Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (33 page)

‘Sanjaya said, “O venerable one! Drona’s son, Bhurishrava, Shalya, Chitrasena
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and Samyamani’s son
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fought with Subhadra’s son. While he was fighting with these five tigers among men alone, people saw that he was extremely energetic and was like a young lion against elephants. No one was equal to Krishna’s son
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in sureness of aim, courage, valour, knowledge of weapons and dexterity. When Partha saw his son, the scorcher of enemies, thus displaying his valour in that battle, he uttered a roar like a lion. O lord of the earth! O Indra among kings! Having seen your grandson oppress your soldiers in this way, those on your side surrounded him from all directions. But Subhadra’s son, the destroyer of enemies, was not dispirited. Using his energy and strength, he attacked the sons of Dhritarashtra. When he was fighting with the enemy in that battle and using his large bow, he was like the sun in radiance and was seen to use dextrous moves. He pierced Drona’s son with one arrow and Shalya with five. He sliced down the standard of Samyamani’s son with eight. Somadatta’s son
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hurled a gold-shafted and giant lance at him and it was like a serpent. But he cut it down with sharp arrows. Arjuna’s heir repulsed the hundreds of extremely terrible arrows that Shalya shot and slew his four horses. Bhurishrava, Shalya, Drona’s son, Samyamani’s son and Shala were struck with terror at the strength of arms displayed by Krishna’s son and could not withstand him.

‘“O Indra among kings! The Trigartas, the Madras, the Kekayas, with a number of twenty-five thousand, were urged by your son. They were foremost among those who were skilled in the use of weapons and were incapable of being vanquished by enemies in battle. They surrounded Kiriti and his son, desiring to kill them. O king! The Panchala general, conqueror of enemies, saw from a distance that the father and son, bulls among charioteers, had been surrounded. With many thousands of elephants and chariots and surrounded by hundreds of thousands of horse-riders and infantry, the scorcher of enemies angrily stretched his bow and advanced against the army of Madras and Kekayas. Protected by the illustrious and firm wielder of the bow and with masses of chariots, elephants and horses, that army was resplendent as it advanced towards the fight. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! While he was advancing towards Arjuna, Panchala struck Sharadvat
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in the shoulder with three arrows. He killed ten
Madrakas with ten arrows. With a broad-headed arrow, he cheerfully killed Kritavarma’s horses. With an iron arrow that was broad at the tip, the scorcher of enemies killed Damana, the heir of the great-souled Pourava. At this, Samyamani’s son pierced Panchala, who was invincible in battle, with thirty arrows and his charioteer with another ten. Having been thus wounded, that great archer licked the corners of his mouth with his tongue and used a broad-headed and extremely sharp arrow to slice down the bow.
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O king! He swiftly wounded him with another twenty-five and killed his horses and the two charioteers who protected his flanks.
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O bull among the Bharata lineage! With his horses slain, Samyamani’s son remained stationed on the chariot and looked at the great-souled son of Panchala.
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Grasping an extremely terrible sword that was made out of iron, he advanced on foot towards the chariot of Drupada’s son. He was like a large wave, or like a serpent descending from the sky. He whirled his sword and with the blazing sword, looked like the resplendent sun at the time of destruction. He was like a crazy elephant in his valour. The Pandavas and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna saw him. On seeing him advance towards him, with a sharp sword in his hand and holding a shield, Panchala’s son was overcome with rage. He was beyond the range of arrows, but was swiftly advancing towards the chariot. The enraged general shattered his head with a club. O king! When he fell down dead, the extremely polished sword and shield were loosened from his hands and fell down on the ground. Thus did the great-souled son of the king of Panchala exhibit his terrible valour and having killed him with his supreme club, obtained supreme fame.

‘“O venerable one! When the prince, the maharatha and great archer, was killed, loud cries of lamentation arose among your
soldiers. Having seen that his son had been slain, Samyamani angrily and forcefully advanced against Panchala, invincible in battle. A great battle commenced between those two brave ones, both of whom were invincible in battle and all the kings among the Kurus and the Pandavas looked on. Samyamani, the destroyer of enemy heroes, struck Parshata with three arrows, like a mighty elephant with goads. Shalya, the adornment of any assembly, also angrily struck the brave Parshata on his chest and another encounter commenced.”’

‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! I think that destiny is superior to human endeavour, since the soldiers of my sons are being killed by the soldiers of Pandu. O son!
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You always tell me that those on my side are being slaughtered and you always tell me that the Pandavas are not being killed and are happy. O Sanjaya! You tell me that those on my side are devoid of manliness and have fallen down, or are falling down, or are being killed. They are fighting to the best of their capacity and are endeavouring for victory. But while those on my side are decaying, the Pandavas are obtaining victory. O son! I am always hearing about the great, terrible and intolerable misery that has been caused by Duryodhana’s misdeeds. O Sanjaya! I do not see any means whereby the Pandavas may decay and those on my side are able to obtain victory in this battle.”

‘Sanjaya replied, ‘O king! Be patient and listen to the slaughter of the bodies of men and the destruction of elephants, horses and chariots and all of this great evil originates with you. Shalya oppressed Dhrishtadyumna with nine arrows. He was enraged and oppressed the lord of Madra with iron arrows. We then witnessed Parshata’s extraordinary valour, as he swiftly countered Shalya, the adornment of assemblies. As they engaged in battle, no gap could be seen and
the battle between the two seemed to last only for an instant. O great king! In that encounter, Shalya sliced down Dhrishtadyumna’s bow with a broad-headed, yellow and sharp arrow. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He enveloped him with a shower of arrows and it was like clouds showering down rain on mountains at the time of the monsoon. When Dhrishtadyumna was thus tormented, Abhimanyu became angry. With great force, he dashed towards the chariot of the king of Madra. Having reached the chariot of the lord of Madra, Karshni, whose soul was immeasurable, pierced Artayani with three arrows. O king! Those on your side wished to counter Arjuna’s son in battle. They surrounded the chariot of the king of Madra and stationed themselves there. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O fortunate one! Duryodhana, Vikarna, Duhshasana, Vivimshati, Durmarshana, Duhsaha, Chitrasena, Durmukha, Satyavrata and Purumitra stationed themselves in battle, so as to protect the chariot of the lord of Madra. O lord of the earth! At this, the angry Bhimasena, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, Droupadi’s sons, Abhimanyu and the Pandavas who were Madri’s sons
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discharged many different kinds of weapons. In great delight, they sought to kill each other. O king! It is because of your evil policy that they engaged in battle. When that terrible encounter commenced between the ten rathas on either side, all the other rathas, on your side and on those of the enemy, became spectators. The maharathas discharged many different kinds of weapons. They roared at each other and struck each other. They were inflamed with anger and desired to kill each other. They were intolerant of each other and discharged great weapons. Overcome with anger in that great battle, Duryodhana pierced Dhrishtadyumna with four sharp, swift and terrible arrows. Durmarshana pierced him with twenty, Chitrasena with five, Durmukha with nine arrows, Duhsaha with seven, Vivimshati with five and Duhshasana with three. O Indra among kings! In return, Parshata, the tormentor of enemies, displayed the dexterity of his hands and pierced each of them with twenty-five. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that encounter, Abhimanyu pierced Satyavrata and Purumitra with ten arrows
each. In that battle, the sons of Madri, the delight of their mother, enveloped their maternal uncle
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with a wonderful torrent of arrows. O great king! The sons of his sister were supreme charioteers and were repulsing him. But Shalya enveloped them with many arrows. Despite being covered, the sons of Madri did not waver.

