Mahabharata: Vol. 5 (55 page)

‘“We witnessed Partha’s extraordinary valour in the battle. He used his arrows to restrain and strike all the warriors in your army. On seeing that Bhima and Arjuna were united, your son was frightened and quickly rushed towards Gangeya’s chariot, in great fear. Kripa, Kritavarma, Saindhava Jayadratha and Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti were the ones who did not give up the battle then. In the encounter, Bhima, the great archer, and maharatha Phalguna crushed the army of the Kouravas in terrible fashion. In the encounter, tens of thousands and millions of arrows were quickly showered down on Dhananjaya’s chariot. The maharatha repulsed that net of arrows. In the encounter, Partha began to send them to the land of the dead. Maharatha Shalya became enraged in that battle. As if playing, he struck Jishnu in the chest with a straight-tufted and broad-headed arrow. Partha used five arrows to sever the bow from his hand. He then used other sharp arrows to severely wound him
in his inner organs. In the battle, the lord of Madra grasped another bow that was capable of bearing a heavy burden. O great king! He angrily wounded Jishnu with three arrows and Vasudeva with five. He struck Bhimasena in the chest and the arms with nine. O great king! Drona and the maharatha from Magadha were instructed by Duryodhana and came to the spot where Partha and Pandava Bhimasena were. O great king! The maharathas were slaying the great army of the Kouravas. O bull among the Bharata lineage! In the encounter, the young Jayatsena pierced Bhima, who possessed terrible weapons, with eight sharp arrows. Bhima pierced him back with ten arrows and again with seven. With a broad-headed arrow, he brought down his charioteer from the seat of the chariot. The horses were no longer controlled and fled in different directions, dragging away the king of Magadha, while all the soldiers looked on. Detecting a weakness, Drona pierced Bhimsena with sixty-five extremely sharp iron arrows that had been sharpened on stone. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Bhima prided himself in battle. In the encounter, he pierced his preceptor, who was like his father, with nine broad-headed arrows and followed it up with another sixty. Arjuna pierced Susharma with many iron arrows and scattered his soldiers, like the wind dispersing a mass of clouds.

‘“Bhishma, the king,
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Soubala and Brihadbala angrily attacked Bhimasena and Dhananjaya. The brave Pandavas and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna attacked Bhishma, who was advancing in the battle, like death with a gaping mouth. Shikhandi approached the grandfather of the Bharatas. He was cheerful and had abandoned fear. He attacked the one who was rigid in his vows. The Parthas, headed by Yudhishthira, placed Shikhandi at the forefront. Together with the Srinjayas, they fought against Bhishma in that battle. All those on your side placed the one who was rigid in his vows at the forefront. They fought against the Parthas in that battle, with Shikhandi at the forefront. For the sake of victory over Bhishma, the battle that commenced there among the Kouravas
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was terrible. O
lord of the earth! The sons of Pandu wished to triump over Bhishma and those on your side wished Bhishma’s victory in the battle. It was like gambling with the dice and victory or defeat became the stake. O great king! Dhrishtadyumna incited all the soldiers. ‘O supreme among men! Attack Gangeya. Do not be scared.’ On hearing the words of the commander, the army of the Pandavas quickly advanced against Bhishma. In that great battle, they were ready to give up their lives. O great king! Bhishma, best of rathas, resisted that army as it descended on him, like the shoreline against the great ocean.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! How did the immensely valorous Bhishma, Shantanu’s son, fight on the tenth day of the battle against the Pandavas and the Srinjayas? How did the Kurus repulse the Pandavas in the battle? Tell me about the great battle fought by Bhishma, the ornament of all battles.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I will describe to you the battle between the Kurus and the Pandavas and the detailed account of that encounter. Listen. Using his supreme weapons, from one day to another, Kiriti killed the angry charioteers on your side and sent them to the next world. The victorious Kouravya, Bhishma, also stuck to his pledge and always created a great destruction among the army of the Parthas. On seeing Bhishma fight amidst the maharatha Kurus and Arjuna with the Panchalas, people were uncertain.
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On the tenth day, Bhishma and Arjuna encountered each other. There was an extremely dreadful carnage. O king! Bhishma, Shantanu’s son and the scorcher of enemies, skilled in supreme weapons, slaughtered many tens of thousands of warriors. O king! There were many whose families, names and lineages were not known. All of them refused to retreat and the brave
ones were slain by Bhishma’s weapons. Having scorched the army of the Pandavas for ten days, the scorcher of enemies, with dharma in his soul, gave up all desire to remain alive. He desired a quick death and stationed himself at the forefront of the battle. ‘I will no longer kill the best of men in the forefront of the battle.’ O great king! Having thought in this way, Devavrata, your mighty-armed father, addressed these words to the Pandava who was near him. ‘O Yudhishthira! O immensely wise one! O one who is knowledgable in all the sacred texts! O son!
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Listen to my words. They are about attaining dharma and heaven. O son! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! I am extremely disgusted with this body of mine. I have spent a lot of time in slaying a large number of beings in battle. Therefore, place Partha at the forefront, with the Panchalas and the Srinjayas. If you wish to do that which brings me pleasure, make endeavours to kill me.’ Knowing that this was his command, Pandava, who knew about the truth, made efforts to fight against Bhishma in the battle, together with the Srinjayas. O king! On hearing Bhishma’s words, Dhrishtadyumna and Pandava Yudhishthira instructed their army. ‘Advance and fight. Vanquish Bhishma in the battle. You will be protected by Jishnu, who is unwavering in his aim and who is triumphant over enemies. This great archer, Parshata, is the commander. It is certain that Bhimasena will protect you in the battle. There is no need to fear Bhishma. The Srinjayas have no task other than to fight. With Shikhandi at the forefront, there is no doubt that we will obtain victory over Bhishma.’ On the tenth day, the Pandavas took a vow to triumph or to go to Brahma’s world. They advanced, senseless with rage. They placed Shikhandi and Pandava Dhananjaya at the forefront. They resorted to supreme efforts to bring about Bhishma’s downfall.

