Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (18 page)

‘“O great king! That was the reason behind the destruction of men.
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It was created by you, extended by Karna and maintained by your sons. O king! That fire of rage
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has now arisen and is consuming the entire earth. Because of the arrows of the sons of Pandu,
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Shakuni was forced to retreat. He was unable to exhibit his valour in battle and did not know what to do. On seeing that he was retreating, Madri’s maharatha sons again showered down arrows on him, like clouds raining down on a large mountain. He was struck by many arrows with drooping tufts. Using his swift horses, Soubala fled towards Drona’s array. Ghatotkacha rushed against the brave rakshasa Alayudha. But in that battle, he used only a medium violence and force.
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O great king! The wonderful battle between the two was like the battle that had taken place in earlier times between Rama and Ravana. In the battle, King Yudhishthira pierced the king of Madra with five hundred arrows and again pierced him with another seven. O king! An extraordinary battle raged between them. It was like the great battle that had taken place in earlier times between Shambara and the king of the immortals.
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Your sons, Vivimshati, Chitrasena and Vikarna, were surrounded by a large army and fought against Bhimasena.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “The battle commenced and it made the body hair stand up. The Kouravas were divided into three and the Pandavas rushed against them. Bhimasena rushed against the mighty-armed Jalasandha and Yudhishthira and his soldiers attacked Kritavarma in the battle. O great king! Dhrishtadyumna showered down arrows that were as dazzling as the rays of the sun and attacked Drona in the battle. A battle commenced between all the spirited archers, between the Kurus and the Somakas, who were angry with each other. There was the destruction of beings and it gave rise to great terror. The soldiers were engaged in duels and fought without any fear. The powerful Drona fought with the powerful son of Panchala. He
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showered down a torrent of arrows and it was extraordinary. In every direction, they caused destruction, like in a forest of lotuses.
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Drona and Panchala severed the heads of many brave men from the arrays and they were strewn around everywhere. There were also garments, ornaments, arms, standards, armour and weapons. They were golden and colourful and were smeared with blood. Thus smeared, they looked like masses of clouds, tinged with lightning. The arrows brought down elephants, horses and men in that battle. The maharathas released these from bows that were as long as palm trees. In that clash between the brave and great-souled ones, swords, shields, bows, heads and armour were strewn around. O great king! In every direction, in that supreme carnage, many headless torsos were seen to arise. O venerable one! Vultures, herons, wild crows, hawks, crows, jackals and large numbers of many other carnivorous beasts were seen. O king! They fed on the flesh and drank the blood. They dragged them
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by the hair and got at the marrow in many ways. They tugged at the bodies and the severed limbs. Large numbers of heads of men, horses and elephants were there. The men were skilled in the use of weapons. They were trained in war and
were accomplished. They wielded arrows and desired victory in that battle. They fought fiercely there. In that battle, many on your side displayed many beautiful motions of fighting with swords, scimitars, javelins, spikes, spears, lances and battleaxes. There were those who raised clubs, maces and other weapons in their arms. Men angrily fought and killed each other with their bare arms. Rathas fought against rathas, horse-riders against horse-riders, elephants against supreme elephants and infantry against infantry. Some were excited and crazily attacked each other, as if they were roaming around in an arena.
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They shrieked and killed each other in the battle.

