Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (38 page)

‘“With sharp arrows that were pointed at the tip, in that battle, he severed the arms of the brave ones who would not retreat. They
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were like clubs and like the trunks of elephants. The mighty-armed one severed heads with his sharp arrows. The trunks of elephants, the necks of horses and the wheels of chariots were strewn around. Horse-riders, with lances and spears, were steeped in blood. Bibhatsu sliced them down into two and three pieces with his razor-sharp arrows. Thousands of supreme horses and elephants fell down. There were standards, umbrellas, bows, whisks and heads. He consumed your army, like a rising fire against dry wood. Partha soon caused
the earth to be covered with blood. The mighty one killed many warriors in your army. The invincible one, with truth as his valour, approached Saindhava. Bibhatsu was protected by Bhimasena and Satvata. O best of the Bharata lineage! He was as resplendent as a blazing fire. On seeing Phalguna stationed there, those on your side who were great archers and honoured as brave ones, bulls among men, could not tolerate this.

‘“Duryodhana, Karna, Vrishasena, the king of Madra, Ashvatthama, Kripa and Saindhava himself were enraged. For Saindhava’s sake, they surrounded Kiriti from all sides. He seemed to be dancing around along the path of his chariot, with a roar from his bowstring and from the clapping of arms. But all of them were skilled in fighting and fearlessly surrounded Partha, who was skilled in war and was like Death with a gaping mouth. They placed Saindhava behind them and wished to kill Arjuna and Achyuta. The sun had a reddish tint and they desired that it might set fast. They stretched their bows with their arms and released hundreds of arrows, which were like serpents and the sun’s rays, towards Phalguna. In that battle, Kiriti, invincible in battle, struck them and severed them
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into two, three and eight fragments.

‘“The one with the lion’s tail on his standard
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then displayed his own strength. O king! The son of Sharadvata’s daughter countered Arjuna.
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He pierced Partha with ten arrows and Vasudeva with seven. He remained stationed in the path of the chariot
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and protected Saindhava. All the other maharathas, foremost among the Kouravas, surrounded him from every side with a great array of chariots. They stretched their bows and released arrows. On the instructions of your son, they sought to protect Saindhava. The strength of Partha’s arms, the inexhaustible arrows
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and the bow Gandiva were then seen. He repulsed all the arrows of Drona’s son
and Sharadvata’s son
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and struck all of them with nine arrows each. Drona’s son pierced him with twenty-five arrows, Vrishasena with seven, Duryodhana with twenty and Karna and Shalya with three each. They roared and pierced him repeatedly. They brandished their bows and surrounded him from all sides. They quickly drew their chariots in a circle all around him. The maharathas desired that the sun might set fast. They roared and brandished their bows. They covered him with sharp arrows, like clouds pouring rain on the slope of a mountain. O king! Those brave ones, with arms like clubs, showed their great and divine weapons and released them on Dhananjaya’s body. The powerful one killed many warriors in your army. The invincible one, with truth as his valour, approached Saindhava.

‘“O king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, while Bhimasena and Satvata looked on, Karna countered him with arrows. But in that encounter, while all the soldiers looked on, the mighty-armed Partha pierced the son of the suta back with ten arrows. O venerable one! Satvata pierced Karna with three arrows, Bhimasena with three and Partha again pierced him with seven arrows. Maharatha Karna pierced each of them back with sixty arrows. O king! That encounter between Karna and many was extraordinary. O venerable one! We witnessed the son of the suta’s wonderful act, since he single-handedly and angrily countered three rathas. In that battle, the mighty-armed Phalguna struck Vaikartana Karna with one hundred arrows that penetrated all the inner organs. The powerful son of a suta had blood flowing from all his limbs. However, the brave one pierced Phalguna back with fifty arrows. On witnessing his dexterity in battle, Arjuna could not tolerate it. The brave Partha Dhananjaya severed his bow and quickly struck him between the breasts with nine arrows. It was a time when speed was of the essence. Wishing to kill him in the battle, Dhananjaya then quickly shot an arrow that was as radiant as the sun. But as that arrow descended forcefully, Drona’s son severed it with a sharp arrow that was in the shape of a half-moon. Severed, it fell down on the ground. The powerful son of the suta then took up another bow.
Wishing to kill his enemy and perform deeds that would counter his, Karna enveloped Phalguna with many thousands of arrows. Those maharathas, lions among men, roared like bulls. They covered the sky with straight-flying arrows. Wishing to strike each other, they became invisible because of that storm of arrows. ‘I am Partha. Stay there. I am Partha. O Phalguna! Stay there.’ They roared and tormented each other with these words as stakes. Those brave ones fought colourfully in that battle, showing dexterity and skill. All the warriors became spectators to this encounter. O great king! Wishing to kill each other in the battle, they fought on and were praised by the siddhas, the charanas and other applauders.

