Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (28 page)

‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All of your soldiers were delighted at the prospect of battle. They cheerfully blew on their conch shells and roared like lions. On hearing these sounds, the aged grandfather of the Kurus was delighted. The powerful one roared like a lion and blew on his conch shell. At this, conch shells, kettledrums, many different kinds of drums and battle-drums began to sound and there was a tumultuous uproar.
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Hrishikesha and Dhananjaya were stationed on a giant chariot drawn by white horses and respectively blew on the excellent conch shells Panchajanya and Devadatta, decorated with gold and jewels. Vrikodara, terrible in deeds, blew on the giant conch shell Poundra. Kunti’s son, King Yudhishthira, blew on Anantavijaya. Nakula blew on Sughosa and Sahadeva on Manipushpaka. The king of Kashi, Shaibya, maharatha Shikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, maharatha Satyaki, the great archer from Panchala
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and Droupadi’s five sons—all of them blew on giant conch shells and roared like lions. The extremely loud and tumultuous roar created by those warriors echoed on earth and in the sky. O great king! Thus did the cheerful Kurus and Pandavas assemble again for battle, with a desire to torment each other in the encounter.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “Having assembled in battle formation in this way, what did mine and those of the others do? How did those supreme among wielders of weapons strike?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “All the troops were arranged in battle formation. The warriors were armoured and waited. The standards were raised up. On seeing his army, which was like the limitless ocean, your son,
King Duryodhana, stationed himself in its midst and spoke to all the warriors on your side. ‘You are armoured. Now fight.’ Their minds were full of cruelty and they had given up the desire to live. With their standards raised, all of them rushed against the Pandavas. A terrible battle started and it made the body hair stand up. Your chariots and elephants were mixed up with that of the enemy. Charioteers released sharp arrows that were full of energy and shafted with gold. These descended on elephants and horses. When the battle commenced, the mighty-armed and armoured Bhishma, terrible in his valour, grasped a bow. The aged grandfather of the Kurus advanced and showered arrows on those brave men—Subhadra’s son,
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Bhimasena, Shini’s maharatha son,
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Kekaya, Virata, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna and the lords of Chedi and Matsya. At the encounter with that brave one, the great vyuha
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wavered. The battle that was fought by all the soldiers was extremely great. Many horse-riders, charioteers and the foremost among elephants were slain. Masses of chariots on the Pandava side began to flee.

‘“Arjuna, tiger among men, saw maharatha Bhishma. He angrily told Varshneya, ‘Go where the grandfather is. O Varshneya! It is evident that when he is extremely enraged, engaged in Duryodhana’s welfare, this Bhishma will destroy my army. O Janardana! Protected by the one who wields a firm bow, Drona, Kripa, Shalya, Vikarna and the sons of Dhritarashtra, with Duryodhana at the forefront, will slaughter the Panchalas. O Janardana! For the sake of our soldiers, I will go where Bhishma is.’ Vasudeva replied, ‘O Dhananjaya! O brave one! Be careful. I will take you towards the grandfather’s chariot.’ O lord of men! Having said this, Shouri
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took the chariot, famous in the worlds, towards Bhishma’s chariot. The horses had the complexion of cranes.
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As it advanced, many flags fluttered. The standard was raised and the extremely terrible ape roared on
it. The chariot was as radiant as the sun and it roared like a giant cloud. Pandava slaughtered the soldiers of the Kouravas and the Shurasenas and the one who dispelled the sorrow of his well-wishers swiftly advanced to the battle. He descended with the force of an intoxicated elephant, using his arrows to bring down warriors in that battle. Shantanu’s son, Bhishma, was protected by warriors who were led by Saindhava
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and those from the east, Souvira and Kekaya and encountered him with force. Who other than the grandfather of the Kurus and the two rathas Drona and Vaikartana
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are capable of withstanding the wielder of the Gandiva in battle?