‘“O lord of the earth! Thus did the battle rage, without any fear. Dhrishtadyumna’s horses got mixed up with those of Drona’s. Those horses were beautiful and well trained and possessed the speed of the wind. They possessed the complexion of pigeons and were red like blood.
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O king! Those horses got mixed up in the battle and were as beautiful as clouds tinged with lightning. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The brave Dhrishtadyumna saw that Drona was near. He discarded his bow and grasped a sword and a shield. Parshata, the destroyer of enemy heroes, wished to perform an extremely difficult feat. With great strength, he approached Drona’s chariot. He stationed himself on the middle of the yoke and sometimes on the joints of the yoke. He slew half of those horses and was honoured by the soldiers. With the sword in his hand, he roamed around amidst those red horses. Drona could not detect a weakness in him and it was extraordinary. He was like a hawk descending in the forest, in search of some flesh. Thus did he venture forth, wishing to kill Drona. Drona released a hundred arrows to cut off the shield, which was decorated with the mark of a hundred moons. He then severed the sword of Drupada’s son with ten arrows. The powerful one used sixty-four arrows to kill his horses. With two broad-headed arrows, he severed his standard and his umbrella and killed the charioteers who guarded his flanks.
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He stretched his bow back to his ears, like the wielder
of the vajra releasing the vajra and swiftly affixed a supreme arrow that would have caused death. However, Satyaki severed that arrow with fourteen arrows. He rescued Dhrishtadyumna, as he was about to be devoured by the preceptor’s mouth. O venerable one! The lion among men had grasped him, like a deer grasped by a lion. But the bull among the Shini lineage freed Panchala from Drona. On seeing that Satyaki had rescued Panchala in that great battle, Drona swiftly shot twenty-six arrows at him. While Drona was devouring the Srinjayas, Shini’s grandson pierced him back in the chest with twenty-six sharp arrows. All the Panchala rathas were desirous of victory. They swiftly withdrew Dhristadyumna and resorted to Satvata, as he attacked Drona.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! After the arrows had been severed and Dhrishtadyumna had been freed by Yuyudhana,
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foremost among the Vrishni lineage, what did the intolerant and great archer,
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supreme among the wielders of all weapons, do? How did Drona fight against Shini’s grandson, the tiger among men?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “He was venomous in his rage. His extended bow was like a gaping mouth. The sharp and iron arrows were like his teeth. His eyes were coppery red with wrath. He sighed like a giant serpent. The brave one among men was delighted. He was borne on extremely fast and red steeds. In every direction, he seemed to leap up into the sky, or climb up mountains. He showered gold-tufted arrows and attacked Yuyudhana. He brought down a mighty shower of arrows and the roar of his chariot was like that of the slayer of Bala.
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He stretched his bow and released many iron arrows that seemed to be tinged with lightning. His lances and swords were
like those of the wielder of the vajra. They seemed to have been stirred by the force of his anger. Drona was like an unassailable cloud and his horses seemed to have been urged on by the wind. Shini’s brave descendant, the destroyer of enemy cities, saw him descend. He was invincible in battle and laughingly told his charioteer, ‘This brahmana is cruel. He has been dislodged from his own duties.
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The preceptor is the refuge of the king who is Dhritarashtra’s son, his relief from fearful grief. That prince is always insolent about his bravery. Swiftly and cheerfully, urge the horses to use their greatest speed and let us go and fight against him.’ Madhava’s
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supreme horses were like silver in their complexion. They possessed the speed of the wind and they swiftly advanced towards Drona. Those two brave ones fought against each other and everything was covered with a net of arrows, so that it became intolerable to others. There was a fearful darkness, without any gaps. Both Drona and Satvata were skilled in using their weapons swiftly. Those two lions among men were seen to shower down arrows incessantly. As the torrent of arrows showered down and struck each other, the sound that was heard was like the sound when Shakra releases his vajra. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They were pierced by iron arrows and their forms looked like those of snakes which had been struck by venomous serpents. The extremely terrible sound of bowstrings and palms slapping was heard. It was like that of innumerable mountain tops shattered by thunder. The chariots, horses and charioteers of both looked beautiful. They were mangled by gold-tufted arrows and looked colourful. O lord of the earth! The iron arrows were bright and flew straight. As they descended, they looked as terrible as snakes that had shed their skins. Both their umbrellas were brought down. Both their standards were also brought down. The limbs of both flowed with blood. But they were both dazzling, as they wished for victory. With blood flowing from their limbs, they looked like exuding elephants. They struck each other with arrows that were fatal.

‘“O great king! The sounds of delighted roars, mixed with the sound of conch shells and drums, ceased, because no one else made any sound. The soldiers in the arrays became silent and the warriors stopped the fighting. Everyone was curious to witness the duel between those two. Rathas, elephant-riders, horse-riders and infantry surrounded those two bulls among men, witnessing what was going on, with unblinking eyes. The arrays of elephants stood there, and so did the arrays of horses. There were divisions of chariots, stationed in counter-formation. They were colourful with pearls and coral. They were decorated with gems and gold. They were colourful with standards and ornaments and with golden armour. There were
vaijayanti
flags
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and caparisons, seats and blankets. There were sparkling and sharp weapons on the horses. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The frontal lobes of the elephants were decorated with gold and silver and there were garlands around their tusks. They looked like a net of clouds at the end of the summer, bedecked with cranes and fireflies and decorated with lightning and flashes.
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Those on our side and those on Yudhishthira’s side were stationed. They wished to witness the battle between Yuyudhana and the great-souled Drona. The gods assembled on their celestial vehicles, with Brahma and Shakra at the forefront. There were masses of siddhas and charanas,
vidyadhara
s
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and giant serpents.

