should not exhibit the slightest fear of Bhishma today. I will bring down the supreme of rathas with sharp arrows.’ O bull among the Bharata lineage! Having been thus addressed by Partha and having heard what Partha had said, Shikhandi attacked Gangeya. O king! Having heard what Partha had said, Dhrishtadyumna, and the maharatha who was Subhadra’s son, cheerfully attacked Bhishma. The aged Virata and Drupada and the armoured Kuntibhoja attacked Bhishma, while your son looked on. O lord of the earth! Nakula, Sahadeva, the valorous Dharmaraja and all the other soldiers attacked Gangeya, having heard what Partha had said. The maharathas on your side united and counter-attacked, according to their capacity and according to their endeavour. Listen. I will describe it. O great king! Chitrasena attacked Chekitana, who was advancing in the battle against Bhishma, like a young tiger attacks a bull. O great king! In the encounter, Dhrishtadyumna had swiftly approached Bhishma and Kritavarma repulsed him. Bhimasena was enraged and wished to kill Bhishma. O great king! Somadatta’s son quickly countered him. The brave Nakula released many arrows. Wishing to ensure that Bhishma remained alive, Vikarna repulsed these. Sahadeva was advancing towards Bhishma’s chariot. In the battle, Sharadvata Kripa angrily countered him. On seeing that Bhimasena’s immensely strong son, the rakshasa who performed cruel deeds, wished to kill Bhishma, Durmukha powerfully attacked him. In the encounter, Rishyashringa’s son angrily repulsed Satyaki. O great king! Abhimanyu was advancing towards Bhishma’s chariot. O great king! Sudakshina of Kamboja repulsed him. The aged Virata and Drupada, the destroyers of enemies, had united. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Ashvatthama was enraged and repulsed them. The eldest of Pandu’s sons wished to kill Bhishma. Bharadvaja’s son made efforts in the battle to counter Dharma’s son. Arjuna was hastening in the battle, with Shikhandi at the forefront. O great king! He was
approaching Bhishma, scorching the ten directions. Duhshasana, the great archer, countered him in the battle. There were other Pandava maharathas who were advancing towards Bhishma in the battle. Other warriors on your side countered their advance.

‘“Dhrishtadyumna forcefully advanced against the immensely strong Bhishma alone. He repeatedly addressed the soldiers. ‘This Arjuna, the descendant of the Kuru lineage, is advancing against Bhishma in battle. Advance. Do not be frightened. Bhishma will not be able to touch you. When Arjuna fights in a battle, even Vasava loses interest, not to speak of Bhishma. The brave one has lost his spirits in the battle. He has but a short time to live.’ On hearing the words of their commander, the Pandava maharathas cheerfully advanced towards Gangeya’s chariot. The bulls among men on your side cheerfully resisted them, as they advanced in that battle, like a powerful storm. O great king! Maharatha Duhshasana abandoned his fear. He wished to ensure that Bhishma remained alive and attacked Dhananjaya. In that encounter, the brave Pandavas advanced towards Gangeya’s chariot and towards your maharatha sons. O lord of the earth! We witnessed a wonderful and colourful incident. Having reached Duhshasana’s chariot, Partha was checked. He was restrained, like the shoreline checks the turbulent and great ocean. The angry Pandava was repulsed by your son. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Both of them were the best of rathas and were invincible. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Both of them were radiant and were as handsome as the moon or the sun. Both of them were overcome with anger and wished to kill each other. They clashed in that great battle, like Maya and Shakra in earlier times. O great king! Duhshasana wounded Pandava with three arrows and Vasudeva with twenty. On seeing that Varshneya was wounded, Arjuna was overcome with rage. He pierced Duhshasana with one hundred iron arrows. In the encounter, they penetrated his armour and drank his blood. O best of the Bharata lineage! Duhshasana was angered at this. He pierced Partha in the forehead with five straight-tufted arrows. O great king! With those arrows on his forehead, the supreme of Pandavas was radiant, like Meru’s lofty peaks. Pierced by your archer son in the battle, Partha, the great archer, looked like a
