Mahabharata Drona Parva Chapter 190

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Mahabharata Drona Parva (Drona-vadha Parva) Chapter 190


Sanjaya said, 'During that fearful carnage of men and steeds and elephants, Duhsasana, O king, encountered Dhrishtadyumna. Mounted upon his golden car and exceedingly afflicted with the shafts of Duhsasana, the Panchala prince wrathfully showered his shafts upon thy son's steeds. Covered with the shafts of Prishata's son, O king, Duhsasana's car, with standard and driver, soon became invisible. Afflicted with those showers of arrows, Duhsasana, O monarch, became unable to stay before the illustrious prince of the Panchalas. Forcing, by means of his shafts, Duhsasana to turn back Pritha's son, scattering his arrows, proceeded against Drona in that battle. At the time Hridika's son, Kritavarman, with three of his uterine brothers, appeared on the scene and attempted to oppose Dhrishtadyumna. Those bulls among men, however, viz., the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva following in the wake of Dhrishtadyumna who was thus proceeding like a blazing fire towards Drona, began to protect him.

Then, all those great car-warriors, endued with might and excited with rage, began to strike one another, making death their goal. Of pure souls and pure conduct, O king, and keeping heaven in view, they fought according to righteous methods, desirous of vanquishing one another. Of stainless lineage and stainless acts, and endued with great intelligence, those rulers of men, keeping heaven in view, fought fair battles with another. There was nothing unfair in that fight and no weapon was used that was regarded as unfair. No barbed arrows, nor those called nalikas, nor those that are poisoned, nor those with heads made of horns, nor those equipped with many pointed heads, nor those made of the bones of bulls and elephants, nor those having two heads, nor those having rusty heads, nor those that are not straight going, were used by any of them.[1] All of them used simple and fair weapons and desired to win both fame and region of great blessedness by fighting fairly. Between those four warriors of thy army and those three of the Pandava side, the battle that took place was exceedingly dreadful but divested of everything unfair.

Then Dhrishtadyumna, exceedingly quick in the use of weapons, beholding those brave and mighty car warriors of thy army checked by the twins (Nakula and Sahadeva), proceeded towards Drona. Checked by those two lions among men, those four heroic warriors encountered the former like the wind assailing a couple of mountains (standing on their way). Each of the twins—those great car-warriors—was engaged with a couple of arrows against Drona. Beholding the invincible prince of the Panchalas proceeding against Drona, and those four heroes (of his own army) engaged with the twins, Duryodhana, O monarch, rushed to that spot, scattering showers of blood-drinking arrows. Seeing this, Satyaki quickly approached the Kuru king. Those two tigers among men, viz., the two descendants of Kuru and Madhu, approaching each other, became desirous of striking each other in battle. Recalling to mind their behaviour towards each other in childhood and reflecting with pleasure on the same, they gazed at each other and smiled repeatedly.

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References

  1. All these arrows inflicted had wounds and could not be easily extracted. Shafts of crooked courses were condemned because the combatants could not easily baffle them, not knowing at whom they would fall.