Mahabharata Vol. 6 (Penguin Translated Texts) (62 page)

‘Sanjaya said, “Drona’s son caused a great carnage among the enemy. He was like the Destroyer, created by destiny to destroy all beings at the end of a yuga. He killed the enemy with his broad-headed arrows. The standards were like trees. The weapons were like mountain peaks. The slain elephants were like giant mountains. The horses were strewn around like
kimpurusha
s.
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The bows were like clumps of reeds. There were spears and the roars of carnivorous creatures. The place was full of large numbers of demons and yakshas. He created a mountain of corpses. The bull among men then roared powerfully and loudly and again made your son hear his oath. ‘Dharma’s son, Yudhishthira, disguised himself in the cloak of dharma. While the preceptor was fighting, he made him cast aside his weapons. Therefore, while he looks on, I will drive away his soldiers. I tell you truthfully that I will rout them and kill the wicked Panchala. I will kill all of them, if they fight against me in the battle. Know this to be the truth. Therefore, make your soldiers return.’ On hearing these words, your son made his soldiers return, dispelling their great fear with a loud roar, like that of a lion. O king! The Kuru and Pandava soldiers clashed again. There was a fierce encounter, like that between two swelling oceans. Drona’s son incited and rallied the Kouravas. At Drona’s death, the Pandus and the Panchalas also became fierce. Both sides were extremely cheerful and saw themselves as victorious. They were enraged, and with great force, advanced
on that field of battle. O Indra among kings! It was like a mountain clashing against a mountain, or an ocean against another ocean. That was the way the Kurus and the Pandavas rushed against each other. The Kuru and Pandava soldiers were delighted and blew on thousands of conch shells and sounded tens of thousands of drums. The great roar that arose from the soldiers was like the roar of the ocean when it is churned. It was extraordinary.

‘“Then, Drona’s son invoked the narayana weapon. He aimed it at the Pandu and Panchala armies. Thousands of arrows, flaming at the tips, appeared in the sky and devoured the Pandavas, like serpents with flaming mouths. O king! In that great battle, the directions, the sky and the soldiers were enveloped in an instant, like the world being engulfed by the blazing rays of the sun. O lord of the earth! After this, iron balls appeared, like blazing stellar bodies in the clear sky. The four directions were covered by wonderful shataghnis that were like the fire. They possessed wheels and were sharp as razors. They formed circles and blazed. O bull among the Bharata lineage! The sky was densely covered with these weapons. On seeing this, the Pandus, the Panchalas and the Srinjayas became anxious. O lord of men! Wherever the maharatha Pandavas fought, in those spots, that weapon increased in power. They were slain by that narayana weapon. All of them were consumed, as if by a fire, and became frightened in that battle. O lord! At the end of the winter, a conflagration burns down dry wood. Like that, that weapon consumed the Pandu soldiers. On every side, the soldiers were destroyed by that weapon. On seeing this, the lord Yudhishthira, Dharma’s son, was overcome by supreme terror. He saw that his soldiers were running away and in the midst, the Parthas were bereft of their senses.

‘“Dharma’s son spoke these words. ‘O Dhrishtadyumna! Run away with the Panchala soldiers. O Satyaki! Run away home, surrounded by the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. Vasudeva, with dharma in his soul, will himself think of means of saving himself. He is capable of instructing the entire world. How can I say anything to him? We should no longer fight. I am saying this to all the soldiers. With my brothers, I will enter the fire. In this battle, we have crossed the fierce oceans that are Bhishma and Drona, extremely difficult for cowards
to cross. With all our soldiers, we are now being submerged in this trifle that is Drona’s son.
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Since the preceptor, who was beneficial towards us, was brought down by me in the battle, let Bibhatsu’s wishes towards me swiftly come true.
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The child who was Subhadra’s son was unskilled in fighting. He was slain by many skilled and cruel ones and was not protected by him.
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When she was brought into the assembly hall and sought to be made a slave girl, Krishna
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asked him a question. But he,
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together with his son, ignored her. When everyone was exhausted, he
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gave Dhritarashtra’s son armour so that he might kill Phalguna and protect Saindhava. He possessed knowledge about brahmastra and used it against the Panchalas, headed by Satyajit.
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They were making endeavours for your sake and were completely destroyed. We were exiled and robbed of our kingdom through adharma. Though those devoted to us sought to restrain him, he
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asked us to leave. Our supreme well-wisher, who has performed many beneficial deeds for us, has been killed.
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Since he has been slain, with all my relatives, I will advance towards my death.’ When Kounteya had spoken in this way, Dasharha waved his arms and quickly restrained the soldiers from running away.