blossoming kimshuka tree. Thus wounded, Pandava became angry. Extremely angry, he attacked Duhshasana, like Rahu attacking the moon on the night of the new moon or full moon. O lord of the earth! Your son was afflicted by the powerful one. In the battle, he pierced Partha with arrows that were sharpened on stone and tufted with the feathers of herons. The spirited and valorous Partha sliced down his bow. After this, he struck your son with nine arrows. Stationing himself in front of Bhishma, he
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grasped another bow and shot twenty-five arrows at Arjuna’s chest and arms. O great king! At this, Pandava, the destroyer of enemies, became angry. He released many arrows that were like Yama’s staff. But though they were released by Partha, your son sliced them down before they could reach him. It was wonderful. Your son pierced Partha with sharp arrows. Partha became wrathful in that battle and fixed arrows to his bow. They were gold-tufted and sharpened on stone and he released them in the encounter. O great king! These penentrated the great-souled one’s body, like swans entering a pond. O great king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Your son was afflicted by the great-souled Pandava. He avoided Partha in the battle and swiftly found refuge in Bhishma’s chariot. He seemed to be submerged in fathomless waters and Bhishma was like an island. O lord of the earth! Your son was brave and valiant. When he regained consciousness, he again restrained Partha with extremely sharp arrows, like Vritra against Purandara. Though he was pierced by the immensely valorous one, Arjuna was not distressed.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “The armoured Satyaki raised his weapons against Bhishma in the battle. The great archer who was Rishyashringa’s son repulsed him in the encounter. O king! O descendant of the
Bharata lineage! Madhava
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was enraged in the battle and, as if he was smiling, pierced the rakshasa with nine arrows. O king! O Indra among kings! The enraged rakshasa wounded Madhava, the bull among the Shini lineage, with sharp arrows. Madhava, Shini’s descendant and the destroyer of enemy heroes, became wrathful in the battle and released a shower of arrows towards the rakshasa. The rakshasa roared like a lion and pierced Satyaki, the mighty-armed one for whom truth was his valour, with sharp arrows. In the battle, Madhava was severely wounded by the rakshasa. But the spirited one resorted to his patience. He laughed and roared. In the encounter, the angry Bhagadatta wounded Madhava with sharp arrows, like a mighty elephant being goaded. Shini’s descendant, supreme among rathas, gave up the encounter with the rakshasa. He released straight-tufted arrows towards Pragjyotisha. The king of Pragjyotisha, skilled in the use of his hands, grasped a sharp and broad-headed arrow and sliced down Madhava’s giant bow. The destroyer of enemy heroes grasped another one that was even more powerful. In the encounter, he angrily pierced Bhagadatta with sharp arrows. The great archer was pierced and repeatedly licked the corners of his mouth. He grasped a firm and iron javelin that was decorated with gold and lapis lazuli. It was as terrible as Yama’s staff and he hurled this towards Satyaki. It was hurled through the force of his arms. O king! On seeing it suddenly descend in the battle, Satyaki severed it into three fragments with his arrows. It fell down on the ground, like a giant meteor that has lost its brilliance. O lord of the earth! On seeing that the javelin had been destroyed, your son
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surrounded Madhava with a large number of chariots. On seeing that maharatha Varshneya had been surrounded, Duryodhana was extremely happy and spoke to all his brothers. ‘O Kouravas! Act so that the warrior Satyaki may not escape with his life. Go there with a large number of chariots. If he is killed, I think that the great army of the Pandavas will also be slain.’ The maharathas accepted his words and agreed to do this. With Bhishma at the forefront, they began to fight with Shini’s descendant.

