Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (58 page)

‘“O king! Dhrishtadyumna saw that the bulls among rathas on your side had been checked by the twins. He swiftly used his weapons to advance against Drona. Checked by those two lions among men, the four brave ones on your side surrounded them, like winds around mountains. Each of the twins, a bull among rathas, was engaged with two rathas. Meanwhile, Dhrishtadyumna advanced
and clashed against Drona. Panchala, indomitable in battle, was advancing against Drona and the twins were engaged with those on your side.

‘“O great king! On seeing this, Duryodhana went to the spot, showering arrows that drank up blood. At this, Satyaki swiftly attacked him. Those two, of the Kuru and Madhava lineages, approached and clashed against each other. As they clashed, those tigers among men were not frightened. They smiled. They remembered all their childhood deeds and felt affectionate towards each other. They glanced at each other and smiled repeatedly. Then King Duryodhana censured his own self and addressed Satyaki, who had always been his beloved friend. ‘O friend! Shame on anger. Shame on avarice. Shame on delusion. Shame on intolerance. Shame on the conduct of kshatriyas! Shame on the strength in my heart. O bull among the Shini lineage! You are aiming towards me and I am aiming towards you. You have always been dearer to me than my own life. I remember all those childhood deeds of ours. With us facing each other in this field of battle, all those have been destroyed. O Satvata! Because of anger and greed, I am fighting with you today.’ O king! Having been thus addressed, Satyaki, who was supreme in the knowledge of weapons, laughed and picked up some sharp arrows. He replied, ‘O prince! O king! This is not an assembly hall, nor the abode of our preceptor,
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where we used to gather together and play earlier.’ Duryodhana said, ‘O bull among the Shini lineage! Where has that childhood playing of ours gone? Why does this battle face us? Destiny is difficult to cross. We desire riches. All of us have assembled to fight, because of our greed for wealth. What will we accomplish with that wealth?’ Having been thus addressed by the king, Madhava said, ‘This has always been the conduct of kshatriyas. They have to fight, even with their preceptors. O king! If I am dear to you, kill me without any delay. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Through your deed, I will then go to worlds meant for those with virtuous deeds. Swiftly show me your strength and prowess. I do
not wish to witness this great calamity that confronts my friends.’ O lord of the earth! Having been thus addressed and given his reply, Satyaki quickly advanced, eager and indifferent.
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‘“On seeing that he was advancing, your son received him. O king! Your son countered Shini’s descendant with arrows. A battle commenced between the lions of the Kuru and Madhava lineages. They were enraged with each other and that terrible encounter was like that between an elephant and a lion. Duryodhana drew his bow all the way back and pierced back Satvata, indomitable in battle, with ten sharp arrows. Satyaki pierced him back with ten arrows and pierced him again with fifty arrows, then with thirty, and again with ten. Satyaki swiftly showered him with arrows and severed his
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bow, with an arrow still affixed to it. O great king! Duryodhana was afflicted by Dasharha’s arrows. He was severely wounded and pained and sought refuge on another chariot. Having regained his composure, your son attacked Satyaki again. He showered a net of arrows in the direction of Yuyudhana’s chariot. O king! At this, Satyaki shot arrows towards Duryodhana’s chariot and because those arrows were shot and descended on all sides, the place became violent. A great sound arose, like that of a fire burning a great forest.

‘“On seeing that Madhava, supreme among rathas, was proving to be superior, Karna desired to protect your son and quickly advanced. However, the immensely strong Bhimasena could not tolerate this. He swiftly advanced against Karna and released many arrows. Karna severed those sharp arrows and laughed. He used his arrows to sever his
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bow and arrows and killed his charioteer. Pandava Bhimasena angrily grasped a club and in that battle, used it to crush the standard, bow and charioteer of his enemy. Karna could not tolerate this and continued to fight with Bhimasena. In that battle, he used diverse nets of arrows and many kinds of weapons.

‘“When that fierce encounter was going on, the king who was Dharma’s son spoke these words to the bulls among men, the tigers
among men from the Panchalas and the Matsyas. ‘They are our lives. They are our heads. They are immensely strong warriors. Those bulls among men are engaged with the sons of Dhritarasthra. Why are all of you stationed here, like foolish people who are bereft of their senses? Go there, where the rathas on my side are fighting. All of you should place the dharma of kshatriyas at the forefront. Get rid of your fever.
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Whether you are victorious, or whether you are slain, you will go towards the supreme objective. If you win, you will perform many sacrifices and offer large quantities of donations at these sacrifices. If you are slain, you will be united with the gods and attain sacred worlds.’ Having been thus urged by the king, those brave maharathas started to fight. They divided themselves into four formations and quickly advanced against Drona. The Panchalas advanced from one side and struck Drona with many arrows. With Bhimasena at the forefront, others surrounded him from another side. The sons of Pandu had three cunning maharathas—the twins and Bhimasena. They loudly addressed Dhananjaya. ‘O Arjuna! Quickly attack the Kurus who are following Drona. If the protectors are killed, Panchala
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will kill him.’ At this, Partha violently attacked the Kouraveyas and Drona attacked the Panchalas, with Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront.

