Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (31 page)

‘“Wishing to kill the descendant of the Pandu lineage, Duhshasana angrily grasped a javelin and hurled it.
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It was sharp and was completely made out of iron. Thus released by your son, that giant javelin descended. Bhima sliced it into two fragments and it was wonderful. The angry and powerful one then used three arrows to
kill Kundabhedi, Sushena and Dirghanetra. Among your brave sons who were fighting, he again slew the valiant Vrindaraka, the extender of the deeds of the Kuru lineage. Bhima again killed three of your sons with three arrows, Abhaya, Roudrakarma and Durvimochana. O great king! Your sons were thus slaughtered by the powerful Bhima, supreme among strikers, and surrounded him from all sides. Kounteya laughed and used other arrows to send your sons, Vinda, Anuvinda and Survarmana to Yama’s abode. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Your valiant son, Sudarshana, was quickly pierced in that battle and fell down dead. Within a short period of time, the descendant of the Pandu lineage quickly shattered that army of chariots and drove it away in all the directions. O lord of the earth! They were like deer frightened at the roar of the chariot. Your sons were slaughtered in that battle. All those rathas were afflicted by their fear of Bhimasena and ran away. Kounteya followed that large army of your sons. O king! In that encounter, he pierced the Kouravas from every direction. O great king! Those on your side were killed by Bhimasena. They abandoned Bhima and urging their supreme horses, fled from the battle. The immensely strong Bhimasena vanquished them in that encounter. Pandava roared like a lion and slapped his arms. The immensely strong Bhima made a loud noise with his palms. He passed through those rathas and attacked Drona’s array.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “He passed through that array of rathas, like the sun through darkness. The preceptor poured down arrows on him and obstructed him with a shower of arrows. He seemed to drink up that torrent of arrows released from Drona’s bow, as if through maya. He attacked the brothers
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and confounded them with his strength. In that battle, those supreme archers were urged
to adopt the greatest force by your sons and surrounded him from all sides. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having been thus surrounded, Bhima laughed. He raised a terrible club, and roaring like a lion, hurled it at them. The powerful one released it with force and it crushed them. It was as if Indra’s vajra had been hurled by Indra and struck them firmly. O king! Its loud noise seemed to fill up the earth. Its terrible and flaming energy frightened your sons. On seeing that it was descending with great force, covered in energy, all those on your side fled, roaring in lamentation. O venerable one! Its sound was impossible to tolerate. Many men fell down where they stood and so did rathas on chariots. Kounteya, unassailable to enemies, drove them away in that encounter. His force against that army was like that of Suparna,
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the king of the birds. Such was the action of that leader of leaders of rathas.

‘“O great king! Bharadvaja’s son attacked Bhimasena. In that battle, Drona checked Bhima with his arrows and suddenly emitted a loud roar, terrifying the Pandus. O great king! An extremely terrible battle commenced between Drona and the great-souled Bhima, like that between the gods and the asuras. Sharp arrows were released from Drona’s bow and in that encounter, these slew brave ones in hundreds and thousands. Pandava descended from his chariot with great force. O king! He closed his eyes and attacked Drona on foot, like a bull receiving rain with ease. Thus did Bhima, tiger among men, receive that shower of arrows. The immensely strong one grasped the pole
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with his hands and hurled it. O king! Drona was quickly thrown down by Bhima in that battle. He mounted another chariot and stationed himself at the mouth of the vyuha. At that time, his charioteer quickly urged the horses. O Kouravya! Bhimasena’s act was extraordinary. The immensely strong Bhimasena mounted his own chariot and powerfully attacked your son’s army. He crushed the kshatriyas, like a gale uprooting trees. He advanced against the enemy soldiers like a mountain against the force of the waters. He encountered the army of the Bhojas, protected by Hardikya. O king!
Bhimasena crushed it in many ways and advanced. O venerable one! He frightened the enemy soldiers by slapping his palms. He could not be defeated by any of those soldiers, like a tiger by a herd of bulls. He passed through the army of Bhojas and also through the army of Kambojas, large numbers of mlecchas and many others who were skilled in fighting.

‘“He then saw Satyaki, the bull among men, fighting. On his chariot, Kounteya went there with great force. O great king! Bhimasena wished to see Dhananjaya. In that battle, the descendant of the Pandu lineage passed through all your warriors. He then saw Arjuna, bull among men, fighting there bravely. The valiant one was striving for Saindhava’s death. Having seen Arjuna there, he let out a mighty roar. O Kouravya! That mighty roar was heard by Partha. Partha
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also let out a mighty roar and so did Madhava. O great king! They attacked like bulls. Wishing to see Vrikodara and hearing the roar of the wind god’s son, Vasudeva and Arjuna repeatedly roared. O great king! Having heard Bhimasena’s roar and that of the archer Phalguna, Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, rejoiced. On hearing those loud roars, the king’s sorrow was dispelled. The lord became assured about Dhananjaya’s victory in the battle. While Bhimasena, fierce in battle, was roaring, the mighty-armed Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, smiled.

