Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (61 page)

‘“Bharadvaja’s maharatha son powerfully advanced. There was dreadful lamentation and the earth began to tremble. The wind raised a violent and terrible dust that was as tawny as silk. This covered the sky and the sun. Though there were no clouds in the sky, a shower of flesh, bones and blood fell down. O king! Thousands of vultures, hawks, wild crows, herons and crows repeatedly swooped down on the soldiers.
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Jackals howled hideously and many fearful creatures swooped down on the left side of your army, desiring to eat the flesh and drink the blood.
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Flaming and blazing meteors were seen to descend, covering the field of battle in every direction with their tails. They roared and caused a trembling. O king! When the commander of the army
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advanced, the gigantic solar disc thundered and seemed to
emit lightning. There were many other fearful portents, inauspicious for the warring heroes and signifying a destruction of lives. Thus the battle between the Kuru and Pandava soldiers commenced, each side wishing to kill the other. The entire earth was full of that noise. The Pandavas and the Kouravas were extremely enraged. They grasped weapons and sought to kill each other with sharp arrows. The immensely radiant and great archer
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rushed towards the Pandava soldiers with great force, showering hundreds of sharp arrows. O king! On seeing Drona advance, the Pandavas and the Srinjayas countered him, separately showering arrows. That great army was agitated and shattered by Drona. The Panchalas were destroyed, like a mountain by a storm. In a short instant, Drona unleashed many kinds of divine weapons in that battle and oppressed the Pandavas and the Srinjayas. With Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, the Panchalas were slaughtered by Drona and trembled, like the danavas before Vasava. The brave maharatha, Yajnasena’s son,
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skilled in the use of divine weapons, used showers of arrows to penetrate Drona’s army in many places. He repulsed Drona’s shower of arrows with several showers of arrows. The powerful one killed the Kuru soldiers. In the battle, the mighty-armed Drona restrained his own soldiers and attacked Parshata. He released a great shower of arrows towards Parshata, like the angry Maghavan forcefully attacking the danavas. Drona’s arrows made the Pandavas and the Srinjayas tremble. They were repeatedly routed, like deer by a lion. O king! The powerful Drona travelled through that army of the Pandvas like a circle of fire
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and it was wonderful. His chariot was like a city in the sky, constructed by one conversant with sacred texts. The harnessed horses were controlled well. The standard fluttered in the wind. The pole of the standard was as bright as crystal and he tormented the enemy with his arrows. He was astride that supreme chariot and slaughtered the soldiers of the enemy.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “On seeing Drona slaughter the horses, charioteers, rathas and elephants, the Pandavas were distressed and surrounded him. King Yudhishthira spoke to Dhrishtadyumna and Dhananjaya. ‘Make endeavours to counter the one who was born from a pot and surround him.’
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Arjuna and Parshata, with their followers, surrounded him, together with all the maharathas—the Kekayas, Bhimasena, Subhadra’s son, Ghatotkacha, Yudhishthira, the twins, Matsya, Drupada’s son, Droupadi’s cheerful sons, Dhrishtaketu, Satyaki, the enraged Chekitana and maharatha Yuyutsu. O king! There were many other kings who followed the Pandavas. In accordance with their lineage and their valour, they performed many deeds. On seeing that the army of the Pandavas was thus protected in battle, Bharadvaja’s son glanced at them, with anger in his eyes. He was stationed on his chariot, invincible in battle, and was overcome by terrible rage. He pierced the Pandava army, like the wind scattering clouds. He attacked the chariots, horses, men and elephants in every direction. Though he was old, Drona roamed around, like a mad young man. His horses were crimson in colour and were as fleet as the wind. They were covered in blood. O king! Those horses thus assumed a beautiful appearance. On seeing that angry one, rigid in his vows, descend like death, the Pandava warriors fled in every direction. Some fled in fright. Others returned. Some glanced at him and an extremely dreadful noise arose, causing delight among brave ones and leading to fright among those who were cowards. This completely filled the space between the sky and the earth. Yet again, Drona announced his name in the battle. He shot hundreds of arrows at the enemy and assumed a dreadful form. Though he was aged, the powerful Drona acted like one who was young. The intelligent one was like death amidst the Pandava soldiers. The fierce one sliced off the heads and the arms with their ornaments. The maharatha rendered the chariots empty and roared. O lord! Because of his roars of delight and because of the force of
his arrows, the warriors trembled in the field of battle, like cattle because of the winter. As a result of the roar of Drona’s chariot, the stretching of his bowstring and the sound of his bow, a great sound arose in the sky. Many thousands of arrows were released by him. They covered all the directions and descended on the elephants, the horses and the chariots. His extremely forceful bow was like the fire, with arrows as its flames. The Panchalas and the Pandavas attacked Drona. But he dispatched the rathas, elephants and horses to Yama’s abode. In a short while, Drona covered the earth with the mud of blood. He showered supreme weapons and arrows in every direction. Drona covered the directions with his net of arrows and nothing could be seen. Foot soldiers, chariots, horses and elephants were shrouded and his standard could be seen, roaming around, like a cloud tinged with lightning.