‘“Abhimanyu was advancing against Bhishma in the battle. The powerful king of Kamboja restrained him in the encounter. Arjuna’s son pierced the king with straight-tufted arrows. O king! He again pierced the king with sixty-four arrows. Wishing to see that Bhishma remained alive, in that encounter, Sudakshina pierced Krishna’s son with nine arrows and his charioteer with nine. When those two valorous ones clashed, the encounter was wonderful and great. Shikhandi, the scorcher of enemies, attacked Gangeya. Virata and Drupada, the aged maharathas, rushed forward to battle Bhishma, resisting that large army. Ashvatthama, supreme among rathas, became angry and repulsed them. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A battle commenced between them. O king! O scorcher of enemies! Virata used ten broad-headed arrows to strike Drona’s son, the great archer who was the ornament of any battle. Drupada also used three sharp arrows to pierce him. The preceptor’s son stationed himself in front of Bhishma. As the aged Virata and Drupada advanced towards Bhishma, Ashvatthama pierced them with ten arrows. We witnessed the extraordinary and great conduct of those aged ones. In the battle, they repulsed the terrible arrows shot by Drona’s son. Sharadvata Kripa rushed against the advancing Sahadeva, like an angry elephant attacks another elephant in the forest. O king! In that battle, maharatha Kripa quickly struck Madri’s son with seventy arrows decorated in gold. But Madri’s son used his arrows to slice down his bow into two. Once the bow had been severed, he pierced him with nine arrows. Wishing to ensure that Bhishma remained alive, he
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grasped another bow that was capable of bearing a great burden. In anger, but cheerfully, he struck Madri’s son in that battle with ten sharp arrows. O king! Desiring to kill Bhishma, Pandava was angry and struck back the intolerant one. The battle that raged was terrible and fearful. Wishing to ensure that Bhishma remained alive, Vikarna, the scorcher of enemies, angrily pierced Nakula in that battle with sixty arrows. Nakula was severely wounded by your archer son. But he pierced Vikarna back with seventy-seven arrows that had been sharpened on stone. For the sake of Bhishma, those
scorchers of enemies and tigers among men bravely fought against each other, like two bulls fighting in a pen.

‘“Ghatotkacha was engaged in fighting, slaying your soldiers. For Bhishma’s sake, your valiant son, Durmukha, confronted him in battle. O king! But Hidimba’s son was enraged. He struck Durmukha, the scorcher of enemies, in the chest with ninety sharp arrows. The brave Durmukha used sixty arrows that were crafted well at the tip to pierce Bhimasena’s son and in the forefront of the battle, roared in great delight. Wishing to kill Bhishma, Dhrishtadyumna advanced in the battle. But wishing to ensure that Bhishma remained alive, Hardikya countered him. Varshneya struck the brave Parshata with five iron arrows and again quickly struck him between the breasts with fifty arrows.
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O king! Parshata struck Hardikya with nine sharp arrows that were decorated with the feathers of herons. For Bhishma’s sake, they severely confronted each other in that great battle. They encountered each other like Vritra and the great Indra. The immensely strong Bhimasena advanced against Bhishma. In the battle, Somadatta’s son used an extremely sharp and gold-tufted iron arrow to strike Bhima between the breasts. O supreme among kings! With that stuck to his chest, the powerful Bhimasena looked like Krouncha in earlier times, struck by Skanda’s javelin.
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They angrily attacked each other in that battle and repeatedly released arrows that were like the sun and had been polished by artisans. Wishing to kill Bhishma, Bhima fought with the maharatha who was Somadatta’s son. Wishing to ensure Bhishma’s victory, Somadatta’s son fought with Pandava. They performed tasks and out-performed each other in that battle. O great king! Surrounded by a large army, Yudhishthira advanced towards Bhishma and was countered by Bharadvaja’s son. The roar of Drona’s chariot was like the sound of the clouds. O king! O venerable one! On hearing it, the Prabhadrakas trembled. O king! In the battle, the great army of Pandu’s son was checked by Drona and could not move a single step. O lord
of men! Chekitana was enraged in the battle and advanced towards Bhishma. But your son, Chitrasena, repulsed the one who was angry in form. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! For Bhishma’s sake, the brave maharatha Chitrasena fought against Chekitana to his utmost capacity. Chekitana also fought against Chitrasena and the battle between the valiant ones was extraordinary. Arjuna was restrained in many different kinds of ways. But he repulsed your son
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and crushed his soldiers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Duhshasana resisted Partha to his utmost capacity, having determined that Bhishma could not be killed. The soldiers of your son were slaughtered in the battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They were agitated there by the best of the rathas.”’
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