Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (44 page)

‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! On seeing that many of my sons are being killed by a single person, what did Bhishma, Drona and Kripa do in that battle? O Sanjaya! From one day to another, my sons are going to their perdition. O suta! I think that they have been completely overtaken by terrible destiny, since all my sons are being defeated and are never victorious. O son!
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My sons are in
the midst of Bhishma, Drona, the great-souled Kripa, Somadatta’s valiant son, Bhagadatta, Ashvatthama and many other brave and extremely great-souled warriors. Yet they are being killed in the battle. Other than destiny, what can this be? The evil Duryodhana did not comprehend the words that I had spoken earlier. O son! He was restrained by me, and by Bhishma and Vidura. So did Gandhari, always desiring his welfare. But because of his delusion, the wicked one did not understand earlier and is now reaping the fruits. In this battle, the angry Bhimasena is killing and conveying my insensate sons to Yama’s abode.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “Kshatta’s supreme words were for your own welfare. They have now come true. O lord! You did not comprehend them then. Vidura had asked you to restrain your sons from the gambling match with the Pandavas and not oppress them. He is a well-wisher with your welfare in mind and spoke truthfully. But you did not heed his words, like a dying man who refuses good medicine. The words spoken by the virtuous have now come to be true. Vidura, Drona, Bhishma and other well-wishers spoke beneficial words that were not accepted and the Kouravas are headed towards destruction. O lord of the earth! All of this is the consequence of what transpired earlier. Now listen to the account of the battle, exactly as it unfolded. It was midday and an extremely great and terrible encounter commenced. O king! There was destruction of men. Listen, as I describe it. On the instructions of Dharma’s son, all the soldiers were enraged and attacked Bhishma, wishing to kill him. O great king! Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, maharatha Satyaki, together with their armies, advanced against Bhishma. In that encounter, Arjuna, Droupadi’s sons and Chekitana united and advanced against the kings who were following Duryodhana’s command. The brave Abhimanyu, Hidimba’s maharatha son and Bhimasena were enraged and attacked the Kouravas. The Pandavas divided themselves into three parts and fought against the Kouravas. O king! The Kouravas also began to kill the enemies in battle.

‘“Drona, best among rathas, angrily advanced against and fought with the Somakas and the Srinjayas, despatching them to Yama’s eternal abode. O king! When they were slaughtered in battle by the
archer who was Bharadvaja’s son, a great lamentation arose among the great-souled Somakas. Drona killed many kshatriyas in that battle. They were seen to be unconscious, like men afflicted with disease. There were groans, moans and shrieks in that field of battle. There were continuous sounds, like those uttered by men overcome with hunger. The immensely strong and angry Bhimasena was like terrible death amidst the Kouraveyas and caused carnage. In that great battle, soldiers killed each other. A terrible river began to flow, with waves of blood. O great king! That battle between the Kurus and the Pandavas was great and assumed a terrible form. It extended Yama’s kingdom. In particular, Bhima was incited with rage in that battle. He descended on the army of elephants and despatched them to the land of the dead. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Elephants were struck by Bhima’s iron arrows. Some of them fell down. Others were paralysed. Others shrieked. Still others ran away in different directions. O venerable one! Great elephants had their trunks sliced off, their feet sliced off. Terrified, they shrieked like cranes. They fell down on the ground. Nakula and Sahadeva attacked the army of horses. The horses possessed golden harnesses. Their caparisons were made out of gold. They were seen to be slain in hundreds and thousands. O king! The earth was strewn with horses that had fallen down. Some lost their tongues. Others could not breathe. Still others shrieked in agony and lost their lives. O best of men! The earth was beautiful with horses of many different forms. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O lord of the earth! The earth looked resplendent, yet terrible, because in that encounter, Arjuna also killed many horses. O king! There were broken chariots, shattered standards, extremely dazzling umbrellas, golden necklaces, bracelets, heads with earrings, loosened headdresses, pennants and the beautiful floors, yokes and reins of chariots everywhere. The earth was as beautiful as spring with its flowers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The Pandus were also confronted with this kind of destruction when the angry Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, Drona, supreme among rathas, Ashvatthama, Kripa and Kritavarma were enraged. And when those on the other side became angry, those on your side met with decay.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O king! When that terrible destruction of brave ones was going on, the illustrious Shakuni Soubala attacked the Pandavas. O king! Hardikya Satvata,
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the destroyer of enemy heroes, attacked the army of the Pandavas in that encounter. Pandava’s brave powerful son, the scorcher of enemies, attacked your soldiers in a cheerful frame of mind. He possessed the foremost of speedy horses, the best of those from Kamboja and from the land of the rivers, those from Aratta, Mahi, Sindhu, white ones from Vanayu and others from mountainous regions. There were other swift ones of the Tittira breed, as fleet as the wind. They were armoured and ornamented in gold. They were trained well. This brave son of Arjuna was named Iravat. He was born from the intelligent Partha and was the son of the daughter of the king of the nagas. When her husband was slain by Suparna,
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she was distressed and depressed in her mind. She was also childless and was bestowed by the great-souled Airavata.
