Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (49 page)

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! Arjuna’s brave son killed many maharathas in battle. How did Alambusa counter him in the encounter? How did Subhadra’s son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, fight with Rishyashringa’s son? Tell me all this in detail, exactly as it occurred in the course of the battle. O Sanjaya! What did Dhananjaya do against my soldiers, and Bhima, foremost among strong ones, rakshasa Ghatotkacha, Nakula, Sahadeva and maharatha Satyaki? O Sanjaya! Tell me all this, because you are skilled.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “O venerable one! I will later tell you about the battle that took place between the Indra among the rakshasas and Subhadra’s son. It made the body hair stand up. I will also recount to you the valour of Arjuna and Pandava Bhimasena in the battle and that of Nakula and Sahadeva in the encounter. I will also tell you about the extraordinary and wonderful deeds of those on your side, performed without fear and with Bhishma and Drona at the forefront. In that encounter against maharatha Abhimanyu, Alambusa roared extremely loudly. He advanced, roaring again and again, and asking him
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to wait. O king! In that battle, Subhadra’s son also roared repeatedly like a lion. He attacked the great archer who was Rishyashringa’s son and was also a sworn enemy of his fathers. The man and the rakshasa, foremost among rathas, swiftly confronted each other in battle on their respective chariots, like a god and a danava. The foremost among rakshasas was skilled in maya and Phalguna’s son was skilled in the use of divine weapons. O great king! Krishna’s son used three sharp arrows to pierce Rishyashringa’s son in that battle and then again pierced him with five arrows. Alambusa became angry and pierced Krishna’s son in the chest with nine swift arrows, like forcefully striking a giant elephant with a goad. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, the traveller of the night, swift in action, used a thousand arrows to oppress Arjuna’s son. Abhimanyu became angry. He shot nine sharp arrows with drooping tufts at the rakshasa’s giant chest. They quickly pierced his body and penetrated his inner organs. O king! The limbs of that supreme among rakshasas were mangled and he was as beautiful as a mountain with blossoming kimshukas. Bearing those gold-encrusted arrows, the best of the rakshasas, immensely strong, was as dazzling as a flaming mountain. O great king! At this, Rishyashringa’s immensely strong son became wrathful. He enveloped Krishna’s son, who was like the great Indra, with arrows. He released sharp arrows that were like Yama’s staff. These pierced Abhimanyu and fell down on the ground. Arjuna’s son shot arrows that were decorated with gold. They pierced Alambusa and
penetrated the ground. In that battle, Subhadra’s son used straight-tufted arrows to make the rakshasa retreat, like Shakra in a battle against Maya. Having been repulsed, the rakshasa, the scorcher of enemies, wished to kill his enemies in the battle and resorted to his great powers of dark maya. He caused everything on the ground to be enveloped in darkness. Abhimanyu could not be seen. And those on one’s own side, or that of the enemy, could not be distinguished in that battle. On seeing that terrible and great gloom, Abhimanyu, the descendant of the Kuru lineage, invoked the supreme weapon known as
bhaskara.
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O lord of the earth! At this, everything in the universe again became visible. Thus, the maya of the evil-souled rakshasa was destroyed. In that encounter, the greatly valorous Indra among rakshasas became angry. He shrouded the supreme of men with straight-tufted arrows. The rakshasa used many other kinds of maya. But Phalguna’s son, skilled in the use of all weapons and with an immeasurable soul, countered all of them. The rakshasa’s maya was destroyed and he was wounded with arrows. He discarded his chariot and fled in great fear.

‘“After having defeated the rakshasa, who used deceitful means to fight, Arjuna’s son began to crush your soldiers in the battle. He was like a wild king of elephants, crazy with musth, agitating a pond that was full of lotuses. Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, saw that the soldiers were being routed. He surrounded Subhadra’s son with a large number of chariots. Many brave maharathas among the sons of Dhritarashtra created a circle around him. A single one fought against many and they struck him with firm arrows. That brave ratha was like his father in valour. He was Vasudeva’s equal in valour and strength. He was supreme among all wielders of weapons and in that battle, performed many deeds that were like the two of them, his father and his maternal uncle.
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O king! Dhananjaya began to destroy your soldiers. Wishing to rescue his son, the intolerant one arrived at the spot where he
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was fighting with Bhishma. O king! In
that battle, your father, Devavrata, attacked Partha in the encounter, like Svarbhanu
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against the sun. O lord of the earth! With chariots, elephants and horses, your sons surrounded Bhishma in that battle, wishing to protect him in every direction. O king! In that fashion, the Pandavas surrounded Dhananjaya. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The armoured ones engaged in a great battle.

