Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (36 page)

‘“Duryodhana said, ‘In all the worlds, Vasudeva is spoken of as the great being. O grandfather! I wish to know about his origin and his glory.’

‘“Bhishma replied, ‘Vasudeva is the great being. He was created with the gods. O bull among the Bharata lineage! No one superior to Pundarikaksha can be seen. Markandeya spoke about Govinda’s extraordinary greatness. He is the great-souled Purushottama. He is in all beings and is the soul of all beings. He created the three elements of water, air and energy. He is the god who created the earth. He is the lord of all the lords of the worlds. The great-souled Purushottama was lying down on water. The god who is everywhere was asleep in his yoga. He created fire from his mouth. He created wind from his breath of life. Through his mind, the undecaying one
created Sarasvati and the Vedas. He initially created the worlds, with the gods and the masses of rishis. He decreed the decay and death of all beings and also their birth and growth. He is dharma. He is learned in dharma. He is the granter of boons. He is the one who satisfies all desire. He is the actor. He is action. He is the ancient god and is himself the lord. He created the past, the present and the future, and everything. Janardana created the two sandhyas,
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the directions, the sky and the rituals. Govinda created the austere rishis. The great-souled and undecaying lord created the universe. He created Samkarshana, the first among all beings. He created the god Shesha, whom the learned know of as Ananta. He holds up all beings and the earth, with all its mountains.
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Through their yoga of meditation, brahmanas speak of him as the immensely energetic one. The great asura named Madhu was born from the secretion of his ears. He was extremely terrible in his deeds and terrible in his intelligence. He was about to kill Brahma, but Purushottama slew him. O son! Having killed him, the god Janardana came to be worshipped by gods, danavas, men and rishis as Madhusudana.
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He is the boar. He is the lion. He is the lord with the three steps.
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He is the mother. He is the father. He is Hari for all beings. There is no one superior to Pundarikaksha, nor will there ever be. O king! He created the brahmanas from his mouth, the kshatriyas from his arms, the vaishyas from his thighs and the shudras from his feet. He is the refuge of all beings. He is the essence of the brahman. He is the essence of yoga. One can attain the great god Keshava by devoutly performing austerities on the nights of the new moon and the full moon. Keshava is supreme energy. He is the grandfather of all the worlds. O lord of men! The sages know him as Hrishikesha.
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Know
him to be the teacher, the father and the preceptor. When Krishna favours someone, he wins the undecaying worlds. If a man confronts fear and always seeks refuge with Keshava, or reads about this, such a man obtains sanctuary and happiness. Men who attain Krishna are never deluded. Janardana always saves those who are immersed in great fear. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Yudhishthira knows about the truth of this. O king! With all his soul, he has sought refuge with the great-souled Keshava, the lord of the universe. He is the lord of yoga and he is the lord of the earth.’”’

‘“Bhishma said, ‘O great king! Hear this hymn from me. It was chanted by Brahma himself and, in ancient times, recounted to those on earth by the brahmarshis and the gods. “You are the god of the sadhyas. You are the illustrious god who is the lord of all the gods. You know about the creator of the worlds. Thus did Narada speak about you. Markandeya has described you as the past, the present and the future. You are the sacrifice among all sacrifices. You are austerity among all austerities. You are the god of all the gods. Thus did the illustrious Bhrigu describe you. You are the terrible and ancient form of Vishnu, the lord of all beings. You are Vasudeva among the Vasus. You are the one who established Shakra. You are the god of the gods and the god of all beings. Thus did Dvaipayana speak of you. In earlier times, at the time of the creation of all beings, you have been spoken of as Daksha Prajapati. You are the creator of all the worlds. Thus did Angiras speak of you. That which is not manifest is your body. That which is manifest is established in your mind. The gods have been created from your words. Thus did Devala speak of you. Your head extends up to heaven. Your two arms hold up the earth. The three worlds are in your stomach. You are the eternal Purusha. Men who are purified through austerities know of
you in this way. To rishis who are satisfied with knowledge of the soul, you are truth. O Madhusudana! You are sole refuge of generous royal sages who do not retreat from the field of battle and who resort to the supreme forms of dharma.” O son! This is the nature of Keshava and I have recounted it you, both briefly and in detail. With affection in your mind, turn towards Keshava.’”

