Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (40 page)

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! When this was the state of the brave ones on my side, what did Bhima do? O Sanjaya! Tell me everything about that.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “After Bhimasena was rendered without a chariot and made to suffer the stakes that were Karna’s words, he was overcome by great intolerance and spoke these words to Phalguna.
‘O Dhananjaya! While you looked on, Karna repeatedly told me that I was a eunuch and stupid and that I was a glutton. He said that I did not possess skills with a weapon and that I should not fight. He said that I was a child who got distressed in battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Someone who speaks to me in this way will be killed by me. O mighty-armed one! You know the vows that you and I have taken together. O Kounteya! There is no doubt that what they mean to you, are also what they mean to me.
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O best of men! Remembering my words, kill him. O Dhananjaya! Act so that your pledge comes true.’

‘“Having heard the words of the infinitely valorous Bhima, Arjuna advanced towards Karna in that battle and spoke to him. ‘O Karna! O Karna! O son of a suta! Your sight is useless. You praise yourself. O one whose intelligence is based on adharma! Listen to what I am going to tell you now. There are two outcomes brave ones face in a battle, victory or defeat. O Radheya! That is always the case, even if Vasava himself were to fight. You were rendered close to death by Yuyudhana. You were without a chariot and exposed. Through chance, you deprived Bhimasena of his chariot. O Radheya! But the words that you spoke to Bhima were adharma. The brave ones who know about the dharma of fighting protect, to the best of their capacity, those who are running away at the end of a battle. In the battle, when all the soldiers looked on and so did Keshava and I, there were several occasions when Bhimasena robbed you of a chariot. However, the descendant of the Pandu lineage did not utter a single harsh word to you. But you made Vrikodara hear many harsh words. And when he was not in my sight, you killed Subhadra’s son. You will reap the fruits of those offences today. O evil-minded one! It was for your own destruction that you severed his
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bow then. O foolish one! You will be killed by me, with your servants, soldiers and mounts. Do everything that you wish to, because a great calamity confronts you. In your very sight, I will kill Vrishasena
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in this battle. If any of these
other kings are confused in their intelligence and advance against me, I will kill all of them. I swear this truthfully, on my weapons. You are stupid and devoid of wisdom. But you pride yourself in this battle. On seeing you brought down, the wicked Duryodhana will lament grievously.’ When Arjuna swore that he would kill Karna’s son, a great and tumultuous uproar arose among all the rathas. There was great fear in that fierce battle. The rays of the thousand-rayed one became dim as it approached the mountain.
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‘“O king! Hrishikesha was stationed at the head of the battle. He embraced Bibhatsu, who had accomplished his pledge, and said, ‘O Jishnu! It is through good fortune that your great vow has been accomplished. It is through good fortune that the wicked Vriddhakshatra has been slain, together with his son. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Confronting the army of the sons of Dhritarashtra in battle, even the army of the gods would lose its senses. O Jishnu! One should not doubt this. O tiger among men! Even if I think about it, I do not see any other man in the worlds who is your equal, in terms of fighting with this army. There are many who are extremely powerful, your equals and superiors. These lords of the earth have assembled because of the son of Dhritarashtra. They are armoured. But they could not advance against your angry person in the battle. Your valour and strength are like that of Rudra and the Destroyer. There is no one else who could have exhibited such valour in battle. O unblemished one! O scorcher of enemies! There is no one like you and you accomplished this alone. Once the evil-minded Karna has been killed, with his followers, and you have defeated and slain that enemy, I will praise you even more.’ Arjuna replied, ‘O Madhava! It is through your favours that this vow of mine has been accomplished. It was one that even the gods would have found difficult to fulfil. O Madhava! This victory is not a surprise for those who have you as a protector. It is through your favours that Yudhishthira will obtain the entire earth. O Varshneya! O lord! This is because of your power. This victory is yours. O Madhusudana! Our prosperity has been brought by you.’ Having been thus addressed,
Krishna smiled gently and urged the steeds slowly, showing Partha the field of battle, in all its cruelty.

