Mahabharata: Volume 4 (16 page)

‘Arjuna said, “O fortunate one! O venerable one! A golden altar, as radiant as the crest of the fire, is held aloft a golden standard, decorated with golden flags. That is Drona’s army. Take me there. His horses are seen to be red and large and they have been trained to bear well. They are quiet and have the complexion of coral. Their faces have the hue of copper and they are pleasant to look at. They are yoked to his supreme chariot and they have been trained in every kind of knowledge. He has long arms and is extremely energetic. He is endowed with strength and beauty. He is famous in all the worlds. He is the powerful Bharadvaja.
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He is the equal of Ushanas
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in his intelligence, the equal of Brihaspati
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in his knowledge of policy. The four Vedas are vested in him, and brahmacharya too. All the divine weapons, with means of withdrawing them, and the entire knowledge of archery,
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are always vested in him. Forgiveness, self-control, truthfulness, non-violence, uprightness—these and many other qualities exist in that supreme of brahmanas. I wish to fight with that immensely fortunate one in battle. O Uttara! Therefore, swiftly bear me to the preceptor.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Thus spoken to by Arjuna, Virata’s son urged the horses, with golden harnesses, in Bharadvaja’s direction. Pandava, supreme among charioteers, descended with great force. Drona advanced towards Partha, like a mad elephant towards another. He blew his conch shell, with the roar of a hundred drums, and the entire army was agitated like the ocean. On seeing those excellent red horses mix in battle with ones that were the colour of swans and as swift as the mind,
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all the men who were in that fight were amazed. They saw those two charioteers, endowed with valour, in the forefront of the battle, the preceptor and the disciple, Drona
and Partha. They were undefeated, learned, intelligent and immensely strong. Each was like the other and they engaged each other. On seeing this, the great army of the Bharatas trembled repeatedly. On reaching Drona’s chariot with his own chariot, the valorous maharatha Partha smiled in delight. The mighty-armed Kounteya, the destroyer of enemy warriors, honoured him and spoke to him in soft and conciliatory words. “We have lived the stipulated duration in the forest. We now wish for the act in return. Do not be angry with us. You are always invincible in battle. O unblemished one! I will not strike you first, unless you strike me. I have decided this in accordance with my intelligence. Now do what you deem to be fit.” Thus addressed, Drona despatched more than twenty arrows at him. But Partha, swift of hand, sliced them down before they could reach him. Displaying his swiftness in discharge of weapons, the valorous Drona showered Partha’s chariot with a thousand arrows. Thus the duel between Bharadvaja and Kiriti commenced. In that battle, both equally released tufted arrows, blazing in energy, at each other. Both of them were famous for their deeds, both were as swift as the wind. Both were knowledgeable in the use of divine weapons. Both were extremely energetic. When they unleashed their nets of arrows, they confounded the kings. All the assembled warriors were astounded and applauded and honoured the release of arrows. “Who but Phalguna is capable of countering Drona in battle? The dharma of kshatriyas is terrible. He has to fight with his preceptor.” These were the words spoken by those who were stationed in the forefront of that battle.

‘Those two brave maharathas drew near and covered each other with arrows, to defeat the other. Bharadvaja was angered and drew an invincible and large bow that was plated with gold at the back. He countered Phalguna. He discharged a net of arrows towards Arjuna’s chariot. They were as bright as the sun and had been sharpened on stone. They shrouded the rays of the sun. The mighty-armed maharatha pierced Partha with extremely fast and sharp arrows, like clouds showering a mountain with rain. Pandava happily grasped the divine bow Gandiva, capable of destroying enemies at great speed and capable of bearing a supreme burden. He released
many colourful and golden arrows from that bow and repulsed the valorous Bharadvaja’s shower of arrows. It was extraordinary. Partha Dhananjaya roamed around on his chariot and it was a sight fit to behold. He displayed all his weapons simultaneously in all directions. With his arrows, he covered the entire sky with one large shadow. Drona could no longer be seen, as if he was enshrouded in fog. When he was covered with these supreme arrows, his form seemed to be like that of a mountain, with fires blazing in every direction. On seeing that his chariot was covered by Partha’s arrows in that battle, he drew his beautiful bow, with a roar that was like that of the clouds. He drew that supreme and terrible weapon, which was like a circle of fire. Drona, the adornment of assemblies, then countered all those arrows. A great sound arose, like that when bamboos are burnt. Gold-tufted arrows were discharged from his supreme bow. The one whose soul was immeasurable enveloped the directions and the rays of the sun. Those arrows were golden-tufted and straight. When they traversed the sky, they were seen to be like many beings.
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The tufted arrows were released from Drona’s bow and it seemed as if there was one long and single arrow in the sky.
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Thus releasing great arrows that were decorated in gold, those two brave ones covered the sky, as if with meteors. Decorated with the feathers of herons and peacocks, the arrows looked like a flock of geese travelling in the autumn sky. There ensued a terrible and fearful battle between the great-souled Drona and Pandava, like that between Vritra and Vasava.
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They wounded each other, like elephants with their tusks. They shot arrows at each other from bows that were completely stretched. They fiercely decorated that field of battle. From one part of the battlefield to another, they released divine weapons. Arjuna, supreme among victorious ones, used sharp arrows to counter the arrows, sharpened on stone, released by the best of preceptors. Indra’s
son displayed his own terrible aspect and swiftly covered the sky with many arrows.

