Mahabharata: Volume 7 (21 page)

‘S
anjaya said, “O great king! The kshatriyas wished to kill each other. They bore feelings of enmity towards each other and slew each other in the battle. O great king! Large numbers of chariots, throngs of horses, masses of men and numerous elephants clashed against each other in every direction. There were clubs, maces,
kanapa
s,
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lances, catapults; and
bhushundi
s
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were seen to move everywhere. They descended in that extremely fierce battle.
In every direction, showers of arrows descended like locusts. In the encounter, elephants clashed against elephants and killed each other. Horses clashed against horses, chariots against chariots, infantry against large numbers of infantry and large numbers of horses against horses. O king! In that encounter, foot soldiers, chariots, elephants, rathas, elephants, horses and elephants were seen to swiftly crush the other three kinds of forces.
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The brave foot soldiers roared at each other. That terrible encounter was like a sacrificial spot for animals. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Covered in blood, the earth was beautiful. It was as if the earth was covered by large numbers of
shakragopa
insects during the monsoon.
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The earth was as beautiful as a young lady
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dressed in a white garment that had been dyed with saffron.
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With the colourful flesh and blood, it seemed to be decorated in gold. Heads, arms and thighs were severed. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Earrings and ornaments were dislodged. Golden necklaces and armour were dislodged from the bodies of the archers. With large numbers of flags, they fell down on the ground. Elephants engaged with elephants and gored each other with the tips of their tusk. Wounded by the tusks, the elephants looked beautiful. Their limbs were covered with blood and they looked like mobile mountains full of minerals, with red chalk flowing down their sides. The elephants destroyed many lances hurled by their opponents, including those that were still held horizontally in the hands. With their armour destroyed by iron arrows, those supreme elephants looked dazzling. O great king! They were like mountains deprived of clouds at the onset of winter. The best of elephants were pierced with gold-tufted arrows. O venerable one! They looked like beautiful mountain tops, lit with torches. Some elephants, as large as mountains, were struck by other
elephants and fell down on the ground. They fell down in that battle, like mountains with wings.
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Other elephants were struck by arrows and oppressed by their wounds. These fled. With their temples and frontal globes shattered, they shrieked and fell down in that great battle. There were others that emitted terrible roars like lions. O king! There were others that shrieked and ran hither and thither. Horses with golden harnesses and trappings were killed by the arrows and weakened. They screamed and ran in the ten directions. Others that were afflicted and rendered unconscious, fell down on the ground. Oppressed by the arrows and javelins, they screamed in many different kinds of ways. O venerable one! Men were slain there. They screamed and fell down on the ground. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Others saw their relatives, fathers, grandfathers and others running away from the enemy. On seeing this, they called out the names of their lineages and their own names and summoned each other. O great king! Bedecked with golden ornaments, their arms were severed and having fallen, or while falling down, were immobile or writhed. Thousands of these fell down on the ground and quivered. In that battle, they quivered powerfully, like serpents. O lord of the earth! Those arms were like the bodies of serpents, smeared with sandalwood. Drenched with blood, they were as beautiful as golden standards. A fierce encounter ensued in every direction. Without recognizing,
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they fought and killed each other. Because of that descent of weapons, the earth was covered with dust. O king! Since everything was covered in darkness, one could not differentiate those on one’s own side from that of the enemy. A terrible and large river with currents of blood, fierce in form, was created there and began to flow. The severed heads were like rocks. The hair constituted weeds and moss. It was full of the best of bows and arrows and large numbers of bones. Flesh constituted the mud and mire. There were extremely terrible currents of blood. The river that was created there extended Yama’s kingdom. That river was fearsome in form and conveyed them to Yama’s abode. It generated fear in the
minds of the kshatriyas who submerged and immersed themselves in it. O tiger among men! Carnivorous beasts roared in various places there. That horrible field of battle looked like the city of the lord of the dead.
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In every direction, large numbers of headless torsos were seen to rise up. Satisified with the flesh and the blood, large numbers of demons danced around. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They drank the blood there. They drank the marrow. Satiated with the fat and the marrow, crows, vultures and smaller crows were seen to run around. O king! In that battle, the brave ones cast aside all fear, though it is difficult to give that up. They resorted to the vow of warriors and performed their tasks without any fear. There were large numbers of arrows and lances on the field of battle and it was infested with innumerable predatory beasts. The brave ones roamed around there, displaying their manliness. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They made each other listen to their names and lineages. In the encounter, they recounted the names of their fathers and their families. O lord of the earth! In diverse ways there, the warriors made others listen to these. They attacked each other, with spears, javelins and battleaxes. An extremely terrible battle commenced, fearsome in form. The Kourava army was weakened, like a shattered boat on the ocean.” ’

