Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (14 page)

‘“Drona blew on his conch shell and himself urged his horses to speed up. He swiftly roamed around here and there. All the arrays that delighted in battle were stationed. O great king! Bharadvaja’s son then spoke to Jayadratha. ‘You yourself, Somadatta’s son, maharatha Karna, Ashvatthama, Shalya, Vrishasena and Kripa will be stationed three
govyuti
s
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behind me, with a hundred thousand horses, sixty thousand chariots, fourteen thousand elephants with rent temples and twenty-one thousand armoured infantry. There the gods, with Vasava, will not be able to attack you, not to speak of all the Pandavas. O Saindhava! Therefore, be assured.’ Thus addressed, Jayadratha, king of Sindhu, was comforted. He went to the spot indicated, surrounded by maharathas from Gandhara. Armoured foot soldiers were stationed there, with lances in their hands. All of them had whisks decorated with gold. O Indra among kings! Jayadratha’s horses were well trained. There were seventy-two thousand Saindhava horses. Wishing to fight, your son, Durmarshana, stationed himself at the forefront of all those soldiers. He was with fifteen hundred crazy and armoured elephants that were terrible in form and were the performers of fierce deeds. Those who were skilled in fighting with elephants were astride them. To accomplish the objectives of the king of Sindhu, your sons, Duhshasana and Vikarna, also stationed themselves ahead of the soldiers. The vyuha that Bharadvaja’s son constructed was partly in the form of a chakra and partly in the form of a cart.
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It was twelve govyutis long and extended for five at the rear. Many brave kings were stationed there. There were chariots,
horses, elephants and infantry, stationed by Drona himself. At its rear, there was a core vyuha in the form of a lotus. It was extremely difficult to penetrate. In the midst of the lotus, he again created a deep vyuha in the form of a needle. Having created the great vyuha in this fashion, Drona stationed himself in the vyuha. The great archer, Kritavarma, was stationed at the mouth of the needle. O venerable one! Kamboja and Jalasandha were stationed next to him. And next to them was Duryodhana, with his advisers. There were hundreds and thousands of warriors who never retreated. All of them stationed themselves in the cart, intending to protect it for a long time. O king! King Jayadratha was behind them, to the side of the needle, and surrounded by a large force. O Indra among kings! Bharadvaja’s son stationed himself at the mouth of the cart. Bhoja was behind him, so as to protect him. Drona was clad in white armour, garments and headdress. He was broad-chested and mighty-armed. He was stationed there and stretched his bow, as angry as Death. On beholding Drona’s chariot, the Kurus were delighted. It possessed a standard and was yoked to red horses. The signs of an altar and black deerskin were on the standard. On seeing the vyuha constructed by Drona, which was like an agitating ocean, the siddhas and the charanas were filled with great wonder. All the beings thought that this vyuha would devour the entire earth, with the mountains, the oceans, the forests and the many countries. The king
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was delighted on seeing the great cart, which would shatter the hearts of those who caused it ill. It had many chariots, men, horses, infantry and elephants. It was wonderful in form and its roar gave rise to fear.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O venerable one! When the battle formations had thus been arrayed and a great sound arose, drums and kettledrums were beaten. When the battle formations roared and
musical instruments were sounded, conch shells were blown and the sound made the body hair stand up. The ground was slowly covered with those among the Bharata lineage who wished to fight. The
roudra muhurta
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arrived and Savyasachi was seen. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Many thousand wild crows and crows sported themselves in front of Savyasachi. Animals howled in terrible tones, and jackals, inauspicious to look at, howled and advanced on our right, as we proceeded. Flaming meteors roared and fell down in every direction. The entire earth trembled and a dreadful fear arose. Dry and harsh winds began to blow, attracting gravel. They manifested themselves when Kounteya arrived to do battle. Shatanika, Nakula’s son, and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna—those two wise ones arrayed the Pandava soldiers into a vyuha. Your son, Durmarshana, stationed himself in front of all the soldiers, with one thousand chariots, one hundred elephants, three thousand horses and ten thousand foot soldiers. These covered terrain measuring fifteen hundred bows. He said, ‘The wielder of Gandiva is unassailable in battle. He is a scorcher. But today, I will repulse him, like the shoreline against the abode of makaras. Let everyone witness the invincible and intolerant Dhananjaya clash against me in battle today, like a mass of stones against another mass of stones.’ O great king! Having said, this, the great-souled and high-minded and great archer stationed himself there. O king! He was surrouned by great archers. He was as angry as the Destroyer and like Vasava with the vajra. Urged by destiny, he was like Death with a staff in his hand. He was as unagitated as the one with the trident,