‘“O king! Sharadvata stationed himself in front of Bhishma. He pierced Arjuna with twenty-five arrows. To accomplish a pleasant task for Pandava, Satyaki attacked him, like a tiger against an elephant, and pierced him with sharp arrows. Goutama was enraged. In return, he swiftly pierced Madhava
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in the chest with nine arrows that were tufted with the feathers of herons. Shini’s descendant became extremely angry at having been pierced. The maharatha unleashed a terrible arrow at Goutama, one capable of taking his life away. On seeing it descend with great force, as radiant as Shakra’s vajra, Drona’s son, driven by supreme rage, angrily sliced it down into two. Avoiding Goutama, supreme among rathas, in that battle, Shini’s descendant then attacked Drona’s son in that encounter, like Rahu in the sky against the moon. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! However, Drona’s son sliced his bow into two and once his bow had been severed, oppressed him with arrows. The destroyer of enemies picked up another bow that was capable of bearing a great burden. O great king! He struck Drona’s son in the arms and the chest with six arrows. Having been thus pierced and wounded, he lost his senses for some time. He sat down on the floor of his chariot, using the pole of his standard for support. Having regained his senses, Drona’s powerful son angrily pierced Varshneya
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in that encounter with iron arrows. These pierced Shini’s descendant and penetrated the ground, like a powerful and young snake entering a hole during the spring. In that encounter, Drona’s son roared like a lion. He used another broad-headed arrow to sever Madhava’s supreme standard. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O great king! He again unleashed a shower
of arrows to envelope him, like clouds covering the sun at the end of summer. O great king! Satyaki destroyed that net of arrows and quickly covered Drona’s son with many nets of arrows. He was like the sun that had emerged from a net of clouds. Shini’s descendant, the destroyer of enemy heroes, scorched Drona’s son. The immensely strong Satyaki roared and again enveloped him with thousands of arrows. On seeing that his son was eclipsed, like the moon afflicted by Rahu, Bharadvaja’s powerful son attacked Shini’s descendant. O king! In that great battle, he pierced him with extremely sharp arrows, desiring to rescue his son, who was being tormented by Varshneya. In that battle, having defeated the maharatha son of his preceptor, Satyaki then pierced Drona with twenty arrows that were completely made out of iron. Kounteya, borne on white steeds, was immeasurable in his soul. In that encounter, the maharatha angrily attacked Drona. O great king! In that great battle, Drona clashed against Partha and it was like Budha and Shukra
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meeting each other in the firmament.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! How did those brave and great archers, Drona and Pandava Dhananjaya, encounter each other in that battle? Tell me. Pandava was always the beloved of Bharadvaja’s intelligent son. O Sanjaya! In any encounter, the preceptor was always the beloved of Partha. Those two rathas are proud in battle and are as fierce as lions. How did Dhananjaya and Bharadvaja’s son clash against each other in the encounter?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “In a battle, Drona does not know Partha as someone who is dear to himself. Placing the dharma of kshatriyas at the forefront, Partha does not acknowledge a preceptor in an encounter. O king! Kshatriyas do not avoid each other in an
encounter. Without any fear, they fight with their fathers and their brothers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, Partha pierced Drona with three arrows. But he
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paid no heed to the arrows that had been released from Partha’s bow in that battle. In that battle, Partha again covered him with a shower of arrows and he
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blazed in anger, like a conflagration in a deserted forest. In that battle, Drona released straight-tufted arrows towards Arjuna. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O Indra among kings! But those were speedily countered. O king! King Duryodhana instructed Susharma to protect Drona’s flank in that battle. The angry king of Trigarta drew his bow and in that battle, enveloped Partha with arrows with iron heads. O king! The arrows released by both of them
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were resplendent in the sky. O great king! They looked like swans in the autumn sky. O lord! Those dazzling arrows reached Kounteya and penetrated, like birds entering a tree that is lowered from the burden of succulent fruit. Arjuna, supreme among rathas, roared in that battle. In that encounter, he pierced the king of Trigarta and his sons with arrows. Partha pierced them, like the fire at the destruction of a yuga. But having made up their minds to die, they did not retreat from the encounter with Partha. They showered arrows towards Pandava’s chariot. O Indra among kings! Pandava countered that shower of arrows with his own shower of arrows. He was like a mountain receiving a downpour of rain. We witnessed the extraordinary dexterity of Bibhatsu’s hands. The brave one countered many showers of arrows that were difficult to withstand, like the wind scattering masses of clouds. The gods and the danavas were delighted with Partha’s deeds. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Partha angrily advanced against Trigarta in battle. O great king! He released the vayavya weapon against the head of their army. A turbulent wind arose in the sky. It brought down masses of trees and killed the soldiers. Drona beheld that extremely terrible vayavya weapon. O great king! He released the extremely terrible
weapon known as
shaila
.
