Mahabharata: Volume 7 (44 page)

‘S
anjaya said, “When that large army had returned, Shalva, the lord of large numbers of mlecchas, became extremely angry and attacked the large army of the Pandus. He was astride an extremely large elephant. It possessed shattered temples and was like a mountain. It was as proud as Airavata
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and was capable of crushing large numbers of the enemy. It had been born in an extremely noble lineage and had always been worshipped, extremely well, by Dhritarashtra’s son. O king! It was equipped well and had been well trained for fighting, by those who knew about war. The supreme among kings was resplendent astride it. He was like a rising sun, at the end of summer. O king! On that supreme elephant, he advanced against the sons of Pandu. From every direction, he enveloped them with sharp arrows that were extremely terrible, like the great Indra’s vajra. O king! In the great battle, he shot arrows and conveyed warriors to Yama. No one, on his side or that of the enemy, could discern any weakness in him, like the daityas in ancient times, against the wielder of the vajra. The Pandavas, Somakas and Srinjayas seemed to see that elephant in every direction, as if the single elephant was roaming around and was actually one thousand. It was like the great Indra’s elephant. The enemy’s army was driven away. Failing to find protection, they ran away in different directions. They were incapable of remaining in the battle. Severely afflicted by fear, they crushed each other. That large army of the Pandavas was violently routed by that lord of men. Unable to withstand the force of that king of elephants, they swiftly fled in the four directions. On seeing that they were powerfully routed, all the warriors and supreme fighters on your side honoured that lord of men. They blew on conch shells that were as white as the moon. The delighted roars emitted by the Kouravas mingled with the blare of conch shells. On hearing this, the commander of the Pandavas and the Srinjayas
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could not tolerate this
and became angry. Desiring to obtain a quick victory, the great-souled one advanced against the elephant. He was like Jambha advancing against Airavata, the king of elephants and Indra’s mount, during the clash with Shakra. O king! On seeing that the king of Panchala, Drupada’s son, was violently attacking, the lion among men goaded the elephant, so as to kill him. The elephant attacked powerfully. He pierced it with three sharp iron arrows that were like the fire to the touch. They had been washed by artisans and were fierce and powerful. The great-souled one then used five other sharp and iron arrows to strike it on its frontal lobe. Having been severely pierced in the battle, that supreme elephant retreated and fled. While that king among elephants was speedily running away, Shalva restrained it. He swiftly used his goad to propel it towards the chariot of the king of Panchala. On seeing that the elephant was violently advancing, the brave Dhrishtadyumna quickly descended from his chariot. He swiftly grasped a club and stood on the ground, his limbs benumbed with fear. That giant elephant used its trunk to pick up his gold-decorated chariot, with the horses and the charioteer, and violently crushed it down on the ground. The charioteer of the king of Panchala was thus destroyed by that supreme elephant. On seeing this, Bhima, Shikhandi and Shini’s grandson hastily rushed towards it. While they advanced against the elephant, he
⁹
afflicted them with powerful and forceful arrows. In the battle, those rathas restrained the elephant and it began to waver. The king continued to shower down arrows from every direction, like the sun with its net of rays. Struck by those arrows, a large number of rathas fled in every direction. O king! On beholding Shalva’s deed in the battle, loud sounds of lamentation arose among all the Panchalas, Matsyas and Srinjayas. But those best of archers surrounded the elephant from all sides. The brave king of Panchala spiritedly grasped a club that was like a mountain top. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Without any fear and with great speed, that brave slayer of enemies struck the elephant. The elephant was like a cloud and it was exuding musth. It fell down on the ground. The spirited son of the Panchala king struck it severely
with the club. Its temples were violently shattered and it began to vomit blood from its mouth. The elephant fell down on the ground, like a mountain dislodged during an earthquake. When that king of elephants fell down, lamentations arose among your son’s soldiers. The foremost among the Shini lineage then used a sharp and broad-headed arrow to sever King Shalva’s head. The head was severed by Satvata in the battle and fell down on the ground, together with the king of elephants. It was as if a giant mountain peak had been shattered by the vajra, unleashed by the lord of the gods.” ’

