Mahabharata: Volume 7 (12 page)

‘S
anjaya said, “Your son, Yuyutsu, was driving away that large army.
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Uluka asked him to wait and quickly attacked him. O king! At this, Yuyutsu used an arrow that was extremely sharp at the edges to strike Uluka, like Indra striking a mountain with his vajra. In that encounter, Uluka became angry with your son and slicing his bow down with a kshurapra arrow,
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struck him with a barbed arrow. When his bow was severed, Yuyutsu picked up another large bow that was more forceful. O bull among the Bharata lineage! His eyes red with rage, he pierced Shakuni’s son with sixty arrows. Striking his charioteer with three arrows, he pierced him
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again. Uluka now became wrathful in the battle and piercing him with twenty arrows that were adorned with gold, severed his golden
standard. With the pole shattered, that extremely large and lofty standard fell down. O king! Blazing in gold, it fell down in front of Yuyutsu. On seeing that his standard had been uprooted, Yuyutsu became senseless with rage. He struck Uluka between the breasts with five arrows. O venerable one! O supreme among the Bharata lineage! With a broad-headed arrow that had been washed in oil, Uluka violently severed his charioteer’s head. He then killed his four horses and pierced him with five arrows. Having been severely struck by that powerful one, he
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departed on his chariot. O king! Having defeated him, Uluka swiftly advanced towards the Panchalas and the Srinjayas and began to slay them with sharp arrows.

‘ “O great king! Fearlessly, and in the twinkling of an eye, your son, Shrutakarma, advanced against Shatanika and deprived him of his horses, his charioteer and his chariot.
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O venerable one! Though his horses were slain, the immensely powerful Shatanika remained stationed on his chariot and extremely angry, flung a club towards your son. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Having reduced the chariot, together with its horses and charioteer, to ashes, it fell down with great force and shattered the earth. Those two brave ones, the extenders of the fame of the Kuru lineage, were both without chariots. They glared angrily at each other and withdrew from the battle. Frightened, your son ascended Vivitsu’s chariot.
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Shatanika quickly advanced towards Prativindhya’s chariot.
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‘ “Angrily, Sutasoma
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pierced Shakuni with sharp arrows, but could not make him tremble, like a wind against a mountain. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing his father’s supreme enemy, Sutasoma enveloped him with thousands of arrows. However, Shakuni was dexterous and colourful in fighting and
wished to be victorious in that encounter. He severed those arrows with other arrows. In that battle, having countered those arrows with his sharp arrows, he angrily struck Sutasoma with three arrows. Your immensely valorous brother-in-law used his arrows to bring down his horses and his charioteer and shattered his standard into fragments. At this, all the people roared in applause. O venerable one! His horses were slain. He was without a chariot. His bow was severed. However, the archer
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descended from the chariot, stood on the ground and picked up a supreme bow. He released gold-tufted arrows that had been sharpened on stone and enveloped your brother-in-law’s chariot. The shower of arrows released by the maharatha was like a torrent of insects. But on seeing this, Soubala was not distressed and remained stationed on his chariot. The immensely illustrious one countered those arrows with a storm of his arrows. On witnessing Sutasoma’s extraordinary deed of fighting on foot, while the king was on his chariot, all the warriors, and all the siddhas who were assembled in the firmament, were satisfied and honoured him. The king
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then used sharp and extremely forceful broad-headed arrows that possessed drooping tufts to sever his bow and all his quivers. When his bow was severed in the encounter, he picked up a sword and roared. It possessed the complexion of lapis lazuli or a lotus and had an ivory handle. It was as radiant as the clear sky, and the intelligent Sutasoma whirled it around. It seemed as if he was Death himself. O great king! He had the strength and learning of fourteen techniques
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and roamed around, violently whirling his sword in thousands of circular motions. The valiant Soubala shot arrows at him. But as they descended, he quickly severed them with his supreme sword. O great king! Soubala, the destroyer of enemy heroes, became enraged at this and shot arrows that were like venomous serpents towards Sutasoma. However, displaying his learning, strength
and dexterity, the immensely radiant one, with valour like that of Tarkshya,
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used his sword to slice them down in that battle. O king! As he was roaming around and executing circular motions, he
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used an extremely sharp kshurapra arrow to sever that resplendent sword. Thus sliced down, the large sword fell down violently on the ground. When the sword was severed, maharatha Sutasoma retreated six steps and hurled that part of the sword that was still in his fist. That fragment was decorated with gold and diamonds. In that encounter, it quickly severed the great-souled one’s
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bow and bowstring and fell down on the ground. After this, Sutasoma went to Shrutakirti’s giant chariot. Soubala picked up another terrible bow that was extremely difficult to withstand. Using this, he attacked the Pandava soldiers and killed large numbers of the enemy. O lord of the earth! On seeing Soubala fearlessly striding around in the battle, a loud uproar arose amongst the Pandavas, when they saw that large, proud and armed soldiers were driven away by the great-minded Soubala. O king! It was like the army of the daityas being crushed by the king of the gods. In that fashion, the Pandava soldiers were destroyed by Soubala.

