Read Mahabharata: Volume 7 Online
Authors: Bibek Debroy
Mahabharata: Volume 7 (43 page)
This parva has 664 shlokas and twelve chapters.
Satyaki kills Shalva, the king of the mlechhas, and Kshemadhurti. Bhima kills Duryodhana’s remaining brothers. Arjuna kills warriors from Trigarta, including Susharma, the king of Trigarta. Sahadeva kills Shakuni and his son, Uluka. Duryodhana enters (
pravesha
) a lake (
hrada
) and hides there, the section being named after this. The survivors, including the women, flee to Hastinapura.
‘S
anjaya said, “O king! When Shalya was killed, seven hundred brave rathas, followers of the king of Madra, advanced in a
large army. Duryodhana was astride an elephant that was like a mountain. An umbrella was held aloft his head and he was fanned with whisks. He restrained the ones from Madra, ‘Do not go. Do not advance.’ Duryodhana repeatedly tried to restrain those brave ones. However, wishing to kill Yudhishthira, they penetrated the Pandu army. O great king! Those brave warriors had made up their minds to fight. They loudly twanged their bows and fought with the Pandavas. On hearing that Shalya had been killed, they afflicted Dharma’s son. Those maharathas from Madra were devoted to ensuring the welfare of the king of Madra. Partha advanced there, stretching the bow Gandiva. The maharatha again filled the directions with the clatter of his chariot. Arjuna, Bhima, the Pandavas who were Madri’s sons, Satyaki, tiger among men, all of Droupadi’s sons, Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, the Panchalas and the Somakas desired to protect Yudhishthira and surrounded him from every direction. Surrounding him, the bulls among the Pandavas agitated that army, like makaras in an ocean. It was as if the great river Ganga was agitated by a mighty wind. O king! But those maharathas were ready to give up their lives and again agitated the great army of the Pandus and their standards. Those on your side made it tremble, like trees by a giant storm. They loudly exclaimed, ‘Where is King Yudhishthira? Why are his brave brothers not seen? Where are the immensely valorous Panchalas, maharatha Shikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Shini’s descendant and all the sons of Droupadi?’ While they were roaring in this way, Droupadi’s brave and maharatha sons and Yuyudhana attacked the followers of the king of Madra. Some of them were crushed by the wheels. Others were mangled and the giant standards destroyed. In the battle, those on your side were seen to be slain by the enemy. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Though they were restrained by your son, on seeing the Pandavas in the battle, those warriors powerfully rushed against them from every side. Duryodhana tried to restrain and calm those brave ones. But not a single one of those maharathas would listen to him.
‘ “O great king! Shakuni, the son of the king of Gandhara, capable of speaking eloquently, spoke these words to Duryodhana. ‘The
army of the Madras is being slaughtered. Why are we looking on? O descendant of the Bharata lineage! While you are stationed in the battle, this is not proper. At that time, we took a decision that we would fight together. O king! The enemy is slaughtering us. Why are you tolerating this?’ Duryodhana replied, ‘I tried to restrain them earlier. But they did not listen to my words. Having penetrated the Pandu army, this is the reason they are being killed.’ Shakuni said, ‘When they are enraged in a battle, valiant ones do not listen to their master. You should not be angry with them. This is not the time to ignore this. All of us should advance with our horses, chariots and elephants and rescue the great archers who are the followers of the king of Madra. O king! We will take great care and protect each other. Let all of us think along those lines and ask the soldiers to advance.’ Having been thus addressed, the king surrounded himself with a large army. He roared like a lion, made the earth tremble and advanced. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Among your soldiers, there were tumultuous sounds like, ‘Slay. Pierce. Seize. Strike. Sever.’ In the battle, the Pandavas beheld the followers of the king of Madra. They advanced, uniting in a moderate formation.
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O lord of the earth! In a short instant, those brave ones engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the battle and the followers of the king of Madra were seen to be killed. While we were advancing, we saw that the enemy had spiritedly killed their foes and were cheerfully uttering roars of delight. In every direction, headless torsos were seen to rise up and fall down, like giant meteors from the solar disc at midday. The chariots and yokes were shattered. The maharathas were slain. Horses fell down. The earth was strewn with these. O great king! Steeds that were as fleet as the wind were still yoked. In the battle, they were seen to drag the warriors around. In the encounter, some horses dragged around chariots with shattered wheels. Some others fled in the ten directions, dragging along halves of chariots. Here and
there, yokes were seen to be attached to the horses. O supreme among men! Rathas were seen to fall down. They were like siddhas dislodged from the sky, after their store of good deeds had been exhausted. The brave followers of the king of Madra were slaughtered.
