Bhima shrouds Ashwatthama with a shower of arrows. Like a tiger, he pounces on the soldiers reaching near his chariot.
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He breaks the skull, breaks the bones and mutilates the bodies. He is no less than Yama, the God of Death, on a war field. The cloth-yard shafts and pointed arrows pierce through the shield of Ashwatthama. In return, Ashwatthama pierces the strong mountain-like structure with his shafts. But like moun- tains that stand firm in strong winds, Bhima doesn’t move a bit from his position. His pierced body looks resplendent in the middle of the battlefield. Bhima continues to shower hundreds of arrows towards Ashwatthama and his retinue. The pointed arrows piercing the hearts of soldiers release their souls. The group following Ashwatthama soon gets vanquished, and the son of the preceptor also couldn’t stand before the tornado created by the second son of mother Kunti. The charioteer rushes Ashwatthama’s chariot to a safer place. Bhima roars at the son of Drona but doesn’t hit.
Commander Karna gets furious, furious like a fiery liquid coming out of a bursting volcano and gulping everything on its way. The fire of his arrows, the edge of his sword, and the power of his mace create havoc within the Pandava army. Nakul targets Karna as his antagonist for the day. He tries to hold the hurricane. He rushes towards Karna, shouting, “O son of Suta! Your end is in my hands. Today this soil of Kurukshetra will be bereft of you. The eldest of Kauravas, Duryodhana, takes much pride in you and relies on your hollow confidence. I will today show you the strength of Pandavas. By slaying you in the field today, I will remove one more hurdle in the path of our victory.”
Nakul continues his rant to agitate Karna, but the latter remains calm. He is unmoved! If it was some other day, Karna would have responded with his cruel words, but today he is the commander of a large army and thus maintains honour.
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He smiles at Nakul as if he is listening to the rants of a toddler. Nakul releases tens of arrows from his quiver towards Karna. But none could reach Karna. Every single arrow is cut-off mid-air by that wielder of Vijaya. Karna’s battle intelligence and weapon handling skills are not unknown. After all, he obtained knowledge under Guru Parashuram. Either Nakul undermined him or got carried with the emotions of battle. Karna continues countering the attacks of Nakul and Nakul has no answer to Karna’s fury. The arrows from the quiver of Karna pierce Nakul, his charioteer, his steeds and the wheels of his chariot. Karna breaks the bow and cuts the sword of Nakul and with one heavy strike explodes the chariot of Nakul. The leather sheath of Nakul can’t protect him from Karna for long. Blood starts pouring out from the wounds of Nakul. He is chariot-less and weapon-less. Bhima is far; Arjuna is farther. Karna steps down from his chariot, targets Nakul with his arrow mounted on his heavy bow. The end of Nakul is certain. Karna walks closer.
“Why is he walking towards Nakul, when he can cut-off his foe’s head from his chariot with an arrow?” I whisper. “O Lord! Nakul is out of his chariot, and he is not striking too. Karna must be following the rules.”, Sudasa replied listening to my worried whisper. With the rules shattering in the past few days, I actually forgot rules agreed between the two sides. “No charioteer will target the opponents on foot...” “Is Karna follow- ing the rules?” I think within.
Karna’s fellowmen cheer for him. His first victory on the field. Nakul is now at the mercy of his opponent. Moments before he was bragging his skills, but now Karna overpowered him. I can counter, I want to strike, but it was the duel between Nakul and Karna. Till one of them surrenders, I can’t intervene.
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I wish I could protect him. I stare at Nakul. He looks like a lamb in front of a wild tiger. Nakul looks back. Karna reaches near Nakul, unmounts his arrow and places his stringed bow around the neck of retreating Nakul. Nakul melts in mortifi- cation. Shaming a warrior is more dreadful than killing him. Karna smiles at him. Nakul bows his head. Karna laughs and so his group soldiers. The utter shame for Nakul and then Karna speaks, “Repeat what you said just moments ago.” Karna guffaws, “Do you know what gravitas sounds? You are futile, your prowess is worthless, and your skills are half-learnt. O son of Pandu, O younger of Yudhishthira, run away from this battlefield. This battle doesn’t belong to the children like you. O Boy! Don’t stay hither or summon someone of your calibre to fight. Go thither where Arjuna is.” Karna proves his suprem- acy over Nakul and continues disgracing him.