‘“Krishna said, ‘Desiring victory in the battle and great fame, there are many brave kings who are lying down on the ground, struck by your arrows. Their weapons and ornaments are strewn around. Horses, chariots and elephants are in distress. Their armour has been shattered and they are faced with great grief. Some are still alive. Others have lost their lives. But even the kings who are dead seem to be alive because of the supreme radiance that they possess. Their arrows are gold-tufted and they have many sharp weapons. Look. The earth is covered with mounts and weapons. There are armour, shields, garlands and heads decorated with earrings. There are headdresses and crowns, garlands of flowers and jewels that are worn on crowns. There are strings around the neck and armlets, extremely radiant and made out of gold. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There are many other colourful ornaments that make the earth beautiful. There are fans and whisks and colourful standards, horses, chariots and elephants. Many cushions from the horses are scattered around. There are different kinds of carpets and extremely expensive bumpers. Behold. The earth is littered with these and looks like a picture. Those who rode on elephants have been fallen down, along with the elephants. They look like lions that have been dislodged from mountain peaks by thunder. Look at the others. There are horse riders on the earth, together with the horses. There are large numbers of foot soldiers and infantry, their bodies covered with wounds.’ Having shown Kiriti the field of battle, Krishna blew on Panchajanya, delighting those who had assembled on their side.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! King Yudhishthira alighted from his chariot. With his eyes full of tears, he embraced the two Krishnas. His fair face had the complexion of a
lotus. Wiping it, he spoke to Vasudeva and Pandava Dhananjaya. ‘O maharathas! It is through good fortune that I see you after you have accomplished this burden in the battle. It is through good fortune that the wicked Saindhava, worst of men, has been killed. O Krishna! It is through good fortune that you have brought me this great delight. It is through good fortune that large numbers of the enemy are immersed in an ocean of grief. There is nothing in the worlds that is impossible for you. O Madhusudana! You are the preceptor of all the worlds. You are the protector. O Govinda! It is through your favours that we will vanquish the enemy, just as in earlier times, the chastiser of Paka defeated the danavas through your favours. O Varshneya! O Madhava! Whether it is the conquest of the earth or whether it is the conquest of the three worlds, it is certain that those who satisfy you will be successful in that. O lord of the lord of the gods! Those who satisfy you do not obtain sin, nor are they defeated in battle. O Hrishikesha! It is through your favours that Shakra became the lord of the gods, obtained prosperity and succeeded in conquering the three worlds in the field of battle. O lord of the thirty gods! O Krishna! It is through your favours that the thirty gods obtained immortality and enjoyed the eternal worlds. O destroyer of enemies! It is because of valour originating from your favours that Shakra killed thousands of daityas and became the lord of the gods. O Hrishikesha! O brave one! It is through your favours that everything in this universe, mobile and immobile, is established in its own place and is engaged in meditation and the offering of oblations. In the beginning, everything was immersed in an ocean of water and there was darkness. O supreme among men! It is through your favours that the universe became manifest. O Achyuta! You are the creator of all the worlds and the supreme soul. Those who seek refuge in Hrishikesha are never confounded. You are without beginning and without death. You are the undecaying god who drives the worlds. O Hrishikesha! Those who are devoted to you can overcome every difficulty. You are supreme. You are ancient. You are the Being. You are ancient. You are supreme.
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Those who attain such a supreme one, obtain supreme prosperity. You have been sung about in the four Vedas. The Vedas chant about you. O great-souled one! By seeking refuge in you, I will obtain supreme prosperity. You are Dhananjaya’s friend. You are engaged in ensuring Dhananjaya’s welfare. You are Dhananjaya’s protector. He who attains you, obtains happiness.’ Having been thus addressed, the great-souled Keshava and Pandava cheerfully replied to the king, the lord of the earth. ‘The wicked King Jayadratha has been burnt in the fire of your anger. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The army of the sons of Dhritarashtra is extremely great. But in the battle, it is decaying. It has been struck, slain and destroyed. O destroyer of enemies! The Kouravas are being destroyed because of your anger. O brave one! The evil-minded Duryodhana has enraged you. With his friends and relatives, he will give up his life in this battle, destroyed by your sight. Earlier, because of your anger, Bhishma, the grandfather of the Kurus and extremely difficult for even the gods to defeat, was struck and made to lie down on a bed of arrows. O destroyer of enemies! It will be extremely difficult for them to obtain victory in this battle. O Pandava! Because of your wrath, they have come under the clutches of death. O granter of honours! One who enrages you will soon have his kingdom, life, dear ones, sons and all kinds of happiness destroyed. O Yudhishthira! You have always been devoted to the dharma of kings. I think that the Kouravas, with their sons, animals and relatives, have been destroyed because of your anger.’
