Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (45 page)

‘“O great king! A battle then commenced between Karna and the Pandavas. They angrily rushed at each other, roaring like lions. On
seeing the mighty-armed Karna, in that great battle, they
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let out a roar. ‘There is Karna. Where is Karna stationed? Karna, wait. O evil-souled one! O worst of men! Fight with us.’ Others saw Karna and their eyes became red with anger. They said, ‘This son of a suta is limited in his intelligence. He deserves to be killed by all these lions among kings. No purpose is served by his remaining alive. He shows extreme enmity towards the Parthas. This man has always been wicked. He bases himself on Duryodhana’s advice and is the root of all injury. Let us kill him.’ Thus conversing, the kshatriyas attacked. Goaded by the Pandaveyas, to kill the son of the suta, the maharathas enveloped him with a great shower of arrows. On seeing all those maharathas advancing towards him, the son of the suta was not distressed. He was not overcome by fear. He saw that advancing ocean of soldiers, like a city. He was powerful and undefeated in battle. O bull among the Bharata lineage! For the sake of your sons, the extremely powerful one, swift in the use of his hands, released a shower of arrows and countered those soldiers in every direction. The kings also showered down arrows on him. They brandished hundreds and thousands of bows. They fought against Radheya, like masses of daityas against Shakra. In every direction, the lord Karna used his great shower of arrows to counter the shower of arrows that were released by the kings. As they sought to counter each other’s deeds, it was extraordinary, like Shakra against the danavas, in the battle between the gods and the asuras. We witnessed the extraordinary dexterity shown by the son of the suta then. Though they strove in the battle, the enemy could not strike him. He repulsed the storm of arrows released by the maharatha kings. With sharp arrows that were marked with his own name, Radheya pierced yokes, umbrellas, standards and horses. Oppressed by Karna, the kings became anxious. At that time, they were like cows afflicted by the cold. Horses, elephants and rathas were slain. We saw that large numbers of them were brought down by Karna. O king! Heads and arms were strewn around in every direction. The earth was strewn with brave ones who did not retreat.
They were killed and were being killed. There were lamentations everywhere. With all those fierce warriors, the place looked like Vaivasvata’s
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city.

‘“On witnessing Karna’s valour, King Duryodhana approached Ashvatthama and spoke these words. ‘In this battle, the armoured Karna is fighting with all the kings. Behold. Afflicted by Karna’s arrows, the soldiers are running away. They are like an army of the asuras, being driven away by Kartikeya. In this encounter, the soldiers can be seen to have been defeated by the intelligent Karna. Look. Bibhatsu is advancing, wishing to kill the son of the suta. Therefore, take appropriate steps, so that the maharatha son of a suta is not killed by Pandava in the battle.’ At this, Drona’s son, Kripa, Shalya and maharatha Hardikya advanced against Partha, with a view to rescuing the son of a suta. On seeing that they were advancing, Kounteya advanced against Karna, like the gods and the powerful Shakra against Vritra.”

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O suta! On seeing the angry Phalguna advance, like Death, what did Vaikartana Karna do next? The maharatha has always sought to rival Partha. In an encounter, he was confident that he would defeat the extremely fierce Bibhatsu. He now suddenly obtained someone towards whom he has always borne extreme enmity. O suta! What did Vaikartana Karna do next?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “Pandava was advancing, like an elephant against another elephant. On seeing this, Karna fearlessly advanced against Dhananjaya. When Vaikartana’s arrows descended with force, the energetic Pandava, the scorcher of enemies, countered them. O venerable one! Karna enveloped him with a net of arrows. Extremely angry, he pierced him with his arrows. The immensely strong Partha could not tolerate his dexterity. The scorcher of enemies released thirty arrows towards the son of a suta. These arrows were sharp, pointed at the tip, and sharpened on stone. Extremely enraged, the powerful and valiant one pierced him on the forefront of his left arm with another arrow and seemed to be laughing. Having been pierced with great force, the bow fell down from his hand. But in
an instant, the immensely strong one
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picked up another bow and displaying the lightness of his hands, shrouded Phalguna with a storm of arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The son of a suta released a shower of arrows. Dhananjaya smiled and countered that shower of arrows. O king! They showered down arrows at each other. Those great archers enveloped each other, wishing to outdo each other’s deeds. In that battle, there was a wonderful encounter between Karna and Pandava. They were angry, like wild elephants driven by desire.
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On beholding Karna’s prowess, Partha, the great archer, quickly severed the bow from his hand. With four broad-headed arrows, he dispatched his horses to Yama’s abode. The scorcher of enemies severed his charioteer’s head from his body. His bow was severed. His horses were slain. His charioteer was killed. Partha, Pandu’s descendant, pierced him with four arrows. With his horses slain, that bull among men swiftly got down from his chariot. Afflicted by those arrows, he quickly climbed onto Kripa’s chariot.