‘Drona, foremost among teachers and supreme among the wielders of arms, began to play with the supremely energetic Arjuna, tiger among men, who was trying to kill him in that battle. He used arrows with straight shafts. Bharadvaja unleashed divine weapons in that great battle. Phalguna countered every weapon with another weapon. The duel between those two angry and intolerant lions among men was like that between the gods and the danavas. Drona released Aindra, Vayavya and Agneya weapons
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and Pandava used his own weapons to devour them. Those two brave and great archers released sharp arrows and covered the entire sky, like a shadow, with showers of arrows. When Arjuna released arrows and they descended on the bodies,
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the sound that was heard was like that of lightning on mountains. O lord of the earth! Elephants, charioteers and horses looked like blossoming kimshuka flowers,
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drenched in blood. When they fell down, the arms of the maharathas were adorned with colourful armlets and their armour and pennants were golden. Oppressed by Partha’s arrows, many warriors died there. The armies were confounded in that encounter between Drona and Arjuna. Both of them brandished their bows, capable of withstanding great burdens. In that battle, they covered each other with arrows and bore the retaliation. A voice was heard from the sky, praising Drona. “Drona has performed an extremely difficult task of fighting with Arjuna, who is the destroyer of enemies, extremely valorous, firm in his hand and unassailable. The maharatha is the conqueror of all the gods, the daityas and the snakes.” On beholding Partha’s fixedness, learning, dexterity and great reach in battle, Drona was amazed. O bull among the Bharata lineage! In that battle, Partha raised the invincible and divine bow Gandiva and drew it with his arms. He released a shower of arrows, like a cloud of locusts. Even
the wind was not capable of gliding through those arrows. There was not even an instant between Partha’s shooting an arrow and the next one, no gap could be seen. In that extremely terrible battle of swiftly released weapons, Partha shot the arrows faster and faster. Then hundreds and thousands of straight-tufted arrows descended simultaneously on Drona’s chariot. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The wielder of the Gandiva enveloped Drona with arrows and a great lamentation arose from the army. Maghavan
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himself applauded Pandava’s swiftness with weapons and so did the gandharvas and apsaras who had assembled there.

‘Then the preceptor’s son, leader of charioteers, suddenly encircled Pandava with a great number of chariots. Though Ashvatthama was greatly enraged with Partha, in his heart, the great-souled one applauded his deeds. Overcome by anger, he confronted Partha in that battle and showered him with arrows, like Parjanya
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showering rain. The mighty-armed one turned his horses towards Drona’s son and thus Partha gave Drona a chance to retreat. His armour and flag had been shattered with supreme arrows and getting the opportunity, the brave one left on his swift horses.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘He
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arrived with great speed, showering a great net of arrows, like clouds charged with rain. Partha countered him. There was a great battle, like that between the gods and the asuras. Like Vritra and Vasava, they covered each other with nets of arrows. The sun did not shine then. Nor did the wind blow. The sky was enveloped and shadowed by a net of arrows in
every direction. O conqueror of enemy cities! There was a great sound of slapping, as the two warriors fought each other and tried to kill each other, like the sound of bamboos being burnt. Arjuna destroyed his horses and only a few were left alive. O king! They were so confused that they could not make out the directions. Partha was roaming around. Drona’s immensely valorous son detected a subtle weakness and sliced off the string of his bow with an arrow that was as sharp as a razor. On witnessing this superhuman feat, the gods applauded. From a distance of eight bow-lengths, Drona’s son, bull among men, again pierced Partha in the heart with an arrow that was shafted with feathers of herons. The mighty-armed Partha laughed out aloud and powerfully corded Gandiva with a new string. Partha drew it in the shape of a half-moon and countered him, like the mad leader of a herd of elephants against another crazy elephant. Those two warriors were unrivalled on earth. In the midst of that field of battle, an extremely great duel ensued, making the body hair stand up. On seeing those two great-souled and brave ones, like two leaders of herds engaged in combat, all the Kurus were astounded. Those two brave bulls among men struck each other with arrows that were like virulent poison and like flaming serpents. The great-souled Pandava possessed two divine and inexhaustible quivers. Therefore, the brave Partha stood on that field of battle, immobile as a mountain. But Ashvatthama’s arrows were speedily discharged in that battle and were exhausted. Thus, Arjuna proved to be superior to him.

