Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (40 page)

‘“Extremely wrathful, the five brothers from Kekaya advanced to the attack. O great king! On seeing them advance, like elephants against giant elephants, your maharatha sons—Durmukha, Durjaya, the youthful Durmarshana, Shatrunjaya and Shatrusaha, all of them wrathful and illustrious, countered the brothers from Kekaya. Their chariots were like cities, with many colours and decorated with flags, and horses as fleet as thought had been yoked to them. The
brave ones held supreme bows and were adorned with colourful armour and standards. They descended on the enemy soldiers, like lions moving from one forest to another forest. A tumultuous battle ensued, with chariots and elephants. It was extremely terrible, where they sought to kill each other. O king! Because of enmity towards each other, they increased the numbers in Yama’s kingdom. But since the sun was about to set, that extremely terrible battle lasted only for a short while. Thousands of charioteers and horse-riders were strewn around. Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, was excited with rage. He used straight-tufted arrows to slaughter the soldiers of the great-souled ones. He used his arrows to despatch the Panchala soldiers to Yama’s undecaying realm. O king! Having thus shattered the Pandava army, the great archer withdrew his soldiers and returned to his own camp. Having seen Dhrishtadyumna and Vrikodara, Dharmaraja inhaled the fragrances of their heads and happily retired to his own camp.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! Those brave ones were driven by enmity towards each other. They retired to their respective camps, drenched in blood. Having rested for some time, they honoured each other in accordance with the proper forms. They were then seen armoured again, desiring to do battle. O king! Your son was overwhelmed with anxiety and blood was trickling from his limbs. He told the grandfather, ‘Our soldiers are terrible and fierce. They are arrayed and bear many standards. But the brave Pandava rathas have swiftly shattered, slain and oppressed us. Having confounded all our warriors, they have obtained fame. The makara vyuha was like the vajra. But Bhima penetrated it and wounded me with arrows that were like the staff of death. O king! On seeing him enraged, I was overcome with fear and lost my senses. I cannot find peace even now. You are truthful in your vows. Through your
favours, I wish to obtain victory and slay the Pandavas.’ When he was thus addressed, Ganga’s great-souled son, foremost among the wielders of weapons, knew that Duryodhana was overcome by grief. Though his mind was distracted, the intelligent one replied, ‘O prince! I will make supreme efforts to penetrate their army, as much as I can. I wish to grant you victory and joy. But I will not hide anything for your sake. These maharathas are terrible and many. There are illustrious and supreme among brave ones. They are skilled in the use of weapons. They have become the aides of the Pandavas in battle. They have overcome fatigue and they are vomiting the venom of their wrath. Those brave ones are firm in their enmity towards you. They are incapable of being vanquished easily. O king! O brave one! But for your sake, I will strive against them to the best of my ability, giving up my life. O high-minded one! In this battle, for your sake, I will no longer attempt to remain alive today. For your sake, I will take on the gods, the daityas and all the worlds, not to speak of the enemies here. O king! To bring you pleasure, I will fight with the Pandavas and do everything that you desire.’ On hearing these words, Duryodhana was supremely content and delighted.