‘“The kings of many countries were instructed by your son. They were with Drona and his son and with an immensely strong army. The powerful Duhshasana was there, with all his brothers. Bhishma was in the midst of the battle and they sought to protect him. The brave ones on your side placed the one who was rigid in his vows at
the forefront. In the battle, they fought with the Parthas, who had placed Shikhandi at the forefront. With Shikhandi at the forefront, the Chedis, the Panchalas and the one with the monkey on his banner advanced towards Bhishma, Shantanu’s son. Drona’s son fought with Shini’s grandson and Dhrishtaketu with Pourava. Yudhamanyu fought with Duryodhana and his advisers, Virata and his soldiers with Jayadratha, the scorcher of enemies and Vriddhakshatra’s heir,
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and his soldiers. The great archer, the king of Madra, fought with Yudhishthira and his soldiers. With due protection, Bhimasena advanced against the army of elephants. Drona was invincible and impossible to resist. He was supreme among those who wielded all weapons. Panchala
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and the Somakas advanced against him. Prince Brihadbala had a lion on his standard. He advanced against Subhadra’s son, the scorcher of enemies who had a karnikara flower on his standard. Together with the kings, your sons attacked Shikhandi and Pandava Dhananjaya in the battle, wishing to kill them.

‘“Both the armies were valorous and the advance against each other was extremely terrible. As the soldiers advanced, the earth trembled. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The two armies clashed against each other. Both those on your side and those of the enemy were delighted to see Shantanu’s son in the battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As they angrily advanced against each other, a terrible sound arose in every direction. There was the sound of conch shells and drums. Elephants trumpeted. The soldiers roared terribly, like lions. All the Indras among men had complexions like that of the sun and the moon. The armlets and diadems the brave ones wore lost their brilliance because of the cloud of dust that was raised. The weapons seemed to be flashes of lightning. The terrible twang of bows could be heard. There was the sound of arrows and conch shells and the great roar of drums. In both the armies, the clatter of the chariots could be heard. There were large numbers of spears, lances, swords and masses of arrows hurled by
both the armies, and because of this, the sky lost its lustre. In that great battle, charioteers and riders struck each other. Elephants fought with elephants, infantry with infantry. A great battle raged between the Kurus and the Pandavas for the sake of Bhishma. O tiger among men! It was like hawks fighting over a piece of meat. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There was a terrible encounter between the warriors. They sought to kill each other and defeat each other in that battle.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! Abhimanyu fought against your valiant son, who was supported by a large army for Bhishma’s sake. In the battle, Duryodhana struck Krishna’s son with nine arrows with drooping tufts. He was enraged in the battle and again struck him with three arrows. In that encounter, Krishna’s son angrily hurled a javelin towards Duryodhana’s chariot. It was terrible and seemed to have been created by Death itself. O lord of the earth! On seeing it suddenly descend, dreadful in form, your maharatha son severed it into two with a kshurapra. On seeing the javelin fall down, Krishna’s son became extremely enraged. He struck Duryodhana in the arms and the chest with three arrows. O best of the Bharata lineage! He again struck the king, the intolerant Duryodhana, between the breasts with ten terrible arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The battle between the two was dreadful and wonderful. It created pleasure among those who witnessed it and was applauded by all the kings. For the sake of Bhishma’s death and Partha’s victory, those brave ones, Subhadra’s son and the bull among the Kurus, fought in that battle.

