Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (50 page)

‘“O king! On seeing this, your son, supreme among rathas, repeatedly spoke to his charioteer and urged him. ‘Goad these supreme horses towards that spot.’ The charioteer drove towards Yuyudhana’s chariot. Duryodhana was angry. He was firm in wielding the bow and had conquered exhaustion. He was swift in the use of his hands and was a colourful fighter. He attacked Yuyudhana. Madhava drew his bow all the way back and pierced Duryodhana with twelve arrows that drank up blood. Despite being first afflicted by the arrows of Shini’s descendant, Duryodhana intolerantly pierced him back with ten arrows. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The battle between the Panchalas and all the Bharatas became tumultuous and fierce. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Shini’s descendant became angry in that battle. He pierced your maharatha son in the chest with eighty arrows. In that encounter, he used other arrows to convey his mounts to Yama’s eternal abode. Using his arrows, he quickly brought down the charioteer from his chariot. O lord of the earth! With his horses slain, your son remained stationed on the chariot. He released many sharp arrows in the direction of the chariot of Shini’s descendant. O king! In that encounter, Shini’s descendant showed the dexterity of his hands. He sliced down the five hundred arrows that had been released by your son. O venerable one! Violent in that battle, he used a broad-headed arrow to sever your son’s giant bow from his hand. Without a chariot and without a bow, the lord and master of all worlds quickly climbed onto Kritavarma’s radiant chariot. O lord of the earth! In the middle of the night, when Duryodhana had retreated, Shini’s descendant used his arrows to drive away your army.

‘“O king! Meanwhile, Shakuni surrounded Arjuna from every direction. There were thousands of chariots and thousands of
elephants. There were thousands of horses and these created a tumult. They released large and divine weapons towards Arjuna. Driven by destiny, those kshatriyas fought against Arjuna. Arjuna countered thousands of chariots, elephants and horses and caused a great destruction. In that battle, the brave Shakuni Soubala pierced Arjuna with sharp arrows and seemed to be smiling. He again shot one hundred arrows and checked the maharatha. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, Arjuna pierced him with twenty arrows. He then pierced each of those great archers with three arrows. O king! In the encounter, Dhananjaya repulsed them with his innumerable arrows. He killed many warriors on your side, like the one with the vajra in his hand against the asuras. O great king! Arms and thousands of bodies were mangled. They were scattered around and the earth looked beautiful, as if strewn with flowers. He severely pierced Shakuni with five arrows with drooping tufts. He then struck both him and Uluka with three large and iron arrows each.
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Urged by Vasudeva, he pierced Uluka and roared loudly, filling the earth. Resorting to speed, Arjuna severed Shakuni’s bow. He killed his four horses and sent them to Yama’s abode. O bull among the Bharata lineage! O lord of the earth! Soubala descended from his chariot and quickly climbed onto Uluka’s chariot. The maharatha father and son were astride the same chariot. They showered arrows on Partha, like two clouds raining down on a mountain. O great king! Pandava then pierced them with his sharp arrows. He drove away your army, striking them with hundreds of arrows. It was like clouds being scattered by the wind in every direction. O king! O lord of the earth! That army was shattered. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Your army was slaughtered in the night. They fled in all the directions, glancing everywhere out of fear. Some abandoned their mounts in the battle. Others urged them.
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They were terrified and fled in that terrible darkness. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The warriors on your side were defeated in that encounter. Delighted, Vasudeva and Dhananjaya blew on their conch shells.