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She was overcome by the pangs of desire and Partha accepted her as his wife. Thus it was that Arjuna’s son was born in another one’s field.
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Protected by his mother, he grew up in the world of the nagas. Because of his hatred for Partha, his evil-souled uncle abandoned him.
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He was handsome and brave and possessed all the qualities. Truth was his valour. He quickly went to Indra’s world when he heard that Arjuna had gone there. The one for whom truth was his valour, went to his great-souled father. He anxiously bowed before him. Joining his hands in salutation, he
humbly said, ‘O fortunate one! O lord! I am Iravat. I am your son.’ He told Pandava everything and reminded him of the circumstances about how he had met with his mother. He embraced his son, who was exactly like him in all the qualities. In the abode of the king of the gods, Partha was delighted. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The mighty-armed Arjuna then commanded him in the world of the gods and affectionately told him about his duty. ‘Come to us when it is the time for war.’ O lord! He agreed and went away. In accordance with those words, he presented himself, since the time for battle has come. O king! He was surrounded by many swift horses, with all the complexions that one desires. Those horses bore golden harnesses and were of many hues. They were as swift as thought. O king! They suddenly arrived and were like swans in the great ocean. They attacked the large numbers of your horses, which were also exceedingly fast. They struck each other on the chests and on the noses. O king! Those extremely swift horses suddenly fell down on the ground. Those masses of horses clashed against each other and were shattered and fell down. An extremely terrible sound was heard, like that when Suparna descends. O great king! Thus it was that they clashed against each other in the battle. The horse-riders fiercely began to kill each other. A tumultuous and fearful encounter raged. On both sides, large numbers of horses dashed around in all directions. The brave ones were mutilated with arrows. The horses were slain. They were overcome with exhaustion. They began to diminish in number, destroying each other with their swords.

‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the armies of horses were whittled away and only a few were left, Soubala’s brave younger brothers rode out in the forefront of that battle. They were astride supreme horses that were like the touch of the wind in their speed. They were as fleet as the wind. They were well-trained and not too old or young. Those six were powerful—Gaja, Gavaksha, Vrishaka, Charmavat, Arjava and Shuka.
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They advanced with a great army and were supported by Shakuni and their own extremely strong warriors. They were armoured and skilled in battle. They were
terrible in form and extremely strong. O mighty-armed one! With that extremely large army, desiring heaven and victory, they penetrated that supremely invincible army.
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Unassailable in battle, those from Gandhara cheerfully entered there. On seeing that they had cheerfully penetrated, the valiant Iravat spoke to his own warriors, who were adorned with colourful ornaments and weapons in that battle. ‘Act according to the decreed policy, so that all the warriors of the sons of Dhritarashtra can be killed in this battle, together with their followers and their mounts.’ Agreeing, all of Iravat’s warriors began to slay the ranks of the enemy, though the enemy was invincible in battle. On witnessing that their ranks were being brought down in that battle, all of Subala’s sons could not tolerate this state of affairs in the encounter. All of them attacked and surrounded Iravat. They incited each other to attack him with sharp lances. The brave ones dashed around and created a great melee. The great-souled Iravat was pierced by those sharp lances. Blood began to flow from his body and he looked like an elephant wounded by a goad. He was severely wounded on his chest, his back and his sides. O king! He was alone and faced many. But he was not distressed and did not lose his fortitude. Iravat was enraged in that battle. The destroyer of enemy cities confounded all of them by piercing them with sharp arrows. The scorcher of enemies uprooted all the lances from his own body and used them to strike Subala’s sons in that battle. He unsheathed a sharp sword and grasped a shield. He swiftly advanced on foot, wishing to kill Subala’s sons in that encounter. Having regained their senses, all of Subala’s sons became angry and advanced against Iravat. But displaying the dexterity of his hands with the sword and proud of his strength, Iravat attacked all those sons of Subala. He roamed around with such great speed, that Subala’s sons, though they were on fleet horses, could not find an opportunity to strike him. However, in that battle, seeing him stationed on the ground again, all of them surrounded him at close quarters, wishing to capture him. The destroyer of enemies saw that they were near him. He used his sword to slice off their right hands and their left and mutiliated other parts
of their bodies. All their arms were adorned with various ornaments. They were seen to fall down. They too, without their limbs, fell down on the ground, devoid of their lives. O great king! In that extremely terrible battle where brave warriors were slaughtered, only Vrishaka escaped, though he was severely wounded.
