Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (35 page)

‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! Karna pierced Bhima with three arrows. He released many showers of colourful arrows. O great king! Pandava was struck by the son of the suta. But Bhimasena was not distressed and was like a shattered mountain. O Indra among kings! In that battle, Bhimasena pierced Karna with a sharp, yellow and barbed arrow. O great king! He brought down Karna’s great and golden earring on the ground, as if a flaming stellar body had been dislodged from the sky. The immensely strong Bhima seemed to be smiling. With another broad-headed arrow, he grievously struck the son of the suta between the breasts. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, Bhima again dispatched ten iron arrows. These were extremely forceful and were like Yama’s staff. O venerable one! They struck the son of the suta on his forehead and thus released, penetrated like snakes entering a termite hill. With those arrows on his forehead, the son of the suta looked dazzling, as he had done earlier, when he had donned a garland of blue lotuses.
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In that battle, Karna, the wielder of a firm bow, was afflicted and enraged. Wishing to kill Bhimasena, he advanced with great force and speed. O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The intolerant and powerful Karna angrily dispatched one hundred arrows tufted with the feathers of vultures. However, in that encounter, the brave Pandava did not think about these. He ignored them and released a fierce shower of arrows. O great king! Karna, the scorcher of enemies, adopted a fierce form and angrily struck Pandava in the chest with sharp arrows. In that encounter, they showered down on each other, like clouds. They terrified each other with the slapping of their palms. In that encounter, they enveloped each other with diverse nets of arrows. In that battle, they wrathfully acted so as to counteract the other. The mighty-armed and great-souled Bhima severed Karna’s bow with a kshurapra arrow and pierced him with arrows.

‘“The great-minded son of the suta discarded the severed bow and picked up another bow that was more forceful and was capable of bearing a great load. The son of the suta saw that the destruction of the forces of the Kurus, Souviras and Saindhavas and that the earth was strewn with armour, standards and weapons that had fallen down. In every direction, he saw bodies of elephants, horses and men that had lost their lives. A great and blazing anger was generated in his body. He stretched his great bow, which was decorated with gold. O king! Radheya glanced at Bhima with fierce eyes. As he angrily released his arrows, the son of the suta was beautiful, like the rays of the autumn sun when it has attained midday. O king! Adhiratha’s
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body was covered with hundreds of fierce arrows and it looked like the body of the sun, with all its rays. He picked up arrows in his hand and affixed them. He stretched his bow and released them. In that battle, no gap could be seen between these. O great king! Karna shot arrows to the right and to the left and his bow was like a terrible circle of fire. The arrows released from Karna’s bow were extremely sharp and gold-tufted. O great king! They shrouded the directions and the radiance of the sun. Those gold-tufted arrows with drooping tufts were released from the bow and were seen to traverse in the sky in many ways. O kings! The arrows released from the bow of Adhiratha’s son were as beautiful as an array of cranes in the sky. They were tufted with the feathers of vultures. They were sharpened on stone. They were decorated with gold and were extremely forceful. Those arrows released by Adhiratha’s son flamed at the tip. They were decorated with gold and were released by the force of the bow. Many such arrows descended towards Partha’s chariot. There were thousands of them in the sky, decorated with jewels. Those arrows shot by Karna were like a storm of locusts. As those arrows were continuously released from the bow of Adhiratha’s son, they seemed to form a single long arrow in the sky. Like a cloud pouring down torrents of rain on a mountain, Karna angrily enveloped Bhima with a shower of arrows.

‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Your sons, together with the Kurus, then witnessed Bhima’s strength, valour and prowess.
That shower of arrows created by Karna was like an ocean. But he disregarded it and angrily attacked him. O lord of the earth! Bhima had a large bow with a golden back. He stretched it in a circle and it looked like Shakra’s bow. The arrows released from it covered up the sky. Bhima’s arrows were gold-tufted, with drooping tufts. They were as beautiful as a golden garland that has been created in the sky. That net of arrows that was spread out in the sky
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was struck and shattered by Bhimasena’s arrows. In that battle, both Karna and Bhimasena created nets of straight-flying arrows that clashed against each other and produced sparks of fire. These were gold-tufted and covered the sky, as they traversed through it. Disregarding the valour of the great-minded one, the son of the suta used other arrows to envelope Bhima. O venerable one! Those nets of arrows created there seemed to be like two storms of wind clashing against each other. Wishing to kill him, Karna used sharp arrows that had been crafted by artisans and were decorated with gold and angrily shot these. But asking the son of the suta to wait, Bhima used his own arrows to sever each of these into three fragments in the sky. Once again, Pandava showered down fierce arrows. He was intolerant, powerful and angry. He was like a fire that destroys everything. However, Karna showed no fear and received all these weapons with his own. As he fought with Pandu’s son, the son of the suta used the maya of his weapons and severed his quivers and his bowstring with arrows that had drooping tufts. Vaikartana Karna then severed the harnesses of the horses. He killed his horses and pierced his charioteer with three arrows. Descending, the charioteer swiftly fled towards Yuyudhana’s chariot. Radheya was angry and his radiance was like the fire at the time of destruction. He smiled and severed Bhima’s standard and brought down his flag.

