Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (17 page)

‘Sanjaya said, “Having spoken these words, Drona, supreme among those who knew about the brahman, quickly touched water and fastened that radiant armour on him, in accordance with the proper rites. This was for the sake of your son’s victory in battle. All the worlds were astounded at the knowledge of the one who knew about the brahman.

‘“Drona said, ‘Let Brahma give you benedictions. Let all the brahmanas give you benedictions. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Let the best of reptiles give you benedictions. Let Yayati, Nahusha, Dhundumara, Bhagiratha and all the best of
rajarshi
s
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always give you benedictions. May you have benedictions from those who have one foot
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and those who have many feet. In this great battle, may you always have benedictions from those who possess no feet. May Svaha, Svadha and Shachi always act so that it is beneficial for you.
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O unblemished one! May Lakshmi and Arundhati always act so that it is beneficial for you. O king! May Asita-Devala, Vishvamitra, Angiras, Vasishtha and Kashyapa act so that it is beneficial for you. Let Dhata, Vidhata, the lord of the worlds, the directions, the lords of the directions and the six-faced Kartikeya grant you benedictions today. Let the illustrious Vivasvat act in every way so that it is beneficial to you. O king! Let the four elephants of the four directions,
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the earth, the firmament, the sky, the planets, the earth which always holds us up from below and Sesha, the chief of the serpents, give you their benedictions. O son of Gandhari! In earlier times, the daitya Vritra used his valour to defeat the best of the gods in battle. Thousands of them were mangled in their bodies. All of them were robbed of their energy and their strength. With Indra, those residents of heaven went to Brahma and sought refuge with him. They were frightened of the great asura, Vritra.’

‘“The gods said, ‘O supreme among gods! The gods are afflicted by Vritra. O chief among the gods! Be our refuge now. Protect us from this great fear.’

‘“Drona said, ‘He
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addressed Vishnu, who was stationed by his side and also the best of the gods, Shakra and the others. He spoke these appropriate words to the best of the gods, who were distressed. “The gods, together with Indra and the brahmanas, should always be protected by me. Vritra has been created from Tvashtra’s extremely invincible energy.
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In ancient times, Tvashtra performed austerities for a million years. O gods! Having obtained Maheshvara’s permission, he then created Vritra. It is through the favours of that god that this enemy of yours has become powerful and can strike you. Without going to Shankara’s abode, one cannot see the illustrious Hara. Having swiftly gone to Mandara and seen him, you will be able to destroy your enemy. The source of all austerities, the destroyer of Daksha’s sacrifice, resides there.
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He is the wielder of Pinaka.
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He is the lord of all beings. He is the one who uprooted Bhaga’s eyes.”
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With Brahma, the gods went to Mandara. They saw that mass of energy, with the splendour of ten million suns. Having seen the gods, he welcomed them and asked, “Tell me. What can I do for you? The sight of me is never fruitless. Because of this, may your desires be satisfied.” Having been thus addressed, all those residents of heaven replied, “Vritra has robbed us of your energy. Be the refuge of the residents of heaven. O god! Behold our bodies. We are afflicted and oppressed because of his blows. We have sought refuge with you. O Maheshvara! Be our refuge.” Maheshvara replied, “O gods! You know that this immensely strong and fierce one has been created from Tvashtra’s energy. He cannot be resisted by those who
haven’t controlled their souls. It is certainly my task to protect all the residents of heaven. O Shakra! Accept this radiant armour from my body. O lord of the gods! Fasten it on your body, after uttering these mantras in your mind.” Having spoken these words, the granter of boons gave him the armour, together with the mantras. Protected by the armour, he
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advanced against Vritra’s army. In that great battle, many different kinds of weapons were hurled at him. But they were incapable of penetrating the armour that he had fastened. In the battle, the lord of the gods himself killed Vritra. He then gave the armour, whose joints were made out of mantras, to Angiras. Angiras gave it to his son Brihaspati, who knew about mantras. Brihaspati gave it to the intelligent Agniveshya. O supreme among kings! Agniveshya gave it to me and I have fastened the armour on you, so as to protect your body, together with the mantras.’”

