Mahabharata: Volume 4 (17 page)

Vaishampayana said, ‘Having defeated Vaikartana, Partha told Virata’s son, “Take me to the army where there is a golden palm.
¹⁶⁵
Our grandfather, Shantanu’s son Bhishma, is stationed on a chariot there. He looks like an immortal and is stationed there, wishing to fight with me. I will cut down the string of his bow in a battle. You will witness today a colourful and divine weapon unleashed by me. It will streak like lightning in the midst of a storm in the sky. The Kurus will witness my Gandiva, with a golden back. All the assembled enemies will debate among themselves, ‘Is he
shooting with the right hand or the left?’
¹⁶⁶
I will make an impassable river flow, with waves of blood, eddies of chariots and elephants as crocodiles. It will flow towards the next world. This forest of Kurus has hands, feet, heads, backs and arms as branches. I will cut it down with straight-tufted arrows. The Kourava soldiers will be vanquished by my bow alone. Like a fire in the forest, I will create a hundred paths. Pierced by me alone, you will see the soldiers twirling on a wheel. Stand firmly on the chariot, over plain and uneven ground. I will pierce with my arrows the mountain that rises up into the sky. Earlier, on Indra’s instructions, I killed thousands and hundreds of Poulamas and Kalakhanjas in battle.
¹⁶⁷
I have obtained my firm grip from Indra and my dexterity of hand from Brahma. I have learnt from Prajapati deep, terrible and wonderful techniques.
¹⁶⁸
I destroyed Hiranyapura on the other side of the ocean, after vanquishing sixty thousand charioteers who wielded terrible bows.
¹⁶⁹
The forest of the Kurus has the banners as the trees, the soldiers as the grass and the chariots as groups of lions. I will consume it with the energy of my weapons. With my straight-tufted arrows, I will draw them out from the nests of their chariots, like the wielder of the vajra destroyed the asuras alone. I obtained the Roudra weapon from Rudra, Varuna
¹⁷⁰
from Varuna, the Agneya weapon from Agni, Vayavya from Matarishvan
¹⁷¹
and the vajra and other weapons from Shakra. The terrible sons of Dhritarashtra are protected by lions among men. But I will uproot them. O son of Virata! Remove all your fears.” Thus assured by Savyasachi, Virata’s son penetrated the intelligent Bhishma’s terrible army of chariots.

