Chapter 1000(23)
‘Dhritarashtra said, “Those rathas who returned to the battle, with Vrikodara at the forefront, were capable of afflicting even the soldiers of the gods. A man is certainly driven by destiny. That is the reason why different outcomes result from all action. That is the reason Yudhishthira had to spend a long time in the forest, wearing matted hair and antelope skin, and also had to remain undetected to people. He has now assembled a mighty army in this battle. What can befall my sons, other than what is determined by destiny? It is certain that a man’s fortune is determined by destiny. He is compelled to do what he does not himself desire. Yudhishthira suffered hardship because of his addiction to gambling. It is again because of fortune that he has now obtained allies. ‘I have obtained half of the Kekayas,61 the Kashis and the Kosalas. The Chedis, the Vangas and others have sought refuge with me. O father! The entire earth is on my side and not on that of the Parthas.’ This is what my evil-minded son, Duryodhana, told me then. Drona was protected well, in the midst of the soldiers. If he has been killed by Parshata’s son, what can this be other than destiny? The mighty-armed one was in the midst of the kings and has always delighted in battle. He was skilled in the use of all weapons. How could death have approached Drona? I am confronting distress and have been overcome by supreme senselessness. On hearing that Bhishma and Drona have been slain, I have no interest in remaining alive any more. O son!62 On beholding my affection for my son, Kshatta63 had spoken to me. O suta! Duryodhana and I are now confronted with all of that. Had I abandoned Duryodhana, it would have been supremely cruel. But my remaining sons would not have faced hardship and death. If a man gives up dharma and is addicted to artha, he confronts decay in this world and falls prey to inferior sentiments. O Sanjaya! With the bow and hump64 of this kingdom destroyed, it has lost all enterprise. I see that nothing will be left. Those two forgiving bulls among men were always our refuge. When they have been destroyed, how can anything be left? Tell me details about how that battle raged. Who were the ones who fought? Who were the ones who attacked? Which inferior ones fled out of fear? Tell me what Dhananjaya, bull among rathas, did. We are scared of him and especially of his brother.65 O Sanjaya! When the Pandavas returned, there must have been an extremely terrible confrontation between them and my remaining soldiers. Which brave ones on my side countered them there?”’
Chapter 1001(24)66
‘Sanjaya said, “The Pandus returned and we were immersed in great terror. Drona was enveloped, like the sun by the clouds. They raised a terrible cloud of dust and covered your army. On seeing this and on our sight having been obstructed, we thought that Drona had been slain. Those brave and great archers desired to commit a cruel deed.67 On seeing this, Duryodhana quickly urged all his soldiers. ‘O lords of men! Use the utmost of your strengths, the utmost of your enterprise, the utmost of your spirits. Engage yourselves according to your tasks and restrain the Pandava formations.’ Your son, Durmarshana, saw that Bhima was advancing. Wishing to save Drona’s life, he covered him with a shower of arrows. Like death in that battle, he angrily assailed him with arrows. Bhima also attacked him with arrows and a great and fierce battle raged between them. Wise, brave and armed warriors were instructed by their lords. Outwardly giving up all fear of death, they attacked the enemy. O lord of the earth! Wishing to save Drona, Kritavarma, the ornament of any assembly, repulsed Shini’s brave son.68 As Shini’s descendant angrily advanced, he wrathfully showered him with arrows. Kritavarma acted against Shini’s descendant, like a mad elephant against another crazy one. Saindhava, fierce with the bow and a great archer, used a shower of arrows to fall upon Kshatradharma, when he endeavoured to attack Drona. Kshatradharma severed the standard and bow of the lord of Sindhu. He angrily used many iron arrows to pierce him in all his inner organs. Saindhava displayed the dexterity of his hands and grasped another bow. In that battle, he pierced Kshatradharma with arrows that were made completely out of iron. For the sake of the Pandavas, the brave maharatha Yuyutsu sought to attack Drona, but was countered by his brother, Subahu. Yuyutsu used two sharp and yellow arrows that were as sharp as razors to slice off the arms of his younger brother, Subahu. Those arms were like clubs and held a bow and arrows.69 King Yudhishthira was the best of the Pandavas and had dharma in his soul. The king of Madra countered him, like the shoreline against a turbulent ocean. Dharmaraja pierced him with many arrows that could penetrate the inner organs and the lord of Madra severely wounded him with sixty-four arrows and roared. But while he was still roaring, the best of the Pandavas sliced down his standard and bow with two razor-sharp arrows and all the people shouted in applause. King Bahlika, with his army, used arrows to counter King Drupada, with his army. Together with their soldiers, these two aged ones fought a terrible battle. This was like that between two gigantic leaders of herds of elephants, with shattered temples. Vinda and Anuvinda from Avanti countered Virata of Matsya, with his soldiers and his army, like Agni against Bali in ancient times.70 That disorderly encounter between the Matsyas and the Kekayas was like that between the gods and the asuras. Horses, charioteers and elephants fought fearlessly.
