Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (47 page)

‘Sanjaya replied, “O great king! During that night, Drona desired to fight. Discerning his mind, Duryodhana spoke to his obedient brothers—Vikarna, Chitrasena, the Kourava Mahabahu, Durdharsha, Dirghabahu and their followers.
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‘O brave ones! Go and endeavour to protect Drona’s rear. Hardikya will be near the right wheel and Shalya on the left.’ Saying this, your son addressed the remaining brave maharathas from Trigarta. ‘The preceptor is extremely controlled. The Pandavas are making great efforts. As he kills the enemy in the battle, protect the one who is so controlled. Drona is powerful in battle. He is dexterous in the use of hands and valiant. He can defeat the thirty gods in an encounter, not to speak of the Parthas and Somakas. O maharathas! All of you unite and make the best of efforts. Protect Drona from the Panchala maharatha Dhrishtadyumna. O kings! With the exception of Dhrishtadyumna, I do not see any warrior among the Pandaveya soldiers who can defeat Drona in a battle. Therefore, I think that all our efforts should be to protect Bharadvaja’s son. Thus protected, he will slay the Somakas and the Srinjayas and the kings. With the Srinjayas slain at the forefront of the array, there is no doubt that Drona’s son will kill Dhrishtadyumna in the battle. In that fashion, maharatha Karna will defeat Arjuna in the battle. Armouring myself, I will defeat Bhimasena in the battle. It is evident that we will be victorious for a very long time. O maharathas! Therefore, protect Drona in this battle.’ O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Having thus spoken, your son, Duryodhana, instructed the soldiers in that terrible darkness.

‘“O bull among the Bharata lineage! A battle commenced in the night. Both the armies were fierce and desired victory. Arjuna attacked the Kourava soldiers and the Kouravas attacked Arjuna. They used many different kinds of weapons and afflicted each other. Drona’s son attacked the king of Panchala
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and Bharadvaja’s son attacked the Srinjayas. In that battle, they enveloped them with
straight-tufted arrows. O venerable one! As the Pandu, Panchala and Kourava soldiers slaughtered each other, a terrible uproar arose. We, or our forefathers, had not seen or heard of anything like this earlier. The battle that commenced in the night engendered great fear.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O lord of the earth! That terrible battle that took place during the night led to the destruction of all beings. At that time, Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, spoke to the Pandavas, Panchalas and Somakas. ‘Advance only against Drona, desiring to kill him.’ O king! On hearing the king’s words, the Panchalas and the Somakas advanced against Drona, roaring fiercely. Those on our side roared back in return and counter-attacked with intolerance. In that encounter, they used the best of their capacity, the best of their enterprise and the best of their spirit.

‘“Yudhishthira was advancing towards Drona, desiring to kill him, like a crazy elephant against another crazy one, and Hardikya Kritavarma attacked him. O king! In the forefront of that battle, the Kourava Bhuri
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released a shower of arrows, from every direction, on Shini’s descendant. O king! Maharatha Sahadeva wished to advance against Drona and Vaikartana Karna countered the Pandava. Bhimasena advanced, like Death with a gaping mouth. In that encounter, Duryodhana himself countered the obstinate one, who was advancing like Death. O king! Nakula was foremost among warriors and was skilled in all forms of fighting. Shakuni Soubala quickly countered him. O king! Shikhandi, supreme among rathas, advanced on his chariot and Sharadvata Kripa countered him in that battle. O great king! Prativindhya
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advanced on horses that
had the complexion of peacocks and Duhshasana made endeavours to counter him. Bhimasena’s son,
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skilled in a hundred different kinds of maya, advanced, and wishing to protect his father’s honour, Ashvatthama checked him. In that battle, maharatha Drupada wished to advance against Drona and Vrishasena checked him, together with his soldiers and his followers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Virata quickly advanced, wishing to kill Drona, and the king of Madra angrily checked him. Wishing to kill Drona, Nakula’s son, Shatanika, proudly advanced in that battle. Chitrasena quickly countered him with his arrows. Maharatha Arjuna, foremost among warriors, advanced, driving everyone away. O great king! Alambusa, Indra among rakshasas, checked him.
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The great archer, Drona, slaughtered enemies in the battle. However, Panchala Dhrishtadyumna cheerfully countered him. O king! There were other maharatha sons of Pandu who also advanced and the rathas on your side countered them, with all their energy. In that great battle, elephant riders swiftly clashed with other elephant riders. Hundreds and thousands were seen to fight with each other. O king! During that night, horses advanced against each other with great force and seemed to be like mountains with wings. O great king! Horse riders clashed against horse riders with spears, lances and swords in their hands and roared separately. There were many men there, clashing against each other. They used large numbers of clubs, bludgeons and many other kinds of weapons.

