Mahabharata: Volume 8

by Debroy, Bibek

  ‘“They laughed in many kinds of ways. They slapped their arms and roared loudly. They played musical instruments. All this made the universe resound. Those extremely radiant ones praised Mahadeva and approached Drona’s great-souled son, increasing his glory. They wished to test his energy and witness the carnage in the night. They had terrible and fierce clubs, tridents and swords in their hands. Those large numbers of demons were terrible in form and approached from every direction. On seeing them, fear was generated in the three worlds. However, on seeing them, the immensely strong one wasn’t distressed. Drona’s son had a bow in his hand. There were guards made from the skins of lizards on his fingers. He offered himself as a sacrifice to the one to whom sacrifices were offered.85 Bows and arrows were the sacred kindling there. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that act of sacrifice, his own self was the oblation. Drona’s powerful son used mantras of pacification. In great anger, he offered himself as a sacrifice to the one to whom sacrifices are offered. The undecaying Rudra is the performer of terrible deeds. Having performed this terrible deed, he joined his hands in salutation. Worshipping the great-souled one, he said, ‘I have been born in the lineage of Angirasa. I am offering myself as a sacrifice. O illustrious one! I am offering myself as an oblation into the fire. Please accept me as a sacrifice. O Mahadeva! Devotedly, I am offering myself to you, as supreme kindling. With you in front of me, I am doing this in this time of difficulty. You are the soul of the universe. All beings are in you and you are in all beings. All the chief qualities are combined and vested in you. O lord! You are the refuge of all beings. I am offering myself as an oblation to you. O god! Accept me, since I am unable to defeat the enemy.’ Having spoken these words, Drona’s son ascended the altar, into the blazing fire. Overcome by anger, he controlled his soul and entered the one with the black trails.86 He presented himself as an oblation, with his arms raised up.

  ‘“On seeing him immobile, the illustrious Mahadeva himself smiled and said, ‘Krishna, who is unblemished in his deeds, has worshipped me through truth, purity, sincerity, yoga, austerities, rituals, endurance, devotion, fortitude, intelligence and speech. Because of this, there is no one who is dearer to me than Krishna. I have tested you so as to show him honour. I have protected the Panchalas and exhibited many different kinds of maya. I have protected the Panchalas and have shown him honour. However, they have been overtaken by destiny and can no longer remain alive now.’ Having spoken these words to the great archer, the illustrious one entered his body.87 Before entering, he gave him a supreme and sparkling sword. Penetrated by that illustrious one, he again blazed in energy. Because of the energy created by the divinity, his body became powerful. As he attacked and advanced towards the camp of the enemy, many invisible beings protected him. He was like the lord of the gods88 himself.”’

  Chapter 1291(8)

  ‘Dhritarashtra asked, “When Drona’s maharatha son headed towards the camp, were Kripa and Bhoja frightened? Did they retreat? Were they restrained by the inferior guards and did they run away? Did those maharathas think that they89 were irresistible and refrain? Or did they crush the camp and kill the Somakas and the Pandavas? Did they follow Duryodhana’s supreme footsteps in the encounter? Were they slain by the Panchalas and did they lie down on the ground? What tasks did those two accomplish? O Sanjaya! Tell me that.”