‘Sanjaya said, “Having thus addressed your immensely radiant son, Drona, bull among preceptors, again gently spoke these words. ‘O king! I have fastened this armour on you, using the strands of Brahma.
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In ancient times, at the time of battle, Hiranyagarbha
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himself fastened it on Vishnu. In the
tarakamaya
battle, Brahma himself fastened this divine armour on Shakra and I have fastened it on you.’ Having fastened the armour with the use of mantras and in the decreed fashion, the great brahmana sent the king to the battle. The mighty-armed one was thus armoured by the great-souled preceptor. He had one thousand rathas from Trigarta, accomplished in striking. There were one thousand crazy tuskers that were valiant. There were ten thousand horses and other maharathas. Surrounded by these, the mighty-armed one advanced towards Arjuna’s chariot. There were the sounds of many musical instruments and he advanced like Virochana’s son.
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O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A great sound arose among your soldiers, when they saw Kourava advance like a fathomless ocean.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! Duryodhana advanced behind those bulls among men, Partha and Varshneya, who had already penetrated. The Pandavas, together with the Somakas, emitted a mighty roar and swiftly rushed against Drona. The battle commenced between the Panchalas and the Kurus at the mouth of the vyuha and it was extraordinary. It was extremely terrible and tumultuous and made the body hair stand up. O king! The likes of that encounter had not been seen, nor heard of. O lord of the earth! The battle commenced when the sun was at the midpoint. With Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, the Parthas, who were skilled in striking, arranged themselves into a battle formation and enveloped all of Drona’s soldiers with a shower of arrows. We had Drona, supreme among the wielders of all weapons, at the forefront and showered down arrows on the Parthas, with Parshata at the forefront. The heads of the two armies, adorned by chariots, were beautiful and dazzling. They looked like giant clouds at the end of the winter season, driven towards each other by opposing winds. Those two large armies encountered and clashed against each other with the greatest of forces. It was like the rivers Ganga and Yamuna, overflowing with water during the monsoon. Many different kinds of weapons were the winds. There were large numbers of elephants, horses and chariots. In that battle, great and fierce clouds were like giant clouds tinged with lightning. Thousands of currents of arrows were released from the wind that was Bharadvaja’s son. They seemed to pour down and pacify the immensely fierce fire that was created by the Pandu soldiers. The supreme of brahmanas agitated the Pandava soldiers, like the ocean at the end of the summer, when it is agitated by a fierce and gigantic storm. They made every endeavour to advance against Drona. They were like a strong wind that seeks to shatter a large embankment. But they were restrained by Drona, like a mountain repulsing a torrent of water. In that battle, the Pandavas, the Panchalas and the Kekayas were enraged. There were other kings too, who surrounded them from all sides. In that battle, those immensely strong and brave ones countered the Panchalas.

‘“In that battle, Parshata, tiger among men, together with the Pandavas, repeatedly struck Drona, wishing to penetrate the enemy forces. Drona showered arrows on Parshata and he brought down a shower in return. Dhrishtadyumna brought down a shower of arrows. The swords were like winds at the forefront and there were lances, spears and scimitars. The bowstrings were like lightning and Dhrishtadyumna was like the slayer of Bala.
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He showered down a torrent of arrows in all the directions. He killed the best of rathas and horses and enveloped the army. He prevented Drona from following the paths that the chariots of the Pandavas traversed. Parshata afflicted Drona with his arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Drona made every endeavour in the battle. Having encountered Dhrishtadyumna, his army was divided into three parts. One of these retreated towards Bhoja and another towards Jalasandha.
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The last one was slaughtered by the Pandavas and went towards Drona. Drona, supreme among rathas, tried to unite his forces. But maharatha Dhrishtadyumna routed and separated them. Divided into three parts, the army of the sons of Dhritarashtra was slaughtered by the Pandus and the Srinjayas. They were like unprotected animals
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in the forest, when attacked by many predators. Confounded by Dhrishtadyumna, it was as if the warriors were devoured by Death. In that tumultuous battle, that is what people thought. The kingdom of a bad king is devastated by famine, disease and thieves. That is the way your army was shattered and routed by the Pandavas. Because of the rays of the sun on shattered weapons and armour and because of the dust raised by the soldiers, the eyes were afflicted. Divided into three, the soldiers were slaughtered by the Pandavas.

‘“Drona became intolerant and killed the Panchalas with his arrows. While he crushed those arrays and killed them with arrows, Drona assumed the form of the blazing fire at the time of destruction. O lord of the earth! In that battle, with only a single arrow, the maharatha pierced chariots, elephants, horses and foot soldiers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In the battle, there was not a single one among the soldiers of the Pandavas who could withstand the sharp arrows that were released from Drona’s bow. They were scorched by the sun and consumed by Drona’s arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Parshata’s soldiers began to wander around there. In that fashion, Parshata was like Death among your forces. He blazed everywhere, like a forest fire amidst dry wood. The soldiers were killed by the arrows of Drona and Parshata. But those soldiers were ready to give up their lives and fought to the best of their capacity. O bull among the Bharata lineage! O great king! Whether in your army, or that of the enemy, there was not a single one who abandoned the fight out of fear.