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or like Varuna with his noose. He was like the blazing fire that arrives at the end of a yuga to consume beings. The angry and intolerant Jaya,
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the destroyer of the nivatakavachas, was established in victory and truth. He desired to accomplish his great vow. He was armoured. Kiriti wielded a sword that was embellished
with gold. His armour and garments were white. He sported a sword and wore beautiful earrings. Nara, with Narayana, was stationed on a supreme chariot. Shaking Gandiva in battle, he was as resplendent as the rising sun. Dhananjaya stationed his prepared chariot at the forefront of the array, where the great shower of arrows would descend. The powerful one blew on his conch shell. O venerable one! Together with Partha, Krishna also fearlessly blew on Panchajanya, supreme among conch shells, with great energy. O lord of the earth! Because of the sound of the conch shells, your soldiers trembled. Their body hair stood up and they lost their senses. Like all beings are terrified at the sound of thunder, all your soldiers were frightened at the sound of the conch shells. All the mounts released urine and excrement. The entire army, with all the mounts, became anxious. O king! O venerable one! The men were distressed at the sound of the conch shells. Some of them lost their senses. O king! Some were terrified. Together with all the other beings who dwelt on the standard, the ape let out a mighty roar. To frighten your soldiers, it opened its mouth wide. At this, so as to delight your soldiers, conch shells, drums, kettledrums and tambourines were again sounded. This mixed with the sound of many musical instruments, with the roars and the slapping of arms. To the sound of musical instruments, the maharathas roared like lions and issued challenges. There was a tumultuous sound that increased the fear of cowards.

‘“The son of the chastiser of Paka
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was extremely delighted. He told Dasharha, ‘O Hrishikesha! Urge the horses to the spot where Durmarshana is stationed. I will shatter the army of elephants and penetrate the enemy’s force.’ Having been thus addressed by Savyasachi, the mighty-armed Keshava urged the horses to the spot where Durmarshana was stationed. A tumultuous and extremely fierce clash commenced between one and many,
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one that destroyed chariots, elephants and men. Partha showered down arrows on the enemy, like Parjanya
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pouring down rain. He was like a cloud
raining down on a mountain. All the rathas swiftly displayed their dexterity of hand. They enveloped Krishna and Dhananjaya with a net of arrows. When the foe fought against him, the mighty-armed and valiant Partha became enraged. With his arrows, he severed the heads of the rathas from their bodies. The earth was strewn with these, with handsome heads with eyes jutting out and frowning, with teeth biting the lips. They were adorned with earrings and helmets. In every direction, they were like lotuses that had been destroyed. The heads of the warriors were scattered around. Colourful armour was spattered with blood. O king! They were seen there, like masses of clouds, tinged with lightning. O king! There was the sound of heads falling down on the surface of the earth, like palm fruit that has ripened in time and is falling down. Some torsos were stationed, with the hands still wielding bows. Some upraised arms were stationed with unsheathed swords. Those bulls among men did not even know when their heads were severed and fell down. They could not tolerate Kounteya and wished to defeat him in battle. The earth was strewn with the heads of horses, trunks of elephants and the arms and heads of brave ones. ‘This is Partha. Where is Partha? This one is Partha!’ O lord! Thus, your soldiers and warriors only thought about Partha. Deluded by destiny, they thought that the entire world was full of Partha alone. Thus, they struck and killed each other. Others struck their own selves. They destroyed themselves. They were covered in blood. They were bereft of their senses. Their bodies were in deep pain. Many brave ones lay down and called out to their well-wishers. The arms held slings, lances, spears, swords, battleaxes, helmets, scimitars, bows, arrows, javelins, darts, armour, ornaments, clubs and armlets in that battle. The arms were like clubs and giant snakes. Having been severed by those supreme arrows, they seemed to forcefully jump, twitch and jerk in every direction, as if in anger. Any man who wrathfully advanced against Partha in that battle was killed by his arrows, piercing the body. As he brandished his bow and danced around on the coursing chariot, no one could detect any weakness in Partha. He swiftly picked up arrows, affixed them and shot them. All the enemy soldiers marvelled