‘S
anjaya said, “When the brave Shalva, the ornament of an assembly, was killed, that army was agitated, like a giant tree struck by a forceful storm. On seeing that the army was routed, the immensely strong and valiant maharatha Kritavarma resisted the soldiers of the enemy in the battle. O king! The descendant of the Satvata lineage
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was stationed in the battle and was enveloped with arrows. On seeing this, the brave ones
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returned and a battle between the Kurus and the Pandavas commenced. O great king! They did not retreat and preferred death over retreat. There was a wonderful battle between Satvata and the enemy. Single-handedly, he countered the Pandu soldiers, who were difficult to resist. On witnessing this, other well-wishers performed extremely difficult deeds. They cheerfully roared like lions and that great sound rose up to heaven. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The Panchalas were frightened by that noise. However, Shini’s grandson, the mighty-armed Satyaki, attacked. He advanced against the immensely strong Kshemadhurti, and using seven sharp arrows, conveyed him to Yama’s abode. The mighty-armed descendant of the Shini lineage tormented with sharp arrows. As he attacked, Hardikya rushed against him, terrible and
fierce. Those two archers, best among rathas, roared like lions. They rushed against each other, wielding the best of weapons. The Pandavas, the Panchalas, other warriors and the best of kings became spectators to that clash between those two lions among men. The maharathas from the Vrishni and Andhaka lineages used vatsadantas and iron arrows. Like cheerful elephants, they tried to kill each other. Hardikya and the bull among the Shini lineage roamed around in diverse motions. They repeatedly struck each other with showers of arrows. Those lions from the Vrishni lineage stretched their bows with force and strength and shot arrows. We saw these in the sky, travelling fast, like insects. Hridika’s son approached the one who was the performer of truthful deeds
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and used four sharp arrows to pierce his four horses. The long-armed one became angry, like an elephant struck with a goad. He used eight supreme arrows to pierce Kritavarma. Kritavarma stretched his bow back all the way up to his ears. Piercing Satyaki with three arrows, he severed his bow with another one. When that best of bows was severed, the bull among the Shini lineage picked up another bow with an arrow affixed to it. Shini’s descendant, best among all archers, picked up that best of bows with great speed. The immensely valorous, immensely intelligent and immensely strong one was unable to tolerate the fact that his bow had been severed by Kritavarma. Enraged, the atiratha speedily attacked Kritavarma. Using ten extremely sharp arrows, the bull among the Shini lineage struck Kritavarma’s charioteer, horses and standard. His gold-decorated chariot, horses and charioteer were destroyed. O king! O venerable one! On seeing this, the great archer, maharatha Kritavarma, was overcome by great rage and picked up a javelin. With the force of his arms, he hurled this towards the bull among the Shini lineage, wishing to kill him. But Satvata shattered the javelin with his sharp arrows. Shattered, it fell down, and Madhava
¹³
was confused. His horses had been slain. His charioteer had been killed. In the encounter, Yuyudhana,
¹⁴
skilled in
the use of weapons, used a broad-headed arrow to strike him in the chest. Kritavarma fell down on the ground. In the duel, the brave one was deprived of his chariot by Satyaki. At this, all the soldiers
¹⁵
were overcome by great fear and your sons were miserable, because Kritavarma had been deprived of his chariot and his horses and charioteer had been slain. The horses of that scorcher of enemies had been killed. His charioteer had been slain. O king! On seeing this, Kripa attacked the bull among the Shini lineage, wishing to kill him. While all the archers looked on, the mighty-armed one swiftly picked him up on his own chariot and bore him away from the field of battle. O king! Kritavarma had been deprived of his chariot and Shini’s descendant remained stationed there. All of Duryodhana’s soldiers again became reluctant to fight. Because they were covered in dust, the soldiers could no longer discern the enemy. O king! With the exception of King Duryodhana, those on your side ran away. Duryodhana was nearby and saw that his own army had been routed. O venerable one! Angered, he quickly attacked all the Pandus, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, Shikhandi, Droupadi’s sons, the large numbers of Panchalas, the Kekayas, the Somakas and the Panchalas
¹⁶
and countered them. He was fearless and unassailable and repulsed them with sharp weapons. Your immensely strong son endeavoured and remained stationed in the battle. He was as resplendent as the great fire on a sacrificial altar, invoked with mantras. In the battle, the enemy was incapable of approaching him, like mortal beings against Death. Hardikya ascended another chariot and attacked.” ’