‘“In that battle, Bhutakarma, the lord of assemblies, used a net of arrows to prevent Nakula’s son, Shatanika, from advancing against Drona. Nakula’s heir used three extremely sharp and broad-headed arrows and in that battle, deprived Bhutakarma of his two arms and his head. The valiant Sutasoma was advancing towards Drona. But the brave Vivimshati repulsed him with a shower of arrows. However, Sutasoma was enraged and armoured. He pierced Vivimshati, his own paternal uncle, with straight-tufted arrows. Bhimaratha used six swift arrows that were completely made out of iron and dispatched Shalva, together with his horses and charioteer, to Yama’s abode.71 O great king! As your grandson, Shrutakarma, advanced on horses that looked like peacocks, Chitrasena’s son countered him. Those two grandsons of yours were invincible and wished to kill each other to accomplish the objectives of their respective fathers and fought a supreme battle. On seeing that Prativindhya was stationed at the forefront of that battle, Drona’s son desired to show honour to his father and obstructed him with arrows. Prativindhya was enraged at this and pierced the one who was stationed so as to protect his father, and bore the signs of a lion’s tail on his standard,72 with sharp arrows. O bull among men! Droupadi’s son covered Drona’s son with a shower of arrows, like seeds being scattered at the time of sowing. O king! Both the armies regarded the slayer of the Patacharas as the best among brave ones and Lakshmana restrained him. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! But that radiant one blazed forth, showering a net of arrows on Lakshmana. Taking aim, he severed Lakshmana’s bow and arrow. As Shikhandi, Yajnasena’s youthful son, advanced into battle, the young and immensely wise Vikarna countered him. Yajnasena’s son enveloped him with a net of arrows. But your powerful son repulsed that net of arrows and looked resplendent. In that battle, as the brave Uttamouja advanced in Drona’s direction, Angada countered him with vatsadanta arrows. The encounter between those two lions among men was wonderful and it increased the delight of all the soldiers. As the brave Purujit Kuntibhoja advanced against Drona, the powerful and great archer Durmukha countered him. He struck Durmukha in the midst of his eyebrows with an iron arrow and his73 face looked as beautiful as a lotus with a stalk.
‘“The five brothers from Kekaya possessed red standards. As they advanced towards Drona, Karna countered them with showers of arrows. Countered by that storm of arrows, they became extremely enraged and enveloped him with arrows, becoming repeatedly shrouded by nets of arrows in return. Enveloped by those arrows, Karna and the five brothers could not be seen. The respective arrows covered their horses, charioteers, standards and chariots. Your sons, Durjaya, Jaya and Vijaya, countered Nila, Kashi and Jaya. Three were against three. The terrible encounter between them gladdened the spectators, like that between a lion, tiger and wolf on one side and a buffalo and a bull on the other. As the warrior Satvata74 advanced against Drona, the brothers Kshemadhurti and
Brihanta countered him and wounded him with their sharp arrows. The battle between them was extraordinary, like that between a lion and a foremost elephant, with shattered temples, in the forest. King Ambashtha found delight in battle. As he advanced singly against Drona, the king of Chedi angrily restrained him with arrows. Ambashtha pierced him with a stake that penetrated right up to the bones and he75 gave up his bow and arrows and fell down from his chariot onto the ground. Sharadvata Kripa repulsed Varshneya Vardhakshemi with kshudraka arrows, as he angrily attacked Drona with arrows. Those who saw Kripa and Varshneya fight in that wonderful fashion became so engrossed in that encounter that they forgot about doing anything else. Somadatta’s son wished to increase Drona’s glory. As King Manimana vigilantly advanced, he countered him. Somadatta’s son swiftly sliced down the string of his bow, the standard, the pennant, the charioteer and umbrella and made him fall down from his chariot. The one with the sacrificial stake on his standard, the destroyer of enemies,76 then quickly descended from his chariot. He grasped a supreme sword and cut him down, together with his horses, charioteer, standard and chariot.77 O king! He then climbed onto his own chariot again and grasping another bow and steering his horses himself,78 began to slaughter the Pandava soldiers. Ghatotkacha wished to get at Drona and created terror among the soldiers. He used clubs, maces, chakras, catapults, battleaxes, dust, wind, fire, water, ashes, stones, grass and trees to strike and fight, showering these down and causing a rout. However, the rakshasa Alambusa became enraged and countered the other rakshasa with many different kinds of weapons and many diverse implements of war. The battle between the two foremost among the rakshasas was like that in ancient times, between Shambara and the king of the immortals.79 O fortunate one! In this fashion, in that melee, there were hundreds of duels between rathas, elephants, horses and infantry, between those on your side and those of the enemy. A battle like this has not been witnessed earlier, nor heard of, like that between those who wished to assault Drona and those who sought to protect him. O lord! In different parts of the field, many such encounters were seen—terrible, wonderful and fierce.”’