Nakul stands in the jaws of death. Sweat trickles from his forehead, and his eyes are red in shame. Karna, acquainted with morality, releases Nakul. Bewildered! Nobody can predict the actions of these Maharathis. Whatever the reason, he spares Nakul’s life. Nakul rushes from the place and speedily mounts on a spare chariot and moves away from the field. After today’s sham, he would need a lot of time to gather his courage again.
The destruction unleashed by Karna is visible everywhere on the field. The lifeless bodies some without heads and some without limbs are lying in large numbers. The countless arrows released from the bow of Karna has taken up the lives of hundreds of soldiers. Karna walks like the Lord of death on the field, as if he waited for this opportunity to prove his prowess. He was not allowed to be a part of the battle till the time grandsire was the commander. But today he has taken up
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his place. Karna leads the Kaurava army and is undoubtedly proving his worth for which Duryodhana always trusted him. The entire scene depicts a great and fierce calamity with the soldiers left in pain and tears. The Pandavas’ soldiers are being slaughtered, and there looks no end to his anger. Like an angry lion, Karna roars on the field marking his presence. He resembles the blazing fire engulfing the dry leaves of the jungle and his eyes, without doubt, looks for the third son of mother Kunti, Arjuna.
Duryodhana looks extremely joyful to see that tides have turned in his favour due to his trusted friend. A success- ful warrior is one whose moves are unpredictable. Verily, Karna proves himself the same today. Beholding Karna controlling the soldiers of Pandavas army, Kripa countering Dhrishtadyumna, Kritavarman taking on Satyaki, a large troop shrouding Arjuna, Shakuni striking at me, and his ten brothers fighting with Bhima, Duryodhana roars in rage. His loud shrieks rhythm with the clangs of metals. Intensely con- fident, he rushes towards Yudhishthira. Duryodhana knows it would not be difficult for him to apprehend the eldest of the Pandavas when Karna and his other warriors are keeping Pandava warriors occupied. He picks his favourite bow and mounts multiple arrows on it. He releases tens of arrows and pointed shafts towards the king. Yudhishthira covers himself with a shield to avoid the arrows penetrating his flesh. He surely wouldn’t have expected this sudden and intense attack from Duryodhana. I can see his rageful expressions. His eyes become red, his brows get tensed and his muscles contract. He picks his bow and starts countering the attacks of his greatest foe. He pierces Duryodhana with multiple pointed
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shafts. He doesn’t stop with one or two strikes but contin- ues releasing the arrows at Duryodhana. His four arrows strike the four steads of Duryodhana’s chariot; the other two arrows strike off the pennon of chariot and, the two other powerful arrows break Duryodhana’s bow. Perplexed with this stronger counter, Duryodhana quickly picks another bow and retaliates. All the learnings of years, the two men of Kuru dynasty use against each other. Duryodhana strikes back and with broad-headed arrows whetted in stone, cuts off the bows and arrows of Yudhishthira. These two men are like fire and ice. The extreme contrasting characters face each other. Yudhishthira never lost his calm irrespective of the situations, and Duryodhana never kept his calm irre- spective of favours.
On the other side, a large group of soldiers led by ten broth- ers of Duryodhana attack Bhima. In the past fifteen days, Bhima had killed many of the Kaurava brothers. Like angry bull attacks using its sharp horns and shatters anyone coming in front, Bhima, with his tough hands, had broken the skulls and limbs of many Kaurava brothers. Bhima has shown no mercy to any of these brothers. He has uprooted them like tiny grass- roots and scattered t
heir bodies throughout the battlefield. Today, he is again surrounded by ten more brothers. He looks at them, smiles, lick his lips and roars. He rushes like a mad bull with the heaviest mace in his hand. He swirls the mace and smashes anyone coming his way. The spikes on the mace puncture the flesh and bones of soldiers, and the soul leaves the body in no time. He cuts off many bows and the wielders of those bows. There is no end to Bhima’s energy, and there is no end to Kauravas’ agony. When Bhima walks, the earth shakes, and when he strikes, the welkin vibrates. The God of death must be busy taking a stalk of souls being released by Bhima.