‘“Those tigers among men displayed wonderful techniques of releasing, withdrawing and hurling weapons and all of them beheld these diverse motions with wonder. The immensely strong ones exhibited the dexterity of their hands in using weapons. Drona and Satyaki pierced each other with their arrows. In the battle, Dasharha
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used swift and extremely firm arrows to sever Drona’s arrows and then severed the immensely radiant one’s bow too. But in the twinkling of an eye, Bharadvaja’s son grasped another bow.
However, as he strung it, Satyaki swiftly severed this too. Drona again grasped another bow and stood with it in his hand. As he repeatedly strung his bow, it was again severed with sharp arrows. O Indra among kings! In the battle, Drona witnessed Yuyudhana’s superhuman deed and thought about this in his mind. ‘This kind of strength of arms has been seen in Rama,
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Kartavirya, Dhananjaya and Bhishma, the tiger among men. This is now seen in the supreme one among the Satvata lineage.’ Having thought about this in his mind, Drona honoured his valour. The supreme among brahmanas beheld a dexterity that was like Vasava’s. The foremost among those who was knowledgeable about weapons was gratified, and so were the gods, with Vasava. O lord of the earth! That kind of dexterity of hand and swiftness of action, as shown by Yuyudhana, had not been seen earlier by the gods, the gandharvas and the masses of siddhas and charanas, though they had known what Drona was capable of doing. Drona, the destroyer of kshatriyas, then picked up another bow. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The foremost among those who knew about weapons released weapons in the battle. However, Satyaki repulsed them with the maya of his own weapons. He destroyed them with his sharp arrows and it was extraordinary. His superhuman deeds were witnessed in the battle and no one else was capable of these. This was the outcome of yoga. Those on your side, who were knowledgeable about yoga, honoured this. Whatever weapon Drona used, Satyaki used that as well. Therefore, the preceptor, the scorcher of enemies, fought carefully. O great king! The one who knew about the science of fighting became enraged. To slay Yuyudhana, he invoked a divine weapon. On seeing the extremely terrible agneya weapon, the destroyer of enemies, the great archer, released the divine varuna weapon. On beholding that both of them had resorted to the use of divine weapons, a great sound of lamentation arose. There were woes in the sky, from the beings who had taken to the sky. However, the varuna and agneya weapons were pacified when they confronted each other’s arrows.

‘“At that time, the sun began its downward course in the sky. King Yudhishthira, Pandava Bhimasena and Nakula and Sahadeva wished to protect Satyaki. With Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, Virata, the Kekayas, the Matsyas and the soldiers from the Shalveyas quickly advanced against Drona. With Duhshasana at the forefront, thousands of princes advanced towards Drona, who was surrounded by the enemy. O king! A battle started between them and your archers. The world was covered with dust and enveloped in that net of arrows. Everyone was anxious and nothing could be distinguished. The soldiers were covered in dust. But without any fear, the battle raged on.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “When the sun was on a downward course, the force of the sun’s rays became less and everything was covered in dust. Some soldiers relaxed their efforts. Some remained there. Others returned and fought again, hoping for victory. Where the soldiers were thus engaged, striving for victory, Arjuna and Vasudeva slowly advanced towards Saindhava. With his sharp arrows, Kounteya created a path that was just sufficient for the chariot. And in this way, Janardana followed along that path. O lord of the earth! Wherever the great-souled Pandava’s chariot advanced, your soldiers were shattered and routed there. The valiant Dasharha displayed his skills in driving the chariot. He exhibited circular motions that were superior, medium and inferior.
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The arrows were marked with his name and were yellow.
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They flamed like the fire of destruction. They were tied with ligaments.
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They had well-crafted joints, were broad and could travel long distances. Those arrows were made out
of bamboo and iron. They were both similar and diverse. In that battle, together with the birds,
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they drank the blood of beings. As he was stationed on his chariot, Arjuna shot his arrows at a distance of one krosha. Though the chariot advanced one krosha ahead, those arrows killed the enemy. Hrishikesha advanced and caused the entire universe to marvel. The well-trained horses possessed a speed like that of Tarkshya
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or the wind. O lord of the earth! It advanced with a speed that the sun’s chariot, or that of Indra, Rudra or Vaishravana, could not muster. O king! Never had anyone’s chariot moved that fast in a battle, as that of Arjuna, as fast as mind or desire. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In the battle, Keshava, the destroyer of enemy heroes, urged the swift horses and penetrated into the midst of the soldiers.