Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (53 page)

‘“O lord! On seeing that he was advancing, Alayudha abandoned Ghatotkacha and challenged Bhimasena. O lord! Bhima, the destroyer of rakshasas, advanced impetuously and countered the Indra among rakshasas and his followers with a shower of arrows. O king! Alayudha, the scorcher of enemies, repeatedly showered down swift arrows that had been sharpened on stone on Kounteya. All the other rakshasas also attacked Bhimasena. Wishing to ensure the victory of your sons, they wielded many terrible weapons. The immensely strong Bhimasena was afflicted by those strong ones. He pierced each of them with five sharp arrows. Those rakshasas, born from the wombs of asses, were slaughtered by Bhima. They wailed loudly in lamentation and fled in the ten directions. On seeing that his followers had been terrorized by Bhima, the immensely strong rakshasa attacked with great force and covered him with arrows. In that encounter, Bhimsena used sharp arrows that were pointed at the tip against the rakshasa. Alayudha severed some of the arrows that were shot by Bhima in the battle. In the encounter, he quickly received some of the others.
²⁴⁷
On seeing this, Bhima, whose valour was terrible, powerfully hurled a club at the Indra among the rakshasas. Its descent was like that of the thunder. The club descended powerfully, like a flaming fire. Having struck the club down with a club, he
²⁴⁸
advanced towards Bhima. Kounteya countered the Indra among rakshasas with a shower of arrows. Using his own sharp arrows, the rakshasa rendered all of them unsuccessful. Instructed by the Indra among the rakshasas, all the rakshasa soldiers, terrible in form, returned and began to kill the rathas and the elephants. Severely afflicted by the rakshasas, the Panchalas, the Srinjayas, the horses and the supreme elephants could not find any peace there.

‘“On seeing that this extremely terrible encounter was going on in the great battle, the best of men
²⁴⁹
spoke these words to Dhananjaya. ‘Behold. The mighty-armed Bhima has come under the grasp of the Indra among the rakshasas. O Pandava! Do not reflect. Follow in his footsteps. The maharathas Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, Yudhamanyu, Uttamouja and Droupadi’s sons will go and fight with Karna. O Pandava! On your instructions, let Nakula, Sahadeva and the valiant Yuyudhana kill all the other rakshasas. O mighty-armed one! As for you, counter this army of Drona’s that is in front of us. O tiger among men! Counter the grave danger that has arisen before us now.’ Having been addressed by Krishna, those maharathas followed the instructions and advanced against Vaikartana Karna and the other rakshasas in the battle.

‘“The powerful Indra among the rakshasas drew his bow all the way back and released arrows that were like venomous serpents, using these to sever Bhima’s bow. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! While Bhimasena looked on, in that encounter, the immensely strong one used sharp arrows to kill his horses and charioteer. With his horses slain and with his charioteer killed, he descended from his chariot. He roared and hurled a terrible and heavy club towards him.
²⁵⁰
The mighty club descended with a terrible noise. However, the rakshasa roared and destroyed it with his own terrible club. On seeing that terrible and fearful deed performed by the Indra among the rakshasas, Bhimasena was delighted. He quickly seized another supreme club. There was a tumultuous battle between the man and the rakshasa. As the clubs descended, the earth trembled severely with that force. They cast aside their clubs and again clashed against each other. They struck each other with their fists, with a sound like that of the thunder. Extremely intolerant, they struck each other with the wheels of chariots, yokes, axles, bumpers and seats. They clashed against each other and blood flowed from their wounds. They repeatedly attacked each other, like crazy and giant elephants. Hrishikesha was
engaged in the welfare of the Pandavas. On seeing this, he instructed Hidimba’s son to protect Bhimasena.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “In that battle, on seeing that Bhima was within the grasp of the rakshasa, Vasudeva spoke these words to Ghatotkacha. ‘O mighty-armed one! O immensely radiant one! Behold. Bhima is being devoured by the rakshasa, while all the soldiers are looking on. Abandon Karna. O mighty-armed one! Quickly kill Alayaudha, Indra among the rakshasas. Kill Karna later.’ Hearing Varshneya’s words, the valiant one abandoned Karna. Ghatotkacha started to fight with the Indra among rakhasas, Baka’s brother. In the night, there was an extremely tumultuous battle between the rakshasas. Alayudha’s warriors were rakshasas, terrible in form. Those brave ones grasped their bows and arrows and descended with force. As they advanced with their weapons, maharatha Yuyudhana, Nakula and Sahadeva cut them down with sharp arrows. O king! In that encounter, Kiriti Bibhatsu shot arrows in all directions and uprooted all the bulls among the kshatriyas. O king! In that encounter, Karna drove away many kings—Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi and other Panchala maharathas. On seeing that they were being killed, Bhima, terrible in valour, quickly advanced against Karna in that battle, showering arrows. Having killed the rakshasas, Nakula, Sahadeva and maharatha Satyaki also went to the spot where the son of a suta was. They fought with Karna, and the Panchalas with Drona.