‘ “O king! Kripa countered Dhrishtadyumna in the battle, like a
sharabha
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in a forest, advancing and fighting against a proud elephant. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Parshata was checked by the powerful Goutama and could not advance a single step. On witnessing Goutama’s form advancing towards Dhrishtadyumna’s chariot, all the beings were terrified and thought that he
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was confronting destruction. The rathas and riders were distressed in their minds and said, ‘The immensely energetic Sharadvata, supreme among men, is certainly extremely enraged at Drona’s
killing. He is intelligent and skilled in the use of divine weapons. Will Dhrishtadyumna be safe today from Goutama? Will this entire army be freed from this great danger? The brahmana will kill all of us together. His severe form is seen to be like that of the Destroyer. In this encounter, he will follow the footsteps of Bharadvaja’s son. The preceptor
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is light in the use of his hands and is always victorious in battle. He possesses the valour of weapons and is angry as well. It can be seen that Parshata is now extremely reluctant to fight.’ These and other words were spoken by those on your side and on the side of the enemy. O king! Kripa Sharadvata breathed angrily and enveloped Parshata, who was immobile, in all his inner organs. In that encounter, he was struck by the great-souled Goutama. He was supremely confounded in that battle and did not know what he should do. His charioteer said, ‘O Parshata! Are you fine? I have never seen you face such a difficulty in a battle. These arrows shot by that foremost among brahmanas are capable of penetrating the inner organs and are directed at your inner organs. It is sheer fortune that you have escaped. I will withdraw the chariot from the spot, like the force of a river driven back by the ocean. Your valour has been destroyed by this brahmana and I think that he cannot be killed.’ O king! At this, Dhrishtadyumna gently spoke these words. ‘O son!
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My mind has gone numb and there is sweat on my body. Behold! My body is overcome by lassitude and my body hair is standing up. O charioteer! Abandon the brahmana in the battle and slowly go to the spot where Achyuta, Arjuna and Bhimasena are, so that I may obtain safety in the battle. In my view, that is what we should do.’ O great king! At this, the charioteer urged the horses towards the spot where the great archer, Bhima, was fighting with your soldiers. O venerable one! On seeing that Dhrishtadyumna’s chariot was going away, Goutama followed it and showered hundreds of arrows. The scorcher of enemies repeatedly blew on his conch shell. He drove away Parshata, like the great Indra against Shambara.

‘ “The invincible Shikhandi was responsible for Bhishma’s death. In the battle, Hardikya
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smiled repeatedly and repulsed him. Shikhandi advanced against the maharatha from the Hridika lineage and struck him between the shoulder joints with five sharp and iron arrows. Kritavarma became angry and struck him with sixty swift arrows. O king! The maharatha smiled and severed his
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bow with a single arrow. Drupada’s powerful son then grasped another bow and enraged, asked Hardikya to wait. O Indra among kings! He shot ninety arrows that were gold-tufted and extremely forceful. But they were repulsed by his
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armour. On seeing that they were repulsed and fell down on the ground, the powerful one used an extremely sharp kshurapra arrow to sever his bow. When the bow had been severed, he
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was like a bull with shattered horns and he
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angrily struck him in the arms and the chest with eighty arrows. Though he was angry, Kritavarma was mangled by these arrows. The lord picked up another stringed bow and affixing arrows, struck Shikhandi in the shoulder with those supreme arrows. With those arrows sticking to his shoulders, Shikhandi looked beautiful. He was like a giant tree, with sparkling branches and sub-branches. Having severely pierced each other, they were both covered with blood. They were as resplendent as bulls that had wounded each other with their horns. Those two maharathas made supreme efforts to kill each other. They roamed around on their chariots, executing a thousand circular motions. O great king! In that battle, Kritavarma pierced Parshata with seventy arrows that were gold-tufted and had been sharpened on stone. In that encounter, Bhoja, supreme among strikers, quickly released a terrible arrow that was capable of robbing life. O king! Severely struck by this, he
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quickly lost his consciousness. He suddenly lost his senses and grasped the pole of
his standard. His charioteer took the supreme of rathas away from the battle. Tormented by Hardikya’s arrows, he sighed repeatedly. O lord! Drupada’s brave son was defeated. At this, the Pandava soldiers were slaughtered and fled in all directions.” ’