‘“O bull among the Bharata lineage! On seeing that Radheya had been defeated and afflicted by Dhananjaya’s arrows, those on your side fled in the ten directions. O king! On seeing that they were running away, King Duryodhana restrained them and spoke these words to them. ‘O brave ones! Do not run away. O bulls among the kshatriyas! Stay here. To kill Partha in this battle, I will myself advance. I will kill Partha, together with the Panchalas and the Somakas. Today, I will fight with the wielder of Gandiva. Partha will witness my valour, which is like Death at the end of a yuga. I will release thousands of nets of arrows. The warriors will see them in the battle, descending like locusts. I will shower down arrows from my bow, like from clouds at the end of summer. The warriors and the soldiers will see them. With my straight-tufted arrows, I will vanquish Partha in the battle today. O brave ones! Stay in this battle and give up your fear of Phalguna. Phalguna will not be able to withstand my valour today. I will be like the shoreline, holding back the ocean that is the abode of makaras.’ Having said this, surrounded by a large
army of soldiers, the king advanced towards the invincible Phalguna. His eyes were red with rage.

‘“On seeing that the mighty-armed one was advancing, Sharadvata approached Ashvatthama and spoke these words to him. ‘This mighty-armed king is intolerant and has lost his senses because of his rage. Following the conduct of insects,
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he wishes to fight with Phalguna. While we look on, he will give up his life before Partha. As long as he is not within the reach of Phalguna’s arrows, the Kourava king will be alive. O brave one! Quickly restrain him. Partha’s terrible arrows are like snakes that have cast off their skins. Restrain him in this battle, before the king is reduced to ashes. O granter of honours! While we are here and are looking on, he should not engage himself. As long as his aides are here, the king should not fight with Partha himself. If Kouravya fights with Partha Kiriti, I think it will be difficult for him to remain alive, like an elephant against a tiger.’ Having been addressed by his maternal uncle, Drona’s son, supreme among the wielders of weapons, quickly went to Duryodhana and spoke these words. ‘O Gandhari’s son! As long as I am live, you should not fight. O Kouravya! I have always desired your welfare and you are disregarding me. You should not have any anxiety about defeating Partha. O Suyodhana! I will restrain him. You stay here.’