‘“He cheerfully instructed all the soldiers and all the kings to advance. On hearing his instructions, the chariots, horses, infantry and elephants began to advance. O king! They were happy and were armed with a large number and many kinds of weapons. O king! With elephants, horses and infantry, your army was extremely resplendent. There were masses of tuskers, stationed in arrays and commanded well. The warriors, gods among men and skilled in the use of weapons, stationed themselves amidst the masses of soldiers. The arrays of chariots, infantry, elephants and horses advanced, proceeding along the proper formations. They raised a dust that was tinged like the morning sun and shrouded the sun’s rays. There were bright standards on chariots and elephants. In every direction, they fluttered in the air. O king! In that battle, their different colours looked like clouds tinged with lightning in the sky. The kings twanged their bows and a tumultuous and terrible sound arose. This was like the roar of the ocean, when it was churned by the gods and the great
asuras in the first yuga.
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With that great roar and with many forms and colours, the army of yoru sons was greatly agitated. The soldiers were ready to kill the soldiers of the enemy and looked like masses of clouds at the end of a yuga.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O foremost amongst the Bharata lineage! Gangeya saw that your son was still immersed in thought. He then again spoke these pleasing words to him. ‘O king! I, Drona, Shalya, Satvata Kritavarma, Ashvatthama, Vikarna, Somadatta’s son, Saindhava, Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti, Bahlika and the Bahlika forces, the powerful king of Trigarta, the invincible king of Magadha, Brihadbala from Kosala, Chitrasena, Vivimshati, many thousand rathas with radiant and giant standards, horses from many countries and horse-riders astride them, crazy kings of elephants with musth issuing from their shattered temples and mouths, brave infantry armed with many different kinds of weapons, warriors with raised weapons who have assembled in your cause from many countries— these and many others have assembled in your cause, ready to give up their lives. It is my view that they are capable of defeating even the gods in battle. O king! But I must always tell you words that are for your own welfare. The Pandavas are incapable of being vanquished, even by the gods, with Vasava. They have Vasudeva as their aide and are like the great Indra in their valour. O Indra among kings! In every way, I will act according to your words. I will defeat the Pandavas in battle, or they will defeat me.’ Having thus spoken, he gave him the sacred
vishalyakarani
.
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This herb possessed great efficacy and he
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used it to heal his wounds.

‘“When it was morning and the sky was clear, the valiant Bhishma, skilled about vyuhas, himself arranged his soldiers in an array that was in the form of the
mandala
vyuha.
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O foremost among men! It abounded in many different kinds of weapons. It was full of the foremost warriors, tuskers and infantry. There were many thousands of chariots in every direction. There were large numbers of horse-riders, wielding swords and lances. There were seven chariots near every elephant and there were seven horses near every chariot. There were ten archers near every horse-rider and there were seven with shields near every archer. O great king! Such was the vyuha in which your maharatha soldiers were arrayed. Protected by Bhishma, they were stationed, ready for the great battle. Ten thousand horses, as many elephants, ten thousand chariots and your armoured sons, the brave Chitrasena and the others, protected the grandfather. He was seen to be protected by those brave ones and those immensely strong kings were themselves armoured. In that battle, Duryodhana was armoured and was stationed on his chariot. He blazed in prosperity, like Shakra in heaven. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A great roar arose from the army of your sons. There was the tumultuous sound of chariot wheels and the noise made by musical instruments. Arrayed by Bhishma, the battle formation of the sons of Dhritarashtra advanced towards the west. It was in the form of a giant vyuha known as mandala, impenetrable and the destroyer of the enemy. O king! It was beautiful in every direction and was incapable of being assailed by the enemy.

‘“On seeing the extremely terrible vyuha known as mandala, King Yudhishthira himself created the vyuha known as vajra. The different divisions were stationed in the form of this array. The charioteers and horse-riders roared like lions. Desiring to do battle, the warriors wished to break each other’s vyuhas. Here and there, with their soldiers, the brave ones began to strike. Bharadvaja’s son advanced against Matsya and Drona’s son against Shikhandi. King Duryodhana attacked Parshata himself. O king! Nakula and Sahadeva advanced against the lord of Madra. Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti attacked
Iravat.
²⁶²
In that encounter, all the kings fought against Dhananjaya. Bhimasena strove in that battle and countered Hardikya.
²⁶³
O king! In that battle, Arjuna’s illustrious son
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fought with your sons Chitrasena, Vikarna and Durmarshana. Hidimba’s son, supreme among rakshasas, advanced forcefully against the great archer from Pragjyotisha and it was like a crazy elephant encountering another crazy elephant.
²⁶⁵
O king! The rakshasa Alambusa was enraged in that war. He attacked Satyaki, invincible in battle, together with his soldiers. Bhurishrava made every effort in that battle and fought against Dhrishtaketu. Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, confronted King Shrutayu.
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In that battle, Chekitana fought against Kripa. The remaining ones fought against maharatha Bhima.