‘ “The maharatha Parthas saw that we were advancing towards them.
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Wielding weapons and desiring victory, they attacked powerfully. They created a whizzing sound with their arrows and this mixed with the blare of conch shells. Unwavering in their aim, those strikers again clashed against us. They brandished their bows and arrows and roared like lions. On seeing that the large army of the king of Madra had been slain and that the brave king of Madra had been brought down in the battle, all of Duryodhana’s soldiers again retreated. O great king! They were slaughtered by the Pandavas, firm archers, who desired victory. Frightened and terrified, they fled in different directions.” ’
‘S
anjaya said, “The unassailable maharatha, the king of Madra, was brought down in the battle. Those on your side, and your sons, generally retreated. They were like merchants whose boats had been shattered, so that they were without a raft on the fathomless ocean. O great king! When the brave king of Madra was slain by the great-souled one,
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they wished to find a shore, but could not reach one. They were frightened and mangled by arrows. They desired a protector, but were without a protector. They were like deer afflicted by a lion. They were like bulls with broken horns, or elephants with shattered tusks. They were defeated by Dharma’s son and tormented at midday. O king! There was no one who could rally the soldiers, nor any valour among them. When Shalya was killed, there was no warrior who could resort to his own intelligence. O descendant of the Bharata
lineage! O lord of the earth! When Bhishma, Drona and the son of a suta were killed, the warriors on your side suffered from sorrow and fear. That grief and terror manifested itself again. When maharatha Shalya was killed, all hope of victory was given up. The foremost of brave ones were slain and destroyed, mangled by sharp arrows. O king! When the king of Madra was slain, the warriors fled. Some of the maharathas resorted to horses, others to elephants, and still others to chariots. They speedily ascended on these, or fled on foot. There were two thousand elephants, accomplished in striking. They were like mountains. When Shalya was killed, goaded by goads and toes, they ran away. O best among the Bharata lineage! In the encounter, those on your side fled in different directions. They were seen to run away. They sighed and were afflicted by the arrows. On seeing that they were shattered and running away, vanquished and bereft of enthusiasm, the Panchalas and Pandavas attacked them, desiring victory. They created a whizzing sound with their arrows and roared loudly, like lions. The brave ones blew fiercely on their conch shells.
‘ “On seeing that the Kourava soldiers were terrified and were running away, the Panchalas and the Pandavas spoke to each other. ‘King Yudhishthira is firm in his devotion to the truth and has vanquished the enemy today. King Duryodhana has been destroyed today and has lost his glory and prosperity. On hearing that his sons have been killed, Dhritarashtra, the lord of men, will fall down senseless on the ground and grieve. He will realize today, how capable Kounteya is, among all archers. The evil-minded one will today censure his evil deeds. Today, he will remember the truthful and beneficial words that were spoken by Kshatta earlier. Let him serve the Parthas today, with different kinds of objects. Let the king know the sorrow that the sons of Pandu had felt. Let the lord of the earth learn about Krishna’s greatness today. Today, let him realize how terrible the twang of Arjuna’s bow is in battle. Today, let him know the terrible strength of the great-souled Bhima, who possesses the strength of all weapons and the strength of his arms in battle. Duryodhana will be slain in the battle, like the asura Maya by Shakra.
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There is no one else in the world who could have performed the task that the immensely strong Bhima has. Bhimasena slew Duhshasana. Today, on hearing about the death of the king of Madra, who was extremely difficult for even the gods to withstand, let him know about the eldest Pandava’s valour. In the encounter today, he will know about the great strength of the two sons of Madri, when the brave Soubala and all those from Gandara are killed. Why should victory not be on the side of those who have a warrior like Dhananjaya, or Satyaki, Bhimasena, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, Droupadi’s five sons, the Pandavas who are Madri’s sons, the great archer, Shikhandi, and King Yudhishthira? Why should victory not be on the side of those who have Krishna Janardana, the protector of the universe, as their protector, and who have resorted to dharma? There were Bhishma, Drona, Karna, the king of Madra and hundreds and thousands of other brave kings. Who other than Partha Yudhishthira was capable of vanquishing them in battle? Hrishikesha, the store of dharma and fame, has always been his protector.’ In great delight, these were the words they spoke to each other. O king! Those on your side were routed and the Srinjayas followed them from the rear. The brave Dhananjaya attacked the army of chariots
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and Madri’s sons and maharatha Satyaki attacked Shakuni.
