Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (22 page)

‘“Durmukha shot sixty arrows at Sahadeva. He roared loudly with that great roar, challenged Pandava to do battle. Madri’s son became angry and laughingly, pierced Durmukha with ten arrows. Brother fought against brother. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing that the immensely strong Sahadeva was fighting violently in the batte, Durmukha struck him with nine arrows. However, the immensely strong one
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used a broad-headed arrow to sever Durmukha’s standard and then used four sharp arrows to slay his four horses. He then used another yellow, sharp and broad-headed arrow to sever his charioteer’s head, with blazing earrings, from his body. He used a sharp kshurapra arrow to slice down Kouravya’s giant bow. Having severed it in the battle, Sahadeva then pierced him with five arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! O king! With
his horses slain, Durmukha was distressed. He abandoned his chariot and climbed onto Niramitra’s chariot. In that great battle, in the midst of those soldiers, Sahadeva, the destroyer of enemy heroes, used a broad-headed arrow to angrily slay Niramitra. Niramitra, the lord of men and the son of the king of Trigarta, fell down from the seat of his chariot and this caused sorrow to your forces. Having killed him, mighty-armed Sahadeva roamed around, like Rama, Dasharatha’s son, after having killed the immensely strong Khara.
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O lord of men! On seeing that the immensely strong Prince Niramitra had been slain, great sounds of lamentation arose among the Trigartas.

‘“O king! In that battle, in an instant, Nakula vanquished Vikarna, your son with the large eyes. It was extraordinary. Vyaghradatta struck Satyaki with arrows that had drooping tufts. In the midst of the soldiers, he rendered him, his horses, his charioteer and his standard invisible. But Shini’s brave descendant showed the dexterity of his hands and countered those arrows. He used his arrows to bring down Vyaghradatta, his horses, his charioteer and his standard. O lord! On seeing that the prince, the son of Magadha, had been killed, all the Magadhas made efforts and attacked Yuyudhana from every direction. They released thousands of arrows and javelins, catapults, spikes, clubs and maces. In the encounter, the brave ones fought with Satvata, who was invincible in battle. Satyaki, powerful and invincible in battle, laughed and without any difficulty, repulsed all of them. The bull among men vanquished them. On seeing that the Magadhas had been routed, the few that were left ran away in every direction. O lord! Your army was afflicted with Yuyudhana’s arrows. The supreme of the Madhava lineage destroyed your soldiers in that battle. The greatly illustrious one, supreme among archers, brandished his bow and was resplendent. O king! The army was shattered by the great-souled Satvata. Terrified of the long-armed one, no one advanced against him in that battle. Drona became extremely angry and rolled his eyes in anger. He himself advanced against Satyaki, whose deeds were based on truth.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “Somadatta’s immensely illustrious son pierced each of Droupadi’s sons, great archers, with five arrows each and then struck them again with seven arrows more. O lord! They were sorely afflicted by the force of that terrible warrior. In that battle, they were stupefied and for some time, did not know what they should do. Shatanika, Nakula’s son and the scorcher of enemies, used two arrows to pierce Somadatta’s son, bull among men, and roared in delight. In that battle, the others
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also made efforts and struck Somadatta’s intolerant son with three arrows each. O great king! He shot five arrows at them and struck each of those immensely illustrious ones in the heart with an arrow. Those five great-souled brothers were struck by the arrows. They surrounded the brave ratha and pierced him severely with arrows. Arjuna’s son used four sharp arrows to angrily slay his horses and dispatched them to Yama’s abode. Bhimasena’s son severed the bow of Somadatta’s great-souled son. He roared powerfully and pierced him with sharp arrows. Yudhishthira’s son sliced his standard and brought it down on the ground. Nakula’s son brought down his charioteer from the seat on the chariot. O king! On ascertaining that he had been forced to retreat by his brothers, Sahadeva’s son used a kshurapra arrow to sever the great-minded one’s head.
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That head, adorned with gold, fell down on the ground. It was resplendent on the field of battle, with a complexion like that of the rising sun. O king! On seeing that the head of Somadatta’s great-souled son had been brought down, all those on your side were terrified and fled in different directions.