‘“Hardikya Kritavarma angrily countered Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, like the shoreline holds back the ocean. Yudhishthira pierced Hardikya with five swift arrows. Asking him to wait, he again pierced him with twenty arrows. O venerable one! Kritavarma became extremely angry with Dharma’s son. He severed his bow with a broad-headed arrow and pierced him with seven arrows. Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, then picked up another bow. He pierced Hardikya in the arms and the chest with ten arrows. O venerable one! Having
been thus pierced in the battle by Dharma’s son, Madhava
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trembled with rage and afflicted him with seven arrows. However, Partha severed his bow and his arm-guard. The king released five sharp arrows that had been sharpened on stone. They pierced his armour, which was decorated with gold and was extremely expensive. They then penetrated the earth, like angry snakes entering a termite hill. In the twinkling of an eye, he
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picked up another bow and pierced Pandava with sixty arrows and his charioteer with nine. Pandava’s soul was immeasurable. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! He laid down his giant bow on his chariot and hurled a lance that was like a serpent. It was large and decorated with gold. Having been thus released by Pandava, it penetrated his right arm and entered the ground. At that time, Partha again picked up his bow. He enveloped Hardikya with straight-tufted arrows. In that battle, in an instant, the foremost of brave rathas among the Vrishni lineage
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made Yudhishthira devoid of his horses, charioteer and chariot. The eldest of the Pandavas then grasped a sword and a shield. But in that battle, Madhava sliced these down with his sharp arrows. Yudhishthira then picked up a spear with a golden handle. It was difficult to resist and in that battle, he quickly hurled it towards Hardikya. It was released from Dharmaraja’s hands and descended suddenly. However, dexterous in the use of his hands, Hardikya severed it into two fragments and laughed. He then shrouded Dharma’s son with hundreds of arrows. He angrily cut down his armour with sharp arrows. The great-souled one’s armour was severed by Hardikya. O king! It fell down in that battle, like a stellar cluster dislodged from the firmament. His bow was severed. He was without a chariot. He was without armour. He was afflicted by arrows. Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, quickly withdrew himself from that battle. Kritavarma defeated Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son. The immensely strong one again began to protect Drona’s wheel.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O king! In that battle, Bhuri descended on Shini’s descendant, who was supreme among rathas and was advancing like an elephant towards water. Satyaki became angry. He used five sharp arrows to quickly pierce him in the heart and blood began to flow. Shini’s descendant was indomitable in battle. But in that fashion, in that encounter, Kourava pierced him between the arms with ten sharp arrows. O great king! They wounded each other with terrible arrows. Their eyes were red with rage and they stretched their bows in anger. O great king! An extremely terrible shower of arrows rained down. Both of them were as angry as Death and released them from their bows. O king! They stationed themselves in that battle and shrouded each other with arrows. For a short while, the battle between the two seemed to be equal. O great king! However, extremely wrathful, Shini’s descendant laughed in that battle and severed the bow of the great-souled Kourava. Once the bow had been severed, he asked him to wait and quickly pierced him in the heart with nine sharp arrows. The scorcher of enemies was thus pierced by his powerful enemy. He grasped another bow and pierced Satvata back. O lord of the earth! Having pierced Satvata with three arrows, he used an extremely sharp broad-headed arrow to sever his bow and seemed to be smiling. O great king! With his bow severed, Satyaki became senseless with rage. He hurled an extremely forceful spear towards his chest. His limbs were shattered by that spear and he fell down from his supreme chariot. His limbs were red, like the one with the blazing rays in the sky.
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‘“On seeing that the brave one had been killed in that encounter, maharatha Ashvatthama forcefully advanced towards Shini’s descendant. He brought down a torrent of arrows, like clouds showering down rain on Meru. O king! On seeing that he was angrily advancing towards the chariot of Shini’s descendant, maharatha
Ghatotkacha let out a roar and spoke these words. ‘O Drona’s son! Wait. You will not escape from me with your life. I will kill you today, like King Skanda killed Mahisha.
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In the forefront of this battle, I will kill you today and destroy the love you bear towards fighting.’ Having spoken thus, the rakshasa, the destroyer of enemy heroes, angrily attacked Drona’s son, like a lion against a king of elephants. His eyes were coppery red with rage. Ghatotkacha showered down arrows that were as long as a chariot’s axle. Like clouds pouring down rain, he shrouded Drona’s son, bull among rathas. But, in that battle, Drona’s son quickly used his own arrows to counter those arrows, which were like venomous serpents, before they could reach him. He then used hundreds of sharp and swift arrows that were capable of penetrating the inner organs against Ghatotkacha, the scorcher of enemies and an Indra among rakshasas. O great king! Pierced by those arrows, the rakshasa looked beautiful in the forefront of the battle, like a porcupine with its quills erect. Bhimasena’s powerful son was overcome with rage. He showered down fierce arrows on Drona’s son and they had the sound of the vajra and thunder. There were kshurapras and those that were in the shape of a half-moon. There were those with iron heads. Some had tufts like a boar’s ear. Others were hollow and sharp. Still others had barbed tufts. That tumultuous shower of arrows made a sound like the vajra and thunder. They were angrily released and descended on him. However, the senses of Drona’s son were not numbed. That torrent of arrows was extremely difficult to withstand. However, the immensely energetic one invoked a divine weapon with a mantra and drove them away, like the wind dispelling large clouds. The arrows seemed to be fighting with each other in the sky. O great king! They were terrible in form and this increased the joy of the warriors. Because of the friction among the weapons, sparks were generated in every direction. At the commencement of the night, the
sky seemed to be covered with fireflies. Drona’s son covered all the directions with his arrows. To ensure the welfare of your sons, he countered the rakshasa.

