Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (43 page)

‘“Panchala Dhrishtadyumna and maharatha Satyaki oppressed the soldiers terribly, using a shower of spears and javelins. O king! In that battle, they used many arrows to strike down those on your side. O bull among men! Though those on your side were killed in that battle, the noble ones were resolved to fight in that battle and did not retreat from the encounter. In that battle, those maharatha men strove to the best of their endeavours. But a great lamentation arose among the great-souled ones on your side. On hearing this terrible lamentation amidst the maharathas on your side, Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti attacked Parshata. Those swift maharathas slew his horses. They enveloped Parshata with a shower of arrows. At this, the extremely strong Panchala quickly jumped down from his chariot. He swiftly ascended the chariot of the extremely great-souled Satyaki. King Yudhishthira was surrounded by a large army. With this, in that battle, he angrily attacked the scorchers of enemies from Avanti. O venerable one! Your sons made every effort to surround Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti. O bull among the kshatriya lineage! Arjuna angrily fought against the kshatriyas. He fought in that battle, like the wielder of the vajra against the asuras. Drona
was also angry in that battle, wishing to do that which would bring your son pleasure. He began to consume all the Panchalas, like a fire amidst a mass of cotton. O lord of the earth! With Duryodhana at the forefront, your sons surrounded Bhishma in that battle and fought against the Pandavas.

‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the sun assumed a reddish tinge, King Duryodhana spoke to all those who were on your side. ‘Do not delay.’ They fought on and accomplished extremely difficult tasks. But the sun ascended the Asta mountain
³⁰¹
and could no longer be seen. An extremely terrible river began to flow and its current and waves were made out of blood. It was infested with masses of jackals and it was the moment of twilight. Jackals let out fearful howls and it was inauspicious. The terrible field of battle was infested with the spirits of the dead. Rakshasas, pishachas and others who fed on flesh were seen in every direction, in hundreds and thousands. Arjuna vanquished the kings who followed Susharma, together with their followers. In the midst of his divisions, he then proceeded towards his own camp. O Indra among kings! Since it was night, surrounded by the soldiers and with his brothers, King Kourvaya Yudhishthira also went to his own camp. Having vanquished the rathas headed by Duryodhana in battle, Bhimasena also went to his own camp. In the great battle, Duryodhana was surrounded by the kings. With Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, he swiftly went to his camp. Surrounded by all their armies, Drona, Drona’s son, Kripa, Shalya and Satvata Kritavarma also went to their camps. O king! Surrounded in the battle by all the warriors, Satyaki and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna also went to their camps. O great king! When it was night, thus did the scorchers of enemies, on your side and on that of the Pandavas, retreat. The Pandavas and the Kurus went to their own camps. O great king! They entered and honoured each other. The brave ones made arrangements for protecting themselves and set up outposts, according to the prescribed methods. They removed the stakes
³⁰²
and bathed in different kinds of water. Benedictions were pronounced and all of
them were praised by bards. Those illustrious ones sported, to the sound of singing and the playing of musical instruments. For a short while, everything seemed to be like heaven. The maharathas did not speak at all about what transpired in the battle. O king! Having been exhausted, all the people in the armies slept. O king! With the large numbers of elephants and horses, it was seen to be beautiful.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Those lords of men spent the night happily, engrossed in sleep. Then the Kurus and the Pandavas again emerged to fight. A great sound arose from both the armies, as they emerged to do battle. It was like the great ocean. King Duryodhana, Chitrasena, Vivimshati, Bhishma, supreme among rathas, and the brahmana who was Bharadvaja’s son united themselves and arrayed the great army of the Kouravas. O king! They armoured themselves and formed a vyuha to counter the Pandavas. O lord of the earth! Your father, Bhishma, constructed a great vyuha. It was as terrible as the ocean, with the mounts as its waves. Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, advanced at the forefront of all the soldiers. He was supported by the Malavas, those from the south and those from Avanti. Bharadvaja’s powerful son was next to him. The Pulindas, the Paradas and the lesser Malavas were with him. O lord of the earth! The powerful Bhagadatta was next to Drona, together with the Magadhas, the Kalingas and the Pishachas. Brihadbala, the king of Kosala, was behind Pragjyotisha, together with the Mekalas, the Tripuras and the Chichchilas. Next to Brihadbala was the brave Trigarta, the lord of Prasthala. He was accompanied by a large number of Kambojas and thousands of Yavanas. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Drona’s brave son was next to Trigarta and advanced to do battle. He roared like a lion and made the earth resound. Surrounded by his brothers, Duryodhana was next to Drona’s son and Kripa Sharadvat was behind him. It was thus that the great vyuha advanced, like an
ocean. O lord! There were resplendent flags and dazzling umbrellas. There were colourful bracelets and extremely expensive bows.