‘“Then Drona caused a great carnage among the Panchalas. He was like an enraged Shakra causing destruction among the danavas in earlier times. O great king! The enemy warriors were slaughtered by Drona’s weapons. However, because those maharathas were spirited, they were not frightened of Drona in the battle. O great king! Though they were slaughtered and confounded, the Panchalas and the Srinjayas fought against maharatha Drona. The Panchalas surrounded him from all directions and roared loudly, as they were killed by his arrows and lances. On seeing that the great-souled Panchalas were being killed in the battle and shattered because of Drona’s weapons, the Pandavas were overcome by fear. O great king! There was a great destruction of large numbers of horses and men in that battle. On seeing this, the Pandaveyas lost all hope of victory. ‘Drona knows
about supreme weapons. He will probably destroy all of us. He is like a raging fire amidst dry kindling, when winter is over. In this battle, there is no one who is even capable of glancing at him.’
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‘“On seeing that the sons of Kunti were frightened and afflicted by Drona’s arrows, the intelligent Keshava, who wished to ensure their welfare, spoke these words to Arjuna. ‘He is incapable of being defeated in an encounter, even if the slayer of Vritra advances to do battle, at the head of a large number of chariots. O Pandava! Therefore, to ensure victory, abandon dharma and resort to yoga.
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The one with the golden horses will kill all of us in this battle. It is my view that if Ashvatthama is killed, he will not fight. Let some virtuous man tell him that he
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has been killed in the battle.’ O king! But this idea did not please Dhananjaya, Kunti’s son. However, the others accepted it. And so did Yudhishthira, after some reluctance. O king! There was a gigantic elephant in his army and it was named Ashvatthama. With his club, the mighty-armed Bhima killed it. In the battle, Bhimasena then approached Drona, as if ashamed. He began to loudly exclaim, ‘Ashvatthama has been killed.’ The elephant known by the name of Ashvatthama had been killed. Knowing this in his mind, Bhima uttered a falsehood. On hearing these extremely unpleasant words from Bhima, Drona thought about this. His limbs swooned, like sand in water. But knowing about the valour of his son, he doubted that this was the truth. On hearing about the death, he did not lose his fortitude, or tremble. Having recovered his senses in a short while, Drona was comforted. He remembered that his son was incapable of being routed by enemies.

‘“He attacked Parshata, wishing to kill the one who was destined to kill him. He enveloped him with thousands of sharp arrows tufted with the feathers of herons. Twenty thousand bulls among men from the Panchalas covered him with arrows from every direction, as he roamed around in that battle. Drona, the scorcher of enemies,
invoked a brahmastra in great anger, for the sake of killing those brave ones. Drona roamed around, killing all the Somakas. In that great battle, he brought down the heads of the Panchalas. He severed their arms, which were like clubs and were adorned with golden ornaments. In that encounter, the kings were killed by Bharadvaja’s son. They were strewn around on the ground, like trees brought down by a storm. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Elephants and large numbers of horses were brought down. The earth became impassable because of the mire resulting from the flesh and blood. Having killed twenty thousand Panchalas, Drona roamed around on his chariot. He was stationed in that battle, flaming like a fire without smoke. Again enraged, Bharadvaja’s powerful son used a broad-headed arrow to sever Vasudana’s head from his body.
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He next killed five hundred Matsyas, six thousand Srinjayas, ten thousand elephants and ten thousand horses. Drona was stationed in the battle, for the sake of the destruction of the kshatriyas. On seeing this, the rishis—Vishvamitra, Jamadagni, Bharadvaja, Goutama, Vasishtha, Kashyapa, Atri, others who lived in Brahma’s world, the Sikatas, the Prishnis, Garga, the Balakhilyas,
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the Marichis, the Bhrigus, the Angirases and other maharshis with subtle forms—quickly arrived, led by the god of fire. All of them spoke to Drona, the adornment of a battle. ‘You are fighting a battle characterized by adharma. The time for your death has arrived. O Drona! Look at all of us assembled here and cast aside your weapons in this battle. You should not perform cruel deeds like these yet again. You know about the Vedas and the Vedangas.
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You are devoted to the dharma of truth. In particular, you are a brahmana. You should not perform such acts. Cast aside this veil of ignorance and base yourself on the eternal. The time that you were to spend in the world of men is now over.’ Having heard
their words and also the words of Bhimasena, he became distressed in that battle and looked towards Dhrishtadyumna.