‘“In his heart and in his mind, the supreme among upholders of dharma said the following. ‘O Bhima! You have sent me a message and have followed the words of your superior. O Pandava! Someone who is your enemy can never be victorious in a battle. It is through good fortune that Savyasachi Dhananjaya is alive in the battle. It is through good fortune that the brave Satyaki, for whom truth is his valour, is well. It is through good fortune that I have heard the roars of Vasudeva and Dhananjaya. It is through good fortune that Phalguna is alive in this battle, having slain the enemies. He defeated Shakra in an encounter and satisfied the fire god.
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All
of us are alive because of the strength of his arms. It is through good fortune that Phalguna has killed the enemy soldiers and is alive. On a single chariot, he vanquished the nivatakavachas, who were extremely difficult for the gods to defeat.
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It is through good fortune that Partha is alive. When all the Kouravas assembled to seize the cattle in the capital of Matsya, he defeated them.
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It is through good fortune that Partha is alive. Through the valour of his arms, he killed fourteen thousand kalakeyas in a great battle.
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It is through good fortune that Partha is alive. When the powerful king of the gandharvas captured Duryodhana, he defeated him through the valour of his arms.
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It is through good fortune that Partha is alive. He wears a diadem and garlands. He is powerful and possesses white horses. Krishna is his charioteer. He has always been dear to me. It is through good fortune that Phalguna is alive. Tormented by sorrow over his son, he wished to perform an extremely difficult deed. Wishing to kill Jayadratha, he undertook a pledge. Will Dhananjaya be able to kill Saindhava in the battle? Protected by Vasudeva, will he be able to fulfil his promise? Will I meet Arjuna before the sun has set? Saindhava has always been engaged in ensuring King Duryodhana’s welfare. Will he be brought down by Phalguna and delight his enemies? Will King Duryodhana be brought down by Phalguna? Having seen Saindhava in the battle,
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will his mind turn towards peace? Having seen his brothers killed by Bhimasena in the battle, will the wicked Duryodhana’s mind turn towards peace? Having seen many other warriors brought down on the face of the earth, will the wicked Duryodhana suffer from repentance? Will we not obtain peace because of Bhishma alone? Will Suyodhana not have peace to preserve what is left?’ O king! He thought about many such things. He was overcome by compassion. However, the terrible battle continued.”’

‘Dhritarashtra said, “The immensely strong Bhimasena was roaring and the sound was like that of thundering clouds. Which brave ones surrounded him? O Sanjaya! I do not see anyone in the three worlds who is capable of standing before an enraged Bhimasena in battle. When he raises his club in a great battle, he is like Death. O son!
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I do not see anyone who can stay in the field of battle. Who will remain stationed in a battle, with the exception of Shatakratu? The wrathful Bhimasena wishes to kill my sons. They have united for Duryodhana’s welfare and are stationed in front of him. In front of the conflagaration that is Bhimasena, my sons are like grass. Which brave ones stationed themselves at the forefront of that battle? In that encounter, my sons must have looked upon him as Death. When he acted like Death against all the beings, who surrounded him? When the fire of Bhima raged and consumed my sons, who were the brave ones who attacked him? O Sanjaya! Tell me that.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “When maharatha Bhimasena was roaring, the powerful Karna emitted a tremendous sound and rushed against him. The powerful one became extremely intolerant and stretched his bow. The powerful Karna wished to exhibit his strength in battle. At the clash between Karna and Bhima, everyone’s limbs began to tremble. Both rathas and riders heard the slapping of the palms. In the field of the battle, they heard Bhimasena’s terrible roar. The bulls among the kshatriyas thought that the sky and the earth were covered with this sound. The great-souled Pandava roared fiercely again. In that battle, the bows of all the warriors fell down on the ground. O great king! The mounts were extremely distressed and in terror, repeatedly discharged urine and excrement. There were many terrible omens that could be seen. O king! There was a tumultuous clash between Bhima and Karna. Karna struck Bhima with twenty arrows and swiftly pierced his charioteer with five arrows. The immensely strong and swift Bhimasena laughed and pierced Karna
back in that battle with sixty-four arrows. Karna, the great archer, shot four more arrows. O king! But before they could reach him Bhima displayed the dexterity of his hands and used arrows with drooping tufts to slice them down into many fragments. At this, Karna enveloped him with many torrents of arrows. The descendant of Pandu’s lineage was shrouded by Karna in many ways. However, the maharatha severed Karna’s bow in his hand and pierced him with many arrows with drooping tufts. The son of the suta picked up another bow and strung it. The maharatha, the performer of terrible deeds, pierced Bhima in that encounter. Bhima became extremely angry. He powerfully struck the son of the suta in the chest with three arrows with drooping tufts. With those arrows stuck to his breast, Karna looked beautiful. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He was like a mountain with three peaks. Pierced by those supreme arrows, blood began to flow from him, like minerals and red chalk flowing from the slope of a mountain. Severely struck, Karna wavered a little. O venerable one! He then fixed an arrow to his bow and pierced Bhima. He again shot hundreds and thousands of arrows. He was suddenly enveloped by Karna, the one with the firm bow. However, the descendant of the Pandu lineage smiled and quickly severed the string of his
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bow. With a broad-headed arrow, he dispatched the charioteer to Yama’s abode. In that battle, the maharatha deprived the four horses of their lives. O lord of the earth! With the horses slain, Karna descended from the chariot. The maharatha ascended Vrishasena’s chariot. Having vanquished Karna in the battle, the powerful Bhimasena let out a mighty roar that was like the thunder of rain clouds. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On hearing this roar, Yudhishthira was delighted, since he deduced that Karna had been defeated by Bhimasena.