‘“On seeing the great vyuha of your soldiers, maharatha Yudhishthira quickly addressed Parshata, the supreme commander. ‘O great archer! Behold the vyuha that has been constructed. It is like an ocean. O Parshata! Without any delay, create a counter vyuha.’ Having been thus addressed, the brave Parshata constructed an extremely terrible vyuha. O great king! It was called Shringataka
³⁰³
and it was destructive of the vyuhas of enemies. Bhimasena and maharatha Satyaki were at the two horns, with many thousands of chariots, horses and infantry. The foremost of men, the one with the white horses and the ape on his standard, was next to them. King Yudhishthira was in the centre, with the Pandavas who were Madri’s sons. Other kings who were great archers, skilled in the use of weapons, filled up the vyuha with their soldiers. Abhimanyu was at the rear, with maharatha Virata, Droupadi’s delighted sons and the rakshasa Ghatotkacha. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Thus did the Pandavas array themselves in the form of a gigantic vyuha. The brave ones stationed themselves in that battle, wishing to fight and desiring victory. The tumultuous sound of drums mingled with the sound made by conch shells. Armpits were slapped and a terrible noise arose in all the directions.

‘“In that battle, the brave ones then confronted each other. O king! They glanced at each other in rage, without blinking their eyes. O Indra among men! They challenged each other, summoning each other by name first. A battle commenced. The battle that started was terrible in form and fearful. Those on your side, and those of the enemy, sought to kill each other. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Sharp iron arrows descended in that battle. They were like fearful snakes with gaping mouths. There were polished and extremely energetic lances that had been washed in oil. O king! They were as radiant as lightning
³⁰⁴
in the clouds. There were polished and thick
clubs, covered in cloth and decorated with gold. They were seen to descend, like beautiful summits of mountains. There were radiant swords, as clear as the sky. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were shields made out of the hides of bulls, with a hundred moons marked on them. O king! They were resplendent in that battle, as they descended in every direction. O lord of men! The two armies encountered each other in that battle. They dazzled like the armies of the gods and the daityas, when arrayed against each other. In that battle, they clashed against each other in every direction. In that supreme battle, chariots quickly clashed against chariots. As those bulls among men fought, the yokes of one got entangled with the yokes of another. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Tuskers fought with tuskers and because of the friction, flames were seen in every direction, mingled with smoke. In all directions, struck by lances, some warriors on elephants were seen to fall down, like the summits of mountains. Infantry was seen to kill each other. The brave ones fought in many colourful ways and used lances and bare nails. Thus did the soldiers of the Kurus and the Pandavas attack each other. Many terrible weapons were used in that battle, to despatch others to the eternal worlds.
³⁰⁵
The chariot of Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, roared in that battle. He advanced against the Pandus and confounded them with the twang of his bow. The chariots of the Pandavas also emitted a terrible roar. With Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, they advanced together. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Thus did the battle between you and them commence. Men, horses, chariots and elephants got entangled with each other.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “In that battle, the powerful Bhishma was enraged. Like the sun, he tormented in every direction and the Pandavas
were incapable of glancing towards him. On the instructions of Dharma’s son, all the soldiers rushed towards Gangeya, who was causing oppression with his sharp arrows. But the great archer Bhishma prided himself in battle. With his arrows, he brought down the Somakas, together with the Srinjayas and the Panchalas. Though they were slaughtered by Bhishma, the Panchalas and the Somakas gave up their fear of death and quickly attacked Bhishma. O king! In that battle, the brave Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, powerfully sliced off the arms and the heads of those rathas. Your father, Devavrata, deprived the rathas of their chariots. The heads of horse-riders fell down from the horses. O great king! Confounded by Bhishma’s weapons, we saw elephants lying around like mountains, deprived of their riders. O lord of the earth! Among the Pandavas, there was no one other than the immensely strong Bhimasena, foremost among rathas, who could resist him. In that encounter, he was the one who engaged Bhishma. There was a terrible battle between Bhishma and Bhima and an extremely terrible and fearful roar arose from all the soldiers.
³⁰⁶
The delighted Pandavas also roared like lions. Surrounded by his brothers, King Duryodhana protected Bhishma in that battle, which resulted in a destruction of men. Bhishma was supreme among rathas. But Bhima slew his charioteer. The horses were no longer controlled and dragged the chariot away in all directions.