‘“O great king! Bhishma, the grandfather of the Kouravas, pierced Arjuna with seventy-seven iron arrows. O king! Drona pierced him with twenty-five arrows, Kripa with fifty, Duryodhana with sixty-four, Shalya with nine arrows and Vikarna pierced Pandava with ten broad-headed arrows. But though he was struck in every direction with sharp arrows, the mighty-armed and great archer did not suffer and was like a mountain that has been pierced. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Kiriti’s
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soul is beyond measure. In return, he struck Bhishma with twenty-five arrows, Kripa with nine, Drona, tiger among men, with sixty arrows, Vikarna with three, Artayani
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with three and the king
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with five arrows. Satyaki, Virata, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, Droupadi’s sons and Abhimanyu surrounded Dhananjaya. The great archer Drona was engaged in ensuring Gangeya’s
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welfare. Panchala,
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supported by the Somakas, advanced against him. Bhishma, best among charioteers, swiftly pierced Pandava with eighty sharp arrows. At this, your warriors were extremely delighted. The powerful Dhananjaya was a lion among charioteers. On hearing these roars of applause, he cheerfully
penetrated their midst and having done that, sported with his bow and took aim at those maharathas. Dhananjaya reached the midst of those lions among charioteers. On seeing that his own soldiers were tormented by Partha in that battle, King Duryodhana, lord of men, spoke to Bhishma. ‘O father!
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Pandu’s powerful son is accompanied by Krishna. O Gangeya! He is destroying our soldiers and severing our roots, even though you and Drona, supreme among charioteers, are alive. It is because of you that maharatha Karna has discarded his weapons and does not fight in this battle with Partha, though he always has my welfare in mind. O Gangeya! Act so that Phalguna may be killed.’ O king! Having been thus addressed, your father, Devavrata,
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exclaimed, ‘Shame on the dharma of kshatriyas,’ and advanced towards Partha’s chariot.

‘“O king! All the kings saw that these two, both drawn by white horses, were ready to do battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They roared like lions and blew on their conch shells. O venerable one! When Bhishma was stationed in battle, Drona’s son,
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Duryodhana and your son Vikarna surrounded him. All the Pandavas surrounded Dhananjaya. When they were stationed in battle, a great duel commenced. In that battle, Gangeya pierced Partha with nine arrows and Arjuna pierced him back with ten arrows that penetrated the inner organs. O Kourava! Arjuna prided himself on his skills in battle. With a thousand well-directed arrows, Pandava enveloped Bhishma in every direction. But Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, repulsed Partha’s net of arrows with his own net of arrows. Both of them were extremely cheerful. Both of them found delight in the battle. They fought against each other, each desiring to counter the other. But neither was superior to the other. The net of arrows released from Bhishma’s bow were seen to be repulsed by Arjuna’s arrows. In that fashion, the nets of arrows released from Arjuna’s bow were all cut down by Gangeya’s arrows and fell down on the ground. Arjuna pierced Bhishma with
twenty-five sharp arrows. And in that battle, Bhishma pierced Partha with thirty arrows. Those extremely strong ones wounded each other’s horses, pierced the standards and struck the chariots and wheels of the chariots. The destroyers of enemies seemed to be playing. O great king! Bhishma, supreme among the wielders of weapons, was enraged. With three arrows, he pierced Vasudeva between the breasts. O king! Pierced by Bhishma’s arrows, Achyuta Madhusudana was resplendent in that battle, like a blossoming kimshuka. On seeing Madhava thus pierced, Arjuna became extremely angry. In that encounter, he pierced Gangeya’s charioteer with three arrows. In that encounter, the brave ones took aim against each other and endeavoured to kill each other, but did not succeed. The chariots advanced and retreated, traversing wonderful circles. Both charioteers displayed their skill and dexterity in many ways. O king! In seeking their objective, the maharathas repeatedly changed their positions and adopted different paths, so that they could strike each other. Both of them roared like lions and blew on their conch shells. Loud noises could be heard as the maharathas twanged their bows. There was the sound of conch shells and roars from the axles of the chariots. The earth began to tremble, as if there was an earthquake underneath. O bull among the Bharata lineage! No one could detect a weakness in either of them. Both of them were powerful and valiant in battle. Each was equal to the other. It was only through the signs that the Kouravas could approach Bhishma and also through the signs that the sons of Pandu could approach Partha.
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O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On witnessing the valour displayed by these best of men in the battle, all the beings were struck with wonder. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, no weakness was discernible in either of the two, like those established in dharma. Nor could any deceit be seen. In that battle, both became invisible because of the nets of arrows and suddenly became visible again.