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‘“The mighty-armed Bhima and maharatha Satyaki, both of whom were mangled and wounded by arrows, saluted their senior and elder. Those great archers were stationed there, surrounded by the Panchalas. On seeing those two joyful ones, stationed before him, with their hands joined in salutation, Kounteya
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congratulated Bhima and Satyaki. ‘O brave ones! It is through good fortune that I
see that the two of you have been freed from that ocean of soldiers. Drona and Hardikya were like invincible crocodiles in that abode of makaras. It is through good fortune that you have defeated all the kings of the earth in the battle. It is through good fortune that I see you victorious in this battle. It is through good fortune that Drona and the immensely strong Hardikya have been defeated in the battle. O unblemished ones! It is through good fortune that I see that you have passed through that ocean of soldiers. O brave ones! You pride yourselves in battle and you do not run away from an encounter. You are as dear to me as my life. It is good fortune that I am seeing both of you.’ Having thus spoken to Yuyudhana and Vrikodara, tigers among men, King Pandava embraced them and shed tears of joy. O lord of the earth! Everyone in that army was delighted. Having witnessed victory, the Pandavas set their minds on fighting.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O king! When Saindhava was killed, your son, Suyodhana, was distressed and lost all hope about defeating the enemy. His face was miserable and covered with tears. He thought that a warrior like Arjuna did not exist on earth. O venerable one! When he was enraged, Drona, Radheya, Ashvatthama and Kripa were incapable of standing before him. ‘Partha has vanquished all my maharathas in battle. He has killed Saindhava in the encounter and no one could counter him. This large army of the Kouravas has been completely destroyed by him. I do not see any protector, not even Purandara himself. In this battle, I depended on Karna. He raised his weapons in the encounter, but was defeated. Jayadratha has been slain. In the midst of the assembly hall, he spoke harsh words to the Pandavas. That Karna has been defeated in the battle and Saindhava has been brought down. I depended on his valour and regarding Achyuta as straw, refused him when he solicited peace. That Karna has been vanquished in the battle.’ O king! He was thus distressed in
his mind and in search of recourse, glanced towards Drona. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Your son, who had caused injury to all the worlds, went to him. He told him everything, about the great slaughter of the Kurus, about the victory of the enemy and about the straits the sons of Dhritarashtra were immersed in.

‘“Duryodhana said, ‘O preceptor! Behold the great destruction of those whose heads have been sprinkled.
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I placed my grandfather, the brave Bhishma, at the forefront of the battle. Having slain him, the avaricious Shikhandi satisfied his old desire. With all the Panchalas, he is now afflicting the vanguard of the army. There is the other invincible one, your disciple Savyasachi. He has destroyed seven akshouhinis and has killed King Jayadratha. These well-wishers have sought to do what is agreeable to us and desiring our victory, have gone to Yama’s abode. How will I repay that debt? For my sake, those lords of the earth are lying down on the ground. They have given up all the prosperity of the earth and are lying down on the ground. Having caused such a slaughter of my friends, I am a coward. I do not think that even one thousand horse sacrifices will purify me. I am avaricious and wicked. I have acted against dharma. They have made efforts to be victorious and have obtained Vaivasvata’s
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eternal abode. I am inferior in conduct and have been an enemy to my well-wishers. In the midst of these kings, why doesn’t the earth provide me a hole?
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In the midst of those kings, what will the grandfather tell me, his limbs covered with blood? With Bhishma killed in the battle, I do not have a protector and cannot sleep. What will he tell an ignoble man like me when he meets me? I am one who does not follow dharma and have caused strife among relatives. He has conquered the afterworld. Behold the great archer Jalasandha, killed by Satyaki. The brave maharatha raised his weapons for my sake and gave up his life. On seeing that Kamboja has been killed,
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and Alambusa, and many other well-wishers, what is the point of my remaining alive now? Those
brave ones strove and were killed for my sake. They did not retreat. For the sake of my welfare, they used the utmost of their capacity to obtain victory. O scorcher of enemies! Today, I will use my strength to repay my debt to those departed ones. With the waters of the Yamuna, I will then offer oblations to them. O supreme among wielders of all weapons! Know this to be the truth. I swear this on my good deeds, my valour and my sons. I will kill all the Panchalas and Pandavas in the battle and obtain peace. Or, in the battle, I will go to the world where they have gone.
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On seeing that they are not protected well by us, our allies do not wish to support us and think that the Pandus are superior. O mighty-armed one! O one whose aim is unflinching! You have yourself determined our death in the battle. You have always been partial towards your excellent disciple, Dhananjaya. Thus, all those who desired our victory have been killed. I see Karna as the only one who is assured about our victory and desires it. One with evil intelligence does not examine the truth and doesn’t know the nature of friendship. To accomplish an objective, such a person engages someone as a friend. O my well-wisher on this earth! I have performed an extremely terrible deed. I have been confused, avaricious and wicked. I have always been led by the tongue.
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Jayadratha has been slain and so has Somadatta’s valiant son, as have the Abhishahas, Shurasenas, Shibis and Vasatis. I will today go where those bulls among men have gone. For my sake, they have killed in the battle by the fighting Kiriti. O bull among men! O preceptor of the sons of Pandu! There is truly no purpose in my remaining alive. Grant me leave.’”’