‘“With the bow and arrows in his hand, Drona used arrows to penetrate the five brave ones from Kekaya and the king of Panchala and then attacked Yudhishthira’s army. Bhimasena, Dhananjaya, Shini’s grandson, Drupada’s son, Shibi’s son, the lord of Kashi and Shibi were delighted. They roared and covered him with a large number of arrows. They were assailed by arrows released from Drona’s bow. These were colourful and gold-tufted. They pierced the bodies of elephants and young horses and penetrated the ground, the tufts covered with blood. The earth was strewn with large numbers of warriors, chariots, elephants and horses, mangled by the arrows. They fell down on the ground and looked like dark clouds in the sky. Desiring the prosperity of your sons, Drona crushed the armies of Shinis’s descendant, Bhima, Arjuna, Shibi, Abhimanyu, the king of Kashi and many other brave ones in that battle. O Indra among Kouravas! The great-souled one performed this, and many other deeds, in the battle. O king! Having scorched the world, like the sun at the time of destruction, Drona went to heaven. On his golden chariot, the brave one killed hundreds and thousands of Pandava warriors in the battle and was brought down by Parshata. He killed more than two akshouhinis of brave ones who never retreated. After that, the wise one attained the supreme objective. O king! The one on the golden chariot performed extremely difficult deeds and was
then killed by the Pandavas and the Panchalas, the performers of inauspicious and cruel deeds. O king! When the preceptor was killed in the battle, there was a roar among the beings in the firmament and also among the soldiers. This resounded in heaven, the earth, the sky, the directions and the sub-directions. A great sound of ‘shame’ was heard among all the beings. The gods, the ancestors and all those who were his relatives saw that Bharadvaja’s maharatha son was slain. Having obtained victory, the Pandavas roared like lions. The earth trembled because of that loud roar.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “How could the Pandavas and the Srinjayas kill Drona in battle? Among those who wielded all weapons, he was extremely skilled. Did his chariot break? When he was striking, did his bow shatter? Was Drona distracted and was that the reason for his death? O son!
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How could Parshata slay him? He was incapable of being oppressed by enemies. He showered large numbers of gold-tufted arrows. The foremost among brahmanas possessed dexterity of hand. He was accomplished and colourful in fighting. He could shoot from a great distance. He had self-control. He was skilled in war. The maharatha was undecaying and supreme. He was careful and performed terrible deeds in battle. It must be destiny that Panchala’s son killed him. It is my view that it is manifest that destiny is superior to human endeavour. The brave Drona has been killed by the great-souled Parshata. The four types of weapons were established in the brave one.
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The
preceptor Drona knew supreme weapons and has been slain. He used to be on a golden chariot, covered with the skins of tigers and decorated with pure gold. On hearing that he has been killed, I am now overcome with sorrow. O Sanjaya! No one dies because of the hardship that someone else faces. On hearing that Drona has been slain, I am dead, though I am alive. My heart is made out of hard stone. Despite learning that Drona has been killed, it has not shattered into a hundred parts. He was worshipped by brahmanas and princes who desired the qualities of knowledge of the brahman, the Vedas and weapons. How could he have been taken away by death? This is like the ocean drying up, Mount Meru moving, or the sun falling down. I cannot tolerate Drona’s downfall. He restrained the proud and protected those who followed dharma. The scorcher of enemies was prepared to give up his life to attain the objective of my wicked and evil sons. Their victory depended on his valour. He was the equal of Brihaspati and Ushanas in his intelligence. How could he have been killed? His large Saindhava horses were crimson. They were garlanded in gold. They were fleet as the wind and were yoked to his chariot. They were beyond the reach of all sounds of battle. They were powerful and neighed in joy. Those Saindhavas were controlled and were trained in bearing.