‘“With a swift arrow, the destroyer of enemies sliced off Sunabha’s head. He was slain by that extremely sharp kshurapra and fell down on the ground. O great king! When your maharatha son was killed in that battle, seven of his brothers could not tolerate this. Adityaketu, Bahvashi, Kundadhara, Mahodara, Aparajita, Panditaka and the invincible Vishalaksha attacked Pandava in that encounter. They were clad in colourful armour and sported diverse standards. Those scorchers of enemies attacked in that battle, wishing to fight. In that encounter, Mahodara pierced Bhimasena with nine arrows, like the killer of Vritra against Namuchi. Each was like the vajra. Adityaketu pierced him with seventy, Bahvashi with five, Kundadhara with ninety and Vishalaksha with seven. O great king! Maharatha Aparajita, the
vanquisher of enemies, pierced the immensely strong Bhimasena with many arrows. In that encounter, Panditaka also pierced him with three arrows. But in that battle, Bhima did not tolerate the attacks of his enemies. The destroyer of enemies grasped the bow in his left hand. Your son, Aparajita, possessed an excellent nose. In that battle, he used an arrow with a drooping tuft to slice off his head. In that encounter, he was defeated by Bhima and his head fell down on the ground. While all the people looked on, he used another broad-headed arrow to despatch maharatha Kundadhara to the land of the dead. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, the one with the immeasurable soul then grasped another arrow and despatched it towards Panditaka.
³⁰⁷
The arrow killed Panditaka and penetrated the ground. It was like a serpent that kills a man whose time has come. Remembering his earlier hardships, the one whose soul is not depressed then used three arrows to slice off Vishalaksha’s head and make it fall down on the ground. The great archer then struck Mahodara between the breasts with an iron arrow. O king! Pierced in the battle, he was slain and fell down on the ground. In the encounter, he sliced off Adityaketu’s standard with an arrow. He used an extremely sharp and broad-headed arrow to slice off the enemy’s head. The angry Bhima then used an arrow with a drooping tuft to despatch Bahvashi towards Yama’s abode. O lord of the earth! Your other sons fled. They remembered the words that he had spoken in the assembly hall.
³⁰⁸

‘“Because of his brothers, King Duryodhana was distressed. He spoke to all the warriors, ‘There is Bhima. Let him be killed in battle.’ O lord of the earth! Having been thus addressed, your sons, the great archers, saw that their brothers had been killed and remembered the beneficial words that the immensely wise Kshatta
³⁰⁹
had spoken. The words of the one who could foresee were now coming true. O lord of men! You were overcome by avarice and confusion, because of affection towards your sons. In earlier times, you did not understand
the purport of those great and beneficial words. Given the way the powerful Pandava is killing your sons, it seems that the mighty-armed one has been born for the sake of killing the Kouravas. O venerable one! King Duryodhana was overcome by great grief and distress. He went to Bhishma and began to lament. ‘My brave brothers have been killed by Bhimasena in battle. All the soldiers are fighting to the best of their capacity. But they are being killed. You seem to be neutral and are constantly disregarding us. I have chosen to traverse an evil path. Behold my destiny.’ On hearing Duryodhana’s cruel words, your father, Devavrata’s, eyes filled with tears and he spoke these words. ‘O son!
³¹⁰
I uttered these words earlier, and so did Drona, Vidura and the illustrious Gandhari. But you did not understand. O destroyer of enemies! It was decided by me earlier that I will not escape from this battle with my life. Neither will the preceptor. I tell you truthfully that whichever son of Dhritarashtra Bhima sets his eyes on in this battle will be killed by him in the encounter. O king! Therefore, be patient. Be firm in your resolution to fight. Fight with the Parthas in this battle, setting your sights on heaven as the objective. No one is capable of vanquishing the Pandavas, the gods with Indra, or the asuras. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Therefore, fix your mind on the battle. Be patient and fight.’”’