Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (49 page)

‘“O lord of the earth! In that encounter, Shikandi wished to get at Drona. With great speed, Sharadvata Kripa sought to check him. Goutama swiftly advanced in Drona’s vicinity. Shikhandi, the scorcher of enemies, seemed to be laughing, and pierced him with nine broad-headed arrows. O great king! The preceptor
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wished to do that which would ensure the welfare of your sons. He struck him
¹⁸¹
with five swift arrows and again pierced him with twenty. O lord of the earth! The great battle that took place between them was terrible in form, like the encounter between Shambara and the king of the immortals in the battle between the gods and the asuras.
¹⁸²
The two maharathas covered the sky with nets of arrows. O foremost among the Bharatas! The night was naturally fierce in form and was rendered even more terrible by those two warriors, who were skilled in fighting. It was terrible in form and engendered fear. It was like a night of destruction.
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O great king! With an arrow that was in the shape of a half-moon, Shikandi sliced down Goutama’s giant bow and shot many arrows at him. O king! Kripa became angry at this and hurled a fierce javelin. The shaft was golden and it was sharp at the tip, having been polished by artisans. As it descended, Shikhandi struck it down with many arrows. It flamed as it fell down on the ground, dazzling and immensely radiant. O great king! Goutama, supreme among rathas, picked up another bow and shrouded Shikhandi with sharp arrows. Shikhandi, supreme among rathas, was enveloped in that encounter by the illustrious Goutama and losing his senses, sank down on the floor of his chariot. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Beholding that he had become unconscious in the battle, Sharadvata Kripa wished to kill him and struck him with many arrows. Seeing that Yajnasena’s maharatha son could no longer fight in the encounter, the Panchalas and the Somakas surrounded him from all sides. Similarly, your sons also surrounded that best of brahmanas
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with a large army and the battle resumed again.

‘“O king! In that encounter, rathas rushed against others. There was a tremendous sound, like that of clouds thundering. O lord of the earth! Horse riders and elephants were driven away. O king! They attacked each other and the field of battle became cruel. O great king! As the foot soldiers rushed, the earth trembled with their footsteps, like a lady trembling with fear. Rathas attacked even more powerfully, astride their chariots. O king! They were like crows, grabbing many locusts
¹⁸⁵
in the air. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were elephants with shattered temples, rushing against other giant elephants with shattered temples and trampling them with their
feet. Horse riders clashed against horse riders and infantry against infantry. In that encounter, they angrily rushed against each other. The soldiers advanced, retreated and returned again to the encounter. In the process, in the night, they raised an extremely loud uproar. There were blazing lamps on the chariots, elephants and horses. O great king! They seemed to be like giant meteors that had been dislodged from the sky. O foremost among the Bharata lineage! O king! The field of battle was illuminated by those lamps and it seemed to be like day. It was like a spreading sun that destroys the darkness in the world. In that fashion, that terrible darkness was dispelled by the light of those blazing lamps. All the weapons, the armour and the gems of the great-souled ones were overshadowed by the light from those blazing lamps. At the commencement of the night, there was a melee in the battle. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! In that encounter, the son killed the father and the father killed the son. The friend killed the friend, the relative killed the relative and the maternal uncle killed his sister’s son. They were confused. In that battle, they killed those on their own side, as well as on that of the enemy. They fought fearlessly during that terrible night and this engendered fear.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “That tumultuous battle raged on, giving rise to great fear. O great king! Dhrishtadyumna advanced against Drona. He repeatedly tugged on the string of his supreme bow. He advanced towards Drona’s chariot, which was decorated with gold. O great king! As Dhrishtadyumna advanced, wishing to get at Drona, the Panchalas and the Pandavas surrounded him. On seeing that Drona, supreme among preceptors, had been surrounded, your son made efforts to protect Drona in that battle. During that night, the two clashing armies looked like oceans. They were like fierce oceans
that had been stirred and agitated by a storm, with all the beings in them disturbed.”