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‘“On seeing that all of them had fallen down, Duryodhana was frightened. He spoke to the extremely terrible rakshasa who was terrible in form. The scorcher of enemies was a great archer and was skilled in maya. He was the son of Rishyashringa.
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He had earlier become an enemy of Bhimasena on account of the slaying of Baka.
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‘O brave one! Witness the strength of Phalguna’s son. He is skilled in maya and has caused the unpleasant and terrible destruction of my forces. O son!
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You are capable of going anywhere at will. You are skilled in the use of weapons of maya. You are the sworn enemy of Partha. Therefore, kill him in battle.’ The rakshasa, terrible in form, agreed to these words. He roared like a lion and advanced to where Arjuna’s young son was. He was surrounded by his own soldiers, who were brave and armed. They were accomplished in fighting, were astride mounts and were armed with polished lances. He wished to kill the immensely powerful Iravat in battle. The valiant and swift Iravat was enraged. The slayer of enemies countered the rakshasa who was seeking his death. On seeing that he was descending on him, the extremely powerful rakshasa swiftly resorted to his powers of maya. He created a large number of illusory horses. They were ridden by terrible rakshasas, who wielded spears and javelins. Two thousand of these armed ones angrily advanced. The two sides clashed and quickly sent each other to the land of the dead. When the soldiers on both sides had been killed, the two of them, invincible in battle, attacked each other in that encounter, like Vritra against Vasava. On seeing the rakshasa, invincible in battle, advance against him, the extremely strong Iravat was enraged and attacked him. When
the evil-minded one approached close, he used his sword to slice off his blazing sword and shattered his shield into five parts. On seeing that the bow had been severed, he quickly resorted to the sky and angrily confounded Iravat with his maya. But Iravat also rose up into the sky and confounded the rakshasa with his own maya. He was invincible too and could assume any form at will. He knew about the body’s inner organs and pierced his body with his arrows. O great king! The foremost among rakshasas was repeatedly wounded through these arrows, but he became hale again and regained his youth. Maya is natural to them, and according to their wishes, so are energy, age and beauty. Thus, though the rakshasa’s limbs were repeatedly mangled, they healed. Iravat used his sharp battle axe to repeatedly slice angrily at the immensely strong rakshasa. That brave and powerful rakshasa was repeatedly sliced like a tree and roared terribly, making a tumultuous sound. Wounded by the battleaxe, the rakshasa began to profusely shed blood. The powerful one became enraged and continued to battle forcefully. On seeing that the enemy was so energetic in the battle, Rishyashringa’s son assumed an extremely terrible and gigantic form. While everyone looked on, he tried to grasp him in the forefront of that battle. But seeing this maya employed by the great-souled rakshasa, Iravat angrily created his own maya. He was overcome by anger and he was one who never retreated from battle. O king! His mother’s relatives approached him and he was surrounded by many nagas in that battle, assuming a great form like Bhogavat.
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The rakshasa was enveloped by many kinds of nagas. Enveloped by those nagas, that bull among rakshasas thought and assumed the form of Suparna,
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so that he could devour the nagas. On seeing that his mother’s relatives were devoured through maya, Iravat was confused. And the rakshasa killed him with his sword. Iravat’s head was adorned with earrings and a diadem and was as radiant as a lotus or the moon. The rakshasa made it fall down on the ground.