Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (36 page)

‘“O Ajamidha!
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Your sons united with the other warriors on your side and swiftly attacked him. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They made your son, Duhshasana, chief among warriors, their leader. In that battle, those leaders of battle formations surrounded Shini’s descendant from all sides and struck him. The brave one, supreme among the Satvata lineage, countered them with his net of arrows. Shini’s grandson, the slayer of enemies, used arrows that were like the fire and quickly countered them. O Ajamidha! He raised his bow and slew Duhshasana’s mounts.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Desiring that Dhananjaya might obtain victory quickly, the mighty-armed one was swiftly advancing towards Duhshasana’s chariot. The great archers from Trigarta, their standards decorated with gold, surrounded him from all sides and he was immersed in an ocean of soldiers. They surrounded him from all sides with an army of chariots. They angrily released a storm of arrows towards that supreme archer. But in that great battle, Satyaki, with truth as his valour, single-handedly defeated fifty enemy princes who had advanced against him. He penetrated the midst of the Bharata soldiers, which resounded with the noise of the slapping of palms. It was like an ocean, with the many swords, lances and clubs as boats. In that battle, we then witnessed the extraordinary conduct of Shini’s descendant. We saw him in the western direction and then in the east. We beheld his dexterity. He seemed to extend in the north, the south, the east and the west. The brave one seemed to be dancing around, as if he was one hundred rathas alone. On witnessing the conduct of the one whose gait was like that of a brave lion, the Trigartas were tormented and retreated towards their own kin. The brave Shurasenas then strove to counter him in that battle.
They released a storm of arrows on him, like a crazy elephant being urged with a goad. Satyaki took only a short instant to counter all of them and then began to fight with the Kalingas. His strength and valour were unthinkable. He passed that army of Kalingas, which was incapable of being crossed.

‘“The mighty-armed one then reached Partha Dhananjaya. He was exhausted, like one who has swum through the waters and has reached land. On seeing that tiger among men, Yuyudhana was reassured. Having seen him approach, Keshava spoke to Arjuna. ‘O Partha! Shini’s descendant is arriving, following in your footsteps. O one who has truth as his valour! He is your disciple and your friend. The bull among men has conquered all the warriors, regarding them as grass. He has created terrible carnage among the Kourava warriors. O Kiriti! Satyaki is approaching and he is dearer to you than your own life. O Phalguna! Satyaki is approaching and he has used his arrows to crush Drona and Bhoja Kritavarma. He is devoted to ensuring Dharmaraja’s welfare and has killed the supreme among the best of warriors. O Phalguna! Satyaki is approaching. He is brave and skilled in the use of weapons. The immensely strong one has performed extremely difficult deeds in the midst of the soldiers. O Pandava! Satyaki is approaching, wishing to see you. He has fought with many maharathas, with the preceptor at the forefront, on a single chariot. O Partha! Satyaki is arriving. Depending on the strength of his own arms, he has shattered the army. He has been sent by the son of Dharma. O Partha! Satyaki is approaching. Among the Kouravas, there is no warrior who is equal to him. O Kounteya! Satyaki, for whom truth is his valour, is arriving. He has been freed from the Kuru soldiers, like a lion from amidst cattle. He has killed many soldiers. O Partha! Satyaki is approaching. He has strewn the earth with the faces, as beautiful as lotuses, of a thousand kings. O Partha! Satyaki is swiftly approaching. He has defeated Duryodhana and his brothers in the battle and has killed Jalasandha. Satyaki is swiftly arriving. He has created a river of blood, with blood as the mud, and has regarded the Kouravyas as grass. Satyaki is arriving.’ However, Kounteya was not happy and spoke
these words to Keshava. ‘O mighty-armed one! I do not find this arrival of Satyaki’s to be pleasant. O Keshava! I do not know about the state Dharmaraja is in. Without Satvata, I do not know whether he is alive or not. O mighty-armed one! He should have protected the king. O Krishna! Why has he abandoned him and followed in my footsteps? The king has been left to Drona and Saindhava has not yet been brought down. In the battle, Bhurishrava is advancing against Shini’s descendant. A greater burden than that of Saindhava has now been imposed on me. I should find out about the king and I should also protect Satyaki. I must also kill Jayadratha and the sun is low. The mighty-armed one
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is exhausted and he has only a little bit of spirit left. O Madhava! His horses are tired and so is his charioteer. O Keshava! Bhurishrava is not tired and he has aides. How will Satyaki, for whom truth is his valour, be successful in this encounter? He has crossed an ocean. Will the immensely energetic bull of the Shini lineage now succumb before a trifle?
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He will clash against the great-minded Bhurishrava, who is foremost among the Kurus and is skilled in the use of weapons. How will Satyaki be safe? O Keshava! I think that Dharmaraja committed an error. He should not have given up his fear of the preceptor and sent Satyaki. Drona has always sought to seize Dharmaraja, like a hawk in the sky, in search of meat. Will the king be safe?”’