‘“He spoke these words. ‘Swiftly lay down your weapons and descend from your mounts and your horses. This is the method of countering, decreed by the great-souled one.
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All of you descend from the elephants, the horses and the chariots onto the ground. If
you are on the ground and without weapons, this weapon will not kill you. Wherever warriors fight against the strength of this weapon, in those spots, the Kouravas will become stronger. But those men who fling away their weapons and descend from their mounts, will not be slain by this weapon in the battle. But all those who seek to counter it, even in their minds, will be killed, even if they descend to the nether regions.’ O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On hearing Vasudeva’s words, all of them flung away their weapons and cast aside any thought of fighting, even in their minds.

‘“O king! On seeing that they wished to cast aside their weapons, Pandava Bhimasena cheerfully spoke these words. ‘No one should, under any circumstances, cast aside weapons. I will use my arrows to quickly counter the weapon of Drona’s son. My heavy club is decorated with gold. In this battle, I will roam around like Death and use it to destroy the weapon of Drona’s son. There is no man who is my equal in valour, just as there is no stellar body that is equal to the sun. Behold my firm arms. They are like the trunk of a king of elephants. These are capable of bringing down a mountain, with its summit. I am the only man who has the might of ten thousand elephants. I am without a peer, just as the renowned Shakra is amidst the gods in heaven. Let them behold the strength of my arms and my broad chest in the battle, as I repulse the flaming and blazing weapon of Drona’s son. While the Kurus and the Pandus look on, if there is no one else who is capable of countering the narayana weapon, I will repulse it today.’ Having thus spoken, Bhima, the scorcher of enemies, advanced against Drona’s son on a chariot that was as radiant as the sun and roared like the clouds. Kunti’s son was dexterous, swift and valiant and in a short instant, enveloped him
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with a net of arrows. Drona’s son laughed at this and addressed him.
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He invoked mantras and shrouded him with arrows that flamed at the tips. In that battle, Partha was enveloped with these. They were like blazing serpents, with flames emerging from their mouths. They were like golden sparks. O king! In that encounter, Bhimasena’s form was like that
of a mountain when the day is done, covered with fireflies. O great king! That weapon of Drona’s son was aimed and increased in its influence, like a fire fanned by the wind. On seeing that the weapon, terrible in its power, was increasing in its influence, all the Pandu soldiers were overcome by great fear, with the exception of Bhima. All of them laid down their weapons on the ground. All of them alighted from their chariots, elephants and horses. When they had thrown down their weapons and descended from their mounts, the great power of that weapon descended on Bhima’s head. All beings, especially the Pandavas, uttered sounds of lamentation, when they saw that Bhimasena was covered by the energy of that weapon.”’

‘Sanjaya said, “On seeing that Bhimasena was shrouded by that weapon, Dhananjaya released the varuna weapon to counter its energy. However, because of Arjuna’s dexterity and because he was covered by energy, no one noticed that he had been covered by the varuna weapon.
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Bhima, with his horses, charioteer and chariot, was covered by the weapon of Drona’s son. He was like a blazing fire in the midst of another fire and it was extremely difficult to look at him. O king! Just as all stellar bodies head towards Mount Asta
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when night is over, all those arrows descended towards Bhimasena’s chariot. O venerable one! Bhima, his chariot, his horses and his charioteer seemed to be in the midst of a fire created by Drona’s son. It was as if the entire universe, with its mobile and immobile objects, was consumed by a fire at the appointed time,
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which then entered the mouth of the Creator. Thus did that weapon enter Bhima.
It was like the sun entering the fire, or like the fire entering the sun. Such was the energy with which it penetrated that no one could see anything. The power of that weapon extended in the direction of Bhima’s chariot. And in that battle, the power of Drona’s son increased and there was no one to counter him. All the soldiers of the Pandus had laid down their weapons and were bereft of their senses. All the maharathas, with Yudhishthira at the forefront, had turned their faces away.