Chapter 1002(25)
‘Dhritarashtra asked, “When they80 had returned and engaged in different divisions, how did the spirited ones on the side of the Parthas, and on mine, fight? How did Arjuna act towards the army of the samshaptakas? O Sanjaya! What did the samshaptakas do to Arjuna?”
‘Sanjaya replied, “When they had returned and engaged themselves in different divisions, your son himself attacked Bhima with an army of elephants. It was like an elephant encountering an elephant, or a bull encountering a bull. He81 was himself summoned and attacked by the king with that army of elephants. Partha was skilled in fighting and possessed the strength of his arms. O venerable one! He swiftly shattered that army of elephants. Those elephants were like mountains and exuded musth everywhere. They were mangled and forced to retreat by Bhimasena’s iron arrows. It was like winds driving away a mass of clouds in every direction. That maddened army was thus slaughtered by Pavana’s son. Bhima released arrows at those elephants and was as radiant as the rising sun in the sky, striking everything in the world with his rays. Hundreds of Bhima’s arrows wounded the elephants and they were as beautiful as masses of clouds in the sky, streaked with the rays of the sun.82 The son of the wind thus afflicted the elephants. Duryodhana was enraged at this and pierced him with sharp arrows. Bhima’s eyes became red with rage and he wished to destroy the king in a short instant. So he pierced him with arrows. With arrows wounding all his limbs, he became angry and smilingly, pierced Pandava Bhimasena back with iron arrows that were as bright as the sun’s rays. The sign of a bejewelled elephant was on his83 standard, embellished with gems. Pandava used broad-headed arrows to swiftly sever this, together with his bow. O venerable one! On seeing that Duryodhana was thus afflicted by Bhima, the lord of Anga arrived there on an elephant, wishing to attack him. On seeing that the elephant was advancing, with a roar like the rumbling of the clouds, Bhimasena used iron arrows to severely strike it between its two frontal lobes. It passed through the body and penetrated the ground. The elephant fell down, like a mountain struck by lightning. As the elephant fell, the lord of the mlecchas84 also began to fall down. But the swift-acting Vrikodara sliced off his head with a broad-headed arrow. On seeing that the brave one had been brought down, his army fled. Horses, elephants and charioteers were terrified and crushed infantry as they fled.
‘“As that army was scattered and routed in every direction, Pragjyotisha attacked Bhima, astride an elephant. It was like Maghavan astride an elephant, victorious against the daityas and the danavas. That supreme of elephants suddenly descended on Bhima. Its ears were drawn back. Its forelegs and trunk were contracted. Its eyes were dilated in rage and it seemed about to consume Pandava. O venerable one! All the soldiers let out a great roar. ‘Alas! Bhima has been killed by the elephant.’ O king! The Pandava soldiers were terrified by this roar and quickly ran away to the spot where Vrikodara was. King Yudhishthira thought that Vrikodara had been slain. With the Panchalas, he attacked and surrounded Bhagadatta. Having surrounded the best of rathas with chariots from every direction, he covered him with hundreds and thousands of sharp arrows. The lord of the mountains countered all these arrows with his goad and slaughtered the Pandus and Panchalas with his elephant. O lord of the earth! In that battle, we witnessed the aged Bhagadatta’s extraordinary conduct, using his elephant. At this, the king of Dasharna attacked Pragjyotisha on a swift elephant that advanced from the flank. Both elephants were terrible in form and the battle between them was like that between two winged mountains in ancient times, both covered with trees.85 Pragjyotisha’s elephant circled around and struck the elephant of the king of Dasharna on the side, bringing it down. Bhagadatta used seven javelins that were as bright as the rays of the sun. As his enemy was dislodged from his seat on the falling elephant, he slew him.