  ‘Sanjaya replied, “Drona’s great-souled son headed towards the camp and Kripa and Kritavarma stationed themselves at the gate of the camp. O king! On seeing that those two maharathas were ready to make efforts, Ashvatthama was delighted and softly spoke these words. ‘If the two of you try, you are sufficient to destroy all the kshatriyas, not to speak of the remaining warriors, especially when they are asleep. I will penetrate the camp and roam around like Death, so that not a single man escapes from me with his life.’ Having said this, Drona’s son penetrated the large camp of the Parthas. Casting aside all fear, he entered through a spot where there was no gate. The mighty-armed one knew the spot and entered. He quietly approached Dhrishtadyumna’s abode. Having performed great deeds in the battle, they90 were extremely exhausted and slept at ease, surrounded by their own soldiers. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He entered Dhrishtadyumna’s abode. Drona’s son saw that Panchala91 was lying down, as if he was dead. He was on a large and excellent bed, covered by an expensive and silken sheet. This was covered with excellent garlands and was fragrant with the aroma of incense. The great-souled one was calmly sleeping, devoid of any fear. O lord of the earth! He awoke the sleeping one with a kick of his foot. With the touch of the foot, the one who was indomitable in battle awoke. The one with an immeasurable soul recognized Drona’s maharatha son. As he was rising from his bed, the immensely strong Ashvatthama seized him by his hair and pressed him down on the ground with his hands. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He was crushed down with great force. Because of consternation and sleep, Panchala was unable to resist then. O king! He pressed him down on his throat and his chest with both his feet. Though he roared and writhed, he92 was about to kill him like an animal. He tore at Drona’s son with his nails and gently said, ‘O son of the preceptor! Slay me with your weapon. Do not delay. O best among men! By doing this, let me go the worlds of the virtuous.’ Having heard the words that he had spoken, Drona’s son replied, ‘O worst of your lineage! There is no world for those who slay their preceptor. O evil-minded one! You do not deserve to be killed by any weapon.’ Having spoken thus, like a lion against an elephant, he angrily struck the brave one in his inner organs with extremely fierce kicks of his feet. O great king! As he was being killed in that abode, the brave one’s cries woke up the women and the guards. They saw that his body was being crushed by someone with superhuman valour and took that being to be a demon. Therefore, out of fear, they did not raise an alarm. Having dispatched him to Yama’s eternal abode, the energetic one approached his extremely handsome chariot and ascended it. O king! He emerged from that abode and made the directions resound. The powerful one left for other parts of the camp on the chariot, wishing to kill the enemy.

  ‘“When Drona’s maharatha son had left, all the women and the guards let out cries of lamentation. On seeing that the king, Dhrishtadyumna, had been killed, they were overcome with great sorrow. On hearing their shrieks, all the kshatriyas awoke. The bulls among kshatriyas swiftly approached and asked, ‘What has happened? Tell us.’ O king! The women had been terrified at the sight of Bharadvaja’s descendant.93 In distressed voices that choked with tears, they said, ‘Swiftly follow him. We do not know whether it was a rakshasa or a human. He has killed the king of Panchala and is now stationed on his chariot.’ At this, the foremost among warriors violently surrounded him. On seeing that they were descending on him, he uprooted all of them with rudrastra.94 Having slain Dhrishtadyumna and all his followers, he saw that Uttamouja was sleeping nearby, on his bed. He attacked him and forcefully pressed down on his throat and his chest with his feet. He thus killed that scorcher of enemies, while he was shrieking. Thinking that he had been killed by a rakshasa, Yudhamanyu approached. He raised a club and powerfully struck Drona’s son in the chest. However, he95 rushed towards him, and seizing him, flung him down on the ground. As he writhed, he slew him like an animal. Having slain that brave one, he attacked the others. O Indra among kings! Wherever those maharathas slept, quivered, trembled and strove, he killed them like animals at a sacrifice. He grasped his sword and separately killed many others. Skilled in fighting with the sword, he roamed along different paths in various parts of the camp. He saw army divisions and killed those who were sleeping in the midst of those divisions. They were exhausted and had cast aside their weapons. He uprooted all of them in a short instant. With that supreme sword, he brought down warriors, horses and elephants. All his limbs were covered with blood and he was like Death, created by Destiny. Drona’s son raised his sword and made them tremble. He struck them with three different motions of the sword96 and was covered in blood. He was covered in red and fought wi
th that blazing sword. His form was superhuman and he was resplendent and extremely terrible. O Kouravya! Those who were awakened were confused by the noise. On seeing Drona’s son, they were distressed and glanced towards each other. On beholding his form, the kshatriyas, the destroyers of enemies, thought that he was a rakshasa and closed their eyes. Assuming a terrible form like Yama, he roamed around in that camp.