‘“The brothers Vivimshati, Chitrasena and maharatha Vikarna surrounded Kounteya Bhimasena from all sides. Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti and the valiant Kshemadhurti—these three followed your three sons.
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The maharatha and energetic King Bahlika, born in a noble lineage, with his soldiers and his advisers, countered Droupadi’s sons. Shaibya, the king of Govasana, with a thousand supreme warriors, countered the valiant son of Kashi. Ajatashatru Kounteya was like a flaming fire and King Shalya, the lord of Madra, repulsed the king.
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The brave and intolerant Duhshasana, together with his own soldiers, advanced and fought against Satyaki, supreme among rathas. I armoured myself and with my soldiers and four hundred great archers, countered Chekitana.
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Shakuni, with seven hundred warriors from Gandhara who were armed with bows, lances,
arrows and swords, countered Madri’s son.
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The great archers, Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti, were prepared to give up their lives for the sake of their friend and raised their weapons in battle, countering Virata, the lord of Matysa. The valiant Bahlika made efforts to counter the unvanquished and powerful Shikhandi, the son of Yajnasena. Those from Avanti and Souvira, together with the cruel Prabhadrakas countered the angry Dhrishtadyumna from Panchala. The brave rakshasa Ghatotkacha was cruel and was advancing to fight. Swiftly and angrily, Alayudha rushed against him in the battle. Alambusa, the king of the rakshasas, adopted a fearsome form and was repulsed by maharatha Kuntibhoja, with a large body of soldiers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Saindhava remained stationed behind all the soldiers. He was protected by the rathas who were supreme archers, Kripa and the others. O king! Saindhava’s chariot wheels were protected by two great ones—Drona’s son to the left and the son of the suta to the right. His rear was protected by Kripa, Vrishasena, Shala and the invincible Shalya, with Somadatta’s son at the forefront. They knew about policy and were great archers. All of them were skilled in fighting. Having made arrangements to protect Saindhava, they
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got ready to fight.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O king! Listen. I will describe exactly the wonderful battle that commenced between the Kurus and the Pandavas. Bharadvaja’s son was stationed at the mouth of the vyuha. In that battle, the Parthas approached and fought, seeking to penetrate Drona’s force. Drona himself, and the soldiers, sought to protect the vyuha. They fought against the Parthas in that battle, desiring great fame. Desiring the welfare of your son, Vinda and
Anuvinda from Avanti angrily struck Virata with ten arrows. O great king! While those two valiant ones and their followers were stationed in battle, Virata bravely advanced against them and fought with them. The battle between them was terrible and blood flowed like water. It was as if a lion and two foremost elephants with shattered temples had met in the forest. Bahlika prided himself in the battle and Yajnasena’s immensely powerful son
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struck him with sharp and terrible arrows that were capable of penetrating the inner organs. Bahlika became extremely angry and used nine gold-tufted arrows with drooping tufts, which had been sharpened on stone, to strike Yajnasena’s son. The encounter between them was terrible and there was a profusion of arrows and lances. It generated fear among cowards and increased the delight of the brave. The arrows released by those two covered the sky and the directions and enveloped everything, so that nothing could be seen. In the battle, together with his soldiers, Shaibya from Govasana fought against the maharatha who was the son of Kashi. It was like one elephant against another elephant. In the battle, the enraged King Bahlika fought against Droupadi’s maharatha sons and this was as beautiful as the mind battling against the five senses. They,
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supreme among beings, fought fiercely and showered arrows in every direction, like the senses fighting for possession of the body. Your son, Duhshasana, struck Varshneya Satyaki with nine sharp arrows that had drooping tufts. Having been thus grievously struck by that great archer, the archer Satyaki, for whom truth was his valour, quickly lost his senses somewhat. But having regained his composure, Varshneya swiftly pierced your maharatha son with ten arrows that were shafted with the feathers of herons. O king! They pierced each other firmly with arrows and the wounded in the battle, were dazzling, like blossoming kimshukas. The angry Alambusa was afflicted by Kuntibhoja’s arrows, which found their mark. He was as beautiful as a flowering kimshuka. The rakshasa pierced Kuntibhoja with many iron arrows. At the forefront of your
army, he then roared loudly. Those two brave ones fought against each other in that battle. To all the beings, they seemed to be like Shakra and Jambha in ancient times.
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O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The sons of Madri were angry and violent against Shakuni in the battle, since he had caused the enmity earlier. In the battle, they afflicted him with arrows.