‘“O great king! Panchala
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quickly pierced Drona in the chest with five arrows and roared like a lion. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that encounter, Drona pierced him with twenty-five arrows and with another broad-headed arrow, severed his immensely radiant bow. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Having been thus pierced by Drona, Dhrishtadyumna swiftly abandoned that bow and bit his lower lip in rage. O great king! Having become wrathful, the powerful Dhrishtadyumna picked up another excellent bow, wishing to bring about Drona’s destruction. The destroyer of enemy heroes drew the colourful bow back up to his ear. He released a fierce arrow that was capable of taking Drona’s life. In the great battle, the powerful one released that terrible arrow. It illuminated all the soldiers, as if the sun had arisen. O king! On seeing that terrible arrow, the gods, the gandharvas and men spoke these words. ‘May Drona be safe in this encounter.’ O king! But before that arrow could reach the preceptor’s chariot, Karna displayed the lightness of his hands and shattered it into twelve fragments. O king! O venerable one! It was thus shattered into many fragments by the son of a suta. Quickly rendered unsuccessful by Karna’s arrows, that arrow fell down. Having severed the arrow in the battle with his straight-tufted arrows, in that encounter, Karna pierced Dhrishtadyumna with ten arrows. Drona’s son pierced him with five, Drona himself with seven, Shalya with nine arrows and Duhshasana with three. Duryodhana pierced him with twenty and Shakuni with five. All the maharathas quickly pierced Panchala. For Drona’s sake, he was thus pierced by seven heroes in that battle.
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O king! But without showing any fear, he pierced each of them back with three arrows. He pierced Drona, Drona’s son, Karna and your son. Thus pierced by that archer, those supreme among rathas again quickly pierced Dhrishtadyumna in that battle, with five arrows each.

‘“O king! Drumasena
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angrily pierced him with arrows. Asking him to wait, he again swiftly struck him with three other arrows. He pierced him back with three fast and sharp arrows. They were gold-tufted and sharpened on stone. They could rob warriors of their lives. He again used a broad-headed arrow to sever the valiant Drumasena’s head, with golden and blazing earrings, from his body. The teeth still bit the lower lips in anger. But in that battle, the head fell down on the ground. It was like a ripe palm fruit, which had been brought down by the force of a strong wind.”

‘“The brave one again struck those brave ones with extremely sharp arrows. Colourful in fighting, he severed Radheya’s bow with a broad-headed arrow. Karna could not tolerate the severing of his bow, like a fierce lion whose tail has been severed. His eyes became red with rage and he sighed. He picked up another bow. He showered down a storm of arrows on the immensely strong Dhrishtadyumna. On seeing that Karna was enraged, those brave ones, the six bulls among men,
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quickly surrounded Panchala’s son, wishing to kill him. On seeing that he was in front of those supreme warriors, all those on your side thought that Dhrishtadyumna was already within the jaws of death. At that time, Dasharha Satyaki showered arrows and advanced to the spot where the valorous Dhrishtadyumna was. Satyaki was a great archer and indomitable in battle. On seeing that he was advancing, Radheya pierced him back with ten swift arrows. O great king! While all those brave ones looked on, Satyaki asked him to wait and not run away, and then pierced him with ten arrows. The encounter between the powerful Satyaki and the great-souled Karna was terrible, like that between Bali and Vasava. With the slapping of his palms, Satyaki, bull among the kshatriyas, frightened all the kshatriyas and pierced the lotus-eyed Karna back. O great king! Making the earth tremble with the roar of his bow, the powerful son of a suta fought against Satyaki. Karna pierced Shini’s
descendant back with hundreds of arrows—vipatha,
karni
, naracha,
vatsadanta
and
kshurapra
.
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In that way, Yuyudhana, foremost of rathas among the Vrishni lineage, showered down arrows on Karna. The encounter between him and those on your side was wonderful and seemed to be equal. O great king! Karna’s armoured son
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quickly pierced Satyaki from every direction with sharp arrows. The lord Satyaki used his weapons to counter all their weapons and those of Karna. He angrily pierced Vrishasena between the breasts. O lord of the earth! Pierced by that arrow, the valiant Vrishasena lost his senses. He discarded his bow and fell down on his chariot. Karna thought that maharatha Vrishasena had been slain. He was tormented by sorrow on account of his son and afflicted Satyaki. Maharatha Yuyudhana was oppressed by Karna. But he repeatedly struck Karna back with many arrows and with force. He pierced Karna with ten arrows and Vrishasena with seven. Satvata severed the bows and arm-guards of both. They
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strung other bows that were capable of terrifying the enemy and pierced Yuyudhana from every direction with sharp arrows. That battle raged on and it was destructive of heroes.