‘S
anjaya said, “O great king! Your son, supreme among rathas, was stationed on his chariot in the battle. He was resplendent
and difficult to resist, like the powerful Rudra. The earth was covered with thousands of his arrows. He showered the enemy with arrows, like rain pouring down on a mountain. In the great battle, there wasn’t a man among the Pandavas, or a horse, elephant or a ratha, who was not wounded by his arrows. O lord of the earth! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Whichever warrior I saw in the encounter was struck by your son with his arrows. The soldiers in the army
¹⁷
were covered by dust and were seen to be mangled by the great-souled one’s arrows. O lord of the earth! The earth seemed to be made out of arrows that were released by the archer Duryodhana, swift in the use of his hands. Among the thousands of warriors on your side, or that of the enemy, it seemed to me that Duryodhana was the only man. We beheld your son’s wonderful valour. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He was single-handed. But the united Parthas could not advance against him. O bull among the Bharata lineage! He pierced Yudhishthira with one hundred arrows, Bhimasena with seventy, Sahadeva with seven, Nakula with sixty-four, Dhrishtadyumna with five, Droupadi’s sons with seven each and pierced Satyaki with three. O venerable one! He severed Sahadeva’s bow with a broad-headed arrow. Casting aside the severed bow, Madri’s powerful son picked up another great bow and attacked the king. In the battle, he pierced Duryodhana with ten arrows. The brave and great archer, Nakula, pierced the king with nine arrows and roared, assuming a terrible form. Satyaki struck the king with an arrow with drooping tufts. Droupadi’s sons struck him with seveny-three and Dharmaraja with seven. Bhimasena struck the king with eighty arrows. He was afflicted from every direction by storms of arrows shot by those great-souled ones. O great king! However, while all the soldiers looked on, he did not waver. All the beings and all the men witnessed the dexterity, skill and prowess of the great-souled one. O Indra among kings! Some sons of Dhritarashtra had only fled a short distance away. On seeing the king, those armoured ones surrounded him. When they attacked, they created a tumultuous sound. It was like
a turbulent ocean on a monsoon night. In the battle, those great archers approached the unvanquished king and counter-attacked the Pandava assassins.

‘ “In the encounter, Drona’s son repulsed the enraged Bhimasena. O great king! Arrows were released in all the directions. The brave ones could not be distinguished in the battle, nor the directions or the sub-directions. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Both of those resplendent ones
¹⁸
were the performers of cruel deeds and were extremely difficult to resist. They assumed fearful forms and fought, acting and neutralizing each other. The entire universe was terrified because of the twangs of their bows and their words. In the battle, the brave Shakuni attacked Yudhishthira. Subala’s powerful son slew the four horses that belonged to the lord and roared. This made all the soldiers tremble. At that time, the powerful Sahadeva bore the brave and unvanquished king
¹⁹
away from the field of battle on his chariot. Dharmaraja Yudhishthira ascended another chariot. He pierced Shakuni with nine arrows and pierced him again with five. The best among all archers then roared loudly. O venerable one! The battle was wonderful and fearful in form. It generated delight among the spectators and was applauded by the siddhas and the charanas. Uluka, immeasurable in his soul, attacked the great archer, Nakula, invincible in battle, and showered him with arrows from every direction. In that way, the brave Nakula repulsed Soubala’s son in the encounter and repulsed him with a great shower of arrows. They were brave maharathas, born in noble lineages. They were seen to fight with each other, enraged with each other. O king! In that way, Kritavarma fought against Shini’s descendant, the tormentor of enemies, and was resplendent, like Shakra in an encounter against Bala. In the battle, Duryodhana severed Dhrishtadyumna’s bow. When his bow had been severed, he pierced him with sharp arrows. While all the archers looked on, in that encounter, Dhrishtadyumna grasped a supreme weapon and fought against the king. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The clash between those two was exceedingly
great. They were like two supreme and crazy elephants, with shattered temples, exuding musth. In the battle, the brave Goutama became angry and pierced Droupadi’s immensely strong sons with many arrows with drooping tufts. That clash between them and him was like that between a being and the senses.
²⁰
It assumed a fierce and terrible form and neither side was inclined to show mercy. They afflicted him, like senses oppressing a stupid person. He angrily fought against them in that battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Thus the colourful battle between them and him raged on. O lord! It was like the one that always takes place between a being and the senses.

‘ “Men fought with men. Tuskers fought with tuskers. Horses clashed against horses and rathas against rathas. O lord of the earth! The battle became tumultuous and fearful in form. O lord! It was wonderful in one spot and terrible and fierce in another. O great king! There were many terrible clashes. Those scorchers of enemies clashed against each other in the encounter. They pierced, struck and killed each other in the great encounter. Because of the weapons, a terrible dust was seen to rise. O king! As they ran away, it was also created by the horses and the horse riders and was fanned by the wind. The dust was created by the chariots and the breaths of the tuskers. It was like a tawny cloud in the evening and obstructed the path of the sun. The sun was covered by the dust and lost its brilliance. The earth and the brave maharathas were shrouded. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! But in a short while, the earth was sprinkled with the blood of the brave ones and, in every direction, became free of the dust. That terrible dust, fierce in form, was pacified. O great king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Those extremely fearful duels could again be seen, as the best and the eldest fought against each other at midday. O Indra among kings! The armour was seen to blaze in resplendent brilliance. As arrows descended in that battle, a tumultuous sound was raised. It was as if a large forest of bamboos was being burnt in every direction.” ’