Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (41 page)

‘“O great king! Shikhandi confronted Drona’s son in battle and struck him between the brows with three swift and iron arrows. With those three adhering to his forehead, that tiger among men looked like Mount Meru with three golden peaks. O king! Ashvatthama became angry. In that encounter, in an instant, he showered down many arrows at Shikhandi’s charioteer, standard, horses and weapon and brought them down. With his horses slain, the supreme of rathas descended from his chariot. He grasped a sharp sword and a polished shield. O great king! Shikhandi, the scorcher of enemies, strode around in the field of battle with a sword, like an angry hawk. Drona’s son did not find an opportunity to strike him and it was extraordinary. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Supremely enraged, Drona’s son unleashed many thousand arrows in that battle. But when that extremely terrible shower of arrows descended in that encounter, the supreme among strong ones struck them down with his sharp sword. The shield was polished and was decorated with a hundred moons on it. In that encounter, Drona’s son shattered his shield and his sword. O king! He pierced him with many sharp arrows. Though pierced and wounded, Shikhandi whirled the fragment of the sword that had been shattered by the arrows and swiftly hurled it, like a blazing serpent. It suddenly descended, as radiant as the fire of destruction. But in that encounter, Drona’s son displayed the dexterity of his hands. He sliced it down and pierced Shikhandi with many iron arrows. O king! Shikhandi was severely wounded by those sharp arrows. He quickly ascended the chariot of the great-souled Madhava.
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‘“The angry Satyaki, strongest among strong ones, attacked the cruel rakshasa Alambusa in that battle and pierced him with many terrible arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! But in that encounter, the Indra among rakshasas sliced his bow down with an arrow that was in the shape of a half-moon and pierced him with
many arrows. He used the maya of rakshasas and showered down arrows on him. We then witnessed the extraordinary valour of Shini’s descendant. Despite being pierced by sharp arrows in that encounter, he disregarded them. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Varshneya then invoked the aindra weapon, which the illustrious Madhava had obtained from Vijaya.
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Using that weapon, he reduced the maya of rakshasas to ashes. From every direction, he showered Alambusa with terrible arrows, like the slayer of Bala
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showering rain on mountains. He was thus oppressed by the great-souled Madhava. Out of fear, the rakshasa gave up the fight with Satyaki and fled. While your warriors looked on, Shini’s descendant triumphed over the Indra among rakshasas, whom even Maghavan found difficult to defeat, and roared. Satyaki, with truth as his valour, killed your soldiers with many sharp arrows and they ran away in fear.

‘“O great king! At that time, Dhrishtadyumna, Drupada’s powerful son, encountered your son, lord among men, and in that encounter, enveloped him with straight-tufted arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He was shrouded by Dhrishtadyumna’s arrows. But your son, lord of men and Indra among kings, was not perturbed. In that encounter, he pierced Dhrishtadyumna back with ninety arrows and it was extremely wonderful. O venerable one! The commander
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became angry and sliced his bow down. The maharatha swiftly killed his four horses and quickly pierced him with seven extremely sharp arrows. When his horses were killed, the mighty-armed one, strong among rathas, leapt down from his chariot. He advanced on foot towards Parshata, with a sword in his hand. The immensely strong Shakuni, who was devoted to the king, arrived. He took the king of all the worlds up on his own chariot. Having defeated the king, Parshata, the destroyer of enemy heroes, began to slaughter your troops, like the wielder of the vajra against the asuras.

‘“In that battle, Kritavarma attacked maharatha Bhima and covered him with arrows. He was enveloped, like the sun with large
clouds. But Bhimasena, scorcher of enemies, laughed in that battle. Extremely angry, he unleashed arrows on Kritavarma. O great king! But the atiratha from the Satvata lineage, skilled in the use of weapons, did not waver. He enveloped Bhima with sharp arrows. The immensely strong Bhimasena killed his four horses. He brought down his charioteer and his beautiful standard. The destroyer of enemy heroes covered him with many arrows. He was wounded in every limb and looked like a porcupine. O great king! With his horses slain, he quickly abandoned his chariot and went to the chariot of your brother-in-law Vrishaka, while your son looked on.
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Bhimasena angrily rushed to attack your soldiers. He began to slaughter them in great rage, like Death with a staff in his hand.”’

‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! As you have described them, I have heard about the many wonderful duels that took place between those on the side of the sons of Pandu and those on my side. O Sanjaya! But you have never spoken about those on my side being happy. You have always described the sons of Pandu as happy and as those who are never routed. O suta! You have spoken about those on my side being distressed and deprived of energy in the battle. There is no doubt that this is because of destiny.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “O bull among men! Those on your side are striving to do battle, to the best of their capacity and the best of their enterprise. They are displaying supreme manliness, to the best of their capability. The water of Ganga, the river of the gods, is sweet. But when it merges into the great ocean, it attains the quality of salinity. O king! The manliness of the great-souled ones on your side is like that. When they confront the brave sons of Pandu in battle,
they obtain no success. They are trying to the best of their strength and are performing extremely difficult tasks. O foremost among the Kurus! You should not censure them because they have merged with the Kouravas. O lord of the earth! This great and terrible destruction of the earth, and the extension of Yama’s kingdom, has come about because of your crimes and those of your sons. O king! Since it is because of your own sins, you should not grieve over this. The lords of the earth desire the worlds that can be obtained by performing good deeds in battle. Striving for heaven, they are fighting and penetrating the army formations. O great king! On the forenoon of that day, there was a great destruction of people, like that in the battle between the gods and the asuras. Listen with single-minded attention.

‘“The two great-souled and great archers from Avanti, immensely strong, saw Iravat in that battle and encountered him with ferocity. The battle that took place between them was tumultuous and made the body hair stand up. Iravat was extremely enraged. He quickly pierced those brothers, who were like gods, with sharp and straight-tufted arrows. In that encounter, those wonderful warriors pierced him back. O king! They fought on and there was nothing to differentiate the two parties. They sought to kill the enemy and neutralized each other’s endeavours. O king! Iravat used four arrows to despatch his four horses to Yama’s abode.
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O venerable one! With two extremely sharp and broad-headed arrows, he sliced off his bow and standard. O king! In that encounter, this was extraordinary. At this, Anuvinda discarded his chariot and climbed onto Vinda’s chariot. He grasped a supreme and new bow that was capable of bearing a great burden. In that battle, those two brave ones from Avanti, supreme among rathas, were stationed on the same chariot. They swiftly showered arrows on the great-souled Iravat. They released extremely swift arrows, decorated with gold. They covered the sky and reached the path of the sun. Iravat became extremely angry in that battle and showered down arrows on those maharatha brothers. He brought down their charioteer. Having lost his life, the charioteer fell down on the ground. The horses were no longer controlled and dragged
the chariot off in various directions. O great king! The son of the naga king’s daughter triumphed in this way. He quickly displayed his manliness and began to slaughter your soldiers. Thus killed in battle, the great army of the sons of Dhritarashtra reeled around in many directions, like a man who has drunk poison.

‘“Hidimba’s son, Indra among the rakshasas, advanced against Bhagadatta. The immensely strong one was on a chariot that had the complexion of the sun and possessed a standard. The king of Pragjyotisha was seated on a king of elephants, like the wielder of the vajra in ancient times, in the
tarakamaya
battle.
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The gods, together with the gandharvas, and the rishis assembled and were unable to differentiate between Hidimba’s son and Bhagadatta. Just as Shakra, the lord of the gods, had driven the danavas away with weapons, in that encounter, the king
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drove the Pandavas away in all directions. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The Pandavas were driven away in all the directions and within their own ranks, could not find a single one who could protect them. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! But we saw Bhimasena’s son stationed on his chariot there, though the other maharathas had fled with dispirited hearts. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the soldiers of the Pandus returned again, in that encounter, your soldiers let out a terrible roar. O king! In that great battle, Ghatotkacha enveloped Bhagadatta with arrows, like clouds raining down on Mount Meru. The king repulsed the arrows released from the rakshasa’s bow and in that battle, quickly pierced Bhimasena’s son in all his inner organs. He oppressed him with many straight-tufted arrows. But the Indra among rakshasas was not distressed and was like an immobile mountain. At this, Pragjyotisha became angry. In that encounter, he hurled fourteen javelins. However, the rakshasa sliced them down. Having sliced the javelins down with his sharp arrows, the mighty-armed one pierced Bhagadatta with seventy gold-tufted arrows.
O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! But Pragjyotisha only laughed. In that battle, he used arrows to bring down his four horses. Though the horses were slain, the powerful Indra among rakshasas remained stationed on his chariot. He powerfully hurled a javelin towards Pragjyotisha’s elephant. This possessed a golden shaft and was extremely swift. As it suddenly descended, the king cut it down into three and shattered, it fell down on the ground. On seeing that the javelin had been destroyed, Hidimba’s son fled and left the field of battle, like in ancient times, Namuchi, supreme among daityas, had fled from Indra.
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The brave and valiant one,
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famous for his manliness, won that battle. O king! He was invincible in battle, like Yama and Varuna. O king! In that battle, he began to crush the Pandava soldiers with his elephant, like a wild elephant destroying the stalks of lotuses.