‘“Alayudha struck Ghatotkacha, the scorcher of enemies, on the head with a large club. Having been thus struck, Bhimasena’s immensely strong son seemed to lose his senses somewhat. Having regained his senses, in that battle, the valiant one hurled a club that was like the flaming fire. It was decorated with a hundred bells. It was decorated with gold. Released with great force by the one
whose deeds were terrible, it crushed the horses, charioteer and chariot
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that made a large noise. Resorting to maya, the rakshasa quickly leapt down from the chariot, whose horses, charioteer, axle and yoke had been destroyed and shattered, not to speak of the chariot itself. He used maya and showered down copious quantities of blood. The sky seemed to be covered with dark clouds that were tinged with lightning. There was the sound of thunder and lightning. In that great battle, there were loud sounds of slapping and this caused fright. On seeing the maya created by the rakshasa, the rakshasa who was Hidimba’s son rose up and destroyed the maya with his own maya. On seeing that the maya was destroyed by maya, the one who used maya showered down an extremely heavy downpour of stones on Ghatotkacha. The valiant one
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dispelled that terrible shower of stones with a shower of arrows in all the directions and it was wonderful. They showered down many weapons on each other—iron clubs, spears, maces, bludgeons, mallets, tridents, swords, spikes, javelins, kampanas, iron arrows, sharp broad-headed arrows, arrows, chakras, battleaxes, slabs of stone,
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catapults, the horns of cattle and
ulukhala
s.
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They uprooted the large branches of many kinds of trees and struck each other with these—
shami
,
pilu
,
karira
,
shamyaki
,
ingudi
,
badari
, flowering
kovidara
, palasha,
arimeda
,
plaksha, nyogradha
and
pippala
.
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They used many kinds of mountain peaks, decorated
with diverse kinds of minerals. There was a mighty sound, like the clapping of thunder. O king! The terrible battle between Bhima’s son and Alayudha was like that between Hari and Indra and like that between Vali and Sugriva in ancient times. O king! They fought with many different kinds of terrible weapons, such as arrows. They grasped sharp swords and struck each other with these. Those extremely strong ones advanced and seized each other by the hair. O lord of men! Their bodies were wounded and began to excrete sweat. Blood trickled down from the giant forms and it was as if it was raining down on mountains. Hidimba’s son advanced with great force. He picked up the rakshasa and flung him down with great strength, severing the large head. That head, decorated with earrings, was severed. The extremely strong one let out a mighty roar.

‘“On seeing that Baka’s relative, the scorcher of enemies with a giant body, had been slain, the Panchalas and the Pandavas roared like lions. Thousands of battle drums and tens of thousands of conch shells were sounded by the Pandaveyas, signifying that the rakshasa had been brought down. That night, with signs of their victory, became extremely resplendent. The garlands of lamps were as beautiful as lightning. Bhimasena’s immensely strong son took Alayudha’s head and flung it down before Duryodhana, who was bereft of his senses. King Duryodhana saw that Alayudha had been killed. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Together with his soldiers, he became extremely anxious. Remembering his earlier enmity, he
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had come to him on his own, promising to fight and kill Bhimasena in the battle. The king had thought that his
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death was certain and that he and his brothers would live for a long time. Having seen that he
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had been killed by Bhimasena’s son, he thought that Bhimasena’s pledge
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had already been fulfilled.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Having killed Alayudha, the rakshasa Ghatokacha was delighted. He stood at the forefront of the army and roared in many ways. On hearing those tumultuous sounds, the elephants trembled. O great king! Those on your side were overcome by terrible fear. On seeing that Bhimasena’s immensely strong son was engaged with Alayudha, the mighty-armed Karna had attacked the Panchalas. He drew his firm bow all the way back and releasing arrows with drooping tufts, pierced Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi with ten arrows each. The supreme among rathas used other iron arrows and made Yudhamanyu, Uttamouja and Satyaki tremble. O lord of men! Both on the left and on the right, all their bows could be seen, drawn into circles as they fought. There was the twang of bowstrings, the slapping of palms and the clatter of chariot wheels. During the night, these sounds were tumultuous, like that of clouds at the end of the summer. O king! The battle was beautiful, as if between clouds. The twang of bowstrings and the clatter of wheels were the roar. The bows were drawn into circles. The standards were like peaks. The torrent of arrows was like rain. Vaikartana was like a mountain that did not tremble. He had the essence of a large mountain. O Indra among men! In that battle, the scorcher of a large number of enemies repulsed that hail of arrows and it was wonderful. His sharp arrows were gold-tufted and colourful. They possessed the force of thunder. In that encounter, the great-souled one struck the enemy. Vaikartana was engaged in ensuring the welfare of your sons. The standards of some were brought down. The bodies of others were mangled by the arrows. Some lost their charioteers. Others lost their horses. Achieving this quickly, Vaikartana was resplendent. In that battle, many were severely afflicted and went and joined Yudhishthira’s army.