‘“He was tormented and pained and asked Yudhishthira, Kunti’s son, whether his son had indeed been killed or not. Drona was firm in his mind that Partha
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would not utter a falsehood, even for the sake of all the prosperity in the three worlds. It is for this reason that he asked him and no one else. Since the days of childhood, he had always hoped to hear the truth from Pandava. Knowing that Drona, the lord of a battle, was capable of emptying the earth of the Pandavas, Govinda was pained and spoke to Dharmaraja. ‘If Drona is enraged and fights for even half a day, I tell you truthfully that your army will be annihilated. Save us from Drona. In this situation, falsehood is superior to truth. If one utters a lie for the sake of saving lives, one is not touched by the taint of falsehood.’ When they were conversing, Bhimasena said, ‘O great king! As soon as I heard about the means for killing the great-souled one, I immersed myself in the Malava soldiers of Indravarma. There was an elephant named Ashvatthama and it was like Shakra’s elephant. Exhibiting my valour, I killed it in the battle and told Drona that it had been killed. “O brahmana! Ashvatthama has been killed. Stop fighting.” O bull among men! He did not believe that I had spoken the truth. Desiring victory, pay attention to Govinda’s words. O king! Tell Drona that Sharadvati’s
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son has been killed. O king! If those words come from you, the bull among brahmanas will not fight any more. O lord of men! In the world of men, you are renowned as one who speaks the truth.’ O great king! Hearing his words and urged by Krishna’s words, he decided to say what he had been asked to speak. Yudhishthira feared a lie, but was also immersed in the prospect of victory. O king! He said that he had been killed, but added the words elephant indistinctly.
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Before this, his chariot used to be borne four fingers above the ground. However, after he uttered that falsehood,
his chariot started to touch the earth. On hearing Yudhishthira’s words, maharatha Drona was tormented by sorrow on account of his son. He no longer wished to live. He thought that he had caused injury to the great-souled Pandavas. In his mind, he thought about the words of the rishis and about what he had heard about his son’s death. He lost his senses and was supremely anxious.

‘“O king! The scorcher of enemies glanced towards Dhrishtadyumna and was no longer capable of fighting as he had done earlier. On seeing that he was extremely anxious and that he had lost his senses because of sorrow, Dhrishtadyumna, the son of the king of Panchala, attacked him. Drupada, Indra among kings, had performed a great sacrifice and had obtained him for Drona’s destruction, from the bearer of sacrificial oblations.
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He now picked up a terrible bow that rumbled like the clouds. The bowstring was firm and he affixed a divine arrow that was like a venomous serpent. Wishing to kill Drona, Panchala affixed the arrow, which was like a venomous serpent, on the bow. The form of the arrow, fixed on the circle of the bow, was like that of an immensely radiant fire. The bow looked like the sun in the sky, when summer is over. Parshata stretched that flaming bow. The soldiers saw this and thought that the time of destruction had come. On seeing it aimed towards him, Bharadvaja’s powerful son thought that the end of his bodily life had arrived. O Indra among kings! The preceptor made efforts to counter it, but the great-souled one’s weapons no longer manifested themselves.
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Though he had used them for four days and a night, they had not been exhausted. However, with one-third of the day
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having passed, the arrows were exhausted. His arrows were exhausted and he was overcome by grief on account of his son. The diverse divine weapons no longer appeared before him. Therefore, he decided to cast aside his weapons, as the sages had asked him to. But he still possessed energy and could fight like a superman. He picked up a divine bow given to him by Angirasa. With arrows that were like a brahmana’s curse, he continued to fight with Dhrishtadyumna.
Angry and intolerant, he enveloped Dhrishtadyumna with a great shower of arrows. Using his sharp arrows, Drona severed his arrows into a hundred fragments and brought down his standard, bow and charioteer. Dhrishtadyumna laughed and picked up another bow. Using sharp arrows, he pierced him back between the breasts. Having been severely pierced, the great archer was frightened in that encounter. However, with a broad-headed arrow that was sharp at the edges, he sliced down that great bow.
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O lord of the earth! He severed his bow and arrows and everything that the invincible one possessed, with the exception of a club and a sword. Extremely angry, the scorcher of enemies assumed a wrathful form and pierced Dhrishtadyumna with nine sharp arrows that were capable of robbing lives. Maharatha Dhrishtadyumna, immeasurable in his soul, mixed up his horses and his chariot with the horses and chariot of his adversary and then invoked a brahmastra. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The horses were as fleet as the wind and those with the complexion of pigeons were mixed with those that were red.
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It was beautiful. They were like clouds tinged with lightning, roaring at the advent of the monsoon. O great king! They were thus mingled in the field of battle and looked beautiful. The brahmana, immeasurable in his soul, sliced down the joints of Dhrishtadyumna’s arrows, wheels and chariot. His bow was severed. He was without a chariot. His horses were killed. His charioteer was slain. Facing a grave difficulty, the brave one grasped a supreme club. As it was being hurled towards him, the angry maharatha Drona, for whom truth was his valour, used his sharp arrows to strike it down.