‘“O king! Surpassing all sounds, the great roar of Gandiva was heard. O king! On hearing the clatter of the chariot and the roar of Gandiva, the son of a suta spoke these words to Duryodhana. ‘The great archer has killed all the Shibis, the foremost of bulls among men and the Pouravas.
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Gandiva is roaring loudly. The clatter of the chariot can be heard and Vasava’s son is roaring. It is evident that Pandava has accomplished deeds that only he himself is capable of. O king! He will shatter this army of the Bharatas in many ways. The
soldiers are being routed and no one wishes to remain. It is as if a net of clouds is being dispelled by the wind. Approaching Savyasachi, those on our side are being broken, like a boat on the ocean. Because of the arrows released from Gandiva, the foremost of the warriors are fleeing. O king! As they are being routed in a hundred ways, a large uproar can be heard. O tiger among kings! In this night, it is echoing in the sky. There are the sounds of lamentations and roars like lions’. Musical instruments and many other sounds can be heard in the vicinity of Arjuna’s chariot. However, Satyaki, worst of the Satvata lineage, is stationed in our midst. If we can attain this objective of ours,
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all our enemies will be defeated. This son of the king of Panchala
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is engaged with Drona. O king! He is surrounded on all sides by warriors who are supreme among men. O great king! If we kill Satyaki and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, there is no doubt about the certainty that victory will be ours. Let us surround these two brave maharathas, as we did Subhadra’s son.
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O great king! Let us endeavour to kill those of the Vrishni and Parshata lineages. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Savyasachi is in front of us, advancing towards Drona’s divison. He knows that Satyaki is engaged with many bulls among the Kurus. Let many foremost ones, supreme among rathas, go there, so that Partha does not know that Satyaki has been surrounded by many. Let the brave ones quickly release fierce arrows, so that Madhava can quickly go to the world of the hereafter.’ O king! Knowing this to be Karna’s view, your son spoke to Soubala in that encounter, like Indra speaking to the illustrious Vishnu. ‘Surrounded by tens of thousands of elephants that do not retreat and surrounded by ten thousand chariots, go to where Dhananjaya is. Duhshasana, Durvishaha, Subahu and Dushpradharshana will follow you, surrounded by many foot soldiers. O mighty-armed one! O maternal uncle! O descendant of the Bharata lineage!
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Kill the two Krishnas, Dharmaraja, Nakula,
Sahadeva and Bhimasena. My hopes of victory depend on you, like those of the gods on Indra of the gods. O maternal uncle! Slay the Kounteyas, like Pavaka’s son
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against the asuras.’ O lord! Having been thus addressed by your son, Soubala went to where the Parthas were, with a large army and with your sons. For the welfare of your sons, he wished to consume the sons of Pandu.

‘“When Soubala departed towards the army of the Pandavas, a battle commenced between those on your side and the enemy. With a large army, the son of a suta advanced against Satvata. He advanced rapidly in that battle and showered many arrows. All those on the Pandava side surrounded Satyaki. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! During that night, the great-souled Drona fought a great battle against the brave Dhrishtadyumna and the Panchalas.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “All of them were indomitable in battle and swiftly attacked. They were angry and intolerant and advanced towards Yuyudhana’s chariot. O king! They were on well-constructed chariots that were decorated with gold and jewels. With horses and elephants, they surrounded Satvata. Those maharathas penned him in from all directions. They roared like lions and challenged Satyaki. They showered down many sharp arrows on Satyaki, for whom, truth was his valour. Those spirited and immensely valorous ones desired to kill Madhava. On seeing them swiftly advance, Shini’s mighty-armed descendant, the destroyer of enemy heroes, received them and shot many swift arrows. Satyaki was a brave and great archer and invincible in battle. He severed heads with his fierce arrows that had straight tufts. With his kshurapra arrows, Madhava severed the trunks of elephants, the necks of horses and the arms of many on your side, still holding on to weapons. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Whisks and white umbrellas fell down. O lord! The earth
was beautiful, like the firmament full of stars. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! As they fought in that battle with Yuyudhana, there was a tremendous uproar, like that of dead spirits wailing. The earth became full of that great sound. The night assumed a terrible form, giving rise to great fear. Your army was shattered and afflicted by Yuyudhana’s arrows. In the night, there was a tremendous roar and it made the body hair stand up.