Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (63 page)

‘“On seeing that the warriors were retreating and that Dhrishtadyumna was afflicted, Shini’s descendant quickly urged his chariot towards the chariot of Drona’s son. He struck Ashvatthama with eight sharp arrows. He again struck him violently with twenty arrows that had many different forms. He pierced his charioteer and struck his four horses with four arrows. The great archer was thus violently struck by arrows of many different forms. However, Drona’s son laughed and spoke these words to Yuyudhana. ‘O Shini’s descendant! I know your preference for the slayer of the preceptor.
⁶⁵
But when he has been grasped by me, you will not be able to save
him.’ Having spoken these words, Drona’s son released a supreme arrow with excellent tufts. It was as radiant as the sun and it was just as Hari had released his vajra towards Vritra.
⁶⁶
That arrow pierced his armour and having passed through it, penetrated the ground, like a hissing snake entering a hole. With his armour shattered, the brave one was like an elephant struck by a goad. Copious quantities of blood flowed from his wounds and he let go of his bow and arrows. He was senseless and covered with blood. He sank down on the floor of his chariot. On seeing this, his charioteer swiftly bore him away, away from the chariot of Drona’s son.

‘“With another well-tufted arrow with drooping tufts, the scorcher of enemies
⁶⁷
struck Dhrishtadyumna between the eyebrows. He had already been struck and was severely pierced again. Panchala was weak and grabbed the pole of his standard. O king! He was like a crazy elephant, assailed by a lion. On seeing this, five brave Pandava rathas quickly advanced—Kiriti, Bhimasena, the Pourava Vriddhakshatra,
⁶⁸
the prince of the Chedis and Sudarshana from Malava. Each of the five simultaneously struck him with five arrows. However, Drona’s son shot twenty-five arrows and simultaneously severed the five arrows, which were like venomous serpents, that each of the five had released. Drona’s son struck Pourava with seven sharp arrows, Malava with three, Partha
⁶⁹
with one and Vrikodara with six. O king! All of those maharathas pierced Drona’s son. Together, and separately, they used gold-tufted arrows that had been sharpened on stone. The prince pierced Drona’s son with twenty arrows, Partha with eight and each of the others with three arrows. Drona’s son struck Arjuna with six arrows, Vasudeva with ten and Bhima with ten. He struck the prince with four arrows and used two more to sever his bow and his standard. Piercing Partha again with a shower of arrows, Drona’s son roared fiercely, like a lion. Drona’s son used
extremely sharp and yellow arrows in torrents and covered the front and the rear. The earth, the sky, the firmament, the directions and the sub-directions were covered with these arrows, which were terrible in form. He was fierce in his energy. He was like Indra in his valour. With three arrows that were released at the same time, he severed the head and the two arms, which were like Indra’s standard, of Sudarshana, who was stationed on his own chariot. He killed Pourava with a spear
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and used his arrows to shatter his chariot into fragments. With broad-headed arrows, he severed his
⁷¹
arms, which were smeared with excellent sandalwood paste, and his head from his body. The youthful and beloved prince of Chedi was like the blue lotus
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in complexion. Using supreme arrows that were like blazing flames of fire, he
⁷³
laughed and pierced him, dispatching him, with his horses and his charioteer, towards death. Having slain those two brave warriors in the battle, the lord who was Drona’s son remained unvanquished and delightedly blew on his large conch shell. All the Panchalas and Pandava Bhimasena were frightened. They abandoned Dhrishtadyumna’s chariot and fled in different directions. When they were running away in this way, Drona’s son pursued them and showered down arrows from the rear. He attacked them with great force and was like Death amidst the Pandu soldiers. In that battle, those kshatriyas were slaughtered by Drona’s son. O king! Terrified of Drona’s son, they fled in all the directions.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “On seeing that the army was routed, Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, immeasurable in his soul, advanced against Drona’s son, wishing to kill him. O king! Rallied because of the
efforts of Govinda and Arjuna, those soldiers remained stationed there. It was Vibhatsu alone, supported by the Somakas, the Matsyas and some others, who returned against the advancing Kouravas. Savyasachi quickly approached the great archer, who bore the mark of the lion’s tail on his banner. He spoke to Ashvatthama. ‘Show me your strength, your valour, your knowledge, your manliness, the affection that you bear towards the sons of Dhritarashtra, the hatred you bear towards us and the great and supreme energy you possess. Parshata, Drona’s killer, will shatter your insolence today. He is like the fire of destruction and slaughters his enemies in a battle. Clash against him, or against me and Keshava.’”