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When Drona released this weapon in the great battle, the wind was pacified and the directions became placid. But Pandu’s brave son made the Trigartas, roaming around on their chariots, dispirited in that battle. They lost their valour and retreated.

‘“King Duryodhana, Kripa, supreme among rathas, Ashvatthama, Shalya, Sudakshina from Kamboja, Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti and Bahlika and the army of the Bahlikas surrounded Partha from every direction with a great number of chariots. In a similar way, Bhagadatta and the immensely strong Shrutayu surrounded Bhima from every direction with a large army of elephants. O lord of the earth! Bhurishrava, Shala and Soubala quickly countered Madri’s sons with many colourful arrows. With all the sons of Dhritarashtra and their soldiers, Bhishma attacked Yudhishthira and surrounded him from every direction. On seeing that army of elephants descend, the brave Partha Vrikodara licked the corners of his mouth, like a king of deer in a forest. The best of rathas grasped a club in the great battle. He swiftly got down from his chariot and terrified your soldiers. On seeing him, with the club in his hand, the elephant-riders made endeavours to surround Bhimasena from every side in that battle. But Pandava penetrated the midst of the elephants and began to roam around. He was like the sun in the middle of a large mass of clouds. The bull of the Pandava lineage slew that army of elephants with his club. He was like the wind, scattering a large mass of clouds. Those tuskers were slaughtered by the powerful Bhimasena. They shrieked in that battle, roaring like clouds. There were many wounds on his body, resulting from the tusks of the elephants. Partha dazzled in the forefront of that battle, like a flowering ashoka tree. He seized some elephants by their tusks and uprooted their tusks. He used those tusks to strike the elephants on their temples. He brought them down in that battle, like Yama with the staff in his hand. The club was covered with blood and his body was spattered with fat and marrow. With blood on his armlets, he seemed to be like Rudra. O king! Thus slaughtered, the remaining mighty elephants fled in
all the directions, crushing their own soldiers in the process. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The gigantic elephants were driven away in all the directions. All of Duryodhana’s soldiers retreated from the field of battle.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! It was midday and the encounter raged. There was a terrible battle, destructive of people, between Bhishma and the Somakas. Gangeya, best among rathas, pierced the Pandava soldiers with hundreds and thousands of sharp arrows. Your father, Devavrata, crushed those soldiers, like a herd of cattle, crushing reaped paddy. Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, Virata and Drupada attacked Bhishma in that battle and struck the maharatha with arrows. He pierced Dhrishtadyumna and Virata with three arrows each. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He then dispatched an iron arrow towards Virata. O king! Pierced by Bhishma, the destroyer of enemies, in that battle, those great archers became as angry as serpents that have been trod upon. Shikhandi pierced the grandfather of the Bharatas. But the undecaying one thought him to be a woman and did not strike him back. In that battle, Dhrishtadyumna was overcome with rage, like a flaming fire. He used three arrows to pierce the grandfather in the arms and the chest. Drupada pierced Bhishma with twenty-five arrows, Virata with ten arrows and Shikhandi with twenty-five. O great king! The great-souled Bhishma was pierced in that battle and was as beautiful as a blossoming red ashoka tree in the spring. Gangeya pierced them back with three arrows that travelled straight.
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O venerable one! He severed Virata’s bow with a broad-headed arrow. In the forefront of that battle, he took up another bow and pierced Bhishma with five
sharp arrows and his charioteer with three. O great king! Bhima, Droupadi’s five sons, the five brothers from Kekaya and Satvata Satyaki, desiring Yudhishthira’s welfare, attacked Gangeya. They wished to protect Panchala Dhrishtadyumna in that battle. O lord of men! All those on your side raised their weapons to protect Bhishma and attacked the Pandu soldiers with their own soldiers.