Chapter 1187(37)
‘Sanjaya said, “O venerable one! O king! While the kshatriyas immersed themselves in that battle, the tremendous roar of Gandiva was heard in that encounter, when Pandava was engaged in creating carnage among the samshaptakas, the Kosalas and the narayana army.486 In that encounter, the samshaptakas were intolerant and desired victory. From every direction, they showered down arrows on Partha’s head. O king! However, the lord spiritedly withstood that violent shower. Plunging into the battle, Partha slaughtered the best of rathas. He assaulted that army of chariots with arrows that had been sharpened on stone and were tufted with the feathers of herons. In that battle, Partha approached maharatha Susharma.487 The foremost of rathas brought down a shower of arrows on him and the samshaptakas did the same to Partha, who was stationed in the battle. Susharma pierced Partha with nine swift arrows and Janardana in the right arm with three arrows. O venerable one! O king! With another broad-headed arrow, he pierced the large standard that had been fashioned by Vishvakarma, with the best of apes astride it. At this, the ape let out a large and fierce roar. On hearing this, your army was terrified. O king! That beautiful army became immobile. It was like Chitraratha’s grove, full of many flowers.488 O best of the Kuru lineage! Having regained their senses, the warriors drenched Arjuna with their arrows, like clouds on a mountain. All of them surrounded maharatha Pandava. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Swiftly and powerfully, they attacked his horses, his chariot wheels and his chariot and roared like lions. O great king! Some of them seized Keshava by his mighty arms, while others seized Partha, as he was cheerfully stationed on his chariot. In the field of battle, Keshava flung his arms around and brought all of them down, like an elephant against a wicked elephant. In the encounter, on seeing that Keshava had been oppressed on the chariot, Partha became angry. He attacked and brought down many maharathas and innumerable foot soldiers who had climbed onto the chariot. He covered all the warriors who were nearby with arrows that were meant for fighting at close quarters.
‘ “In that battle, he then spoke to Keshava. ‘O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! Behold. Those large numbers of samshaptakas wished to perform an extremely terrible deed against me and have been slaughtered in thousands. O bull among the Yadu lineage! With my exception, there is no man on earth who is capable of withstanding such a terrible attack, at close quarters, on the chariot.’ Having spoken thus, Bibhatsu blew on Devadatta.489 Krishna blew on Panchajanya, filling heaven and earth. O great king! On hearing the blare of those conch shells, the army of the samshaptakas wavered. They were extremely terrified. Pandava, the destroyer of enemy heroes, repeatedly invoked the naga weapon and tied down their feet.490 Partha tied down their feet in the battle. O king! With their feet tied down by the great-souled Pandava, they became immobile, as if they were made out of stone. The descendant of the Pandu lineage then slaughtered those immobile warriors, just as in ancient times, Indra had killed the daityas in the battle with Taraka.491 Slaughtered in the battle, they abandoned the best of chariots and threw away all their weapons. O Indra among kings! On seeing that the army had thus been tied down, maharatha Susharma quickly invoked the Suparna weapon.492 Suparna birds descended and devoured the serpents. O king! On seeing the birds, the serpents fled. O lord of the earth! Having been freed from the thongs on the feet, the army looked as beautiful as the sun, which warms all beings, when it has been freed from a mass of clouds. O venerable one! Having been freed, the warriors released large numbers of arrows and large numbers of weapons towards Phalguna’s chariot. Having used his own shower of great weapons to sever that shower of arrows, Vasava’s son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, remained stationed on his chariot in the field of battle. O king! Susharma used arrows with drooping tufts to pierce Arjuna in the chest and pierced him again with three other arrows. Having been severely wounded and pained, he sank down on the floor of his chariot. When he regained his senses, the one with the white horses, immeasurable in his soul and with Krishna as his charioteer, quickly invoked the aindra weapon.493 O venerable one! Thousands of arrows were created from it and were seen to destroy men and elephants in every direction of the battle, in addition to horses, chariots and hundreds and thousands of weapons. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! When the soldiers were slaughtered, the large numbers of samshaptakas and gopalas were overcome with great fear. There was no man there who could fight back against Arjuna. While those brave ones looked on, that large army was slaughtered. Despite witnessing the slaughter and despite their valour, they remained immobile. In the battle there, Pandu’s son killed ten thousand warriors. O king! He was resplendent in that battle, like a flaming fire without any smoke. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! He killed fourteen thousand foot soldiers, ten thousand rathas and three thousand tuskers. At this, the samshaptakas again surrounded Dhananjaya. They refused to retreat, and had determined to set their minds on death or victory. O lord of the earth! There was a great battle there between those on your side and the brave and powerful Pandava Kiriti.” ’
Chapter 1188(38)
‘Sanjaya said, “O venerable one! Kritavarma, Kripa, Drona’s son, the son of the suta, Uluka, Soubala and the king494 and his brothers saw that the army was afflicted because of the fear of Pandu’s son. It was submerged with great force, like a shattered boat in an ocean. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! However, in a short while, a battle commenced. It generated fear among cowards and increased the delight of brave ones. In the battle, Kripa released showers of arrows that moved like locusts and shrouded the Srinjayas. Shikandi was angry and quickly advanced against Goutama.495 From every direction, he showered down a large number of arrows on the best of brahmanas. Kripa was knowledgeable about great weapons and destroyed that shower of arrows. In the encounter, he angrily pierced Shikhandi with ten arrows. Shikhandi became enraged in that battle. He severely pierced Kripa with swift arrows that were shafted with the feathers of herons. Having been severely pierced, maharatha Kripa, supreme among brahmanas, deprived Parshata496 of his horses, charioteer and chariot. With his horses slain, the maharatha497 descended from his chariot and grasping a sword and a shield, quickly advanced against the brahmana. On seeing him violently attack in the battle, he enveloped him with straight-tufted arrows and it was wonderful. What we witnessed was extraordinary, as if there was a torrent of rocks. O king! Shikhandi remained immobile in that encounter. O supreme among kings! On seeing that Shikhandi had been shrouded by Kripa, maharatha Dhrishtadyumna quickly counter-attacked Kripa. On seeing that Dhrishtadyumna was advancing towards Sharadvata’s chariot, maharatha Kritavarma powerfully repulsed him. On seeing that Yudhishthira was advancing towards Sharadvata’s chariot, together with his sons and soldiers, Drona’s son countered him. Your son received the spirited maharathas Nakula and Sahadeva and countered them with showers of arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that battle, Karna Vaikartana countered Bhimasena, the Karushas, the Kekayas and the Srinjayas. O venerable one! Meanwhile, in the encounter, Sharadvata Kripa swiftly dispatched arrows towards Shikhandi, as if wishing to burn him down. However, with his sword, he498 repeatedly sliced down all the arrows that were embellished with gold and were shot at him from all directions, while they were still in mid-air. At this, Goutama quickly shattered Parshata’s shield, which was decorated with the marks of one hundred moons, with his arrows. The men roared loudly. O great king! Deprived of his shield, he attacked with the sword in his hand. But he had come under Kripa’s control, like a diseased person in the mouth of death. The immensely strong one was afflicted by Sharadvata’s fierce arrows. On seeing this, Suketu,499 Chitraketu’s son, spiritedly advanced. In the battle, he showered the brahmana with many sharp arrows. The one whose soul was immeasurable, dashed towards Goutama’s chariot. O supreme among kings! On seeing that the brahmana, devoted to his vows, was engaged in a fight with someone else, Shikhandi quickly withdrew. O king! Suketu struck Goutama with nine arrows, pierced him again with seventy, and struck him yet again with three arrows. O ven
erable one! He next severed his500 bow, with an arrow affixed to it. With another arrow, he severely struck his charioteer in the inner organs. Goutama became angry at this and picked up another new bow that was firm. He struck Suketu in all his inner organs with thirty arrows. All his limbs were weakened and he wavered on that supreme chariot. He was like a tree, trembling and moving during an earthquake. His head was adorned with flaming earrings. It had a headdress and a helmet. While he was moving, he501 brought it down with a kshurapra arrow. That head fell down on the ground, like a piece of meat being carried by a hawk. Thereafter, the head was dislodged and fell down on the ground. O great king! When he was slain, those who followed him were frightened. They abandoned the fight with Goutama and fled in the ten directions.