‘Then Karna grasped an extremely large bow. He drew it in great anger and a great sound of lamentation arose. Partha looked in the direction where the bow had been drawn and seeing Radheya there, his anger increased. He was overcome by anger and wished to kill Karna. With dilated eyes, the bull among the Kurus glanced towards him. O king! He turned away from Drona’s son, although the soldiers swiftly brought thousands of arrows to him. The mighty-armed Dhananjaya, conqueror of enemies, ignored Drona’s son and suddenly rushed towards Karna. With eyes red in anger, Kounteya approached him, hoping for a duel in battle. He said …’

‘Arjuna said, “O Karna! You uttered many proud words in the midst of the assembly hall, to the effect that there was no one who was your equal in war. Disregarding all of dharma, you spoke harsh words. But I think that your wish is impossible to accomplish. You ignored me and spoke words earlier. O Radheya! Now, with me and in the midst of these Kurus, make that true. You watched when evil-souled ones oppressed Panchali in the assembly hall. You will now reap the fruits of that. Being bound down by the noose of dharma, my rage was restrained earlier. O Radheya! You will now witness the victory of my anger in battle. O Karna! Now fight with me and let all the Kurus and their soldiers witness it.”

‘Karna replied, “O Partha! Carry out in deeds what you have spoken in words. It is known on earth that deeds are superior to words. What you suffered earlier was because your powers were insufficient. O Partha! I will accept it only if I witness your valour. If your rage was restrained earlier because you were bound down by the noose of dharma, you are tied down even now, though you consider yourself to be free. You say that you are conversant with dharma and artha. If you have dwelt in the forest in accordance with the promise, why do you wish to break that agreement now?
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O Partha! If Shakra himself decides to fight on your behalf, I will not deviate from displaying my valour. O Kounteya! Your desire will soon be fulfilled. You will fight with me today and witness my strength.”

‘Arjuna said, “When fighting with me, you have earlier fled from the field of battle. O Radheya! That is the reason why you are still alive, though your younger brother has been killed. Which man other than you will see his brother dead, and then flee from the forefront of battle? Then you speak like this in the midst of truthful ones.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having thus spoken to Karna, the unvanquised Bibhatsu attacked him and released arrows that could
penetrate body armour. Karna countered with arrows that were like the crests of flames and rained down a great shower of arrows, like monsoon clouds. The terrible net of arrows covered every direction. They separately pierced his
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horses, arms and guards on his hands. Unable to tolerate this, he sliced off the strap of Karna’s quiver with a straight-tufted arrow, sharp at the tip. Grasping other arrows from his quiver, Karna pierced Pandava on the hand, so that his grip weakened. The mighty-armed Arjuna then sliced off Karna’s bow. He
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hurled a javelin at him, but Partha cut that down with arrows. Then Radheya’s large infantry attacked. But they were sent to Yama’s abode with arrows released from Gandiva. Bibhatsu then stretched his bow up to his ears and killed his horses with sharp arrows that could take a great weight. They fell down dead on the ground. The mighty-armed and valorous Kounteya took up another flaming arrow and pierced Karna in the chest. The arrow pierced his armour and penetrated his body. He was immersed in darkness and lost consciousness for some time. Suffering great pain, he left the field of battle in a northern direction. Arjuna and maharatha Uttara started to censure him.’