‘“In every direction, the Pandu soldiers blew on their conch shells. On hearing the noises made by the enemy soldiers, those on your side also roared. Partha stretched Gandiva and Krishna blew on his conch shell. But surpassing all this noise, there were the roars emitted by Bhima. O great king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All the
soldiers heard this. Then those two scorchers of enemies
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struck each other separately with arrows. However, Radheya struck mildly and Pandava struck powerfully.”’
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‘Sanjaya said, “When the soldiers had been routed and Arjuna, Satvata and Bhimasena had proceeded towards Saindhava, your son went to Drona. He went on a single chariot and thought about many things. That chariot of your son was fast and was speedily driven. It was as swift as thought and the wind and quickly reached Drona. With eyes that were red with anger, your son spoke these words. ‘Arjuna, Bhimasena, the unvanquished Satyaki and many other great maharathas have defeated the soldiers. Those destroyers of enemies are approaching near the king of Sindhu. None of them have been defeated and all of them are proceeding there. O one who gives honours! Even if maharatha Partha has passed by you in the battle, how could Satyaki and Bhima cross you? This is a miracle in this world, like that of the ocean drying up. O foremost among brahmanas! You have been vanquished by Satvata and Arjuna and by Bhimasena. The people are repeatedly talking about this. “How could Drona, skilled in knowledge of war, be defeated?” My ill fortune and destruction in this battle are certain. You, a tiger among men, have been passed by three rathas. This having happened, tell me about what should be done now. O one who gives honours! Think about what should be done about what is left. The time has come. What should we do about the king of Sindhu next? Tell me this and let what you decide be carried out properly and fast.’

‘“Drona replied, ‘O great king! I have thought a lot about what should be done. Listen to me. Only three Pandava maharathas have passed by us. We should be frightened of those who are at the rear, as well as those who are ahead, but I think it is greater at the place where Krishna and Dhananjaya are. The army of the Bharatas has been attacked both from the front and from the rear. I think that our most important task is to protect Saindhava. O son!
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He is terrified of Dhananjaya and our task should be to protect him. The brave Yuyudhana and Vrikodara have also gone after Saindhava. All of this is the outcome of the gambling match, the result of Shakuni’s intelligence. In that assembly hall, there was no victory, nor was there a defeat.
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O son! Now that we are immersed in this gambling match today, there will be victory, or there will be defeat. In the assembly of the Kurus, Shakuni indulged in a gambling match with the terrible dice. O son! But those were actually unassailable arrows and they have surrounded the Kurus in many ways now. O lord of the earth! Know the soldiers to be the players and the arrows to be the dice. O king! In this gambling match, Saindhava is certainly the stake. With Saindhava as the stake, you have embarked on a great gambling match with the enemy. O great king! All of us here are ready to give up our lives. In this battle, it should be our task to properly protect Saindhava. O son! In this gambling match, it is certain that there will be victory or defeat. That is the spot where the great archers are protecting Saindhava. Quickly go there yourself and protect the ones who are doing the protecting. I will remain here and send others there. I will restrain the assembled Panchalas, Pandus and Srinjayas.’”