‘“Duryodhana replied, ‘The preceptor
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protects the sons of Pandu, like his own sons. O supreme among brahmanas! You have also always been partial towards them. It is my misfortune that your valour in battle has always been mild. Perhaps it is because of your affection towards Dharmaraja or Droupadi. I do not know. I am ashamed because of my own avarice. All the relatives deserved happiness. But they confronted supreme unhappiness and have been defeated. You are foremost among wielders of weapons. You are Maheshvara’s equal in battle. O son of Goutami! Had you so wished, you were capable of destroying my enemies. O Ashvatthama! Show me your favours. Destroy those who are causing me injury. O unblemished one! Even the gods are incapable of remaining within
reach of your weapons. O Drona’s son! Kill the Panchalas and the Somakas, with their followers, in the battle. Protected by you, we will kill the ones who remain. O brahmana! These Somakas and illustrious Panchalas are angrily roaming around amidst my soldiers, like a conflagaration. O mighty-armed one! O supreme among men! Restrain them and the Kekayas. Otherwise, protected by Kiriti, they will destroy us before that. O venerable one! This is your task, regardless of whether you do it now or later. O mighty-armed one! You have been born for the destruction of the Panchalas. O one without decay! You will make the world empty of all the Panchalas. The sages who obtained success spoke about the future in this way. The gods, together with Vasava, are incapable of remaining within reach of your weapons, not to speak of the Parthas and the Panchalas. I am telling you this truthfully.’”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Drona’s son was invincible in a battle. Thus addressed by Duryodhana, the mighty-armed one replied, ‘O Kourava! What you have said is true. The Pandavas have always been dear to me and my father. And we are also dear to them. O extender of the Kuru lineage! But that does not apply to a battle. O son!
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We will fight to the best of our capacity and without any fear, are prepared to give up our lives in battle. O supreme among kings! In an instant, Karna, Shalya, Kripa, Hardikya and I are capable of destroying the Pandava army. O extender of the Kuru lineage! If we were not present in this battle, the mighty-armed one
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is also capable of destroying the army of the Kouravas in an instant. We are fighting with the Pandavas to the best of our capacity. In a similar way, they are fighting with us. O descendant of the Bharata lineage!
Energy has clashed against energy and is being pacified. As long as Pandu’s son
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is alive, the Pandava army is incapable of being quickly defeated. I tell you this truthfully. The sons of Pandu are capable and are fighting for their own interests. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Why should they not be able to slaughter your soldiers? O king! You are extremely avaricious. O Kourava! You have resorted to deceit. You are insolent and are suspicious of everything. That is the reason you suspect those on your own side. For your sake, I am making the best of efforts and am prepared to give up my own life. O descendant of the Kuru lineage! For your sake, I will advance to fight. I will fight against the enemy and defeat the best of the best. O destroyer of enemies! To bring you pleasure in this battle, I will fight with the Panchalas, Somakas, Kekayas and Pandaveyas. The Panchalas and Somakas will be consumed by my arrows. They will be like cattle afflicted by a lion and will run away in different directions. The king who is Dharma’s son will witness my valour today. Against the Somakas, the world will be full of Ashvatthama, and Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, will be severely distressed. In the battle, he will see that the Panchalas and the Somakas have been killed. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I will kill whoever advances to do battle with me. O brave one! Having encountered me, no one will be able to escape with his life.’ Having spoken thus to your son, Duryodhana, the mighty-armed one advanced to fight and to drive away all the archers. The supreme of all beings wished to do that which would bring pleasure to your sons.

‘“Goutami’s son then spoke to the Kekayas and the Panchalas. ‘O maharathas! All of you strike at my body. Remain stationed in this battle and show me the dexterity of your weapons.’ O great king! Thus addressed, all of them showered down weapons towards Drona’s son, like water pouring down from the clouds. Having destroyed those arrows, Drona’s son brought down eight heroes, in front of the sons of Pandu and the lord Dhrishtadyumna. In that battle, the Panchalas and Srinjayas were killed and abandoning the fight with Drona’s son, fled in the ten directions.

‘“O great king! On seeing that the brave Panchalas and Somakas were running away in that battle, Dhrishtadyumna attacked Drona’s son. He was surrounded by one hundred brave rathas who did not retreat. They were on golden and colourful chariots that roared, like clouds full of rain. On seeing that warriors had been brought down, maharatha Dhrishtadyumna, the son of the king of Panchala, spoke these words to Drona’s son. ‘O son of the preceptor! O evil-minded one! Why are you killing these? If you are brave in a battle, fight against me. If you are stationed in front of me, I will kill you.’ O bull among the Bharata lineage! The powerful Dhrishtadyumna pierced the son of the preceptor with sharp arrows that penetrated the inner organs. Drona’s son was struck by a continuous line of swift arrows. They were gold-tufted, pointed at the tip, fierce and capable of piercing all bodies. He looked like a flowering tree, with bees in search of honey hovering around it. Thus pierced, he became extremely angry, like a snake that has been struck with a foot. Drona’s proud son was not frightened. With the bow in his hand, he spoke these words. ‘O Dhrishtadyumna! Wait for an instant, without going away. I will shoot sharp arrows and send you to Yama’s abode.’ Saying this, Drona’s son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, showed the dexterity of his hands and enveloped Parshata in every direction with a torrent of arrows. The one who was invincible in battle was thus shrouded in that encounter by Drona’s son. The eloquent son of Panchala roared and spoke to Drona’s son. ‘O brahmana! You do not know about my origin or my vow. O extremely evil-minded one! I will not kill you, without killing Drona first. In this battle today, I will kill your father, and then you. I will convey you to the world of the dead. That is my resolution. You have hatred towards the Parthas and are devoted to the Kouravas. As long as I see you stationed before me, you will not escape with your life. As for that brahmana,
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he has abandoned the conduct of brahmanas and is devoted to the dharma of kshatriyas. That wicked of men should be slain by all the worlds, just as you should be.’ Having been thus harshly addressed by Parshata, the supreme among brahmanas was
overcome by great rage and asked him to wait. He glanced at Parshata and seemed to burn him down with his eyes.