‘S
anjaya said, “O venerable one! O king! While the kshatriyas immersed themselves in that battle, the tremendous roar of Gandiva was heard in that encounter, when Pandava was engaged in creating carnage among the samshaptakas, the Kosalas and the narayana army.
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In that encounter, the samshaptakas were
intolerant and desired victory. From every direction, they showered down arrows on Partha’s head. O king! However, the lord spiritedly withstood that violent shower. Plunging into the battle, Partha slaughtered the best of rathas. He assaulted that army of chariots with arrows that had been sharpened on stone and were tufted with the feathers of herons. In that battle, Partha approached maharatha Susharma.
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The foremost of rathas brought down a shower of arrows on him and the samshaptakas did the same to Partha, who was stationed in the battle. Susharma pierced Partha with nine swift arrows and Janardana in the right arm with three arrows. O venerable one! O king! With another broad-headed arrow, he pierced the large standard that had been fashioned by Vishvakarma, with the best of apes astride it. At this, the ape let out a large and fierce roar. On hearing this, your army was terrified. O king! That beautiful army became immobile. It was like Chitraratha’s grove, full of many flowers.
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O best of the Kuru lineage! Having regained their senses, the warriors drenched Arjuna with their arrows, like clouds on a mountain. All of them surrounded maharatha Pandava. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Swiftly and powerfully, they attacked his horses, his chariot wheels and his chariot and roared like lions. O great king! Some of them seized Keshava by his mighty arms, while others seized Partha, as he was cheerfully stationed on his chariot. In the field of battle, Keshava flung his arms around and brought all of them down, like an elephant against a wicked elephant. In the encounter, on seeing that Keshava had been oppressed on the chariot, Partha became angry. He attacked and brought down many maharathas and innumerable foot soldiers who had climbed onto the chariot. He covered all the warriors who were nearby with arrows that were meant for fighting at close quarters.

‘ “In that battle, he then spoke to Keshava. ‘O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! Behold. Those large numbers of samshaptakas wished to perform an extremely terrible deed against me and have been slaughtered in thousands. O bull among the Yadu lineage! With my exception, there is no man on earth who is capable of withstanding such a terrible attack, at close quarters, on the chariot.’ Having spoken thus, Bibhatsu blew on Devadatta.
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Krishna blew on Panchajanya, filling heaven and earth. O great king! On hearing the blare of those conch shells, the army of the samshaptakas wavered. They were extremely terrified. Pandava, the destroyer of enemy heroes, repeatedly invoked the naga weapon and tied down their feet.
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Partha tied down their feet in the battle. O king! With their feet tied down by the great-souled Pandava, they became immobile, as if they were made out of stone. The descendant of the Pandu lineage then slaughtered those immobile warriors, just as in ancient times, Indra had killed the daityas in the battle with Taraka.
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Slaughtered in the battle, they abandoned the best of chariots and threw away all their weapons. O Indra among kings! On seeing that the army had thus been tied down, maharatha Susharma quickly invoked the Suparna weapon.
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Suparna birds descended and devoured the serpents. O king! On seeing the birds, the serpents fled. O lord of the earth! Having been freed from the thongs on the feet, the army looked as beautiful as the sun, which warms all beings, when it has been freed from a mass of clouds. O venerable one! Having been freed, the warriors released large numbers of arrows and large numbers of weapons towards Phalguna’s chariot. Having used his own shower of great weapons to sever that shower of arrows, Vasava’s son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, remained stationed on his chariot in the field of battle. O king! Susharma used arrows with drooping tufts to pierce Arjuna in the chest and pierced him
again with three other arrows. Having been severely wounded and pained, he sank down on the floor of his chariot. When he regained his senses, the one with the white horses, immeasurable in his soul and with Krishna as his charioteer, quickly invoked the aindra weapon.
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O venerable one! Thousands of arrows were created from it and were seen to destroy men and elephants in every direction of the battle, in addition to horses, chariots and hundreds and thousands of weapons. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the soldiers were slaughtered, the large numbers of samshaptakas and gopalas were overcome with great fear. There was no man there who could fight back against Arjuna. While those brave ones looked on, that large army was slaughtered. Despite witnessing the slaughter and despite their valour, they remained immobile. In the battle there, Pandu’s son killed ten thousand warriors. O king! He was resplendent in that battle, like a flaming fire without any smoke. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He killed fourteen thousand foot soldiers, ten thousand rathas and three thousand tuskers. At this, the samshaptakas again surrounded Dhananjaya. They refused to retreat, and had determined to set their minds on death or victory. O lord of the earth! There was a great battle there between those on your side and the brave and powerful Pandava Kiriti.” ’