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Bhima strikes at the skulls, cuts off bows, breaks limbs and bones, and the ten more brothers are crushed like dry leaves in the scorching heat. The effulgence of Bhima outshines the power of any of his opponents.
Yudhishthira once again cuts off the bow of Duryodhana. Duryodhana shouts angrily. He can’t accept anyone hitting his pride. He jumps off his half-broken chariot and rushes at Yudhishthira with his spiked and heaviest mace impetuously. The hostilities raged between the sons of Dhritarashtra, and the sons of Pandu seem never-ending. Duryodhana rushes towards him. Yudhishthira, the eldest of Pandavas, picks the sharpest dart from his quiver and gets down from his chariot. The char- iot warrior shouldn’t target the warrior on foot; Yudhishthira only had set this rule on the first day of the war. He stands next to his chariot, mounts the arrow on his bow and releases towards Duryodhana. The blazing dart pierces the chest of Duryodhana, and he falls with a loud shriek. Yudhishthira picks the mace, swirls it in the air, and roars in rage. He continues whirling his mace and shouts at Duryodhana, summoning him to lift his mace. I am shocked seeing the erstwhile calm king roar like a lion and attack like a beast. Seems, Duryodhana is still under the effect of the pierced dart. He doesn’t respond to Yudhishthira’s cries. But Yudhishthira doesn’t seem to be in the mood of mercy today. He walks towards his antag- onist. The king of Indraprastha stands before the prince of Hastinapur. He runs like an angry tiger ready to pounce on his wounded prey. He looks at Duryodhana, and when he lifts his mace continuing to swirl it to strike heavily on the lying beast- like man, a voice distracts him from behind, “O Brother! Stop, Duryodhana should not be slain by you.”
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Yudhishthira looks back. Bhima on his chariot is rushing towards him. Bhima shouts, “O elder! Abstain from slaying Duryodhana. I vowed to shatter his thighs. The time of his death has not come yet. You fallback and mount on your chariot. He is my foe, and my mace will break his arrogance.” Yudhishthira understands the emotions of his brother. He walks back towards his chariot when Kritavarman comes to lift the unconscious Duryodhana. The battle would have ended with that one heavy blow, but the vow of Bhima had saved the life of Duryodhana today. The vow to slay has saved a life. What an irony!
The sun has reached the meridian. The rush, killings, cries, pain, and endless violence and cruelty have blanketed this bat- tlefield. The proud soldiers in the morning become the mere piece of flesh by noon. The glory of each man in the field is not unknown. But still, their arrogance rides on the equine of ada- mance. Karna looks at the terrible result of the duel between two contenders of the throne when the chariot of Kritavarman carrying Duryodhana passes through him. His wrathful eyes stare at Yudhishthira in anger.
Karna picks his bow and stretches its string. The twang of the bow fills the field. Like thundering strikes from the Vajra of Indra, Karna strikes torrents of arrows on the Pandavas array. Ambidextrous Karna has become a ruthless slayer of the masses today. He is the commander, and his prime duty is to safeguard the prince. Duryodhana getting hurt is no less than a defeat for him. Karna picks all his key arrows and releases them with great impetuosity, not giving, a chance to any soldier to retaliate. Satyaki goes forward to counter the strikes but can’t stand before the fury of Karna. The only
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warrior who can counter the attacks of Karna today is Arjuna. But where is he?