‘ “On seeing that all of them were running away, afflicted by their fear of Bhimasena, Duryodhana smiled and spoke to his charioteer. ‘Partha, stationed with the bow in his hand, will not be able to cross me. He is slaying all the soldiers. Take my horses to him. I will fight and kill Kounteya, or Dhananjaya will kill me. He will not be able to cross me, like the great ocean against the shoreline. O charioteer! Behold that large army, attacked by the Pandavas. Behold. In every direction, a dust has arisen because of the soldiers. Listen to the many leonine roars. They are terrible and fearful. O charioteer! Advance slowly there and protect the rear. If I station myself in battle and counter the Pandus, my energetic army will swiftly return again.’ On hearing the words of your son, spoken like the best of brave ones, the charioteer gently goaded the horses, tied
to golden harnesses. There were twenty-one thousand foot soldiers who were ready to lay down their lives, though they were without elephants, horses and charioteers. They stationed themselves for the battle. They had come from diverse countries and were attired in garments of many colours. Desiring great fame, those warriors stationed themselves there. In great delight, they clashed against each other. There was an extremely great encounter. It was fierce in form and terrible. O king! Those four kinds of troops, who had come from many countries, countered Bhimasena and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna.
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In the battle, other foot soldiers attacked Bhima. Desiring to ascend to the world of the brave, they roared cheerfully and slapped their armpits. Invincible in the battle, they angrily attacked Bhimasena. Those on the side of the sons of Dhritarashtra did not speak to each other. But they roared. They surrounded Bhima in the battle and struck him from all sides. O great king! When he was surrounded by that large number of foot soldiers in the battle, maharatha Pandava did not waver. He remained immobile on his chariot, like Mount Mainaka. He slaughtered them and they angrily attacked him, countering the other warriors who tried to repulse them. Thus attacked, Bhima became enraged in that battle. He quickly descended from his chariot and stood on the ground. He grasped a giant club that was decorated with gold. With this, like Yama with a staff in his hand, he began to slay those warriors. With his club, the powerful Bhima brought down twenty-one thousand foot soldiers, who were without chariots, horses or elephants. Bhima, for whom truth was his valour, slew that army of men. He was soon seen, with Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront. The slain foot soldiers lay down on the ground, their bodies covered with blood. They were like flowering karnikara trees shattered by a storm. They were adorned with garlands made out of different kinds of flowers. They wore many kinds of earrings. They were of different races and had assembled from different countries. That
large army of foot soldiers was killed there. Flags and standards were scattered around. They were destroyed and it was beautiful, but fearful and terrible in form.
‘ “With Yudhishthira at the forefront, all the soldiers and maharathas attacked your great-souled son, Duryodhana. All the great archers on your side retreated. On seeing this, they attacked. But they could not cross your son, like the abode of makaras against the shoreline. We witnessed your son’s extraordinary manliness. Though he was single-handed, all the united Parthas were incapable of withstanding him. Duryodhana spoke to his own soldiers, who were mangled with arrows. Though they had made up their minds to run away, they had not gone far. ‘I do not see a country or mountain on earth, where the Pandavas will not follow and kill you. What is the point of running away? They have only a little bit of their army left and the two Krishnas have been severely wounded. If all of us take a stand, it is certain that there will be victory. If you run away, the Pandavas will destroy all of us. They will pursue and kill us. It is better to be stationed in battle. O kshatriyas! All of you listen to me, those who are still assembled here. Yama slays both cowards and brave ones. Which man calls himself a kshatriya and is stupid enough not to fight? It is better to be stationed before the angry Bhimasena. If we resort to the dharma of kshatriyas and fight, there will be happiness, even if there is death in the battle. If we win, we will obtain happiness. If we are slain, we will obtain great fruits in the world hereafter. O Kouravas! There is no greater path towards heaven than by resorting to the dharma of fighting. If we are killed in battle, we will soon obtain all those revered worlds.’ On hearing these words, the kings applauded them. They returned and attacked the Pandava assassins. On seeing that they were swiftly attacking, the Parthas, who were strikers, arrayed themselves in battle formation. Desiring victory, those strikers counter-attacked. The valiant Partha attacked on his chariot. He brandished Gandiva bow, famous in the three worlds. Madri’s sons and the immensely strong Satyaki attacked Shakuni. Cheerfully and quickly, they endeavoured to attack your army.” ’