‘“In the battle, there was a duel between Drona’s son and the rakshasa. In the midst of that dark night, it was like that between Shakra and Prahlada. In that battle, Ghatotkacha was filled with extreme rage. He struck Drona’s son in the chest with ten arrows that were like the fire of destruction. Having been pierced in that battle by the rakshasa, Drona’s immensely strong son wavered, like a tree struck by a storm. He lost his senses and grasped the pole of his standard. O lord of men! Sounds of lamentation arose among all your soldiers. O lord of the earth! All those on your side thought that he had been killed. In that battle, on seeing that Ashvatthama was in that state, the Panchalas and Srinjayas roared like lions. Having regained his senses, the immensely strong Ashvatthama, the scorcher of enemies, drew his bow with his left hand. He drew the bow back up to his ear and quickly aimed a terrible and supreme arrow towards Ghatotkacha. It was like Yama’s staff. O lord of the earth! That supreme and fierce arrow, with excellent tufts, pierced the rakshasa’s heart and then entered the ground. O great king! Thus pierced by Drona’s son, who prided himself in battle, the Indra among rakshasas, who was extremely strong, sank down on the floor of his chariot. On seeing that Hidimba’s son was senseless in that field of battle, his charioteer was terrified and quickly bore him away from Drona’s son. Having thus pierced Ghatotkacha, Indra among rakshasas, in the battle, Drona’s immensely strong son let out a mighty roar. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He was honoured by your sons and by all the warriors. His body blazed, like the sun at midday.

‘“Bhimasena was fighting in the vicinity of the chariot of Bharadvaja’s son. King Duryodhana himself pierced him back with sharp arrows. O venerable one! Bhimasena pierced him with nine arrows. Duryodhana pierced him back with twenty arrows. Shrouded by arrows in the forefront of that battle, they looked like the moon and the sun in the sky, when they are covered by a net of clouds.
O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Asking Bhima to wait, King Duryodhana pierced him with five arrows. Bhima severed his bow and his standard with nine arrows. He pierced the best of the Kouravas with ninety arrows with straight tufts. O venerable one! Duryodhana became angry with Bhimasena. O king! While all the archers looked on, he shot arrows.
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Bhima repulsed all the arrows that were released from Duryodhana’s bow. He struck Kourava with twenty-five small arrows. O venerable one! Duryodhana became angry with Bhimasena. He severed his bow with a kshurapra arrow and pierced him back with ten arrows. The immensely strong Bhimasena picked up another bow. He swiftly pierced the king with seven sharp arrows. Showing the dexterity of his hands, he
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severed his bow quickly and then a second, a third, a fourth and a fifth. O great king! Full of himself, he severed all the bows Bhima picked up. O great king! Your son was insolent about his prowess and wished for victory. On seeing that the bows were repeatedly severed, in that battle, he
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then hurled a sparkling lance that was made completely out of iron. But before that lance could reach him, Kourava severed it into three fragments, while all the worlds and the great-souled Bhima looked on. O great king! At this, Bhima grasped a heavy club that was extremely radiant. Powerfully, he hurled it towards Duryodhana’s chariot. O bull among the Bharata lineage! In that encounter, the heavy club forcefully crushed your son’s horses and charioteer. O Indra among kings! It also destroyed your son’s chariot, decorated with gold. He quickly descended from his chariot and ascended that of the great-souled Nandaka.
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