‘S
anjaya said, “O venerable one! Kritavarma, Kripa, Drona’s son, the son of the suta, Uluka, Soubala and the king
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and his brothers saw that the army was afflicted because of the fear of Pandu’s son. It was submerged with great force, like a shattered boat in an ocean. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! However, in a short while, a battle commenced. It generated fear among cowards and increased the delight of brave ones. In the battle, Kripa
released showers of arrows that moved like locusts and shrouded the Srinjayas. Shikandi was angry and quickly advanced against Goutama.
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From every direction, he showered down a large number of arrows on the best of brahmanas. Kripa was knowledgeable about great weapons and destroyed that shower of arrows. In the encounter, he angrily pierced Shikhandi with ten arrows. Shikhandi became enraged in that battle. He severely pierced Kripa with swift arrows that were shafted with the feathers of herons. Having been severely pierced, maharatha Kripa, supreme among brahmanas, deprived Parshata
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of his horses, charioteer and chariot. With his horses slain, the maharatha
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descended from his chariot and grasping a sword and a shield, quickly advanced against the brahmana. On seeing him violently attack in the battle, he enveloped him with straight-tufted arrows and it was wonderful. What we witnessed was extraordinary, as if there was a torrent of rocks. O king! Shikhandi remained immobile in that encounter. O supreme among kings! On seeing that Shikhandi had been shrouded by Kripa, maharatha Dhrishtadyumna quickly counter-attacked Kripa. On seeing that Dhrishtadyumna was advancing towards Sharadvata’s chariot, maharatha Kritavarma powerfully repulsed him. On seeing that Yudhishthira was advancing towards Sharadvata’s chariot, together with his sons and soldiers, Drona’s son countered him. Your son received the spirited maharathas Nakula and Sahadeva and countered them with showers of arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, Karna Vaikartana countered Bhimasena, the Karushas, the Kekayas and the Srinjayas. O venerable one! Meanwhile, in the encounter, Sharadvata Kripa swiftly dispatched arrows towards Shikhandi, as if wishing to burn him down. However, with his sword, he
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repeatedly sliced down all the arrows that were embellished with gold and were shot at him from all directions, while they were still in mid-air. At this, Goutama quickly shattered Parshata’s shield, which was decorated with the marks of one hundred moons, with
his arrows. The men roared loudly. O great king! Deprived of his shield, he attacked with the sword in his hand. But he had come under Kripa’s control, like a diseased person in the mouth of death. The immensely strong one was afflicted by Sharadvata’s fierce arrows. On seeing this, Suketu,
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Chitraketu’s son, spiritedly advanced. In the battle, he showered the brahmana with many sharp arrows. The one whose soul was immeasurable, dashed towards Goutama’s chariot. O supreme among kings! On seeing that the brahmana, devoted to his vows, was engaged in a fight with someone else, Shikhandi quickly withdrew. O king! Suketu struck Goutama with nine arrows, pierced him again with seventy, and struck him yet again with three arrows. O venerable one! He next severed his
⁵⁰⁰
bow, with an arrow affixed to it. With another arrow, he severely struck his charioteer in the inner organs. Goutama became angry at this and picked up another new bow that was firm. He struck Suketu in all his inner organs with thirty arrows. All his limbs were weakened and he wavered on that supreme chariot. He was like a tree, trembling and moving during an earthquake. His head was adorned with flaming earrings. It had a headdress and a helmet. While he was moving, he
⁵⁰¹
brought it down with a kshurapra arrow. That head fell down on the ground, like a piece of meat being carried by a hawk. Thereafter, the head was dislodged and fell down on the ground. O great king! When he was slain, those who followed him were frightened. They abandoned the fight with Goutama and fled in the ten directions.

‘ “Kritavarma repeatedly asked Parshata to wait.
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In the battle, there was a tumultuous encounter between those from the Vrishni and Parshata lineages.
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O king! It was like a fight between a hawk and a vulture over a piece of meat. In the battle, Dhrishtadyumna angrily struck Hardikya, Hridika’s son, in the chest with nine
arrows and afflicted him. In the encounter, Kritavarma was firmly struck by Parshata. In turn, he shrouded Parshata, his chariot and his horses, with arrows. O king! With his chariot enveloped by arrows, Dhrishtadyumna could no longer be seen. It was like the sun enveloped by clouds at the onset of the rains. Those large numbers of arrows were decorated with gold. O king! But having repulsed them with his arrows, though he was covered with wounds, Dhrishtadyumna looked resplendent in the battle. Parshata, the leader of an army, became angry and unleashed an extremely terrible shower of arrows towards Kritavarma. On seeing that violent and incessant shower of arrows descend in the encounter, Hardikya destroyed them with thousands of arrows. On seeing that the extremely irresistible shower of arrows had been countered in the battle by Kritavarma, Parshata advanced and repulsed him. He used a broad-headed arrow, sharp at the edges, to swiftly dispatch his charioteer to Yama’s abode. Slain, he fell down from the chariot. Dhrishtadyumna vanquished his powerful maharatha enemy. In the battle, he then quickly countered the Kouravas with arrows. At this, the warriors on your side attacked Dhrishtadyumna. They roared like lions and a battle commenced.” ’