‘“O king! Duryodhana addressed those on your side. ‘Make efforts to protect Radheya. Vrisha Radheya has told me that he will not retreat without killing Arjuna in this battle.’ O king! At this time, on witnessing Karna’s valour, he
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drew his bow back up to his ears and dispatched Karna’s four horses to the land of the dead with four supreme arrows. With another broad-headed arrow, he brought down his charioteer from the seat of the chariot. While your son looked on, he covered him with arrows. In that encounter, he
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was thus shrouded. His horses were slain. His charioteer was killed. Confounded by that net of arrows, he did not know what he should do. O great king! On seeing that he was without a chariot, Ashvatthama took him on his own chariot and continued to fight with Arjuna. The king of Madra pierced Kounteya with thirty arrows. Sharadvata’s son struck Vasudeva with twenty and struck Dhananjaya with twelve arrows that had been sharpened on stone. O great king! The king of Sindhu struck Krishna and Partha separately with four arrows and Vrishasena struck them separately with seven. In that fashion, Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, pierced them back. He pierced Drona’s son with sixty-four and the king of Madra with one hundred. He struck Saindhava with ten broad-headed arrows and Vrishasena with three arrows. Partha struck Sharadvata’s son with twenty arrows and roared. Desiring to render Savyasachi’s pledge
unsuccessful, all those on your side united and quickly attacked Dhananjaya. At this, Arjuna used a weapon that was sharp on all sides and created terror among the sons of Dhritarashtra. The Kurus were on extremely expensive chariots. They advanced against Pandu’s son and showered down torrents of arrows.

‘“O descendant of the Bharata lineage! A tumultuous and extremely terrible encounter commenced and it caused confusion. But the prince,
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with a diadem and a garland, did not lose his senses and continued to shoot arrows. Desiring the kingdom and remembering the twelve years of hardship suffered because of the Kurus, the great-souled and immeasurable Savyasachi released arrows from Gandiva and covered all the directions. The sky seemed to be covered with flaming meteors. Many crows descended on the dead bodies. The one with the diadem and the garland angrily killed his enemies, like the one with the tawny bowstring using Ajagava.
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The great one with the diadem and the garland was immensely illustrious. With his bow and arrows, he was the conqueror of armies. With his arrows, he brought down the brave ones among the Kurus, astride their supreme horses and elephants. In that encounter, many kings picked up heavy clubs, iron bludgeons, swords and spears. They grasped those large weapons and assuming fierce forms, suddenly attacked Partha. But the great archer destroyed them, with their chariots, horses, elephants and masses of foot soldiers. In that encounter, the brave one deprived them of their weapons and their lives and extended Yama’s kingdom.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Dhananjaya was seen to roam around in that battle and he seemed to be simultaneously everywhere. He
exhibited his wonderful weapons. He was like the midday sun, scorching everything from the sky. None of the beings were capable of glancing at Pandava. A torrent of arrows issued from the great-souled one’s Gandiva. In that battle, they seemed to be like an array of swans in the sky. He countered all those brave ones with his weapons. Through his fierce deeds, he exhibited his terrible self. O king! Arjuna passed all those rathas and confounded them with his iron arrows, wishing to kill Jayadratha. With his charioteer, Dhananjaya was seen to swiftly course around in that field of battle, releasing arrows in all the directions. Hundreds and thousands of arrows were shot by the brave and great-souled one and these torrents traversed the sky and made it invisible. The great archer picked up an arrow, affixed it and shot it. But we did not notice any gap between Kounteya Pandava doing these. O king! Having covered all the directions and having afflicted all the rathas in that battle, Kounteya attacked Jayadratha. He pierced him with sixty-four arrows with straight tufts. Saindhava was thus pierced by arrows shot by the wielder of Gandiva. He became extremely enraged, like an elephant struck by a goad, and could not tolerate this. The one with the boar on his banner
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used arrows that were tufted with the feathers of vultures. They were like venomous serpents and had been prepared by artisans. In that battle, he released these sharp arrows towards Savyasachi. He pierced Gandiva with three arrows and struck Arjuna with six iron arrows. He pierced his horses with eight arrows and his standard with one. Arjuna countered the arrows shot by Saindhava with his own sharp arrows. Simultaneously, with a couple of arrows, he severed the head of Saindhava’s charioteer from his body and brought down the well-ornamented standard. The king of Sindhu’s standard was marked with the sign of a boar and was extremely large. Its pole was broken and it was shattered by those arrows. It fell down, like a fiery flame.