‘“In that battle, Alambusa angrily fought against the immensely strong Bhimasena, like Lakshmana against Ravana’s son.
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All the beings were astounded and delighted at the battle between the man and the rakshasa. O king! Bhima laughed and pierced Rishyashringa’s intolerant son, Indra among rakshasas, with nine sharp arrows. Pierced in the battle, the rakshasa let out a mighty roar and he and his followers attacked Bhima. He pierced Bhima with five arrows that had drooping tufts. In that battle, the scorcher of enemies quickly destroyed thirty rathas who were following Bhima. He slew four hundred more and pierced Bhima with arrows. Having been thus pierced by the immensely strong rakshasa, Bhima sat down on the floor of his chariot. He lost his senses. When he recovered his senses, the son of the wind god was overcome by great rage. He stretched his terrible and supreme bow, which was capable of bearing a great burden. He struck Alambusha all over the body with sharp arrows. O king! He was like a large mass of collyrium and pierced by these many arrows all over his body, looked as beautiful as a kimshuka. He was struck in the battle by those arrows that had been released from Bhima’s bow and remembered how his brother had been killed by the great-souled Pandava. He assumed a terrible form and addressed Bhimasena. ‘O Partha! Wait for a while in this battle and witness my valour today. O extremely evil one! The powerful Baka, supreme among rakshasas, was my brother. It is true that you killed him, but that happened when I did not see it.’ Having thus spoken to Bhima, he disappeared and enveloped him with a great and severe shower of arrows. O king! When the rakshasa became invisible in that battle, Bhima covered the sky with his straight-tufted arrows. Thus struck by Bhima, he instantly returned to his chariot. He entered deep inside the earth and suddenly rose up into the sky. He adopted many different kinds of forms, some large and some small. From above, he showered down many different kinds of words in every direction. Many Pandava
soldiers died.
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O king! So did fighting elephants, many horses and foot soldiers. Because of those arrows, rathas were brought down in their chariots. A river of blood began to flow and the chariots were eddies. It was infested by crocodiles in the form of elephants. The umbrellas were the swans. It was full of mud.
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The arms
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were like serpents. That river began to flow and was populated by large numbers of rakshasas. O king! It flowed and bore along many Chedis, Panchalas and Srinjayas. O king! Thus did he fearlessly roam around in that battle. The Pandavas became extremely anxious at witnessing his valour. The hearts of your soldiers became full of joy. Musical instruments were sounded in fierce and extremely loud tones and this made the body hair stand up. On hearing the terrible sound emitted by your soldiers, the Pandavas could not tolerate it, just as a snake cannot bear the slapping of palms.

‘“Bhimasena’s eyes became coppery red in anger and they seemed to consume, like the fire. O venerable one! In the battle, he released the weapon known as
tvashtra
, as if it had been released by Tvashtra himself. From that, thousands of arrows were produced in every direction. Because of those arrows, your soldiers were severely routed. It destroyed the great maya created by the rakshasa and also afflicted the rakshasa. Thus, the rakshasa was struck in many parts of his body by Bhimasena. He abandoned that encounter with Bhima and fled towards Drona’s array. O king! When that Indra among rakshasas was vanquished by the great-souled one, the Pandavas roared like lions and made all the directions resound. They delightedly honoured the wind god’s immensely strong son, like the masses of Maruts worshipping Shakra after he had vanquished Prahlada in battle.”’
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‘Sanjaya said, “Alambusa fearlessly roamed around in the field of battle.
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Hidimba’s son
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attacked him and powerfully struck him with sharp arrows. The battle that commenced between those lions among rakshasas caused great terror. They invoked many different kinds of maya, like Shakra and Shambara. Alambusa was extremely angry and struck Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha pierced Alambusa between the breasts with twenty iron arrows and repeatedly roared like a lion. O king! In that way, Alambusa also repeatedly pierced Hidimba’s son, who was invincible in battle and filled the sky with his roars. Those two immensely strong Indras among the rakshasas were extremely enraged. They fought and used maya against each other, but neither surpassed the other. They insolently created a hundred different kinds of maya and confounded each other. They were extremely skilled in fighting with maya and one’s maya was countered by the other one’s. O king! Whatever maya was used by Ghatotkacha in that battle, was destroyed by Alambusa’s maya. O king! On seeing Alambusa, skilled in fighting with maya, fight in this way, the Pandavas were extremely enraged. O king! Having been thus greatly enraged, all those supreme rathas, Bhimasena and the others, attacked and surrounded him. O venerable one! They penned him in with a large number of chariots. They surrounded him with arrows from every direction, like torches against an elephant.
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He countered their weapons with the maya of his own weapons. He freed himself from those roaming rathas, like an elephant from a forest fire. He stretched his terrible bow, which had a roar like that of Indra’s vajra. He pierced the son of the wind god with twenty-five arrows and Bhimasena’s son with five. He pierced Yudhishthira with three arrows, Sahadeva with seven and Nakula with seventy-three. O venerable one! He pierced each of Droupadi’s five sons with five arrows and roared terribly. Bhimsena pierced the
rakshasa back with nine arrows, Sahadeva with five, Yudhishthira with one hundred, Nakula with sixty-four and each of Droupadi’s sons with three arrows. In that encounter, Hidimba’s son pierced the rakshasa with five hundred arrows. The immensely strong one pierced him back with seventy and roared like a lion. Having been pierced from every direction by those maharathas, the great archer pierced each of them back with five arrows.

