THE MAHABHARATA: A Modern Rendering, Vol 2 (45 page)

And he is wracked with sobs. Abruptly, he turns on Yudhishtira, “How could you let him go alone into the chakra vyuha? You were there, Yudhishtira. Bheema and Sahadeva, Nakula, Dhrishtadyumna and Satyaki were there. How did you let him go in alone, when you knew he could not come out? How did you, Yudhishtira? Answer me!”

There is no answer. Arjuna cries again, “But who actually killed Abhimanyu? There is no one in the Kaurava army that could match my child. He was a greater kshatriya than them all. Tell me, who killed my prince? Surely, there was some treachery! Ah, my son, they must have surrounded you and shot you down like a dog. I see your sweet face all bloody, as you lie on Kurukshetra as meat for jackals and vultures. How will I face your mothers? How will I break this news to Subhadra and Drau-padi? How will I face his wife, the child Uttaraa?”

He staggers to his feet, flings his quiver and bow from him. He cannot bear the violence of this sorrow and faints again. Once more, they revive him with scented water and salts. Now, Krishna takes Arjuna’s hand and speaks to him gently, “You mustn’t grieve like this. Your son died a hero’s death. He gave his life that many others may live and in peace. In his sixteen years, Abhimanyu achieved what the greatest kshatriyas hardly do in a lifetime. Those whom the Gods love very much, they call back quickly to themselves. Abhimanyu is in Devaloka now, with his grandfather Indra. But your brothers are here around you, Arjuna. Look at them. Are you blind that you don’t see the guilt that savages them? Are you made of stone that you cannot see how they suffer? Instead, you indulge your own sorrow and make their burden insupportable. Abhimanyu was not only your son. He was the child of us all and we hardly loved him less than you did.”

With a moan, Arjuna runs to embrace Bheema, who breaks down completely, like a child himself. Arjuna falls at Yudhishtira’s feet, crying, “Forgive me! Oh, forgive the harsh things I said to you! I beg you, forgive me, my brothers.”

Yudhishtira embraces Arjuna and their tears flow together. Nakula and Sahadeva come forward to clasp their brother, then, Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi and Satyaki, all crying as if each one had lost his own son.

In a while, Arjuna says, “Tell me now, what happened? I am calm enough to hear everything. Satyaki, tell me. Dhrishtadyumna, my friend, tell me the name of the man who killed my child. Yudhishtira, my brother, tell me.”

A storm of tears takes him again and he says, “My heart is made of stone, that it doesn’t break in a thousand pieces when my child is dead! I am a devil that I still live, when my Abhimanyu is gone.”

Yudhishtira takes Arjuna’s hand and makes him sit beside him. “I will tell you, Arjuna. I will tell you everything that led to the death of the jewel of our line. Early in the day, Susharma lured you away from the main battle and the Acharya formed his chakra vyuha. The fighting began and we could not stand against them at all. The chakra wheeled round and from every part of it, arrows flew out at our men. We tried to break the vyuha, all of us together, Bheema and I, Satyaki and Dhrishtadyumna, Sahadeva and Nakula. But Drona stood at its rim and held us off.

Our legions were being shredded. If the chakra was not breached the war would end by evening and all our men would be dead. Arjuna, thousands of our soldiers died each moment and we were not able to kill more than a handful of theirs. In despair I called Abhimanyu and said to him, ‘Among us only you know how to breach the chakra. We must break in, Abhimanyu, or the war is lost.’

He said, ‘My father taught me how to break into the chakra vyuha, but I don’t know how to come out again.

Yudhishtira cannot go on and, in a whisper, Bheema takes up the story. “He did tell us he could not come out of the vyuha once he had broken in. But we said to him, ‘We will be at your heels, Abhimanyu. Just make the first break and we will smash the vyuha.’

All of us stood before him, Yudhishtira and I, Nakula and Sahadeva, Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, Satyaki, Drupada, Virata, the Kekayas, his brothers and many more. How could he doubt what we said, or refuse to do as we asked, when our men were dying like flies? I will never forget the light that was upon him. Joyfully, he said he would make the breach. He climbed into his chariot and rode at the vyuha. He fought like a Deva; no, he fought more magnificently than any Deva: he fought like Abhimanyu! And the vyuha parted for him like a woman, while Drona stood helpless.” Tears fill Bheema’s eyes again and he says hoarsely, “How will I ever forget how I saw him last? Just as he was storming into the chakra, he turned in his chariot and gave us all such a smile. Arjuna, that smile will haunt me for the rest of my wretched life!”