‘“On seeing all this, the brave and immensely radiant Arjuna and Vasudeva quickly descended from their chariot and dashed towards Bhima. There was an energy created from the strength of the weapon of Drona’s son. Those two immensely strong ones resorted to their power of maya and immersed themselves in it. Because they had cast aside their weapons, because of the use of the varuna weapon and because of their own energy, those two Krishnas were not burnt by the fire of that weapon. To pacify the narayana weapon, Nara and Narayana
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forcefully dragged Bhima away, together with all his weapons. While he was being dragged away, maharatha Kounteya
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continued to roar loudly and this fanned the extremely invincible and fierce weapon of Drona’s son. Vasudeva said, ‘O son of Pandu! O Kounteya! Though you have been restrained, why are you not retreating from this battle? If the descendants of the Kourava lineage could have been defeated through fighting, then we, and all these bulls among men, would have fought. All those on your side have descended from their chariots. O Kounteya! Therefore, descend from your chariot too.’ Having thus addressed him, Krishna brought him
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down from his chariot, though he sighed like a serpent and his eyes were red with rage. When he was brought down from the chariot onto the ground and forced to cast aside his weapons, the narayana weapon, the scorcher of enemies, was pacified. The energy, which was difficult to withstand, became pacified. All the directions and the sub-directions became clear. Auspicious winds began to blow and
the animals and birds were calmed. O lord of men! The mounts and the warriors became cheerful. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When its
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fierce energy was dispelled, the intelligent Bhima looked resplendent, like the sun that arises at the end of the night. On seeing that the supreme weapon was pacified, the remnants of the Pandava army stationed themselves, wishing to kill your sons.

‘“O great king! When the weapon was countered and the soldiers were stationed thus, Duryodhana spoke to Drona’s son. ‘O Ashvatthama! Quickly use that weapon again. The Panchalas are stationed again, desiring victory.’ O venerable one! Having been thus addressed by your son, Ashvatthama sighed in great distress and spoke to the king. ‘O king! This weapon cannot be brought back.
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It cannot be used a second time. If brought back, there is no doubt that it will kill the person who uses it. O lord of men! Vasudeva devised the means for repulsing the weapon. Otherwise, it would have slain the enemy in the battle. There can be defeat or death. But death is superior to defeat. Having been defeated and forced to cast aside their
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weapons, they are as good as dead.’ Duryodhana replied, ‘O son of the preceptor! O one who is supreme in the knowledge of weapons! If that weapon cannot be invoked a second time, let the slayers of the preceptor be killed with some other weapon. All the divine weapons are vested in you, just as weapons are vested in Tryambaka.
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If you so wish, even an enraged Purandara cannot escape from you.’”

‘Dhritarashtra asked, “When Drona was killed in that inferior way, that weapon was countered and Duryodhana spoke those words, what did Drona’s son do next? He saw that the Parthas were stationed for battle and were roaming around at the head of the army, having been freed from the narayana weapon.”

‘Sanjaya replied, “Knowing the manner in which his father had been killed, the one with the tail of the lion on his banner
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was extremely angry. He cast aside all fear and attacked Parshata. That bull among men struck that bull among men
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with twenty kshudraka arrows and then powerfully pierced him with another five. O king! Dhrishtadyumna was like a powerful fire. O king! He pierced Drona’s son with sixty-three arrows. He used twenty gold-tufted arrows sharpened on stone to pierce his charioteer and pierced his four horses with four sharp arrows. Having been pierced and pierced again, Drona’s son made the earth tremble with his roars, as if he was going to rob all beings of their lives in that great battle. O king! Parshata was powerful, skilled in the use of weapons and firm in his resolution. Deciding on death rather than retreat, he attacked Drona’s son. Panchala, supreme among rathas and possessing an immeasurable soul, showered down arrows on the head of Drona’s son. Enraged in that battle, Drona’s son enveloped him with arrows. Remembering the death of his father, he pierced him with ten arrows. He used a couple of well-aimed and razor-sharp arrows to sever his standard and his bow. Then, Drona’s son struck the prince of Panchala with other arrows. In that great battle, Drona’s son deprived him of his horses, charioteer and chariot. He angrily shrouded all his followers with arrows. O lord of the earth! At this, the Panchala soldiers began to flee. They were frightened, distressed and wounded by those arrows.