‘“O foremost among the Bharata lineage! In that battle, the rakshasa who was Hidimba’s son became enraged with the other wrathful rakshasa and pierced him with seventy arrows. Severely and powerfully pierced, the immensely strong Indra among the rakshasas swiftly showered arrows that were gold-tufted and had been sharpened on stone. Those straight-tufted arrows penetrated the rakshasa,
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like angry and immensely strong serpents penetrating a mountain top. O king! The Pandavas released sharp arrows from every direction. In that battle, Ghatotkacha, Hidimba’s son, desired the victory of the Pandavas and became anxious. He
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was like a burnt mountain summit, or like a broken mass of collyrium. He raised him up in his arms and whirled him around repeatedly.
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He crused him powerfully down on the ground, like an earthen pot dashed against a rock. He
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possessed strength and dexterity. He also possessed valour. In that battle, Bhimasena’s enraged son terrified all the soldiers. All his
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limbs were mangled. His bones and ornaments were shattered. He was slain by the brave Ghatotkacha, like the twisted wood of a shala tree. On seeing that the traveller of the night had been killed, the Parthas were delighted. They roared like lions and waved their garments around. O bull among Bharatas! On seeing that Alambusa, terrible in form and the immensely strong Indra among the rakshasas had been killed and shattered like a mountain, the soldiers on your side uttered sounds of lamentation.
Curious people assembled to see the rakshasa’s body, which was lying on the ground, like a lump of charcoal. Having killed the supremely strong one, the rakshasa Ghatotkacha roared loudly, like Vasava after slaying Bala. Having performed this extremely difficult deed, Ghatotkacha was honoured by his fathers and their relatives. He was delighted that the enemy Alambusa had been slain, like a ripe
alambusa
fruit.
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A great sound arose.
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There was the sound of many different kinds of conch shells and the noise of arrows. Having heard this, the Kouravas roared back in return and this fierce sound seemed to touch the entire earth.”’

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “O Sanjaya! In that battle, tell me how Yuyudhana countered Bharadvaja’s son. I am extremely curious to hear the details.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “O king! O immensely intelligent one! Listen. That encounter between Drona and the Pandavas, with Yuyudhana at the forefront, made the body hair stand up. O venerable one! On seeing that the army had been slaughtered by Yuyudhana, Drona himself advanced against Satyaki, for whom, truth was his valour. On seeing the maharatha who was Bharadvaja’s son suddenly descend, Satyaki pierced him with twenty-five
kshudraka
arrows. Drona was valorous in battle. Steadfastly and swiftly, he pierced Yuyudhana with five gold-tufted arrows that had been sharpened on stone. These drank up the blood of the enemy. O king! They penetrated the extremely firm armour and penetrated the earth, like sighing serpents. The long-armed one became angry, like an elephant urged with a goad. He pierced Drona with five hundred iron arrows that were
like fire. In that battle, Bharadvaja’s son was thus quickly pierced by Yuyudhana. Taking care, he pierced Satyaki with many arrows. The immensely strong and great archer became enraged. He afflicted Satvata with one hundred arrows with drooping tufts. O lord of the battle! For a short while, thus pierced in that battle by Bharadvaja’s son, Satyaki did not know what he should do. O king! On seeing Bharadvaja’s son release sharp arrows in that battle, Yuyudhana’s face looked distressed.