  ‘“He saw Droupadi’s sons and the remaining Somakas. O lord of the earth! Frightened by the noise and hearing that Dhrishtadyumna had been killed, Droupadi’s maharatha sons grasped bows in their hands. Without any fear, they countered Bharadvaja’s son with storms of arrows. The Prabhadrakas awoke. With loud roars, they and Shikhandi struck Drona’s son with arrows that possessed stone heads. On seeing that they were raining down showers of arrows, Bharadvaja’s descendant roared powerfully and wished to kill the ones who were extremely difficult to defeat. Remembering the death of his father, he became extremely angry. He swiftly descended from his chariot and rushed against them. In that encounter, he picked up a giant shield that had the marks of one thousand moons and also a large and shining sword that was decorated with gold. With that sword, the powerful one roamed around and attacked Droupadi’s sons. O king! In that encounter, the tiger among men struck Prativindhya97 in the abdomen and killed him. Slain, he fell down on the ground. The powerful Sutasoma98 struck Drona’s son with a javelin and again attacked Drona’s son with a sword. However, the bull among men severed Sutasoma’s arm, with the sword in it. He struck him again in the side and with his heart shattered, he fell down. Nakula’s valiant son, Shatanika, picked up a chariot wheel. Using both his hands, he flung it with great force and struck him99 in the chest. However, after the wheel had been flung, the brahmana attacked Shatanika. He lost his senses and fell down on the ground and he severed his head.100 Shrutakarma101 picked up a club and attacked him. He attacked Drona’s son and severely struck him on the left side of his head. However, with that supreme sword, he struck Shrutakarma on his face. Slain and bereft of his senses, he fell down on the ground, with his face disfigured. At this sound, the brave Shrutakirti102 seized a giant bow. He attacked Ashvatthama and countered him with a shower of arrows. However, he countered that shower of arrows with his shield. O king! He then severed his head, with the earrings, from his body. The slayer of Bhishma,103 together with all the Prabhadrakas, armed themselves with many weapons and attacked the brave and powerful one from all sides. He104 used his bow to strike him between the eyebrows with an arrow with a stone head. At this, Drona’s extremely powerful son was filled with great rage. He attacked Shikhandi and cut him down into two pieces with his sword. Having killed Shikhandi, the scorcher of enemies was enraged and powerfully attacked all the large numbers of Prabhadrakas. He also attacked the remaining troops in Virata’s army. Wherever the immensely strong one saw the sons, grandsons and well-wishers of Drupada, he created a terrible carnage. He attacked many other men and killed them, one after the other. Drona’s son was skilled in executing motions with the sword and struck them down with his sword.

  ‘“They saw Kali,105 with red eyes and a red mouth, adorned in red garlands and smeared with crimson paste. She was attired in a single red garment and had a noose in her hand. She had a tuft on her head. They saw that dark night stationed before them, as if she was smiling. She seemed to have tied up men, horses and elephants in a terrible bond. She seemed to tie up many dead bodies with nooses in their hair and bear them away. O venerable one! The foremost among warriors were sleeping and in their dreams saw them borne away by the night, as they were constantly struck by Drona’s son. Since the battle between the Kuru and the Pandava soldiers had commenced, they had always seen that female deity and Drona’s son in their dreams. They had already been slain by destiny and later, they were brought down by Drona’s son. He roared frightfully and terrified all the beings. Those brave ones remembered the Kali that they had seen earlier. As they were oppressed by destiny, that is what they thought. Because of those roars, hundreds and thousands of archers in the camp of the Pandaveyas woke up. Like Death created by Destiny, he severed the feet of some and the thighs of others. He shattered the flanks of others. As they were crushed severely, they emitted piteous sounds of lamentation. O lord! The earth was covered by them and there were others who were crushed by elephants and horses. Some exclaimed, ‘What is this? Who is this? What is this noise? Who has done this?’ As they wailed thus, Drona’s son became their destroyer. He angrily destroyed the Pandus and the Srinjayas, who were without weapons and armour. Drona’s son, supreme among strikers, dispatched them to the world of the dead. They were without weapons and awoke, overcome by fear. Some were blind with sleep and bereft of their senses. They seemed to vanish there.106 Some were paralysed in their thighs. Others were full of lassitude and lost their energy. They lamented in great fright and began to kill each other. Drona’s son once again ascended his chariot, the one that made a thunderous noise. With the bow in his hand, he used arrows to dispatch many others to Yama’s eternal abode. Other best among men sought to approach him again. But while they were still at a distance, those brave ones were offered up to that terrible night. He crushed many with that fierce chariot. He showered the enemy with many diverse kinds of arrows. Yet again, he grasped that extremely wonderful shield marked with the signs of one hundred moons107 and the sword that possessed the complexion of the sky, and roamed around. In that encounter in the camp, Drona’s son was indomitable. O Indra among kings! He agitated them, like an elephant in a large lake. O king! Many warriors were awoken by the noise, still somewhat unconscious. They were afflicted by sleep. They were afflicted by fear. They ran around, here and there. There were those who couldn’t find a voice and others who shrieked. There were those who screamed a lot and those who screamed little. Some could not find their weapons and their garments. Others had dishevelled hair and could not recognize each other. There were others who awoke and were terrified. Some wandered around aimlessly. Some released excrement. Others released urine. O Indra among kings! The horses and the elephants tore off their bonds. Others clung to each other and crated a great melee. Some men were frightened and lay down on the ground. As they fell down there, the elephants and the horses crushed them.

