The War – Day 12

(Veda Vyasa starts a new chapter to cover the twelfth day’s war. Let us remember that that was the second day after Drona took charge. Two of the famous battles of the Mahabharata war take place in this chapter.)

The Acharya was apologetic to Duryodhana. He said. “I failed to deliver what I promised you. But, there was one condition, that Arjuna should have, somehow, been kept away from Yudhishthira. I got no chance yesterday with him hovering around his brother all the time”.

The Trigartha princes, lead by their king Susarma, heard this conversation. They proclaimed. “We shall take care of that. Arjuna had insulted us on several occasions, first on his victory march preceding the Rajasooya ritual of Yudhishthira. Then again, he defeated us when we invaded the Matsya kingdom. This is our chance for sweet revenge”.

The Suicide Squad

The entire Trigarta army, then, went through a ritual of oath taking. They lit fire and swore in front of it that none of them would turn back until the middle Pandava (Arjuna) was killed. That was a terrible oath to take. The entire battle field reverberated with their solemn pledge.
The news reached the Pandavas. Yudhishthira was apprehensive. Arjuna was supposed to guard him against Drona.

But, the Gandeevee (one with the Gandiva bow, Arjuna) declared that he would never turn down a challenge. He assured Yudhishthira that the Panchala prince, Satyajit would guard him equally well.

The Terrible Fight

Thousands of Trigarthas came riding their chariots and encircled Arjuna right from the start of the twelfth day. Arjuna was not the least worried looking at the vast army of men, all of whom came bent on his blood. Arrows were shot from the Gandiva so fast and with such a force that hundreds and thousands started falling down like moth facing fire. One of the great Trigartha princes, Sudhanwa, was also killed by a well aimed arrow from Arjuna’s bow. That scared the Trigartha army and all started backing out forgetting their vow. The Trigartha king, Susarma, was quick to remind them of their word and he managed to get back his men in battle array again.

Arjuna was amused finding those who came with an oath to kill him fleeing for their lives. But, he was surprised the very next moment with their sudden turn back. The Pandava did not want to spend too much time fighting with an army which looked like an ocean of men determined to kill him. So, he took out his special weapon, the Brahmastra (the arrow of Brahma) and launched it against the Trigarthas. Its effect was devastating for the invading force. Large number of their soldiers perished under the impact of the all-destroying Brahmastra. The remaining ones were so confused with what was happening that they started fighting against each other.

The Trigartha king survived the Brahmastra. There were also a few hundred of his men who escaped the terrible weapon. They rallied together with renewed determination to fulfill their pledge. They surrounded Arjuna and started dispatching arrows against the Pandava in quick succession. There were so many arrows coming that they soon covered the entire chariot with Krishna and Arjuna in it. Krishna, himself covered by the Trigartha arrows, had to shout for Arjuna to find out what was happening. Krishna asked. “Arjuna, are you alive? Are you still there?”

Arjuna replied from behind. “Here, I am. Now you shall see me in action”. With those words he took out the Wind Arrow (Vayavya Astra) against the Trigarthas. His arrow produced wind with such a force that the remaining Trigarthas were carried away from the battle field in one big sweep.

Drona's Attack

Drona was waiting for the Trigarthas to engage Arjuna. He arrayed his own forces in the shape of an eagle (Garuda Vyuha) keeping many of the veteran Kauravas, like Salya, Kripa, Jayadratha and Bhagadatta, guarding the vital points. Then he marched towards his target, Yudhishthira. The senior Pandava was unnerved finding the Kaurava army lead by Drona fast approaching towards him. Dhrishtadyumna asked the Pandava not to worry and drove his chariot towards Drona. But, the Acharya avoided a direct confrontation with his sworn enemy and went towards Yudhishthira through a different path.

Several prominent Pandava heroes with their army confronted Drona on the way. The Acharya made short work of his detractors. The Pandava army dispersed in all directions unable to face the terrible attack launched from the Kaurava commander.

(To be continued)