‘“O great king! Without a bow, he grasped a spear and angrily hurled it towards Karna’s chariot.
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As that spear, embellished with gold and like a giant meteor, descended towards him, Adhiratha’s
son severed it with ten arrows. O king! Having been shattered into ten fragments by Karna’s arrows, it fell down. The son of the suta was wonderful in fighting and was acting for the sake of his friends. Kounteya then grasped a shield that was embellished with gold and a sword, wishing for either death or victory, and advanced suddenly. O great king! But Karna smiled and severed the shield. He was without a chariot and was senseless with anger. He hurled the sword towards Karna’s chariot. The extremely sharp sword severed the bow and the bowstring of the son of the suta and then fell down on the ground, like a snake that has fallen from the sky. Adhiratha’s son laughed and wrathfully took up another bow that was capable of killing enemies in battle and was more firm and more powerful. The angry Bhimasena was powerful and truth was his valour. He distressed Karna by leaping up into the sky. On witnessing the conduct on the part of the one who wished to be victorious in the battle, Radheya deceived Bhimasena by hiding. His senses were benumbed and he hid on the floor of his chariot. On seeing this, he grasped his flagpole and remained stationed on the ground.
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All the Kurus and the charanas applauded this attempt of snatching Karna from his chariot, like Tarkshya
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grabbing a serpent. His bow was severed and he was without a chariot. But he was devoted to following his own dharma. Turning his back towards his own chariot, he remained stationed on the field of battle.

‘“Wishing to kill him, Radheya again angrily attacked Pandava, who was waiting to fight in the battle. Those two immensely strong ones encountered each other and challenged each other in that great arena. They roared like clouds in the sky at the end of summer. Those two lions among men were excited and enraged. They were intolerant towards each other in the battle, like the gods and the danavas. Though his weapons were exhausted, Kounteya was attacked by Karna. He saw the elephants that had been slain by Arjuna and they were as large as a mountain. To create an obstruction in the path of the chariot,
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he entered into their midst. He entered those
elephants, which were difficult for a chariot to penetrate. Wishing to save his own life, Pandava did not strike Radheya. Instead, Partha, the destroyer of enemy cities, raised an elephant that had been killed by Dhananjaya’s arrows and remained stationed there. However, Karna used his arrows to strike down that elephant. Pandava roared and hurled the limbs of the elephant towards Karna. He also hurled wheels, horses, mounts and anything else that he could see on the ground. Pandava grabbed these and angrily hurled them towards Karna. Karna used sharp arrows to sever everything that was repeatedly hurled at him. However, remembering Kunti’s words, he did not kill him.
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Instead, Karna approached him and touched him with the tip of his bow.

