SECTION 140
(Sambhava Parva continued)
"Vaisampayana continued, 'Beholding the Pandavas and the son
of Dhritarashtra accomplished in arms, Drona thought the time had come when he
could demand the preceptorial fee. And, O king, assembling his pupils one day
together, the preceptor Drona asked of them the fee, saying, 'Seize Drupada,
the king of Panchala in battle and bring him unto me. That shall be the most
acceptable fee.' Those warriors then answering, 'So be it', speedily mounted up
on their chariots, and for bestowing upon their preceptor the fee he had
demanded, marched out, accompanied by him. Those bulls among men, smiting the
Panchalas on their way, laid siege to the capital of the great Drupada. And
Duryodhana and Karna and the mighty Yuyutsu, and Duhsasana and Vikarna and
Jalasandha and Sulochana,--these and many other foremost of Kshatriya princes
of great prowess, vied with one another in becoming the foremost in the attack.
And the princes, riding in first class chariots and following the cavalry,
entered the hostile capital, and proceeded along the streets.
"Meanwhile, the king of Panchala, beholding that mighty force
and hearing its loud clamour, came out of his palace, accompanied by his
brothers. Though king Yajnasena was well-armed, the Kuru army assailed him with
a shower of arrows, uttering their war-cry. Yajnasena, however, not easy to be
subdued in battle, approaching the Kurus upon his white chariot, began to rain
his fierce arrows around.
"Before the battle commenced, Arjuna, beholding the pride of
prowess displayed by the princes, addressed his preceptor, that best of Brahmanas,
Drona, and said, 'We shall exert ourselves after these have displayed their
prowess. The king of Panchala can never be taken on the field of the battle by
any of these. Having said this, the son of Kunti surrounded by his brothers,
waited outside the town at a distance of a mile from it. Meanwhile Drupada
beholding the Kuru host, rushed forward and pouring a fierce shower of arrows
around, terribly afflicted the Kuru ranks. And such was his lightness of motion
on the field of battle that, though he was fighting unsupported on a single
chariot, the Kurus from panic supposed that there were many Drupadas opposed to
them. And the fierce arrows of that monarch fell fast on all sides, till conchs
and trumpets and drums by thousands began to be sounded by the Panchalas from
their houses (giving the alarm). Then there arose from the mighty Panchala host
a roar terrible as that of the lion, while the twang of their bow-strings
seemed to rend the very heavens. Then Duryodhana and Vikarna, Subahu and
Dirghalochana and Duhsasana becoming furious, began to shower their arrows upon
the enemy. But the mighty bowman, Prishata's son, invincible in battle, though
very much pierced with the arrows of the enemy, instantly began, to afflict the
hostile ranks with greater vigour. And careering over the field of battle like
a fiery wheel, king Drupada with his arrows smote Duryodhana and Vikarna and
even the mighty Karna and many other heroic princes and numberless warriors, and
slaked their thirst for battle. Then all the citizens showered upon the Kurus
various missiles like clouds showering rain-drops upon the earth. Young and
old, they all rushed to battle, assailing the Kurus with vigour. The Kauravas,
then, beholding the battle become frightful, broke and fled wailing towards the
Pandavas.
"The Pandavas, hearing the terrible wail of the beaten host, reverentially saluted Drona and ascended their chariots. Then
Arjuna hastily bidding
Yudhishthira not to engage in the fight, rushed forward, appointing the sons of Madri (Nakula and Sahadeva) the protectors
of his chariot-wheels,
while Bhimasena ever fighting in the van, mace in hand, ran ahead. Arjuna, thus accompanied by his brothers, hearing the shouts of the enemy, advanced towards them, filling the whole
region with the rattle
of his chariot-wheels. And like a Makara entering the sea, Bhima, mace in hand, entered the Panchala ranks, fiercely roaring like the ocean in a
tempest. And Bhima, mace
in hand, first rushed towards the array of elephants in the hostile force, while Arjuna, assailed that force with the prowess of his arms. And Bhima, began to slay those
elephants with his mace. Those huge animals, like unto mountains, struck with Bhima's mace, had their heads
broken into pieces.
Covered with stream of blood, they began to fall upon the ground like cliffs loosened by thunder. And the Pandavas
prostrated on the ground
elephants and horses and cars by thousands and slew many foot-soldiers and many car-warriors. Indeed, as a herdsman in the
woods driveth before
him with his staff countless cattle with ease, so did Vrikodara drive before him the chariots and elephants of the
hostile force.
"Meanwhile, Phalguna, impelled by the desire of doing good
unto Bharadwaja's
son, assailed the son of Prishata with a shower of arrows and felled him from the elephant on which he was seated. And, O
monarch, Arjuna, began to
prostrate on the ground horses and cars and elephants by thousands. The Panchalas and the Srinjayas, on the
other hand, thus
assailed by the Pandava, met him with a perfect shower of weapons of various kinds. And they sent up a loud shout and fought desperately with Arjuna. The battle became furious and terrible to behold. Hearing the enemy's shouts, the son of Indra was filled
with wrath and assailing
the hostile host with a thick shower of arrows, rushed towards it furiously afflicting it with renewed vigour.