  ‘“O bull among men! While this was going on, the rakshasas were satisfied and screamed in delight. O best among the Bharata lineage! O king! The large number of delighted demons emitted roars and filled all the directions and the sky with that loud noise. On hearing the woes of lamentation, the elephants and horses were frightened. O king! They freed themselves and as they fled, they crushed the men in the camp. As they ran here and there, a dust arose from their feet and this doubled the darkness of the night in the camp. Because of the darkness that was created, all the people were confounded. They could no longer recognize their fathers and their sons. Nor did brothers recognize their brothers. Elephants attacked elephants that were without riders and horses attacked horses. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! They attacked, broke and crushed each other there. As they were mangled and fell down, they killed each other. As they fell down, they brought down others and crushed them. The men were unconscious, sleepy and covered in darkness. Driven by destiny there, they killed those on their own side. Those in charge of gates abandoned the gates. Those in charge of divisions abandoned the divisions. To the best of their capacity, they fled. They were unconscious and no longer knew the directions. O lord! Without knowing, they destroyed each other. Their senses robbed by destiny, they cried out for their fathers and their sons. As they fled in various directions, they abandoned those on their own side and their relatives. Other men screamed and called out to each other by the names of their lineages. There were others who lamented as they fell down on the ground. Drona’s son was crazy in that encounter. Recognizing them, he brought them down.

  ‘“There were others who were repeatedly struck and lost their senses. Those kshatriyas were afflicted by fear and tried to run away from the camp. Terrified and s
eeking to preserve their lives, they emerged from the camp. In the vicinity of the gate, they were killed by Kritavarma and Kripa. They were devoid of weapons, implements and armour. Their hair was dishevelled and they joined their hands in salutation. They trembled on the ground and were terrified. They begged to be set free. O great king! But those who emerged outside the camp were not set free by the evil-minded Kripa and Hardikya. They also wanted to do that which would please Drona’s son. Therefore, in three places, they set fire to the camp. O great king! When the camp was thus lit, Ashvatthama, the one who delighted his father, roamed around with the sword, exhibiting the dexterity of his hands. Some brave ones attacked, others ran away. The best of brahmanas used his sword to rob all those men of their lives. The valiant one severed some warriors in the middle with his sword. Drona’s son angrily brought them down, as if they were stalks of sesamum. Men, horses and the best of elephants shrieked in grievous tones. O bull among the Bharata lineage! They fell down and were strewn all over the ground. Thousands of men were slain and fell down. There were many headless torsos which were seen to rise and then fall down again. Arms with weapons and armlets, and heads, were severed. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were thighs that were like the trunks of elephants, and arms and feet. The backs of some were mangled, and the heads of others. The flanks of others were mangled. Drona’s son attacked them all, while some retreated. He severed the bodies of some men at the middle and sliced off the ears of others. He struck others on the shoulders and pressed down the heads of some into their bodies. While he roamed around, slaughtering many men, the terrible night was covered in darkness and seemed to become even more fearful. Some still had some life left. Other men were slain in thousands. There were innumerable elephants and horses on the ground and it looked terrible. It was full of yakshas108 and rakshasas. It was terrible because of the chariots, the horses and the elephants. As Drona’s son angrily severed them, they fell down on the ground. Some screamed for their mothers, others for their fathers, and still others for their brothers.