‘“The immensely strong Bhimasena saw Duryodhana. Pandava grasped a club, thinking that he would bring an end to the strife. On seeing the mighty-armed Bhimasena with his upraised club, like the peak of Kailasa, your sons were terrified and fled. However, Duryodhana was angered. With ten thousand swift elephants, he engaged the army of Magadhas against him.
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With that army of elephants, and placing the Magadhas in front of him, King Suyodhana advanced against Bhimasena. Vrikodara saw that army of elephants descending on him. Roaring like a lion, he leapt down from the chariot, with a club in his hand. He grasped the heavy and great club, with a heart like that of a mountain. He attacked that army of elephants, like death with a gaping mouth. Killing the elephants with the club, the powerful one wandered around in battle. The mighty-armed Bhimasena was like Vasava with the vajra. He let out a loud roar and this made the mind and the heart tremble. At Bhima’s mighty roar, the elephants gathered together and lost all power of motion. The sons of Droupadi, Subhadra’s maharatha son, Nakula, Sahadeva and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna were guarding Bhima’s rear. They attacked the elephants with a shower of arrows, like clouds pouring down on mountains. With razor-sharp and broad-headed arrows and yellow
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s, the Pandavas severed the heads of those who were fighting on elephants.
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The heads fell down and so did adorned arms and hands with goads held in them. It seemed like a shower of stones. Seated on the backs of elephants, those who were fighting on elephants lost their heads. They looked like broken trees
on the summits of mountains. We saw other large elephants slain and brought down by Dhrishtadyumna, the great-souled Parshata. In that battle, the king of Magadha advanced on an elephant that looked like Airavata,
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towards the chariot of Subhadra’s son. On seeing Magadha’s mighty elephant advance towards him, Subhadra’s son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, killed it with an arrow. After depriving him of his elephant, Karshni, the destroyer of enemy cities, used a broad-headed and silver-shafted arrow to slice off the king’s head.

‘“Pandava Bhimasena penetrated that army of elephants. He roamed around the field of battle, crushing elephants, like Indra against mountains. In that battle, we saw Bhimasena kill elephants with a single stroke, like mountains shattered by the vajra. Elephants had broken tusks, broken temples, broken bones, broken backs and broken heads. They were slain like mountains. They trumpeted and lay down on the ground. Other elephants refused to fight in the battle. Some issued urine. In pain, others issued excrement. We saw dead elephants strewn along whichever path Bhimasena took, like mountains. Others vomited blood. Other giant elephants had their frontal globes smashed. Some lost their senses and fell down on the ground, like mountains on the face of the earth. Bhima wandered around on the field of battle, like death with a staff in his hand. His body was smeared with fat, blood, lard and marrow. Vrikodara whirled his club, drenched with the blood of elephants. He seemed to be as terrible as Pinaki, the wielder of Pinaka.
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Crushed by the angry Bhimasena, the remaining army of your elephants suddenly fled. The charioteers and great archers, with Subdhadra’s son at the forefront, protected the brave one as he fought, like the wielder of the vajra is by the immortals. He held the club that was drenched in blood and was himself drenched in the blood of elephants. Bhimasena, terrible in his soul, then seemed to be like death himself. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! We saw him whirl his club in every direction. In that battle, we saw him dancing around like Shankara. O great king! We saw his terrible, heavy and devastating club, like Yama’s
staff and with a sound like that of Indra’s vajra. It was covered in hair and marrow and was smeared with blood. It was like Rudra’s Pinaka, when he angrily kills animals. Just as a herdsman uses a stick to drive a herd of animals, your army of elephants was driven back by Bhima’s club. They were killed by that club and by arrows from all directions. Your elephants were scattered and ran away, crushing their own soldiers. Like a great storm that scatters the clouds, the elephants were driven away in that tumult by Bhima. He stood, like the wielder of the trident
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in a cremation ground.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “When that army of elephants was destroyed, your son, Duryodhana, instructed all the soldiers to kill Bhimasena. On your son’s instructions, all the soldiers uttered terrible roars and rushed against Bhimasena. That large army was incapable of being assailed, even by the gods. It was as difficult to cross as the turbulent ocean, on the night of the new or full moon. It was full of chariots, horses and elephants. There was the sound of conch shells. There were a large number of kings in it and it was incapable of being agitated. As it advanced, Bhimasena stationed himself in the battle, against a large ocean. He was like the shore, withstanding that ocean of soldiers. O king! In that battle, we faithfully witnessed Bhimasena’s wonderful, extraordinary and superhuman deed. Without any hesitation, Bhimasena countered all those kings, horses, chariots and elephants with his club. That supreme of charioteers used his club to check that large army. Bhima stood immobile in that melee, like Mount Meru. At that extremely tumultuous and supremely dreadful time, his brothers, his sons, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, Droupadi’s sons, Abhimanyu and maharatha Shikhandi did not abandon Bhimasena, because of the fear that was engendered from that great force.