‘“O great king! Dhrishtadyumna pierced Drona with three arrows. With a sharp arrow, he quickly severed the string of his bow. Drona, the brave crusher of kshatriyas, flung that bow down on the ground and picked up another bow what was more powerful and more substantial. Drona pierced Dhrishtadyumna with seven swift arrows. O king! In that encounter, he pierced his charioteer with five arrows. Maharatha Dhrishtadyumna swiftly countered him with his arrows and killed the Kourava soldiers in hundreds and thousands. O venerable one! Your son’s army was slaughtered at that time. A terrible river, with waves made out of blood, began to flow between the two armies and men, horses and elephants flowed in it. O king! It was like the river Vaitarani
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that flows towards the capital of Yama’s kingdom. The powerful Dhrishtadyumna drove away your soldiers and was resplendent, like the energetic Shakra amidst the masses of gods. Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi blew on their giant conch shells and so did the twins, Yuyudhana and Pandava Vrikodara. They defeated thousands of rathas and maharathas on your side. O lord of the earth! Hoping for victory, the Pandavas roared like lions, in the sight of your son and those of Karna, who was insolent of his valour, the brave Drona and Drona’s son.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O lord of the earth! On seeing that his own army was being slaughtered by those great-souled ones, your son was overcome by great rage. He swiftly went to Karna and Drona, supreme among victorious ones. Overcome by feelings of intolerance, the one who was eloquent with words spoke these words. ‘Incited by your anger, the two of you started this battle,
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on seeing that Saindhava had been killed by Savyasachi in the battle. My army
is being slaughtered by the Pandus. Though you are capable of obtaining victory, you are looking on, as if you are incapable. If you are going to abandon me today, you should not have spoken to me in that way earlier. “We will defeat the sons of Pandu in the battle.” O those who grant honours! On hearing your words, I allowed this to happen. Otherwise, I would not have provoked an enmity with the Pandavas, so destructive of warriors. O bulls among men! O ones who are great in valour! If I should not be abandoned by the two of you, then fight in accordance with the valour you possess.’ Thus goaded by the words of your son, those two brave ones returned again to the battle, like snakes that have been driven with sticks. They were the foremost among rathas. They were the best archers in all the worlds. In that battle, they advanced against the Parthas, with Shini’s descendant at the forefront. The Parthas also united, surrounded by their own soldiers and advanced against those two brave ones, who were roaring repeatedly.

‘“The great archer Drona, supreme among those who wielded all weapons, angrily and spiritedly pierced the bull among the Shini lineage with ten arrows. Karna pierced him with ten arrows and your son with seven, Vrishasena with ten and Soubala with seven. A mass of Kouravas surrounded Shini’s descendant. On seeing that Drona was slaughtering the Pandava army in the battle, the Somakas quickly pierced him from every side and showered arrows on him. O lord of the earth! O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Drona began to rob the kshatriyas of their lives, like the sun destroys darkness with its rays. O lord of the earth! The Panchalas were slaughtered by Drona and we heard a tremendous uproar as they called out to each other. Some abandoned their sons, others their fathers, others their brothers and maternal uncles, others their sisters’ sons, friends and kin, as they quickly ran away, seeking to save their lives. Others were confused and because of delusion, ran towards him.
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In the battle, other Pandava warriors were sent to the world of the hereafter. Thus the Pandava soldiers were killed by
the great-souled ones.
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O king! They fled in the night, throwing away thousands of blazing torches, while the warriors Bhimasena, Vijaya,
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Achyuta, the twins, Dharma’s son and Parshata looked on. With the world covered in darkness, nothing could be seen. But because of the light that existed among the Kouravas, it could be seen that the enemy was running away. O king! As the soldiers ran away, maharatha Drona and Karna followed them from the rear and showered many arrows.

‘“On seeing that the Panchalas were shattered and routed in every way, Janardana was distressed and addressed Phalguna. ‘Parshata and Satyaki, together with the Panchalas, advanced against the great archers, Drona and Karna, and are being killed through fierce arrows. Those maharathas have shattered them with their shower of arrows. O Kounteya! The army should be restrained. It is still capable of taking a stand. Let us array all the soldiers in a battle formation and rallying them, let us raise our weapons and advance against Drona and the son of a suta. They are powerful and brave. They are skilled in the use of weapons and desire to obtain victory. They are angrily casting aside our army and destroying it in the night.’ O king! On seeing that Vrikodara was advancing, Janardana again spoke to Pandava, as if to cheer him. ‘With the fierce Bhima advancing in front, the soldiers are returning again. This Bhima prides himself in battle and is surrounded by the Somakas and the Pandavas. They are angry and are powerfully advancing against the immensely strong Drona and Karna. O descendant of the Pandu lineage! For the sake of assuring all the soldiers, fight against them, together with the maharatha Panchalas.’ Those tigers among men, Madhava and Pandava, then approached Drona and Karna and stationed themselves at the forefront of the battle.