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! Having heard this sacred account, your son formed a high opinion of Keshava and the maharatha Pandavas. O great king! Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, again spoke to him. ‘O son! You have heard about the glory of the great-souled Keshava and about the essence of Nara. You had asked me about them. You have heard about the reasons why Nara and Narayana have been born among men and why those two brave ones cannot be vanquished or slain in battle. O king! Nor can the Pandavas be worsted in battle. Krishna is firm in his devotion to the illustrious Pandavas. O Indra among kings! That is the reason I am telling you that you should strive for peace with the Pandavas. Enjoy the earth, with your powerful brothers around you. If you disregard the gods Nara and Narayana, you will be destroyed.’ O lord of the earth! Having spoken in this way, your father became silent. Having taken his leave of the king, he left to sleep for the night. The great-souled king bowed to him and left for his own camp. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He spent the night on a white bed.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! When the night had passed and the sun had arisen, both the armies assembled to fight again. In great rage, wishing to kill each other, they advanced against each other. All of them glanced at each other and assembled for the encounter. O king! Because of your evil counsel, the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra arrayed themselves in vyuhas and counter-vyuhas.
They armed and arrayed themselves and attacked each other. O king! Bhishma protected himself in every direction in the form of a makara vyuha.
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O king! The Pandavas also protected themselves in the form of a vyuha. Your father, Devavrata, advanced with a great army of chariots. He was surrounded by supreme charioteers and other chariots, infantry, elephants and horse-riders, all stationed in accordance with their appropriate ranks. The illustrious Pandavas saw that they were ready for battle. They arranged themselves for battle in the form of a
shyena
,
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the invincible vyuha that is the king of all vyuhas. The immensely strong Bhimasena was radiant at the mouth. The invincible Shikhandi and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna were the eyes. The brave Satyaki, with truth as his valour, was the head. Wielding the Gandiva bow, Partha was stationed at the neck. With an entire akshouhini, the illustrious and great-souled Drupada, together with his sons, stationed himself for battle on the left wing. Kekaya, the leader of an akshouhini, was stationed on the right wing. Droupadi’s sons and Subhadra’s valiant son formed the back. The illustrious King Yudhishthira, handsome in his prowess, was himself at the rear, with his two intelligent brothers.
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‘“The battle commenced with Bhima penetrating the makara’s mouth. He advanced against Bhishma in that encounter and enveloped him with arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Using great weapons, Bhishma brought these down. In that great battle, he confounded the soldiers of the sons of Pandu, who were stationed in arrays. On seeing that the soldiers were confounded, Dhananjaya swiftly advanced. In the forefront of that battle, he pierced Bhishma with one thousand arrows. Having repulsed the weapons that had been released by Bhishma in that encounter, he delighted his own soldiers, who were stationed in battle. At this, King Duryodhana spoke to Bharadvaja’s son. The supreme among strong ones had earlier witnessed the terrible slaughter of his
soldiers and the death of his brothers in the battle. Remembering this, the maharatha said, ‘O preceptor! O unblemished one! You have always had my welfare in heart. We have sought refuge with you and with Bhishma, the grandfather. With this, there is no doubt that we can hope to vanquish even the gods in battle, not to speak of the sons of Pandu, who are inferior in valour and power in this encounter.’ O venerable one! Having been thus addressed by your son, while Satyaki looked on, Drona penetrated the Pandava ranks. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Satyaki countered Drona’s progress and a tumultuous battle commenced. It made the body hair stand up. Bharadvaja’s powerful son was enraged. In that encounter, as if smiling, he pierced Shini’s descendant on his shoulders with ten sharp arrows. O king! At this, extremely enraged, Bhimasena wished to protect Satyaki from Drona, supreme among the wielders of weapons, and pierced him. O venerable one! In that battle, Drona, Bhishma and Shalya angrily enveloped Bhimasena with arrows. O venerable one! Abhimanyu became angry, and so did Droupadi’s sons. They used sharp arrows to wound all the warriors with upraised weapons. In the great battle, the great archer, Shikhandi, angrily advanced against the immensely strong Bhishma and Drona, who were causing this torment. The brave and powerful one grasped a bow that had the sound of a cloud. Shikhandi swiftly showered arrows that shrouded the sun. However, on confronting him, the grandfather of the Bharata lineage remembered that he had been a woman earlier and withdrew from the battle. O great king! At this, instructed by your son and with a desire to protect Bhishma, Drona rushed to battle. Shikhandi confronted Drona, supreme among the wielders of weapons, and fled from the field of battle, as if from the fire that burns at the destruction of an era. O lord of the earth! With a large army, your son advanced to protect Bhishma and desiring a great victory. O king! But with Dhananjaya at the forefront, the Pandavas advanced against Bhishma, firm in their resolution of ensuring victory. A terrible and extremely wonderful battle ensued, like that between the gods and the danavas. Each side desired victory and eternal fame.