Bheema breaks down again and Arjuna takes his brother in his arms and comforts him. Yudhishtira takes up the tale. “We were no more than half a chariot length behind him, so he had room to maneuver. All of us were ready to fly into the vyuha after him. We saw him split the chakra, we saw him flash past the Acharya. We saw him turn and smile and, Arjuna, after he had entered, the chakra was still open! There was a gap in it wide as two chariots. We rode at the opening, Bheema in front, I just behind him and then the others. But suddenly, Jayadratha loomed in our path.”

“Jayadratha? And how many with him?”

Yudhishtira bends his head. He says in a whisper, “Only he.”

“Jayadratha held you all up, alone?”

“He fought like a hundred Jayadrathas.”

Arjuna looks around in disbelief. Bheema and the others nod their heads. Krishna says quietly, “He worshipped Siva for a boon and this was it: that, one day, he would hold up all the Pandavas by himself, as long as Arjuna was not with them. That was his revenge for what you did to him in the forest.”

Yudhishtira resumes, “Jayadratha held us up, as if Siva himself fought from his body. And before we knew it, a thousand men had filled the gap in the chakra vyuha. The vyuha was sealed again, but now with our child inside. For hours, we heard the screams within, as he burned them. They could not hold him at all; he killed ten thousand men. He did not die alone, he killed Duryodhana’s boy Lakshmana.”

Arjuna gasps. Sahadeva says, “He killed Brihadbala.”

Yudhishtira says, “He fought them long, like a tiger a pack of dogs.” He chokes again, “But in the end, they killed him.”

Arjuna cries, “But how did they kill my son? Who killed him?”

Sahadeva comes near and takes his hand. Quietly he says, “My brother, listen to the vilest crime committed on Kurukshetra. Six maharathikas surrounded him: Karna, Kripa, Drona, Aswatthama, Kritavarman and Dusasana’s son. He fought like a God and routed them all. Then, I heard Karna went to Acharya Drona and asked him how Abhimanyu could be killed; or the war would be lost by dusk, because our child would have razed their army. Drona told Karna that as long as he had his bow in his hand, Abhimanyu’s armor was impenetrable. Our precious Acharya told Karna that the only way to kill our prince was to break his bow from behind, like a thief.

Twice Abhimanyu had beaten Karna off, wounding him sorely. So now the dastard crept behind our child, severed his bowstring and then broke his bow. The six surrounded him again. Drona killed his horses, Kripa his guards and his sarathy. And when he was defenseless, they shot him with a hundred arrows, until he was bathed in blood. He fought on and we watched some of it and heard the rest. We were helpless, because we still could not break into the chakra vyuha.

He killed a legion of elephants, though by now he was gravely wounded. When he staggered on his feet, Dusasana’s boy leapt down from his chariot and they fought with maces. They struck each other down. Our child was exhausted and Dusasana’s boy rose before he did. He struck Abhimanyu a last blow on his head and your son died. There was no shame in his death, Arjuna, except for those who killed him.” He hangs his head, “And for all of us who sent him to his death.” Sahadeva, also, breaks down and cries.

They watch Arjuna’s eyes turn red. He rises softly and stands before them trembling. In terrible quiet, he says, “I swear I will kill Jayadratha tomorrow. Let the Kauravas guard him with every man they have, let Siva himself come to protect him; Jayadratha will not live. If I don’t kill him tomorrow, let all the punya I have leak away from me and let me find the worst hell of all for myself. I swear by this sacred agni and by this Gandiva, that if I don’t kill Jayadratha tomorrow, I will make a pyre for myself and walk into it with my bow in my hand.”

Arjuna picks up the Gandiva and pulls on its string, so the night resounds with that noise. Krishna raises the Panchajanya to his lips and blows a blast on it like the thunder of the pralaya. Even the Devas in their loka hear that sound; and with it, hope courses again through the Pandava camp. Arjuna has mastered his grief and turned it to wrath. There would be a great hunt tomorrow.

Bheema jumps up and hugs Arjuna. “I am so proud of you! I know you will keep your oath. They must have heard this sound across the field and they may have died of fright!”

Grief turns to a searing hunger for revenge. The Pandavas leave for their own tents, to try to sleep what remains of the night. When they are alone, though, Abhimanyu’s bright face comes to haunt them: how he turned and smiled at them just before he broke into the chakra vyuha.