‘“Drona’s son, bull among the brahmanas, was enraged in the battle. The scorcher of enemies struck Satyaki in the chest with an iron arrow. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Shini’s descendant, immeasurable in his soul, struck the preceptor’s son in all of his
inner organs with nine arrows shafted with the feathers of herons. In the encounter, Ashvatthama struck Satyaki with nine arrows and again wounded him in the arms and the chest with thirty. Having been thus pierced by Drona’s son, the immensely illustrious and great archer from the Satvata lineage pierced Drona’s son back with three arrows.

‘“In the battle, maharatha Pourava covered Dhrishtaketu with arrows and severely wounded the great archer. However, the extremely strong maharatha, Dhrishtaketu, pierced Pourava in the encounter with thirty sharp arrows. Maharatha Pourava severed Dhrishtaketu’s bow and having pierced him with sharp arrows, emitted a powerful roar. O great king! He grasped another bow and pierced Pourava with seventy-three sharp arrows that had been whetted on stone. Those two noble maharathas who were great archers rained down a great shower of arrows towards each other. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They severed each other’s bows and slew each other’s horses. Bereft of their chariots, the maharathas began to fight with each other with swords. Each had a beautiful shield made out of the hide of a bull, decorated with the signs of one hundred moons and marked with the signs of one hundred stars. O king! They grasped extremely brilliant and polished swords and rushed towards each other. They were like lions in the great forest, wishing to have intercourse with the same female. They circled in wonderful motions, advanced and retreated. They exhibited their movements, wishing to strike each other. Incited with rage, Pourava asked Dhrishtaketu to wait and struck him on his frontal bone with the large sword. In the encounter, the king of Chedi
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struck Pourava, bull among men, on the shoulder joint with the sharp tip of his giant sword. O great king! Those destroyers of enemies advanced against each other in the great battle. They struck each other with great force and both of them fell down. O king! Your son, Jayatsena, took Pourava up on his own chariot and carried him away from the field of battle. O king! In the encounter, the powerful Sahadeva,
Madri’s son and the scorcher of enemies, carried Dhrishtaketu away from the battle.

‘“Chitrasena pierced Susharma with nine swift arrows.
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He again pierced him with sixty and yet again with nine arrows. O lord of the earth! In that battle, Susharma became enraged with your son and pierced him with one hundred sharp arrows. O king! Chitrasena became angry in the battle and pierced him with thirty arrows with drooping tufts and was pierced back in return.

‘“O king! In the battle over Bhishma, which increased fame and honour, Subhadra’s son fought with Prince Brihadbala. The king of Kosala pierced Arjuna’s son with five iron arrows and again pierced him with twenty straight-tufted arrows. Subhadra’s son pierced Brihadbala with nine iron arrows. But despite piercing him again and again, he could not make him waver in the battle. Phalguna’s son then severed the bow of the king of Kosala and wounded him with thirty arrows that were tufted with the feathers of herons. But Prince Brihadbala grasped another bow and in that battle, angrily pierced Phalguna’s son with many arrows. O scorcher of enemies! They fought this battle for Bhishma’s sake. O great king! In that battle, those wonderful fighters were excited with anger and were like Maya and Vasava in the battle between the gods and the asuras.

‘“Bhimasena fought against that army of elephants. He was as resplendent as Shakra, with the vajra in his hand, after shattering mountains. Bhima killed elephants that were like mountains. They fell down in large numbers, making the earth resound with their roars. Those shattered elephants were like large mountains made out of collyrium. They were strewn over the ground, like shattered mountains.