‘ “Kritavarma repeatedly asked Parshata to wait.502 In the battle, there was a tumultuous encounter between those from the Vrishni and Parshata lineages.503 O king! It was like a fight between a hawk and a vulture over a piece of meat. In the battle, Dhrishtadyumna angrily struck Hardikya, Hridika’s son, in the chest with nine arrows and afflicted him. In the encounter, Kritavarma was firmly struck by Parshata. In turn, he shrouded Parshata, his chariot and his horses, with arrows. O king! With his chariot enveloped by arrows, Dhrishtadyumna could no longer be seen. It was like the sun enveloped by clouds at the onset of the rains. Those large numbers of arrows were decorated with gold. O king! But having repulsed them with his arrows, though he was covered with wounds, Dhrishtadyumna looked resplendent in the battle. Parshata, the leader of an army, became angry and unleashed an extremely terrible shower of arrows towards Kritavarma. On seeing that violent and incessant shower of arrows descend in the encounter, Hardikya destroyed them with thousands of arrows. On seeing that the extremely irresistible shower of arrows had been countered in the battle by Kritavarma, Parshata advanced and repulsed him. He used a broad-headed arrow, sharp at the edges, to swiftly dispatch his charioteer to Yama’s abode. Slain, he fell down from the chariot. Dhrishtadyumna vanquished his powerful maharatha enemy. In the battle, he then quickly countered the Kouravas with arrows. At this, the warriors on your side attacked Dhrishtadyumna. They roared like lions and a battle commenced.” ’
Chapter 1189(39)
‘Sanjaya said, “On seeing that Yudhishthira was protected by Shini’s descendant and by the brave sons of Droupadi, Drona’s son cheerfully attacked him. He showered large numbers of gold-tufted and fierce arrows that had been sharpened on stone. He displayed many different kinds of motion, his learning and the dexterity of his hands. The one who was learned in the use of weapons invoked his arrows with the mantras of divine weapons and surrounded Yudhishthira in the battle. Everything was shrouded by the arrows of Drona’s son and nothing could be seen. It was as if the heads of all the warriors were covered by arrows. The firmament was covered by a net of arrows and seemed to be shrouded by a golden net. O best of the Bharata lineage! It was beautiful, as if it had been covered with a canopy. O king! In that battle, enveloped by that radiant net of arrows, the sky seemed to be obstructed by arrows, as if by the shadow of clouds. Because of the arrows, the sight that we beheld there was extraordinary. As a result of the valour of Drona’s son, nothing could be seen to descend on earth.504 O great king! On beholding the dexterity of Drona’s son, the maharathas there were astounded and were incapable of glancing at him. It was as if all the kings were being scorched by the sun.
‘ “Though Satyaki, Dharmaraja Pandava and the other soldiers made efforts, they could not withstand his valour. When the soldiers were being slaughtered, Droupadi’s maharatha sons, Satyaki, Dharmaraja and the Panchalas united, abandoning their fear of death and fiercely attacked Drona’s son. Satyaki pierced Drona’s son with twenty-five arrows with stone heads. He again pierced him with seven iron arrows that were decorated with gold. Yudhishthira struck him with seventy-three, Prativindhya with seven, Shrutakarma with three arrows, Shrutakirti with seven arrows, Sutasoma with nine and Shatanika with nine.505 Many other brave ones pierced him from all directions. O king! He became angry at this and sighed like a venomous serpent. He pierced Satyaki back with twenty-five arrows that had been sharpened on stone, Shrutakirti with nine, Sutasoma with five, Shrutakarma with eight and Prativindhya with three arrows. He struck Shatanika with nine arrows and Dharma’s son506 with seven. He struck each of the other brave ones with two arrows each. With sharp arrows, he severed Shrutakirti’s bow. At this, maharatha Shrutakirti picked up another bow and pierced Drona’s son with three arrows, following this up by striking him with many other sharp arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Drona’s son showered down arrows and covered the soldiers and the kings from every direction with arrows. Drona’s son, immeasurable in his soul, again severed Dharmaraja’s bow with three sharp arrows and laughed. O king! At this, Dharma’s son picked up another giant bow and struck Drona’s son in the arms and the chest with seventy arrows. In the battle, Satyaki angrily struck Drona’s son and used an extremely sharp arrow that was in the form of a half-moon to sever his bow. Having done this, he roared loudly. With his bow severed, Drona’s son, supreme among strong ones, hurled a lance and swiftly brought down the charioteer of Shini’s descendant from his chariot. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Drona’s powerful son then picked up another bow and enveloped Shini’s descendant with a shower of arrows. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! With his507 charioteer brought down in the encounter, his horses were seen to run around here and there. With Yudhishthira at the forefront, they508 powerfully attacked Drona’s son, supreme among the wielders of weapons, and showered down sharp arrows. In that great battle, on seeing that they were rushing to the attack and adopting fierce forms, Drona’s son, scorcher of enemies, laughed and received them. In that battle, Drona’s maharatha son used hundreds of flaming arrows to consume the flanks of the soldiers, like a fire burning dead wood in the forest. O foremost among the Bharatas! The army of Pandu’s son was afflicted by Drona’s son, like the mouth of a river by a whale. O great king! On witnessing the valour of Drona’s son, everyone thought that the Pandus had already been slain by Drona’s son.
Mahabharata: Volume 7 Page 21