‘Sanjaya said, “O king! On seeing that Satvata, invincible in battle, was descending, Bhurishrava became angry and suddenly attacked him. The mighty-armed Kouravya spoke to the bull among the Shini lineage. ‘It is good fortune that you have arrived within
my range of vision today. In this battle today, I will obtain what I have always desired. Unless you abandon the battle, you will not escape with your life. You have always been proud of your bravery and I will kill you in today’s encounter. O Dasharha! I will delight Suyodhana, the king of the Kurus. You will be scorched by my arrows and fall down on the face of the earth today. All the brave ones in the battle will witness this, together with Keshava and Arjuna. Today, the king who is Dharma’s son will hear that you have been killed by me. Having sent you, he will today be overcome with shame. Today, Partha Dhananjaya will get to know about my valour. He will see you slain, lying down on the ground and covered with blood. Today, you will clash with me and I have always desired this for a long time. In the ancient battle between the gods and the asuras, this will be like the one between Shakra and Bali. O Satvata! I will grant you an extremely terrible encounter today. You will get to know the true nature of my valour, strength and manliness. Having been killed by me in the battle, you will go to Yama’s residence, just as Ravana’s son
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was slain by Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother. O Madhava! Today, Krishna, Partha and Dharmaraja will witness your death and there is no doubt that they will lose all enthusiasm and give up the battle. O Madhava! Today, I will cause your death with sharp arrows and delight the wives of those who have been killed by you in the battle. O Madhava! Now that you have come within the range of my vision, you will not escape, like a small deer that has approached a lion.’ O king! Yuyudhana laughed and replied, ‘O Kouraveya! I am never frightened in a battle. A person who disarms me is the only one who is capable of killing me in an encounter. He who kills me in battle today, will continue to kill for a long time to come.
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What is the point of talking a lot? Do what you have spoken about. You are as fruitless as the roar of clouds during the autumn. O brave one! On hearing your roars, laughter is generated in me. O Kourava! In this world, you have desired this encounter
for a long time. Let it commence. O father!
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In my heart, I also wish to fight with you and let us act swiftly. O wretch among men! I will not retreat without killing you today.’ Those bulls among men castigated each other with those words. Each of them wished to kill the other and in that battle, struck each other in great anger. Those two tigers among men challenged each other and clashed against each other in the encounter, striking strongly. They were like crazy and angry elephants, fighting for the sake of a she-elephant.

‘“Bhurishrava and Satyaki, scorchers of enemies, were like clouds and showered down terrible torrents of arrows on each other. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! Having shrouded Shini’s descendant with arrows, Somadatta’s son wished to kill him and pierced him with sharp arrows. Somadatta’s son pierced Satyaki with ten arrows and wishing to kill the bull of the Shini lineage, released many other sharp arrows at him. O lord of the earth! O lord! But before those sharp arrows could reach him, Satyaki used the maya of his weapons to slice them down in the air. Those two supreme and brave ones, born in noble lineages and the extenders of the fame of the Kurus and the Vrishnis, brought down separate showers of arrows on each other. They were like tigers fighting with their claws, or giant elephants with their tusks. They used spears
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and arrows released from bows to mangle each other. They mangled each other’s bodies and made blood flow from the wounds. They confounded each other in a gambling match in which their lives were the stake. Those two, the extenders of the fame of the Kuru and Vrishni lineages, fought against each other in this way and performed supreme deeds. They were like the leaders of elephant herds. Placing the world of Brahma in front of them,
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they fought for a long time there, seeking to defeat each other and kill each other. Satyaki and Somadatta’s son showered down arrows on each other. And these showers delighted the sons
of Dhritarashtra, who were looking on. The people who were there also witnessed the fight between these two supreme warriors. They fought like elephants seeking a she-elephant in the herd.