‘“Meanwhile, the sun was descending quickly. Janardana hastily spoke to Pandava. ‘O Dhananjaya! Cut off the head of the
evil-souled Saindhava. The sun is about to set on Asta, the best of mountains. But listen to the words I have to say about killing Jayadratha. Saindhava’s father, Vriddhakshatra, is famous in the world. He obtained Jayadratha Saindhava, the scorcher of enemies, as his son after a long period of time and an invisible voice, with a rumbling tone like that of the clouds, spoke to the king then. “O lord! In this world, your son will possess lineage, conduct and qualities that are equal to those of two lineages.
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He will be foremost among kshatriyas in the world and will be revered by brave ones. But when he is fighting against an enemy in a battle, that enemy archer, famous on earth, will sever his head.” Having heard this, the king of Sindhu, the scorcher of enemies, reflected for a long time. Afflicted by affection towards his son, he summoned all his relatives and told them, “The person who fights with my son in an encounter and brings his head down on the ground will bear a great burden. There is no doubt that his head will shatter into a hundred fragments.” Having said this, he established Jayadratha on the throne. Vriddhakshatra went to the forest and immersed himself in austerities. The energetic one is still tormenting himself with terrible and extremely difficult austerities. O one with the ape on your banner! He is just outside Samantapanchaka.
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O slayer of enemies! Therefore, once you have severed Jayadratha’s head in this great battle, use your divine weapons that are terrible and perform wonderful deeds. O younger brother of the son of the wind god! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! With its earrings, quickly convey the head of the king of Sindhu to Vriddhakshatra’s lap and bring it down there. If you bring his head down on the ground, there is no doubt about the consequence that your head will shatter into a hundred fragments. O best of the Kurus! Resort to your divine weapons and do this, so that the king,
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the lord of the earth, does
not know. O son of Vasava! There is no deed in the three worlds that you cannot perform.’ Having heard these words, he
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licked the corners of his mouth.

‘“He used mantras to invoke a divine weapon that was like Indra’s vajra to the touch. He used an arrow that was capable of bearing a great load and had always been worshipped with fragrances and garlands. To bring about Jayadratha’s death, Arjuna quickly released it. Released from Gandiva, that arrow was as swift as a hawk snatching a bird from the top of a tree. It severed Saindhava’s head. With other arrows, Dhananjaya bore it up again,
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thus causing grief to his ill-wishers and delight to his well-wishers. At that time, Pandava made the head look like a
kadamba
flower and used arrows to convey it to Samantapanchaka. O venerable one! The energetic King Vriddhakshatra, with whom you have a matrimonial alliance,
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was engaged in his evening prayers then. He was seated. The head of the king of Sindhu, with dark hair and earrings, was thrown down on his lap. The head, with its beautiful earrings, was brought down on his lap. O scorcher of enemies! But King Vriddhakshatra did not notice it. When the intelligent Vriddhakshatra stood up, after having finished his meditation, the head was suddenly flung down on the ground. O scorcher of enemies! As soon as his son’s head fell down on the ground, the king’s head shattered into a hundred fragments. At this, all the beings were overcome by supreme wonder. All of them praised Vasudeva and maharatha Bibhatsu.

‘“On seeing that Jayadratha, the king of Sindhu, had been killed, your sons were miserable and their eyes filled with tears. So that Pandava
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might know, in that battle, Bhimasena roared loudly like a lion and filled up heaven and earth.
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On hearing that loud roar, Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, understood that Saindhava had been killed by the great-souled Phalguna. He sounded musical instruments
and delighted his warriors. Wishing to fight, he advanced in the battle against Bharadvaja’s son. O king! After the sun had set, a battle commenced between Drona and the Somakas and it made the body hair stand up. O king! After Saindhava was slain, those maharathas made every effort to kill Bharadvaja’s son. When Saindhava was slain, the Pandavas obtained victory. Intoxicated with victory, they fought with Drona. O great king! Having killed King Saindhava, in that encounter, Arjuna also fought with the supreme of rathas and warriors on your side. The one with the diadem and the garland was like the king of the gods, fighting with the enemies of the gods and slaughtered them, like the rising sun destroying darkness. The brave one fulfilled the pledge he had taken earlier.”’