at the dexterity of Pandu’s son. Phalguna used his arrows to pierce elephants and elephant-riders, horses and horse-riders and rathas and their charioteers. There were many who whirled around and surrounded and fought with Pandava. There was not a single one who stood before him and was not killed. Like the sun arises in the sky and destroys great darkness, thus did Arjuna use arrows tufted with heron feathers to slay that army of elephants. Because of the shattered and fallen elephants and soldiers, the earth seemed to be strewn with mountains, as if it was the time of destruction. Beings are always incapable of looking at the midday sun. Like that, the angry Dhananjaya was incapable of being glanced at by the enemy warriors. O scorcher of enemies! Your son’s soldiers were shattered and fled. They were routed and oppressed by those arrows. Like a mass of clouds scattered by a giant wind, those soldiers were slain and no one was capable of looking at him. Those on your side used goads, the tips of their bows, shouts, whips, lashes on the flanks and eloquent words to swiftly urge their well-controlled horses to run away. The riders, the charioteers and the foot soldiers were afflicted by Arjuna. Others used goads and their toes to urge the elephants on their flanks. Others were confounded by the arrows and fled in his direction. Your warriors lost their endeavour. They were confused and distracted in their minds.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “The forefront of my army was shattered and slain by Kiriti. In the battle, who were the brave ones who advanced against Dhananjaya? Or did they abandon their certain resolution and enter the shakata vyuha, seeking refuge with the fearless Drona, who was stationed like a wall?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “Arjuna shattered your forces then. Brave ones were slain and lost their endeavour. They fled at that moment. They were slain by the supreme arrows and no one was capable of looking
at the son of the chastiser of Paka. O king! Duhshasana, your son, saw the state that the soldiers were in and was filled with great rage. To fight, he advanced against Arjuna. He was covered in colourful armour made out of gold. The brave one was extremely valorous and his helmet was made out of god. O great king! Duhshasana surrounded Savyasachi with a giant army of elephants that seemed to devour the earth. Bells tinkled on the elephants. There was the sound of conch shells. There was the sound of bows being twanged and the roars of the tuskers. The sound enveloped the earth, the directions and the sky. That moment was seen to be extremely fierce and terrible. On seeing that these were angry and were swiftly descending on him, urged by goads, and with extended trunks, like winged mountains, Dhananjaya, lion among men, emitted a giant roar, like a lion. He started to afflict and pierce that army of elephants with his arrows. It was like a makara penetrating the great ocean, when it is agitated by mighty waves. Like that, Kiriti penetrated that army of elephants. He was like a scorching sun that rises at the time of the destruction of a yuga, transgressing the normal rules of time.
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Partha, the destroyer of enemy cities, was seen in all the directions. There were sounds from the hooves of the horses and the wheels of chariots. Those who were fighting, roared. There was the twang of bowstrings. There was the sound of Devadatta
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and the roar of Gandiva. Elephants lost their speed and were bereft of their senses. Savyasachi’s arrows had the touch of virulent serpents and shattered them. Sharp arrows released from Gandiva pierced the elephants in that battle and there were many hundreds and thousands that afflicted all their limbs. They roared loudly and were killed by Kiriti. They incessantly fell down on the ground, like mountains with their wings lopped off. Some elephants were pierced with arrows in the roots of their tusks, their frontal lobes and their temples. They repeatedly shrieked like cranes. Using broad-headed arrows with straight tufts, Kiriti sliced down the heads of men who were seated
on the shoulders of elephants. The heads were adorned with earrings and fell down on the ground. They looked like a mass of lotuses that Partha was rendering as an offering. Some elephants wandered around in that battle. They possessed harnesses, but were devoid of armour. They suffered from wounds and blood flowed from these. Men were seen to hang down from them. Sometimes two or three were pierced with a single arrow that had been released, and fell down on the ground. With broad-headed and straight-tufted arrows, he severed bowstrings, bows, standards, yokes and headdresses of the opposing rathas. No one could detect a gap between his picking up an arrow and affixing and releasing it. Partha seemed to be dancing around, with his bow stretched in a circle. They were pierced with iron arrows and vomited blood from their mouths. In an instant, the elephants were seen to fall down on the ground. Many headless torsos were seen to stand up in every direction. O great king! It was a dreadful carnage. Arms decorated with golden ornaments were seen to be severed in the battle, with bows, finger-guards, swords and armlets. There were many shattered seats, housings, headdresses, poles, chariot wheels, axles and yokes. Shields, bows and arrows were strewn around everywhere. Garlands, ornaments, garments and giant standards fell down. Elephants, horses and kshatriyas were killed and brought down. Because of these, the earth there was seen to be dreadful. Thus did Kiriti slaughter Duhshasana’s army. O great king! They were afflicted and fled, together with their leader.
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With his soldiers, Duhshasana was oppressed and terrified. Seeking a protector in Drona, he went to the shakata vyuha.”’