‘“Yudhishthira’s large army returned again and went to the spot where Drona and Karna were crushing the enemy in the battle. In the night, there was a great and tumultuous encounter. O king! It was like that of two rising oceans, when the moon has arisen. Your
soldiers threw away the lamps from their hands and fought with the Pandavas, as if they were maddened at the destruction. There was an extremely terrible darkness, with dust. Desiring victory, they fought on the basis of names and family names.
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The names uttered by the kings were heard. O great king! That hour of the battle was like a svayamvara.
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There was sudden silence for a while and then a great uproar arose again, from the angry warriors who were victorious and those who were defeated. O supreme among the Kuru lineage! Like insects, the brave ones were drawn to the spots where there were lamps. O Indra among kings! As all the Pandavas and the Kouravas fought, the great darkness of the night gathered around them.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Karna, the destroyer of enemy heroes, was delighted at seeing Parshata in the battle. He struck him in the chest with ten arrows that were capable of penetrating the inner organs. O venerable one! Dhrishtadyumna swiftly pierced him back with five arrows, cheerfully asking him to wait. In that encounter, those great maharathas used other arrows to envelop each other and drawing their bows all the way back, pierced each other. In that battle, Karna used his arrows to pierce the charioteer and the four horses of Dhrishtadyumna, foremost among the Panchalas. He severed his supreme bow with sharp arrows and used a broad-headed arrow to bring down his charioteer from the seat on the chariot. Dhrishtadyumna was without a chariot. His horses were slain. His charioteer was killed. He grasped a terrible club and crushed Karna’s horses. He
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was severely wounded by many arrows that were like venomous serpents. O venerable one! He advanced towards
Yudhishthira’s army on foot and climbed onto Sahadeva’s chariot. The charioteer yoked other horses to Karna’s chariot. They possessed the complexion of conch shells and were extremely fast. They were from the Saindhava region and were controlled well.
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Successful in attaining his objective, Radheya afflicted the maharatha Panchalas with his arrows, like clouds raining down on a mountain. The large army of the Panchalas was afflicted by Karna. They fled in fright, like deer assailed by a lion. Horses and elephants fell down on the ground. Here and there, men were seen to swiftly fall down from their chariots. In the great battle, Karna killed the fleeing warriors with his kshurapra arrows and severed arms and heads, still adorned with earrings. O lord of the earth! O venerable one! The thighs of those who were astride elephants, those who were on the backs of horses and those who were on the ground, were severed. But as they fled in the battle, many maharathas did not feel that their limbs or their mounts were severed by arrows. Slaughtered in the battle, the Panchalas and the Srinjayas thought that even the stirring of a blade of grass was the son of the suta. As they were frightened and fled in the battle, the warriors were deprived of their senses and took those on their own side to be Karna and fled in fright. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As the shattered army fled, Karna quickly pursued it from the rear, showering arrows. They glanced at each other, unconscious and bereft of their senses. They were incapable of standing before the great-souled one, who was like Death. O king! The Panchalas were struck by Karna’s supreme arrows. Others glanced towards Drona and fled in all the directions.

‘“King Yudhishthira saw that his own army was running away. Thinking that retreat was preferable, he spoke these words to Phalguna. ‘Behold. The great archer, Karna, is stationed with a bow in his hand. Though it is a dreadful night, he is scorching like the sun. The whizzing sounds of Karna’s arrows are being incessantly heard. O Partha! Your relatives seem to be without a protector. He is swiftly affixing and releasing arrows. It is certain that he will destroy us and I see that the valiant one’s victory is certain. The time has
come. Adopt the course of action that you think to be appropriate next. O Dhananjaya! Do what needs to be done to kill Karna.’ Having been thus addressed, the mighty-armed Partha spoke to Krishna. ‘The king is frightened of the supreme valour of Radheya, the son of Kunti. Karna’s army is repeatedly acting and the time has come. Our army is running away and we must quickly decide on a course of action. O Madhusudana! They are being mangled by Drona’s arrows. They are frightened of Karna and are unable to take a stand. Behold. Karna is fearlessly roaming around there. He is showering sharp arrows and driving away the best of rathas. O tiger among the Vrishni lineage! Like a snake that has been stepped on with a foot, I cannot bear to see him wander around thus on the field of battle and remain oblivious. Therefore, swiftly go to the spot where maharatha Karna is. O Madhusudana! I will kill him. Or let him kill me.’ Vasudeva replied, ‘O Kounteya! I have seen Karna roaming around in the battle, like the king of the gods. He is a tiger among men and superhuman in his valour. O Dhananjaya! O tiger among men! With the exception of you and the rakshasa Ghatotkacha, there is no one else who can counter him in battle. O unblemished one! O mighty-armed one! I do not think that the time has come for you to confront the son of a suta in battle. He possesses a blazing spear that he obtained from Vasava. O mighty-armed one! It is terrible in form and he has retained it for you. Let the immensely strong Ghatotkacha advance against Radheya. He has been born from the powerful Bhima and is like the gods in valour. He possesses divine weapons and also those of the rakshasas and asuras. Ghatotkacha has always been devoted to you and has your welfare in mind. It is my view that there is no doubt about his defeating Karna in the battle.’ Having thus spoken to Partha, the mighty-armed and lotus-eyed one summoned the rakshasa.