They who observed the
illustrious Arjuna at that time could not mark any interval between his fixing the arrows on the bowstring and letting them
off. Loud were the shouts
that rose there, mingled with cheers of approval. Then the king of the Panchalas, accompanied by (the generalissimo of
his forces)
Satyajit, rushed with speed at Arjuna like the Asura Samvara rushing at the chief of the celestials (in days of yore). Then
Arjuna covered the king
of Panchala with a shower of arrows. Then there arose a frightful uproar among the Panchala host like unto the roar of a
mighty lion springing
at the leader of a herd of elephants. And beholding Arjuna rushing at the king of Panchala to seize him, Satyajit of great
prowess rushed at him.
And the two warriors, like unto Indra and the Asura Virochana's son (Bali), approaching each other for combat, began
to grind each other's
ranks. Then Arjuna with great force pierced Satyajit with ten keen shafts at which feat the spectators were all amazed. But Satyajit, without losing any time, assailed Arjuna with a hundred
shafts. Then that mighty
car-warrior, Arjuna, endued with remarkable lightness of motion, thus covered by that shower of arrows, rubbed his
bow-string to increase the
force and velocity of his shafts. Then cutting in twain his antagonist's bow, Arjuna rushed at the king of the Panchalas, but Satyajit, quickly taking up a tougher bow, pierced with his arrows Partha, his chariot, charioteer, and horses. Arjuna, thus assailed
in battle by the
Panchala warrior, forgave not his foe. Eager to slay him at once, he pierced with a number of arrows his antagonist's horses,
flags, bow, clenched
(left) fist, charioteer, and the attendant at his back. Then Satyajit, finding his bows repeatedly cut in twain and his
horses slain, desisted
from the fight.
"The king of the Panchalas, beholding his general thus
discomfited in the encounter, himself began to shower his arrows upon the Pandava prince. Then Arjuna, began to fight furiously, and quickly cutting his enemy's bow in twain as
also his flagstaff which
he caused to fall down, pierced his antagonist's horses, and charioteer also with five arrows. Then throwing aside his bow
Arjuna took his quiver,
and taking out a scimitar and sending forth a loud shout, leaped from his own chariot upon that of his foe. And
standing there with
perfect fearlessness he seized Drupada as Garuda seizeth a huge snake after agitating the waters of the ocean. At the sight
of this, the Panchala
troops ran away in all directions.
"Then Dhananjaya, having thus exhibited the might of his arm
in the presence of both
hosts, sent forth a loud shout and came out of the Panchala ranks. And beholding him returning (with his captive),
the princes began to
lay waste Drupada's capital. Addressing them Arjuna said, 'This best of monarchs, Drupada, is a relative of the Kuru
heroes. Therefore, O
Bhima, slay not his soldiers. Let us only give unto our preceptor his fee.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'O king, thus prevented by Arjuna,
Bhimasena, though unsatiated with the exercise of battle, refrained from the act of slaughter. And, the princes then, taking Drupada with them after having seized him on the field of
battle along with his
friends and counsellors, offered him unto Drona. And Drona beholding Drupada thus brought under complete control--humiliated
and deprived of
wealth--remembered that monarch's former hostility and addressing him said, 'Thy kingdom and capital have been laid waste
by me. But fear not for
thy life, though it dependeth now on the will of thy foe. Dost thou now desire to revive thy friendship (with me)?'
Having said this, he
smiled a little and again said, 'Fear not for thy life, brave king! We, Brahmanas, are ever forgiving. And, my affection
and love for thee have grown with me in consequence of our having sported together in childhood in the
hermitage. Therefore, O
king, I ask for thy friendship again. And as a boon (unasked), I give thee half the kingdom (that was thine). Thou
toldest me before that none
who was not a king could be a king's friend. Therefore is it, O Yajnasena, that I retain half thy kingdom. Thou art the
king of all the
territory lying on the southern side of the Bhagirathi, while I become king of all the territory on the north of that river. And,
O Panchala, if it
pleaseth thee, know me hence for thy friend.'
"On hearing these words, Drupada answered, 'Thou art of noble
soul and great prowess.
Therefore, O Brahmana, I am not surprised at what thou doest. I am very much gratified with thee, and I desire thy
eternal friendship.'
"Vaisampayana continued, 'After this, Drona released the king of Panchala, and cheerfully performing the usual offices of
regard, bestowed upon
him half the kingdom. Thenceforth Drupada began to reside sorrowfully in (the city of) Kampilya within (the province of)
Makandi on the banks of the
Ganga filled with many towns and cities. And after his defeat by Drona, Drupada also ruled the southern Panchalas up to
the bank of the
Charmanwati river. And Drupada from that day was well-convinced that he could not, by Kshatriya might alone, defeat Drona, being
very much his
inferior in Brahma (spiritual) power. And he, therefore, began to wander over the whole earth to find out the means of obtaining
a son (who would
subjugate his Brahmana foe).
"Meanwhile Drona continued to reside in Ahicchatra. Thus, O
king, was the territory of
Ahicchatra full of towns and cities, obtained by Arjuna, and bestowed upon Drona.'
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