‘S
anjaya said, “O great king! The one on the white horses
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killed your soldiers, like the wind scattering a mass of cotton in every direction. The Trigartas, Shibis, Kouravas, Shalvas, samshaptakas and the army of narayanas combined and attacked him. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were Satyasena, Satyakirti, Mitradeva, Shrutanjaya, Soushruti, Chitrasena and Mitravarma. In that battle, the king of Trigarta was surrounded by his brothers and sons. They were great archers and wielded many kinds of weapons while fighting. In that battle against Arjuna, they released a storm of arrows. They attacked in that encounter, like waves agitated by the wind in the ocean. Hundreds and thousands of warriors attacked Arjuna, but all of them encountered their destruction, like serpents at the sight of Tarkshya.
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O king! But though they were killed in that battle, they did not abandon Pandava. They were scorched, like insects in a fire.

‘ “In that battle, Satyasena pierced Pandava with three arrows, Mitradeva with sixty-three, Chandradeva with seven, Mitravarma with seventy-three, Soushruti with five, Shatrunjaya with twenty and Susharma with nine arrows. He
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killed King Shatrunjaya with arrows sharpened on stone. He severed Soushruti’s helmeted head from his body. He swiftly used arrows to convey Chandradeva to Yama’s eternal abode. O great king! When the other maharathas endeavoured against him, he struck them with five arrows each.
Satyasena became angry in that battle. He roared like a lion and hurled a giant spear towards Krishna. It was extremely terrible and was made completely out of iron. It pierced the great-souled Madhava’s left arm and penetrated the ground. O lord of the earth! Madhava was thus pierced by the spear in that great battle, and the whip and the reins fell down from his hand. However, the immensely illustrious one picked up the whip and the reins again and drove the horses towards Satyasena’s chariot. On seeing that Vishvaksena
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had been pierced, the immensely strong Partha Dhananjaya struck Satyasena with sharp arrows. In the forefront of that army, with extremely sharp arrows, he severed the king’s large head, adorned with earrings, from his body. O venerable one! He then struck and killed Chitravarma with sharp arrows and used a sharp
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arrow to kill his charioteer. He angrily brought down hundreds and thousands from that mass of samshaptakas with hundreds of arrows. With a kshurapra arrow that was silver-tufted, the great-souled and immensely illustrious one severed King Mitradeva’s head. In wrath, he struck Susharma between his shoulder joints. At this, all the samshaptakas surrounded Dhananjaya. They angrily showered him with weapons and roared in the ten directions. Jishnu, who was like Shakra in his valour, was oppressed by them. The maharatha, whose soul was immeasurable, released the
aindra
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weapon. O lord of the earth! Thousands of arrows were released from this. In that encounter, standards, bows, chariots and their flags, quivers with their arrows, axles, yokes, wheels, harnesses, seatings, bumpers and whips were shattered. In that battle, rocks rained down, with a shower of lances. There were clubs, maces, lances and spears. O venerable one! Shataghnis with wheels and arms and thighs fell down, with necklaces, armlets and bracelets. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were golden necklaces and body armour, with umbrellas, whisks and heads adorned with crowns. O lord of the earth! A great sound could be heard there. There were heads ornamented with earrings, with faces like the full moon. They could
be seen lying there, like stars in the firmament. The slain bodies could be seen on the ground. They had excellent garlands and excellent garments and were smeared with sandalwood paste. At that time, the fierce field of battle looked like a city of the gandharvas. Immensely strong princes and kshatriyas were killed. Elephants and swift horses were brought down on the ground. In that battle, they were heaped around like mountains and it became difficult to pass. As the great-souled Pandava slew a large number of the enemy and elephants with his broad-headed arrows, there was no path for him. As he roamed around in that battle, in that red-coloured mud, it was as if the wheels of his own chariot were sinking in distress. But though the wheels seemed to sink, his horses possessed great energy and had the speed of the mind and the wind. They exerted a great effort and dragged along Pandu’s archer son, as he killed those soldiers. None of them could remain stationed in the battle and most of them retreated. In that battle, Jishnu defeated large numbers of samshaptakas. O great king! He was resplendent, like a blazing fire without any smoke.