‘“In that battle, the lord of Madra fought with the twins, the sons of his sister. He enveloped the sons of Pandu with a cloud of arrows. Finding himself engaged in battle with his maternal uncle, Sahadeva repulsed him with a shower of arrows, like clouds shrouding the sun. Covered by that shower of arrows, he seemed to be happy.
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On account of their mother, the twins were also extremely delighted. O king! In that battle, smilingly, the maharatha
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used four supreme arrows to despatch Nakula’s four horses to Yama’s abode. With the horses slain, the maharatha
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quickly descended from his chariot and ascended onto his illustrious brother’s vehicle. In that battle, the brave ones stretched their bows while stationed on the same chariot. In a short while, they angrily covered the chariot of the king of Madra with arrows. He was shrouded with many straight-tufted arrows released by his sister’s sons. But the tiger among men did not waver and was like a mountain. As if laughing, he destroyed that shower of arrows. Sahadeva became angry. O descendant of the
Bharata lineage! The valiant one picked up an arrow and released it in the direction of the king of Madra. That arrow released by him was as forceful as Garuda. It pierced the king of Madra and fell down on the ground. Having been severely wounded and pained, the maharatha sat down on the floor of his chariot. O great king! He lost his consciousness. On seeing that he had fallen down and had lost his senses in that encounter and had been oppressed by the twins, his charioteer drove his chariot away. On seeing that the chariot of the lord of Madra had retreated, the sons of Dhritarashtra lost heart. All of them were distressed and thought that he was no longer alive. Having vanquished their maternal uncle in battle, Madri’s maharatha sons were delighted. They blew their conch shells and roared like lions. O lord of the earth! O king! Filled with joy, they attacked your soldiers, like the immortal Indra and Upendra
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attacking the army of the daityas.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “When the sun reached the midpoint, King Yudhishthira saw Shrutayu and urged his horses towards him. The king attacked Shrutayu, the scorcher of enemies and pierced him with nine sharp and straight-tufted arrows. But, in that encounter, the king, the great archer, countered the arrows shot by Dharma’s son and struck Kounteya with seven arrows. In that battle, these penetrated his armour and drank up his blood, as if all the vital forces in the great-souled one’s body had been sucked out. Pandava was severely wounded by the great-souled king. However, in that encounter, he pierced the king in the heart with an arrow that was like a boar’s ear. With another broad-headed arrow, Partha, foremost among rathas, quickly brought down the great-souled one’s standard from his chariot and made it fall down on the ground. O king! On seeing
that his standard had been brought down, King Shrutayu pierced Pandava with seven sharp arrows. At this, Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, blazed up in anger, like the fire that burns at the end of a yuga and consumes all beings. O great king! On seeing Pandava enraged, the gods, the gandharvas and the rakshasas were pained and anxious. All the beings thought that, thus enraged, the king would destroy the three worlds then. O king! When Pandava was thus angered, the rishis and the gods uttered great words of benediction so that there might be peace in the worlds. He was overcome with rage and licked the corners of his mouth. His appearance was as terrible as that of the sun at the time of the destruction of a yuga. O lord of the earth! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All the soldiers in your army became distressed and thought that they would no longer remain alive. But the immensely famous one controlled his anger through patience. He sliced down Shrutayu’s great bow from his hand. After the bow had been sliced down, while all the soldiers looked on in that battle, the king used an iron arrow to pierce him between the breasts. O king! Nimble on his feet, the great-souled and extremely strong one, then used sharp arrows to kill his mounts and his charioteer. On witnessing the king’s manliness and with his horses slain, Shrutayu gave up his chariot and swiftly fled from the field of battle. Dharma’s son defeated the great archer in that encounter. O king! Because of this, all of Duryodhana’s soldiers became reluctant to do battle. O great king! Having accomplished this, Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, began to slaughter your soldiers, like Death with a gaping mouth.