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! The preceptor’s son deserves honour and is powerful. He bears affection towards Dhananjaya and Vasava’s son
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bears affection towards him. Bibhatsu has never used such harsh words earlier. Why did Kounteya use such harsh words towards his friend?”

‘Sanjaya replied, “When the prince,
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Pourava Vriddhakshatra and Sudarshana from Malava, who were duly skilled in the use of weapons, were killed, and Dhrishtadyumna, Satyaki and Bhima were defeated, the lord Bibhatsu suffered from great grief, the likes of which he had not felt before. He also remembered the heart-rending words Yudhishthira had addressed towards him and their hardships and felt miserable in his mind. It was because of this internal fire that he used indecent and unpleasant words towards Drona’s son. The preceptor’s son deserved honour and should not have been addressed in such harsh words, deserving of a coward. O king! Having been thus addressed by Partha in harsh words that struck at the inner chords, the supreme of great archers sighed in rage. Drona’s son became angry with Partha, and especially with Krishna.

‘“Stationed on his chariot, the valiant one touched the wind.
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He invoked the agneya weapon, which is extremely difficult for even
the gods to resist. The preceptor’s son directed this at the masses of enemies, whether they were visible or invisible. He used mantras to invoke that weapon on a flaming arrow that was like a fire without smoke. The destroyer of enemy heroes was overcome with rage and released it in all the directions. At this, a tumultuous shower of arrows was generated from the sky. Cold winds began to blow and the sun ceased to radiate heat. Vultures shrieked hideously in all the directions. With a great roar, blood showered down from the sky. Birds, animals, cattle and even sages who were rigid in their vows and supremely careful in controlling their souls, lost all sense of peace. All the great elements were agitated and the sun was dislodged from its course. The three worlds were tormented, feverish and distressed. Tormented by the energy of that arrow, elephants lay down on the ground. Desiring to free themselves from that fierce energy, they sighed deeply. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The waterbodies were scorched and beings that lived in the water were burnt and could find no peace. Arrows showered down from the sky, the directions and the sub-directions. They descended on the high and the low, with the force of Garuda or that of the wind. The enemies were burnt and fell down, like trees scorched by a fire. Giant elephants were burnt and fell down in every direction, shrieking in woe. Their loud lamentation was like the thunder of the clouds. Other giant elephants were burnt and fled. There were others that were terrified, as if when a forest is burnt and enveloped by a fierce fire. O venerable one! O lord! Large numbers of horses and large numbers of chariots were seen to be burnt and looked like the tops of trees consumed in a conflagration. Large numbers of chariots fell down here and there, in thousands. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, it was as if those soldiers were being burnt by the illustrious Agni. It was like the fire of destruction
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that destroys all beings at the end of a yuga. O king! On seeing that the Pandava soldiers were being consumed in that great battle, those on your side were delighted and roared like lions. O descendant of the Bharata
lineage! Those on your side wished for victory and were cheerful. They quickly sounded thousands of trumpets of many different kinds. O king! In that great battle, everything was covered in darkness and nothing could be seen, the entire akshouhinis or Pandava Savyasachi. O king! We have not seen, or heard of, the likes of the weapon that Drona’s son angrily released.