Hardly a man, common soldier or kshatriya, sleeps, for sorrow that Abhimanyu, splendid prince, is dead. And a new anxiety tugs at their hearts in the small hours: for Arjuna’s hot oath; it would not be easy to kill Jayadratha. Kaurava spies would already have carried word back to Duryodhana and every man of the Kaurava army would be detailed to guard Jayadratha tomorrow. For if Arjuna did not kill him before the sun set, the Pandava must immolate himself to honor his solemn word. What easier way could there be of killing the invincible Arjuna, than keeping Jayadratha alive until the sun set?

A million men, lying sleepless in their beds, mourning in the night for dead Abhimanyu, pray fervently that the Gods would deliver Jayadratha into Arjuna’s hands tomorrow.

ELEVEN
JAYADRATHA’S TERROR 

The evening Abhimanyu died, there is jubilation in the Kaurava camp. Drona is lionized: he had kept his word and one of the most feared Pandava warriors was dead. Moreover, this death, more than any other, would shatter the enemy’s morale. It would break Arjuna’s heart and his brothers’ hearts. There is even speculation whether Arjuna will kill himself when he hears the news.

Duryodhana learns of the massacre of the Samsaptakas. He thinks it a fair price to pay for Abhimanyu’s death. Why, the Kaurava hardly mourns his own son, Lakshmana, whom Abhimanyu killed. He is so excited that Arjuna’s boy is dead. The war possesses Duryodhana absolutely; everything else, even his son’s life is insignificant when seen in the light of victory. No price is too high to pay, no sacrifice too dear to make. He celebrates with the others, his pale eyes gleaming brightest of all.

Suddenly, the night’s silence is riven with the thunder of the Gandiva, followed by the awesome bass of the Panchajanya. In Duryodhana’s tent, they all fall silent. This is not what they had expected, this triumphant pulling at bowstring and blasting on conch. It unnerves them.

But Duryodhana cries, “Hollow sounds! They don’t deceive me. Their spirits are broken and they will die soon.”

The drinking and celebration continue, if less raucously than before, until Jayadratha bursts in on them, shaking. Karna cries, “What news, O Kshatriya?”

Jayadratha is in such a state he can hardly speak. Somehow, he manages to blurt, “Our spies say Arjuna has sworn to kill me before the sun sets tomorrow! I want to go back to my father’s kingdom. It is against kshatriya dharma to pursue someone who has fled the field. Arjuna is a man of dharma. He won’t come after me.”

Jayadratha has served his purpose already; the shrewd Duryodhana expects no further valor from him. The Kaurava gives a short, cruel laugh. “You are trembling like a woman, Jayadratha. Don’t be afraid: a man may swear any oath he likes in a fit of grief, but how will Arjuna kill you? Besides, we hardly killed Abhimanyu with dharma. I think you will be safer with our army than riding home alone. Besides, did you mark what the spies reported? Arjuna said, ‘Even if he hides with Siva himself, I will kill him!’“

Jayadratha shakes like a leaf. Duryodhana continues, “The safest place on earth for you is at the heart of my army. All of us will protect you. Even Indra will not be able to touch you, as long as you are with us. I shall be at your side, Jayadratha and Karna, Vivimsati, Sala, Shalya, Chitrasena, Bhoorisravas, Vrishasena, Purumitra, Kripa, Bhoja, Vikarna, Durmukha, Dusasana, Vinda, Anuvinda, Aswatthama, Shakuni, Alambusa. To name only some of those whose sole task tomorrow will be to guard your life. Why, our every soldier will have my command just to protect you.

By yourself today you kept Bheema, Yudhishtira, Dhrishtadyumna, Satyaki, Nakula, Sahadeva and all the rest from breaking into the chakra vyuha. And now you fear just Arjuna? He is only another man, like the rest of us. He is no Deva that you should be so terrified of him. I give you my word and I would stake my own life on it: he will not harm a hair of your head!”

Softly, Duryodhana goes on, “Then there is Arjuna’s vow. Jayadratha, you will kill Arjuna: not by cutting him down in battle, but by staying alive until the sun sets tomorrow. Didn’t the spies tell you he has sworn to kill himself, if he has not killed you by sunset? I swear you will not die, but he!”

He is full of dark excitement. “Everything is turning our way once more. Abhimanyu’s death has achieved what we wanted: Arjuna has sworn a rash oath he cannot keep. And when he burns himself after he fails to kill you, what will the other Pandavas do? The rest will be easy to finish. Jayadratha, you have been chosen to be the pretext of our victory!”