‘“They slew each other’s horses and severed each other’s bows. Devoid of their chariots in the great battle, they clashed and fought with swords. They took up large, beautiful and colourful shields made out of the hides of bulls. They unsheathed their swords and roamed around in that encounter. They traversed various paths and executed circular motions. Those two scorchers of enemies were angry and repeatedly struck each other. They possessed swords and were clad in colourful armour. They had golden armlets and ornaments. O king! In the battle, they were intoxicated with the encounter and made thrusts at each other. O Indra among kings! In a short instant, they tired each other out. While all the soldiers looked on, those brave ones again regained their composure. They severed those large and beautiful shields with the swords. When those were severed, the tigers among men engaged in a bout of wrestling. They had broad chests and long arms. They were skilled in fighting at close quarters.
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They attacked each other with arms that were like iron clubs. They struck each other with those arms, grabbed each other and seized each other. They had obtained strength through learning and delighted all the other warriors. O king! As those supreme men fought on in that battle, a terrible and loud sound arose, as if thunder was striking against a mountain. They were like elephants goring each other with the tips of their tusks, or giant bulls with their horns. Those great-souled ones, bulls among the Kuru and Satvata lineages, fought on.

‘“While Satvata was fighting and his weapons were exhausted, Vasudeva spoke to Arjuna. ‘Behold. The foremost among all those who wield the bow is fighting in this encounter, though he is without a chariot. O Pandava! Following you, he penetrated the army of the Bharatas. O descendant of the Bharata lineage!
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The immensely brave
one fought with all the Bharatas. The best of warriors is exhausted and has now confronted Bhuridakshina,
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who is advancing with a desire to fight. O Arjuna! This is not fair. Bhurishrava is invincible in battle and is angry with Satyaki.’ O king! Like maddened elephants, those two got ready to kill each other. O king! Those two foremost among warriors were enraged and rushed against each other in their chariots, while Keshava and Arjuna were spectators to the encounter. Krishna spoke to the mighty-armed Arjuna. ‘Behold. The tiger of the Vrishni and Andhaka lineages has succumbed to Somadatta’s son. Having performed an extremely difficult task, he is now lying down on the ground. O Arjuna! The brave one is tired and you should protect Satyaki. O supreme among those who slay enemies! Let him not succumb to the performer of sacrifices.
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O tiger among men! O lord! Quickly do what must be done.’ Having been thus addressed by Vasudeva, Dhananjaya cheerfully replied, ‘Look. The brave one among the Vrishnis and the bull of the Kuru lineage are sporting. They are like giant and crazy elephants in the forest, playing with herds of lions.’

‘“O bull among the Bharata lineage! At that time, a giant lamentation arose among the soldiers. The mighty-armed one
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struck and brought Satyaki down on the ground. Bhuridakshina, the best of the Kurus, dragged the foremost of the Satvata lineage, like a lion dragging an elephant and looked beautiful in the battle. In that encounter, Bhurishrava unsheathed his sword and grasping him by the hair, struck him in the chest with his foot. O king! On seeing that Satvata was thus being dragged in the battle, Vasudeva again spoke to Arjuna. ‘Behold. The tiger among the Vrishnis and the Andhakas has succumbed to Somadatta’s son. O mighty-armed one! He is your student and he is not inferior to you in archery. O Partha! Truth is Satyaki’s valour. But in this battle, Varshneya’s
valour has been rendered false by Bhurishrava.’ Having been thus addressed by Vasudeva in the battle, the mighty-armed Pandava mentally worshipped Bhurishrava and said, ‘I am glad that the extender of the deeds of the Kuru lineage is only dragging the best of the Satvata lineage in this battle and sporting with him. He has not killed Satyaki, the foremost among the brave ones of the Vrishni lineage. He is dragging him, like the king of deer dragging a giant elephant in the forest.’ O king! Having thus worshipped Kourava in his mind, the mighty-armed Partha Arjuna replied to Vasudeva, ‘O Madhava! Since my sight was fixed on Saindhava, I did not see anything else. For the sake of the Yadava, I will perform an extremely difficult task.’ Having spoken these words to Vasudeva, Pandava used an arrow to sever the arm, which held the sword, of the one who was devoted to sacrifices.”’
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