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Shantanu’s son, Bhishma, then fought a tumultous battle, wishing to save your sons from their fear of Bhimasena. In the forenoon, there was an extremely terrible battle between the kins on the Kuru and Pandava sides, with the destruction of the foremost among warriors. While that extremely fearful battle was raging on, there was a great and tumultuous sound that seemed to touch the sky. Giant elephants roared. Horses neighed. There was the sound of drums and conch shells and there was a mighty roar. Those valiant and extremely strong ones fought with each other, desiring victory. They roared at each other, like great bulls among herds of cows. O bull among the Bharata lineage! In that battle, heads were sliced down with sharp arrows and descended like a shower of stones from the sky. They still wore earrings and helmets, blazing in gold. O bull among the Bharata lineage! These heads were seen to fall down. The bodies were wounded by arrows. The severed arms still held on to bows. Adorned with ornaments, they were seen to be strewn all over the ground. The bodies bore armour. The upper arms were decorated with bracelets. The faces were like moons. The eyes were red. O lord of the earth! There were all the bodies of elephants, horses and men. In an instant, the earth was covered with a thick dust. In that thick cloud of dust, the weapons were like lightning. The sound made by the weapons was like the clap of thunder. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The ensuing tumultuous and fierce encounter between the Kurus and the Pandavas made a river of blood flow there. It was an extremely fearful, terrible and tumultuous fight and it made the body hair stand up. Unassailable in that battle, the kshatriyas showered down arrows. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! Afflicted by the shower of arrows in that encounter, your elephants, and those belonging to the enemy, screamed in agony. With their riders slain, the horses ran around in the ten directions. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Your warriors, and those of the enemy, were oppressed and wounded by arrows. They leapt up and fell down. O lord of the earth! Horses, elephants and chariots were seen
to whirl around in the battle there. Driven by destiny, the kshatriyas killed each other there with clubs, lances and arrows with drooping tufts. Other brave ones, skilled in battle, struck each other with bare arms that were like clubs made completely out of iron. O lord of the earth! The brave ones, on your side and that of the Pandavas, killed each other with clenched fists, thighs and palms. Charioteers were bereft of their chariots. Desiring to kill each other, they rushed at each other, with excellent swords in their hands. Surrounded by a large number of Kalingas and with Bhishma at the forefront, King Duryodhana charged against the Pandavas. At this, all the Pandavas surrounded Vrikodara. Inflamed with rage, they rushed against Bhishma on swift mounts.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “On seeing Bhishma engaged in a fight with his brothers and the other kings, Dhananjaya raised his weapons and rushed against Gangeya. At Panchajanya’s
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roar, Gandiva’s twang and on seeing Partha’s standard, all those on our side were overcome with terror. It was like a tree that did not waver, like a comet that had arisen.
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It was colourful and possessed many hues. It was divine and bore the mark of the ape. O great king! We saw the wielder of the Gandiva’s standard to be of this type. It was like lightning in the midst of clouds, resplendent in the sky. The maharatha warriors saw Gandiva, with a back encrusted with gold. We heard his loud roars, like the roars of Shakra himself, and the terrible sound with which he slapped his palms as he went about killing your soldiers. As he showered arrows in every direction and enveloped all the directions, it was like a torrential cloud that was charged with lightning. With terrible weapons, Dhananjaya advanced against Gangeya. We were
confounded by these weapons and could not distinguish between the eastern and the western direction. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Your warriors could not distinguish between the directions. They were overcome with exhaustion. They were bereft of their weapons. They were bereft of their senses. They clung to each other for comfort. With all your sons, they sought succour with Bhishma. In that battle, Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, became the refuge of the oppressed ones. Overcome with terror, charioteers jumped down from their chariots and horse-riders from the backs of their horses. Even the infantry fell down on the ground. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having heard the roar of Gandiva, which was like the rumbling of thunder, all your soldiers were frightened and seemed to decay.