‘The mighty-armed Dhananjaya advanced to conquer his enemies, but the one who was terrible in his deeds
¹⁷²
countered this fearful
advance. Four immensely strong ones advanced towards the one with the terrible bow—Duhshasana, Vikarna, Duhsaha and Vivimshati. They were skilled and spirited and adorned with colourful garlands and ornaments. They advanced and countered Bibhatsu, the wielder of the terrible bow. Duhshasana pierced Virata’s son Uttara with an arrow. With a second one, the brave one pierced Arjuna on the chest. Jishnu
¹⁷³
circled. With an arrow that was shafted with the feathers of vultures and had a broad tip, he sliced off his
¹⁷⁴
bow that was decorated with polished gold. He then pierced him in the breast with five arrows. Oppressed by Partha’s arrows, he fled from the field of battle. With arrows that were sharp, straight and shafted with the feathers of vultures, Dhritarashtra’s son Vikarna then pierced Arjuna, the slayer of enemy warriors. But Kounteya immediately pierced him with straight-tufted arrows on his forehead and thus wounded, he fell down from the chariot. Then, seeking to rescue their brother in battle, Duhsaha, together with Vivimshati, rushed towards Partha and enveloped him with sharp arrows. But the alert Dhananjaya struck both of them at the same time with sharp arrows that were shafted with the feathers of vultures and killed their horses. With their horses slain and their limbs pierced, the two sons of Dhritarashtra were borne away by their followers, who arrived on other chariots. Thus the unvanquished Bibhatsu, the diademed and immensely strong Kounteya, accomplished in striking the target, covered all the directions.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All the maharatha Kouravas now got together and counter-attacked Arjuna with determination. But the one whose soul cannot be measured covered the maharathas everywhere with showers of
arrows, like mountains shrouded with fog. The giant elephants trumpeted. The horses neighed. The kettledrums and conch shells resounded. A terrible tumult arose. Piercing the bodies of men and horses, slicing through iron armour, Partha’s shower of arrows struck in thousands. Partha swiftly strode and shot arrows in that battle, ablaze like the resplendent autumn sun at midday. Struck by terror, the charioteers leapt down from their chariots and the cavalry from their horses. The infantry began to flee on the ground. When the great-souled one’s arrows pierced the armour, made of copper, silver and iron, there was a mighty roar. The entire battlefield was strewn with bodies of those who had lost their senses, and with elephants, horses and other animals which had been robbed of their lives by the sharp arrows. The earth was covered with the corpses of those who had fallen down from their stations on the chariots. Dhananjaya seemed to be dancing in that battle, with a bow in his hand. On hearing Gandiva’s twang, like the roar of the thunder, all the beings were frightened and fled from the great field of battle. The fallen heads could be seen in the forefront of that battle, with earrings and headdresses embellished with gold. The earth was strewn with bodies that had been destroyed by the arrows, with the arms holding bows and the hands decorated with ornaments. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Because the heads were struck down with sharp arrows, it seemed as if a shower of rocks had fallen down from the sky. Having displayed his terrible self, Partha, whose valour was terrible, roamed around, after having been restrained for thirteen years. The brave Pandava unleashed the anger of his wrath on the sons of Dhritarashtra. On witnessing his valour as he burnt down the soldiers, all the warriors sought peace, while Dhritarashtra’s son
¹⁷⁵
looked on. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having terrified the soldiers and routed the maharathas, Arjuna, foremost among victorious ones, roamed around. He made a terrible river flow. Its current was made out of blood. The moss was made out of bones. It was as if destiny had fashioned it at the end of an era.
¹⁷⁶
There was a terrible flow of
bows and arrows. The mud was made out of flesh and blood. The great chariots were like giant islands. There was the roar of conch shells and drums. Thus Partha created a giant river of blood that was difficult to cross. No one could make out when he affixed his arrows and released them, or when he drew the Gandiva, because no gap could be discerned.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Then Duryodhana, Karna, Duhshasana, Vivimshati, Drona and his son, and Kripa who was an atiratha in battle, returned angrily to the battle again, wishing to cause violence to Dhananjaya. They drew their sturdy and powerful bows. O great king! The one with the monkey on his banner
¹⁷⁷
went forward to meet them on a chariot that was as radiant as the sun, with his flag unfurled. Kripa, Karna and Drona, supreme among charioteers, immensely valorous and with great weapons, sought to repulse Dhananjaya. They released a flood of arrows, like rain from monsoon clouds. A shower of arrows descended on Kiriti. They stationed themselves nearby and with great determination in that field of battle, swiftly showered him with many arrows that possessed feathered shafts. Having been thus covered from every direction with divine weapons, not even a space of two fingers could be seen on him. But maharatha Bibhatsu laughed and fixed his divine Aindra
¹⁷⁸
weapon on Gandiva. It was as radiant as the sun. In that battle, the diademed and powerful Kounteya covered all the Kurus with arrows that burnt like the rays of the sun. Gandiva was like lightning in the clouds, like fire in the mountains and as long as Indra’s weapon.
¹⁷⁹
It was like Parjanya’s showers and like lightning in the sky. Like a bird, Gandiva enveloped the ten directions. All the charioteers were completely
terrified and sought peace. They were bereft of their senses. Losing their consciousness, all the warriors lost heart in the battle. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Thus, all the soldiers were shattered and fled in all the directions. They lost hope that they would remain alive.’

Vaishampayana said, ‘Then Shantanu’s son Bhishma, powerful and invincible, advanced towards Dhananjaya, while all the warriors were being killed in battle. He took up the best of bows, decorated with gold, and arrows that were sharp at the tip, capable of piercing the vitals of the heart. A white umbrella was held aloft his head. The tiger among men was as radiant as a mountain at the time of sunrise. Ganga’s son
¹⁸⁰
blew on his conch shell and delighted the sons of Dhritarashtra. He circled
¹⁸¹
and prepared to battle Bibhatsu. On seeing him advance, Kounteya, the destroyer of enemies, received him gladly, like a mountain receives a cloud full of rain.