‘“On seeing that they were shattered and routed, Ghatotkacha became angry. He ascended a supreme chariot that was decorated with gold and gems and roared like a lion. Approaching Vaikartana Karna, he pierced him with arrows that were like the vajra. They
covered the sky with showers of hollow arrows, iron arrows, arrows sharpened on stone, hollow arrows, arrows with long shafts, vatsadantas, arrows with heads like the ears of boars or the horns of bulls and kshurapras and roared. That storm of arrows covered the sky in the battle and traversing diagonally, made it look beautiful. They were gold-tufted and flamed like the fire. It was as if the sky was covered with diverse flowers. Their power was equal and they struck each other with supreme weapons. In that battle, no one could discern that either of those brave ones was superior to the other. That encounter between the sons of the sun god and Bhima was wonderful in form. Many terrible weapons were showered down. It was as if Rahu was tormenting the sun in the sky. O king! Ghatotkacha saw that he could not get the better of Karna. The supreme among those who have knowledge of weapons then invoked a terrible weapon. With that weapon, the rakshasa first killed Karna’s horses and then the charioteer. Next, Hidimba’s son quickly disappeared.”

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “When the rakshasa, who fought in devious ways, disappeared, what did those on my side think? O Sanjaya! Tell me this.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “On seeing that the rakshasa had disappeared, all the Kurus loudly exclaimed, ‘The rakshasa fights in devious ways. He will show himself and kill Karna in the battle.’ Karna was a wonderfully dexterous warrior. He covered all the directions with his net of arrows. The sky became dark because of those arrows and all the creatures were rendered invisible. The son of a suta exhibited his dexterity and no one could discern when he affixed an arrow, when he aimed it, when he released it and when he touched the quiver with his fingers. The entire sky was covered by those arrows. From the sky, the rakshasa resorted to a terrible and fierce maya. We saw what looked like red clouds in the sky. They blazed, like the fierce flames of a fire. O Indra among Kouravas! Lightning issued from these and so did blazing meteors. Loud and fierce roars issued forth, like the sound of a thousand drums being beaten. Gold-tufted arrows rained down. There were javelins, spears, clubs, other weapons, battleaxes, swords washed in oil, axes that blazed at the edges, spikes, sparkling
clubs that were girded with iron, colourful bludgeons, lances that were sharp at the tip, heavy maces decorated with gold and bound in cloth and shataghnis. They showered down in every direction. Thousands of giant boulders fell down there, with thunder and lightning. There were hundreds of razor-sharp chakras. They manifested themselves, blazing like the fire. There were spears, rocks, battleaxes, javelins, vajras and extremely terrible bolts of thunder. That large and blazing shower descended. With his storm of arrows, Karna could not destroy these. Horses were struck by the arrows and fell down. Elephants were struck by the vajras and fell down. Maharathas were struck by the rocks and fell down, shrieking loudly. Using that extremely terrible shower of weapons in every direction, Ghatotkacha caused destruction. Duryodhana’s army was distressed and could be seen to roam around. As they wandered around, there were sounds of lamentation. They were being destroyed and were miserable. Because they were noble, the foremost among the brave ones did not run away.
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Nor were they distressed. However, that shower created by the rakshasa was extremely fierce and terrible. The large weapons descended. On seeing that the large army was being destroyed, a great fear arose in the hearts of your sons. Hundreds of jackals howled in extremely fierce tones. Their tongues seemed to blaze with fire. O Indra among kings! On seeing that the large numbers of rakshasas were yelling, the warriors were extremely pained. Their
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tongues and faces flamed. Their teeth were sharp. They were fierce. Their bodies were like mountains. They were in the sky, with lances in their hands. They looked like clouds that showered down rain. They
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were killed by the arrows, lances, spears, fierce clubs, flaming maces, vajras, tridents, thunder, chakras and shataghnis. They were crushed and fell down. On the soldiers of your son, they
²⁶³
showered down long shafts, catapults, boulders, shataghnis and pillars made out of black iron and tied in cloth. It was terrible and
they
²⁶⁴
were overcome by lassitude. Their weapons were flung away. Their heads were severed. Their limbs were mangled and the brave ones began to fall down. The horses, elephants and horses
²⁶⁵
were shattered and routed. The chariots were shattered by the boulders. Terrible in form, the
yatudhana
s
²⁶⁶
released a great shower and they were created by Ghatotkacha, through the use of maya. Those who sought refuge and those who were frightened were not spared. That terrible destruction was caused by destiny and the brave ones among the Kurus were crushed. The kshatriyas were destroyed. They were shattered and violently driven away. All the Kouravas wailed. As they fled, the Kurus exclaimed, ‘For the sake of the Pandavas, Indra and the gods are killing us.’ The Bharatas were thus submerged and none of them could find a refuge. During that tumult and the carnage and destruction of the Kuru soldiers, it was impossible to distinguish between the different divisions and differentiate between who was a Kuru and who was not. That cruel destruction was terrible. All the directions seemed to be empty. O king! We could only see Karna there, submerged in that shower of weapons.