‘“Radheya laughed and repeatedly spoke these words to Bhimasena. ‘Eunuch! Idiot! Glutton! You have no skill in weapons, but wish to fight with me. You are only a child and become distressed in battle. O Pandava! You should be where there are many kinds of food and things to eat and drink. O evil-minded one! You should be there and should never fight. O Bhima! O extremely evil-minded one! You should become a hermit and live on fruit. O Kounteya! Go to the forest. You have no skills in fighting. You should subsist on fruits and roots and in tending to guests. O Vrikodara! I do not think that you are fit to raise weapons. You should collect flowers and live on roots and fruits and attend to vows and rites. O Bhima! You should be in the forest. You are not skilled in fighting. O son! You should not be in a battle. You should be exiled to the forest. O Vrikodara! In a household, you can only urge cooks, servants, men and slaves to hasten in their tasks and are capable of reproaching them for the sake of food.’ O lord of the earth! In harsh words, he also reminded him about all the unpleasant things that were earlier done to him during his childhood. As he weakly stood there, he again touched him with his bow and laughed. Vrisha again spoke these words to Bhima. ‘Fight with others. Do not fight with the likes of
me. Those who fight with the likes of me have to face this and many other things. Go where the two Krishnas are and they will protect you in this battle. O Kounteya! Otherwise, go home. O child! Why do you wish to fight?’ O king! Having deprived him of his chariot, Karna spoke these words to him, in the presence of the lion among the Vrishni lineage and the great-minded Partha.
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‘“O king! The one with the ape on his banner was urged by Keshava and shot arrows that had been sharpened on stone at the son of the suta. Those arrows released by Partha were embellished with gold. They were shot from the force of Gandiva and penetrated Karna, like swans into Mount Krouncha. Those arrows released from Gandiva penetrated like snakes. Dhananjaya drove the son of the suta away from Bhimasena. His bow had been severed by Bhima and he was afflicted by Dhananjaya’s arrows. Karna mounted his giant chariot and quickly fled from Bhima. Bhima, bull among men, mounted Satyaki’s chariot and followed his brother, Pandava Savyasachi, in that battle. His eyes coppery red in anger, Dhananjaya swiftly dispatched an iron arrow towards Karna and it was like Destroyer urging Death. That iron arrow, released from Gandiva, swiftly sped towards Karna, like Garuda descending from the sky in search of a supreme serpent. Using his own arrow, Drona’s son severed the iron arrow in the air. The maharatha wished to free Karna from his fear of Dhananjaya. O great king! Arjuna angrily pierced Drona’s son with sixty-four arrows that were sharpened on stone. He asked him to wait and not run away. However, Drona’s son was afflicted by Dhananjaya’s arrows. He quickly penetrated an array that was full of crazy elephants and chariots. In the battle, the powerful Kounteya used the roar of Gandiva to drown the noises of all the other gold-backed bows. Dhananjaya followed Drona’s son, who had only gone a short distance away, and terrified him with the strength of his arrows. He mangled the bodies of men, elephants and horses with his iron arrows, which were tufted with the feathers of herons and peacocks. Arjuna crushed that army. O best of the
Bharata lineage! Partha, the son of the chastiser of Paka, slaughtered that force, with its horses, elephants and men.”’

‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! From one day to another, my blazing fame is being destroyed. Many of my warriors have been killed and I think that this is because of destiny. The enraged Dhananjaya has penetrated into my army. It is protected by Drona and Karna and is incapable of being penetrated by the gods. Krishna and Bhima, the two with blazing energy, are with him and have increased his valour. There is also the bull among the Shini lineage. Ever since I have heard about his entry, my sorrow is consuming me, like a fire on dry grass. I can see all the lords of the earth, with Saindhava, being devoured. The king of Sindhu has done an extremely great injury to Kiriti and if he comes within his sight, how can he escape with his life? O Sanjaya! From the signs, I do not see Saindhava remaining alive. But I am asking you to tell me about how the battle raged. How did the angry one penetrate my large army single-handed and agitate and trouble it, like an elephant amidst lotuses? Tell me exactly about the battle that the brave one from the Vrishni lineage fought, for Dhananjaya’s sake. O Sanjaya! You are skilled in narration.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “O king! On seeing that Bhima, foremost among men, was oppressed by Vaikartana in the midst of those brave men, the foremost of the Shini lineage followed him on his chariot. He roared, like the wielder of the vajra at the end of summer. He blazed, like the sun at the end of the monsoon. With his firm bow, he killed the enemies and made the army of your son tremble. The brave one among men fought and roamed around, drawn on mounts that were silvery in complexion. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! No one among the rathas on your side was capable of countering the fierce Madhava. Alambusa, foremost among kings,
became intolerant.
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He was clad in golden armour, wielded a bow and arrow and never retreated from the field of battle. He attacked Satyaki, foremost among the Madhava lineage. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The likes of the encounter between them has never been seen before. All the warriors, on your side and that of the enemy, became spectators in that clash between those two ornaments of battle. Alambusa, supreme among kings, shot ten arrows at him. However, the bull among the Shini lineage, struck those arrows down with his own arrows, before they could reach him. He
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drew his bow back up to his ears and again struck him with three well-tufted and sharp arrows that were like the fire. These shattered Satyaki’s armour and penetrated his body. Having pierced his body with those arrows that had the force of the fire and the wind, he again struck his four horses, with the complexion of silver, with four other arrows. Shini’s grandson was as spirited and powerful as the wielder of the chakra himself.
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Though he was struck, he used four forceful arrows to kill Alambusa’s four horses. With a broad-headed arrow, he severed his charioteer’s head and used other arrows that were like the fire of destruction to sever his too. It
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was beautiful, with a face like the full moon, and was adorned with earrings. It was severed from the body. O king! Having killed that son and grandson of a king in that battle, the brave bull among the Madhu lineage tormented and countered your soldiers and went towards Arjuna. The supreme among the Vrishni lineage was seen to circle around in the midst of the enemy. As he proceeded, he repeatedly slaughtered the Kuru forces with his arrows, like the wind dispelling a mass of clouds. He was borne on well-trained and controlled horses from the Sindhu region. They were as white as cow’s milk, the kunda flower, the moon or snow. They were well-trained horses and had harnesses that were golden in complexion. They bore the lion among men wherever he desired.