‘“Thousands of kings surrounded Dhananjaya, with spears, lances, iron arrows, maces and clubs in their hands. Arjuna became extremely angry and told Varshneya, ‘O Madhava! Look at the soldiers of the sons of Dhritarashtra, arrayed for battle. They have been arranged in this formation by the great-souled Gangeya, knowledgeable about vyuhas. O Madhava! Look at these armoured and brave ones, wishing to do battle. O Keshava! Behold the king of Trigarta, together with his brothers. O Janardana! While you look on, I will kill all of them today. O foremost among the Yadu lineage! They are wishing to fight against me in this field of battle.’ Having spoken thus, Kounteya touched the string of his bow and showered arrows towards the masses of kings. Those supreme archers also showered back arrows in return and it was like clouds pouring down onto a lake during the monsoon season. O lord of the earth! In that great battle, the two Krishnas were seen to be completely covered through those showers of arrows and a great lamentation arose amidst the soldiers. The gods, the devarshis, the gandharvas and the giant serpents were struck with great wonder, when they saw the two Krishnas in
that state. O king! At this, Arjuna was enraged and unleashed the
aindra
²⁶⁷
weapon. We witnessed Vijaya’s extraordinary valour. The showers of weapons released by his enemies were repulsed by his innumerable arrows. O lord of the earth! Among those thousands of kings, horses and elephants, there was not a single one who was not wounded. O venerable one! Partha pierced others with two or three arrows each. Having been thus killed by Partha, they sought refuge with Bhishma, Shantanu’s son. At that time, they seemed to be immersed in fathomless waters and Bhishma became their protector. Your soldiers confronted a calamity there and were scattered. O great king! They were agitated, like the great ocean in a storm.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Susharma
²⁶⁸
retreated from the battle. The brave ones were routed by the great-souled Pandava. However, the battle continued. Your army, which was like the ocean, had been agitated. Gangeya swiftly advanced towards Vijaya. O king! On witnessing Partha’s valour in battle, Duryodhana hastened towards all those kings and spoke to them. The brave and immensely strong Susharma was at the forefront and was stationed in the midst of all the soldiers. These words delighted them. ‘This Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, wishes to fight with Dhananjaya with all his heart. He is the best of the Kurus and is willing to give up his own life. With all the soldiers of the Bharata army, he will advance against the army of the enemy. All of you unite in the battle and protect the grandfather.’ O great king! Having been thus urged, all the divisions of all those kings of men followed the grandfather. Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, swiftly went to where Arjuna was and the immensely strong one of the Bharata lineage had also been advancing towards him. He was
resplendent on a great chariot that roared like the clouds. Large white horses were yoked to it and the terrible ape was on the standard. On seeing Dhananjaya Kiriti advance in battle, all the soldiers in your army were frightened and let out a tumultuous roar. Krishna held the reins in that battle and looked as dazzling as the sun in midday. They were unable of glancing at him. Like that, the Pandavas were incapable of glancing at Bhishma, Shantanu’s son. His horses were white and he held a white bow. He looked like the white planet when it has risen.
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He was surrounded on every side by the extremely great-souled Trigarta and his brothers, your sons and many other maharathas.

‘“Bharadvaja’s son pierced Matsya with an arrow in that encounter. He brought his standard down with one arrow and sliced down his bow with another. Discarding his broken bow, Virata, the leader of an army, quickly took up another bow that was powerful and could bear a great burden. He used venomous arrows that were like flaming serpents. He pierced Drona with three of these and his horses with four. He pierced his standard with one and his charioteer with five. With a single arrow, he pierced his bow. Drona, bull among brahmanas, became angry. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Using eight straight-tufted arrows, he killed his horses and his charioteer with a single one. With his horses slain and his charioteer also slain, the best of charioteers jumped down from his chariot and swiftly ascended Shankha’s chariot.
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The father and the son were on the same chariot and powerfully countered Bharadvaja’s son with a great shower of arrows. O lord of men! Bharadvaja’s son became enraged in that battle. He despatched an arrow that was like a venomous serpent towards Shankha. In that encounter, it pierced his heart and drank up his blood. Then the arrow fell down on the ground, smeared in blood. Killed by the arrow released by Bharadvaja’s son, he fell down from the chariot. While his father looked on, the bow and arrows dropped from his grasp. On seeing that his son had been killed, Virata gave up the fight and fled in fear.
Drona was like death with a gaping mouth. Bharadvaja’s son swiftly attacked the great army of the Pandavas. In that battle, he scattered hundreds and thousands of them.