Beholding no alternative, Yudhishthira commands multiple warriors to surround Karna. Following his command, Satyaki, Shikhandin, Bhima, twin brothers and I with Dhrishtadyumna and Yudhishthira encompass the wielder of Vijaya from all the sides. The soldiers of fierce prowess are ready to strike the vast army of Karna following him. Numerous arrows start cruising in the air. Dushasana comes to succour, while the acolytes res- onate to the leonine shouts of their master, Karna. They must be waiting for this opportunity for Karna to lead and direct them. The Pandava army is equally energetic under the com- mandant of Dhrishtadyumna. Each soldier is fighting for the pride of their king. The strength magnifies when the dignity comes at threat. Mayhem is all around! Dust covers the entire field like the black clouds cover the welkin. Blood, flesh, and broken skulls are everywhere. The sound of Oh! and Alas! from the pain-stricken soldiers reverberates in the air. A loss to both sides is uncountable. The only thing which is consistent for the past sixteen days is - Death.
The sun is gradually settling at the western valley, and the evening is knocking. The tiredness shrouds each one of us. Karna looks at his followers, and Dhrishtadyumna reads the faces of his soldiers too. Yudhishthira understands and signals the commander to call it a day. Dhrishtadyumna blows his conch signalling the end of the day’s war. Karna follows the same, and both the groups mutually decide to fall back to their respective camps. The sixteenth day of the battle ends. The armies fall back. The carnage of today has stopped, but there is no end to the war. Pandavas are winning as most of the
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key-warriors of Kauravas are already dead, but, still, the size of army and number of warriors on their side are more than us.
The night covers the camps, and the sound of panegyrists singing eulogies fades in the background while I lay down in my tent.
Each day ends with the sounds of cries and pain but each night ends with a new hope. The dawn once again floods the heav- ens with light and chirps of birds alarm the morning. I come out of my tent with my bow hanging on my right shoulder. The morning meeting bell rings, and we gather near the king’s tent. The king’s face seems no joyful. He is talking with someone, oh, his spy came in the morning.
“Must be some insights from Duryodhana’s camp”, I reflect.
I walk towards the meeting point while conversing with other warriors. Yudhishthira is silently listening to his spy while Dhrishtadyumna is standing beside him. There is deep silence in the hall. The group leaders stand silently at their respective places. The spy shares his message, bows down to the master and seeks permission to go away. Yudhishthira permits him, and the spy walks out. Yudhishthira looks at us and then calls Arjuna. Listening to the call, Arjuna walks forward and greets his elder. Yudhishthira speaks, “O Arjuna, the best archer in this universe. O wielder of Gandiva, once again this battle is asking you to prove your worth. O slayer of Jayadratha and protector of Pandava army, Karna has sum- moned your valour today. Karna announced it’s between you and him in today’s battle. That friend of Duryodhana, that
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disciple of Guru Parashuram has committed to slaying you today. He believes that after losing the weapon given to him by Indra himself, you, my brother, will go behind him as he is now the biggest hurdle in the battleground.” Yudhishthira pauses and looks around. All are silent. He continues, “His skills are not unknown, and his intelligence of handling the weapons is unique. In aiming the targets, in courage, in physical strength, and the knowledge of array formation, he equals you. But the time has come to be bereft this earth from the burden of the battlefield.”
Arjuna listens to each word of the king without uttering a word. There is no emotion on his face. His face looks placid.
The king speaks further addressing everyone in the meeting hall, “Karna promised his friend that he would slay Arjuna today and Duryodhana then can rule the kingdom with his brothers. He claimed that in all aspects, except one, he is supe- rior to Arjuna.”
The expression on Arjuna’s face changes, and mine too. “What is tha
t?”, asks bemused Arjuna.
The king smiles, and while looking at Krishna says, “Karna believes that the only thing which makes him inferior to Arjuna is you, O Krishna.”
The bewildered faces look at each other. Karna knows that Krishna is not only Arjuna’s charioteer but his guide and mentor too.
“What did he ask then?”, says Krishna.
Yuyutsu - Rise of the last Kaurava Page 11