‘“O great king! At this, Arjuna invoked brahmastra. The one who was born from a lotus
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has decreed that this is capable of repulsing all weapons. That darkness was dispelled in an instant. Auspicious winds began to blow and the directions became clear. We then beheld an extraordinary sight. An entire akshouhini had been killed, burnt by the maya of that weapon and their forms could not be distinguished.
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Freed from the darkness, the brave and great archers, Keshava and Arjuna, were seen together, as if in the sky.
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They were freed and were stationed on a chariot that was terrible to those on your side. With their flags, standard, horses and supreme weapons, they were uninjured and resplendent. Immediately, there were sounds of delight among the Pandavas. There were slapping sounds and those of conch shells and drums. Both the armies had formed the view that they had been killed and now saw that they had been freed. On seeing that they were uninjured, those on the side of the Parthas were delighted and cheerfully blew on supreme conch shells. Those on your side were distressed. On seeing that those great-souled ones had been freed, Drona’s son was extremely miserable. O venerable one! He reflected for a short while about what should be done. O Indra among kings! Having thought for some time, he was overcome with sorrow. He released deep and warm sighs and was distracted. Drona’s son cast aside his bow and descended violently from his chariot. He said, ‘Shame on everything. It is all false.’ Saying this, he ran away.

‘“As he ran away, he encountered the gentle and unblemished Vedavyasa, with the complexion of a cloud. He saw Vyasa, the abode
of Sarasvati.
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Drona’s son saw the extender of the Kuru lineage
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stationed in front of him. His voice choked with tears and he was extremely miserable. He honoured him and spoke these words. ‘O honoured one! Is this maya? Is this a wish?
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I do not know what has happened. Why have my weapons become fruitless? What have I contravened? This is completely unnatural and is like a defeat of the worlds by the two Krishnas, who remain alive. It is impossible to cross destiny. This weapon that has been used by me cannot be countered by asuras, gandharvas, pishachas, rakshasas, serpents, yakshas, birds and men. But having killed only one akshouhini, this flaming weapon used by me has been calmed. Keshava and Arjuna are mortal. Why have they not been killed by it? O illustrious one! I am asking you. Give me the complete answer.’

‘“Vyasa replied, ‘You have asked me a question in wonder and the answer is extremely deep. I will tell you everything. Listen with an attentive mind. The one who is known as Narayana is older than the ancient ones. To accomplish the objective of the universe, he was born as Dharma’s son.
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Stationing himself on Mount Mainaka, he performed severe austerities. The immensely energetic one stood there, with his arms upraised. He blazed like the sun. He was there for sixty-six thousand years. The lotus-eyed one dried his body and subsisted only on air. He then tormented himself with other great austerities for twice that period. The space between heaven and earth was filled with his energy. O son!
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Because of those austerities, he became like Brahma. He then saw the lord of the world and the universe, the lord who is the creator of the universe. He is supremely difficult to look at and is the lord of all the gods. He is smaller than the smallest and larger than the largest. This is the wise and supreme Rudra, bull among the gods. He is mobile and immobile. He is stationed in the hearts of all beings. He is difficult to resist. He is difficult to look at. His anger is fierce. He is the great-souled
one. He is the one who destroys everything. But he is the one who is generous. He wields a celestial bow and quivers. His armour is golden and his valour is infinite. He holds the Pinaka,
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the vajra, a flaming trident, a battleaxe, a club and a large sword. His brows are excellent. His hair is matted. He wears the circular moon on his head. He is clad in tiger skin. He has a mace and a staff in his hand. His armlets sparkle. His sacred thread is made up of snakes. He is surrounded by large numbers of
gana
s from the universe and innumerable
bhuta
s.
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He is the single one. He is the recipient of austerities. He is worshipped well by aged and eloquent ones. He is water, heaven, sky, the earth, the moon, the sun, wind and fire. He is the measure of the universe. He is the one who has not been born. Those who deviate from their vows cannot see him. Nor can those who hate brahmanas or kill them. He is the source of immortality. Brahmanas, those who are virtuous in their vows, those who have been cleansed of sin and those who have banished sorrow can see him in their minds. Because he was established in austerities and because his dharma did not decay, he
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could see the one with the universal form. Having beheld the lord of the gods, he was delighted in his speech, his mind, his intelligence and his body. Having beheld the origin of the universe, Narayana worshipped the one who wore a garland of berries
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and was the recipient of supreme radiance. The pervasive lord was the granter of boons and was with the fair-limbed Parvati. He was Ishana and had not been born. He was without decay. He was the supreme cause. He did not fade. He worshipped Rudra, the slayer of Andhaka.
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With great reverence, the lotus-eyed one
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worshipped Virupaksha.
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