‘“Yudhishthira attacked King Bhagadatta and surrounded him from every direction with a great army of chariots. Astride his elephant and surrounded by all these rathas in every direction, he was resplendent, like a flaming fire on a mountain, in the midst of the forest. He was astride his elephant, inside a circle formed in every direction by fierce rathas who were archers and showered arrows at him from every side. The king of Pragjyotisha urged his bull among elephants and made it swiftly advance towards Yuyudhana’s chariot. The mighty elephant grasped the chariot of Shini’s grandson and used great force to fling it away. However, Yuyudhana escaped. The charioteer abandoned the large Saindhava horses that were yoked to the chariot and hurried to the spot where Satyaki was. The elephant swiftly emerged from that circle of chariots. Having emerged, it began to fling away all those kings. Those bulls among men were frightened at its speed. In that battle, the kings thought that a single elephant had multiplied into hundreds. At that time, Bhagadatta on his elephant crushed the Pandavas, like the king of the gods on Airavata, acting against the danavas. There was a terrible roar as the Panchalas fled. A great noise was made by the elephants and the horses. In that battle, Bhagadatta was like death before the Pandus. Bhima became angry and attacked Pragjyotisha again. The elephant sprinkled water from its trunk and frightened his horses, which then bore Partha away from the field. Kriti’s son, Ruchiparva, swiftly attacked then. Stationed on his chariot, he showered arrows, like death personified. The lord of the mountains used a well-crafted arrow with drooping tufts to dispatch Ruchiparva to Vaivasvata’s eternal abode. When that brave one fell, Subhadra’s son, Droupadi’s sons, Chekitana, Dhrishtaketu and Yuyutsu attacked the elephant. They wished to kill it. Roaring, they showered down arrows on it. The skilled rider urged the elephant with heels, toes and goad. It swiftly advanced, with its trunk extended and its eyes and ears immobile. It killed Yuyutsu’s horses and charioteer with its feet. At this time, your son angrily rushed against the chariot of Subhadra’s son. Astride his elephant, the king86 showered arrows on his enemies. He was as dazzling as a sun that has arisen,
scattering rays on the world. Arjuna’s son pierced him with twelve arrows and Yuyutsu with ten. Each of Droupadi’s sons pierced him with three arrows and so did Dhrishtaketu. Those well-released arrows stuck to the body and the elephant looked resplendent, like a large cloud streaked with the rays of the sun. It was afflicted by arrows released by the enemy.
‘“But the elephant was controlled by the skill and enterprise of the rider. It began to fling away enemies, to the left and to the right. Like a herd of animals controlled in the forest by a cowherd with a staff, the soldiers were repeatedly afflicted by Bhagadatta. A grievous sound of lamentation arose among the fleeing Pandaveyas, like the cawing of crows when they are quickly attacked by a hawk. O king! When goaded by the hook, the king of elephants looked like a winged mountain in ancient times. It afflicted the enemy with great fear, like a group of traders at the sight of a turbulent ocean. As they ran away in fright, the elephants, charioteers, horses and kings made a terrible noise. O king! In that battle, it filled the earth, the directions and the sub-directions. The king was astride that supreme of elephants and severely oppressed the army of the enemy. This was like Virochana against the army of the gods in ancient times, when it was well-protected in battle by the gods. The friend of the fire87 began to blow violently and created dust. This covered the sky and the soldiers in a short instant. The people thought that a single elephant had become hundreds of elephants and began to run away in every direction.”’
Chapter 1003(26)
‘Sanjaya said, “You have asked me about the deeds performed by Partha in that battle. O great king! Listen to what Partha accomplished in that battle. On seeing that a dust had arisen and on hearing the roar of the elephant, when Bhagadatta caused subjugation, Kounteya spoke to Krishna. ‘O Madhusudana! It is certain that this tumult has been caused by the elephant of the king of Pragjyotisha, when he has swiftly attacked. He is not inferior to Indra in battle. He is skilled in steering an elephant. In my view, on this earth, he is the first or the second.88 He possesses the best of elephants and there is no elephant which can withstand it in battle. It can tolerate all the sounds of battle. It is accomplished in deeds and has conquered exhaustion. O unblemished one! It can tolerate the downpour of all weapons and can even bear the touch of fire. It is evident that it will destroy the Pandava army today. With the exception of the two of us, there is no one who is capable of countering it. Therefore, swiftly go to the spot where the lord of Pragjyotisha is. He is Shakra’s friend.89 He is strong because of the elephant. He should be marvelled at, despite his age. I will dispatch him today, as a beloved guest, to the destroyer of Bala.’ As soon as Savyasachi spoke these words, Krishna left and went to the spot where Bhagadatta was mauling the Pandava army. As he was going there, fourteen thousand maharatha samshaptakas summoned him from the back. O lord of men! Ten thousand of those were Trigartas and another four thousand were followers of Vasudeva.90 O venerable one! On seeing that Bhagadatta was shattering the army and on also being challenged, he91 was caught in two minds and thought, ‘What is the best course of action for me? Should I return here, or should I go to Yudhishthira?’ O extender of the Kuru lineage! Thus did Arjuna reflect in his mind and decided that he should kill the samshaptakas. The one with the foremost of monkeys on his banner suddenly returned. Vasava’s son wished to single-handedly kill thousands of rathas in battle. This is what Duryodhana and Karna had also plotted, when the two of them had thought about means of killing Arjuna. That is the reason they had arranged for this divided feeling in Pandava’s mind. But he foiled them by deciding to take on those foremost of rathas on his chariot.
Mahabharata: Vol. 5 Page 57