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They were firm in the midst of battle and never suffered from distress or exhaustion. They withstood the trumpeting of elephants in battle and the sound of conch shells and drums. They tolerated the twanging of bowstrings and the shower of arrows and weapons. They had conquered their breathing and had conquered pain and they assured victory over the enemy. Those fleet horses quickly bore the chariot of Bharadvaja’s son. How could they be overpowered? They were yoked to the golden chariot and controlled by the foremost of men. O son! How could
they not cross that Pandava army? He was mounted on a supreme chariot, decorated with pure gold. What feats did Bharadvaja’s brave son not accomplish in war? He made warriors weep. All the archers in the world depended on his knowledge. Drona was devoted to the truth. He was powerful. What did he accomplish in battle? He was foremost among all the great ones who wielded the bow, like Shakra in heaven. He was the performer of terrible deeds. Which rathas countered him in battle? On seeing the one on the golden chariot, did the Pandavas run away? Unleashing divine weapons, did he destroy that inexhaustible army? Or did Dharmaraja, together with his younger brothers and with Panchala as the harness, surround Drona from every direction with all the soldiers? Did Partha restrain the rathas with his arrows? Parshata, the performer of evil deeds, must have assailed Drona then. With the exception of Dhrishtadyumna, protected by the terrible Kiriti, I do not see anyone capable of killing the vigorous one. When the Kekayas, the Chedis, the Karushas and the other kings surrounded and agitated the brave preceptor, while he was performing a difficult deed, like ants against a serpent, the wicked Panchala must have killed him then. That is my view. He studied the four Vedas and the fifth one about the accounts.
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He was the refuge of the brahmanas, like the ocean is of the rivers. How could that aged and powerful brahmana have been killed through a weapon? He was intolerant and proud, though he often suffered on my account. Though he did not deserve it, he reaped the fruits of his action through Kounteya. All the wielders of the bow on earth depended on his deeds for their livelihood. He was devoted to the truth. He performed good deeds. How could he have been killed by those who desire prosperity? He was foremost. He was great-spirited and extremely strong, like Shakra in heaven. How could he have been killed by the Parthas, like a whale by smaller fish? He was dexterous in the use of his hands. He was powerful. He was firm in wielding the bow. He was the destroyer of enemies. No one,
wishing to remain alive, faced him on the field and remained alive. As long as he was alive, two sounds never left him—the sound of the brahman by those who desired the Vedas and the sound of the bowstring by those who wielded the bow. I cannot tolerate Drona being killed in battle. He was like the lion and the elephant in his valour. O Sanjaya! He was invincible. The fame of his strength was never assailed. Who protected the great-souled one on the right flank and on the left? When he fought in the battle, which brave one was in front of him? Who were the brave ones who confronted him and gave up their lives, traversing the path of death? Who were the brave ones who faced Drona in battle and attained the supreme objective? O Sanjaya! Even if one faces a great hardship, one must do one’s duty, in accordance with one’s valour and one’s capacity. All of this was established in him. My mind is distracted. O son! Let us stop for some time. O Sanjaya! I will ask you again, after I have regained my senses.”’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having asked the son of the suta in this way, he was afflicted by terrible sorrow. Dhritarashtra lost all hope about his sons being victorious and fell down on the ground. On seeing that he had lost his senses and had fallen down, the attendants sprinkled him with water. The water was extremely cold and was perfumed. They fanned him. O great king! On seeing that he had fallen down, the women of the Bharata lineage surrounded him from every direction and gently rubbed him with their hands. They gently raised the king up from the ground. With tears choking their throats, the beautiful women placed him on his seat. Having attained his seat, the king was still not conscious. He was immobile. They stood around him and fanned him. Having slowly regained his senses, the king trembled. He once again began to ask the suta, Gavalgana’s son, about what exactly had happened.