‘The brave Bhishma shot eight arrows at Partha’s banner. They were extremely swift and hissed like serpents. Those blazing and feathered arrows struck the banner of Pandu’s son and struck the monkey and other beings that were stationed on the top of the standard. With an arrow that was sharp and broad, Pandava sliced off Bhishma’s umbrella and it fell down on the ground. With firm and swift arrows, Kounteya struck his banner, the horses yoked to his chariot and the two charioteers who guarded his flanks. Then a terrible battle began between Bhisma and Pandava, like that between Bali and Vasava,
¹⁸²
and it made the body hair stand up. When Bhisma
and Pandava fought each other in that battle, arrows countered arrows in the sky and seemed like fireflies during the rains. O king! As Partha shot arrows with his left hand and his right, Gandiva looked like an unbroken circle of fire. He enveloped Bhishma with hundreds of sharp arrows, like a rain cloud covering a mountain with a shower of rain. With his own arrows, Bhishma repulsed Arjuna and countered that shower of arrows, like a shoreline beating back waves. In that battle, the shower of arrows was splintered and fell down around Phalguna’s chariot. A shower of arrows with golden shafts then arose from Pandava’s chariot, like a swarm of locusts. But yet again, Bhishma cut them down with hundreds of sharp arrows. All the Kurus applauded. “Wonderful! Bhishma has accomplished a difficult task in fighting with Arjuna. Pandava is powerful, young, skilled and swift. Truly, who other than Shantanu’s son Bhishma, Devaki’s son Krishna, or the immensely strong preceptor who is Bharadvaja’s son, is capable of withstanding Partha’s force in battle?” Using weapons to counter weapons, those bulls among men seemed to be playing. Those immensely strong ones confounded the sights of all beings. Those great-souled ones roamed on that field of battle, using Prajapatya, Aindreya, the extremely terrible Agneya, Koubera, Varuna, Yamya and Vayavya weapons.
¹⁸³
All the beings who witnessed the battle were astounded. They said, “O mighty-armed Partha! Wonderful! O Bhishma! Wonderful! It is not for men to witness this great battle with mighty weapons between Bhishma and Partha.” Thus the battle between those two, who were skilled in the use of all weapons, went on. Then Jishnu fixed a broad and sharp arrow to his bow and sliced down Bhishma’s bow, which was decorated with gold. In an instant, the mighty-armed and immensely strong Bhishma grasped another bow in the field of battle, strung it, and angrily released many arrows at Dhananjaya. But Arjuna shot many sharp and colourful arrows at Bhishma and the immensely energetic Bhishma shot many at Pandava. They were both skilled in the use of divine weapons and incessantly shot arrows at
each other. O king! Neither of the great-souled ones could be seen to be superior. The diademed Kounteya and Shantanu’s brave son, both atirathas, covered the ten directions with their arrows. At times, Pandava surpassed Bhishma. At other times, Bhishma surpassed Pandava. O king! That battle was extraordinary in this world.

‘Pandava killed the brave warriors who guarded Bhishma’s chariot. O king! Killed by Kounteya, they were piled up in front of the chariot. Shvetavahana’s
¹⁸⁴
feathered shafts seemed to have wings. They leapt up when released from Gandiva, wishing to destroy the enemy. They leapt up from his chariot, white and adorned in gold, like a flock of geese seen in the sky. He released his deep and divine weapons and it was marvellous. All the gods, together with Vasava, assembled in the sky to witness this. On witnessing this extraordinary sight, the powerful gandharva Chitrasena was extremely delighted and told the king of the gods these words of praise. “Look at the way these arrows, the destroyers of enemies, travel. As Jishnu releases his divine weapons, they are linked in a chain. Men will not believe this, because they
¹⁸⁵
do not exist among them. There has been a wonderful collection of these ancient and great weapons. The soldiers are incapable of looking at Pandava. He dazzles like the midday sun in the sky. They are both famous in their deeds. They are skilled in battle. They are equal in their exploits. They are extremely difficult to vanquish in battle.” O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On hearing these words, the king of the gods honoured the duel between Partha and Bhishma with a divine shower of flowers. Having perceived a weakness, Shantanu’s son Bhishma attacked Savyasachi from the left side. But Bibhatsu laughed out aloud. With a broad and sharp arrow, shafted with the feathers of vultures, he sliced down the infinitely energetic Bhishma’s bow. With ten arrows, Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, pierced the brave and careful one on his chest. Thus oppressed, Ganga’s mighty-armed son, invincible in battle, clung to the pole of the chariot and stood there for a long time. On seeing that he had lost his senses, the charioteer remembered his instructions,
and controlling the horses that were yoked to the chariot, drove away, so as to protect the maharatha.’