‘ “O great king! Yudhishthira shot a large number of arrows and King Duryodhana fearlessly received him himself. On seeing that your immensely strong son was violently descending, Dharmaraja asked him to wait and pierced him. He
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pierced him back with nine sharp arrows and, extremely angry, struck his charioteer with a broad-headed arrow. At this, King Yudhishthira shot thirteen arrows at Duryodhana. They were gold-tufted and sharpened on stone and possessed stone heads. The maharatha
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killed his four horses with four arrows and with a fifth, severed his charioteer’s head from his body. With a sixth, he brought down the king’s standard; with a seventh, his bow; and with an eighth, his sword, on the ground. With five more arrows, Dharmaraja severely struck the king. With the horses slain, your son descended from his chariot. He was stationed on the ground and was in supreme danger. On seeing that he was overcome by this calamity, Karna, Drona’s son, Kripa and the others collectively rushed there, wishing to save the king. O king! At this,
all the sons of Pandu surrounded Yudhishthira in the battle and an encounter commenced.

‘ “In that great battle, thousands of trumpets were sounded. O lord of the earth! As the Panchalas clashed against the Kouravas, a tumultuous sound arose. Men clashed against men and elephants against supreme elephants. Rathas clashed against rathas and horses against horse riders. O great king! Duels could be witnessed in that encounter. As supreme weapons were used, the sight was wonderful and unthinkable. They wished to kill each other and fought with great force, killing each other in that battle and following the vow of warriors. In that encounter, for a short while, no one attacked from the rear and it was beautiful to see. O king! But it soon became crazy and no one followed codes of honour. As they roamed around in the field of battle, rathas attacked elephants and dispatched them to Yama, using straight-tufted arrows. Elephants attacked horses and brought down large numbers of them there, fiercely driving them away. O king! Having driven away large numbers of horses, the elephants were intoxicated with their strength and gored them with their tusks or severely crushed them. In that battle, they pierced horse riders and horses with their tusks. Others picked them up powerfully and flung them down with great force. In every direction, there were elephants that were struck by foot soldiers in their weak spots. They uttered fierce woes of lamentation and fled in the ten directions. In that great battle, foot soldiers were violently driven away. In the field of battle, there were many who quickly discarded their ornaments. Having determined that this was a sign, the giant elephants picked up those expensive ornaments and pierced them.
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Other elephants were severely wounded in their temples and the bases of their tusks by lances and spears. Others were sorely and fiercely struck along their sides with clubs hurled by rathas and horse riders. They were shattered and fell down on the ground. There were other giant elephants that powerfully brought charioteers and horse riders down on the ground, with their armour and their flags. O venerable
one! In that great battle, some elephants assumed terrible forms. They approached rathas and picking them up, hurled them down violently. Giant elephants were killed by iron arrows and brought down. They lay down on the ground, like mountain peaks shattered by thunder. In the battle, warriors encountered warriors and struck each other with their fists. They dragged and seized each other by the hair. Others sought to use their arms and flung the foe down on the ground. They placed their feet on their chests and cheerfully severed their heads. O great king! With their feet, some kicked those that were already dead. Others used weapons to sever the bodies of those who were alive but dying. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that spot, warriors fought great fights with their fists. They fiercely seized each other by the hair and there were others who only wrestled. In that battle, there were many who were killed with weapons while they were fighting with another and were therefore ignorant.
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The warriors were thus engaged in that frightful encounter. Hundreds and thousands of headless torsos stood there. The weapons and armour were red. And in that great arena, so were the garments. Thus did that great and fierce battle rage on and filled the universe with a sound like that of violent waves. O king! Oppressed by arrows, they could not distinguish those on one’s own side from that of the enemy. O great king! Desiring victory, the kings fought as they should and killed those who advanced against them, whether they were from their own side or from the side of the enemy. As they advanced, the warriors on both sides were anxious. O great king! The chariots were shattered and the elephants were brought down. The horses were brought down and the men fell. The earth was covered with flesh, blood and mud and became impassable. O great king! In a short instant, there were currents of blood. Karna killed the Panchalas and Dhananjaya killed the Trigartas. O king! Bhimasena killed the Kurus and their entire army of elephants. O great king! In this way, there was carnage among the soldiers of the Kurus and the Pandavas, as they clashed in the afternoon, desiring a great victory.” ’