‘“On witnessing the valour, the gods, together with the gandharvas, the charanas and the rishis, spoke to each other. ‘When they are
enraged, neither of these maharathas is capable of being vanquished in battle, even by the gods, the asuras, the gandharvas and all the worlds. The worlds will regard this extremely marvellous battle as wonderful. Such a battle will never take place again. In the encounter, Bhishma is incapable of being vanquished by the intelligent Partha, even though he uses his bow, chariot, horses and arrows in the battle. In that fashion, in a battle, even the gods cannot conquer Pandava. Though he makes every endeavour, Bhishma cannot vanquish that archer in an encounter.’ O lord of the earth! We heard these words of praise spoken about both Gangeya and Arjuna in that battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! While they fought, your warriors and those of the Pandaveyas, killed each other in the battle. They valiantly used polished and sharp swords, polished battleaxes, many kinds of arrows and diverse types of weapons and other arms. As long as that extremely terrible battle continued, the brave ones on either side killed one another. O king! There was a great encounter between Drona and Panchala.
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”’

‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! Tell me how the great archer Drona and Parshata Panchala fought and strove against each other in that battle. O Sanjaya! It is my view that destiny is superior to human endeavour, since Shantanu’s son, Bhishma, could not vanquish Pandava in battle. When Bhishma is enraged in battle, he can destroy all mobile and immobile objects in the worlds. O Sanjaya! With his energy, why could he not escape from Pandava in that encounter?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “O king! Be patient and hear about that extremely terrible battle. Pandava is incapable of being vanquished by the gods, together with Vasava. With sharp arrows, Drona wounded
Dhrishtadyumna and used a broad-headed arrow to bring down his charioteer from the safety of the chariot. O venerable one! Using the best of arrows, the wrathful one wounded Dhrishtadyumna’s four horses. The brave Dhrishtadyumna smiled, and asking Drona to wait, pierced him with nine sharp arrows. At this, Bharadvaja’s powerful son, immeasurable in his soul, enveloped the intolerant Dhrishtadyumna with arrows. With a desire to kill Parshata, he then grasped a terrible arrow. It was like Shakra’s vajra to the touch and resembled the staff of death. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing that Bharadvaja’s son was about to use it in battle, a great lamentation arose from all the soldiers. We then witnessed Dhrishtadyumna’s extraordinary manliness. Like an immobile mountain, the brave one remained stationed in battle. As the terrible and flaming arrow rushed towards him, like his own death, he sliced it down and unleashed a shower of arrows on Bharadvaja’s son. On witnessing that extremely difficult deed accomplished by Dhrishtadyumna, all the Panchalas, together with the Pandavas, were delighted and roared loudly. With a desire to kill Drona, the valiant one then hurled a lance, decorated with gold and lapis lazuli, with great force. On witnessing the gold-adorned lance suddenly descending in the battle, Bharadvaja’s son smiled and sliced it down into three parts. O lord of men! Having seen that his lance had been thus repulsed, the powerful Dhrishtadyumna unleashed a shower of arrows in Drona’s direction. But the greatly famous Drona repulsed this shower of arrows and in the midst of this, sliced down the bow of Drupada’s son. When his bow had been sliced down in that battle, the immensely famous and powerful one hurled a giant club towards Drona. It was as firm as a mountain. Having been thus forcefully hurled, the club headed towards Drona, for his destruction. We then witnessed the extraordinary valour of Bharadvaja’s son. He countered the gold-adorned club with dexterity. Having repulsed the club, he despatched broad-headed arrows towards Parshata. They were extremely sharp and yellow. They were gold-tufted and had been sharpened on stone. In that battle, they penetrated his armour and drank his blood. Then the great-minded Dhrishtadyumna picked up another bow. In that encounter, he used his valour to pierce Drona
with five arrows. Those two bulls among men were covered with blood. O king! They looked as beautiful as flowering kimshukas in the spring. O king! Intolerant with anger and displaying his valour at the head of his troops, Drona again sliced down the bow of Drupada’s son. When the bow had been sliced down, the one with the immeasurable soul covered him with arrows with drooping tufts, like clouds raining on a mountain. He used a broad-headed arrow to bring down his charioteer from the safety of the chariot. With four sharp arrows, he brought down his four horses. He roared like a lion in that battle. With another broad-headed arrow, he sliced down the leather guard from his
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hands. His bow was sliced down. He was without a chariot. His horses were killed. His charioteer was slain. Displaying great manliness, he tried to leap down, with a club in his hands. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! But before he could descend from his chariot, he
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used his arrows to shatter the club into fragments and it was an extraordinary feat. The powerful one with the excellent arms
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then grasped a large and divine sword and a huge and beautiful shield marked with the marks of one hundred moons. In a desire to kill Drona, he rushed towards him with force, like a lion looking for meat dashes towards a crazy elephant in the forest. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! We then witnessed the extraordinary manliness of Bharadvaja’s son, his dexterity in the use of weapons and the strength of his arms. He repulsed Parshata with a shower of arrows. Though he was strong, he could not advance any further in that battle. We saw maharatha Dhrishtadyumna stationed there, using the shield in his hands to ward off the shower of arrows.