Arjuna’s Approach
Inexorably the sun was heading west.
Half the day had already passed. Now Arjuna, who realized that he had wasted too much time in duels with Drona and with the other maharathas, also understood that he had to start fighting against time as well and therefore redouble his efforts. Gandiva had almost disappeared from his hand. Always keeping the bow at maximum bending capacity, almost in a circular shape, no one was able to distinguish its movements any longer; taking the arrow, reciting the mantras, throwing it and taking another one had become one. From that deadly weapon flowed an uninterrupted current of deadly darts, striking with inhuman precision. The Kauravas were terrified.
But after a while, realizing that Arjuna’s horses were starting to show signs of fatigue from the great running, they regained courage and increased their efforts again. The noble steeds, which bled profusely in many parts of the body, now moved more slowly, with less and less agility. And Jayadratha was still far away.
The soldiers felt that their sacrifice could be instrumental in the final victory.
Arjuna’s race being slowed due to fatigue of the horses, the mighty brothers Vinda and Anuvinda stood in front of him and gave him a challenge. The duel with the famous soldiers, known all over the world for their heroism, was very hard and spectacular; but Indra’s impatient son, who felt he had little time, put aside the joy of dueling with those good archers, and found himself forced to kill them both at once.
Still, he repelled a mass attack by the Kauravas, eager to avenge the two brothers by creating almost a desert around him. At that point Krishna said:
“Arjuna, our horses are tired, we can’t keep running them like this all day. We have to rest them.”
Arjuna thought for a moment, then said:
“You’re right, let’s stop. While you rest them, I will continue to keep our opponents at bay.”
Seeing him without the protection of the chariot, the Kauravas organized a new mass attack and, as they had already done with Abhimanyu the previous day, they tried to surround him and put him in difficulty, attacking him from various sides. But it was with great consternation that they had to acknowledge that the Pandava was even more unstoppable on foot than when he was on the chariot. The panic spread everywhere and the two were alone for a few minutes.
“Arjuna,” said Krishna, “there is no water here: how can we water our horses?”
After reciting a prayer to Varuna, Arjuna generated a freshwater pond with his divine weapons, which he then surrounded with a thick wall of arrows. There, inside that impenetrable curtain, the horses refreshed themselves.
Meanwhile, the Kauravas, faced with those wonders, seemed to have completely lost interest in combat: no one could take their eyes off those two entrancing characters and the same question could be heard whispering everywhere: what was Arjuna unable to do?
As soon as the horses had regained their strength, the two reassembled on the chariot and, having broken through the wall of arrows, resumed the race. Duryodhana arrived at exactly that time.
As he realized the situation he felt desperate: his cousin had already reached the limit of the third vyuha, and he had already passed two which were also impenetrable to the gods themselves. He was getting too close to Jayadratha. He saw Arjuna kill or force to flee with unprecedented fury anyone who stood in front of him.
Then Dhritarastra’s son, anxious about his brother-in-law’s life, shouted to the Pandava to stop and accept his challenge.
When the duel began, Arjuna and Krishna were surprised to find that no arrows could penetrate that armor, while Duryodhana’s weapons caused painful wounds.
And the sun was getting closer and closer to the horizon.
Finally Arjuna understood.
“My friend, now I understand the reason why my vile cousin appears so strong. What he wears is the armor of Brahma that Drona has with him right now. I remember that a long time ago he showed it to me and also taught me how to counterattack anyone wearing it. Now, at this very moment, I will destroy that wicked one”.
Thus he invoked a mortal star and threw it violently; but just at that moment Asvatthama arrived, who seeing the king in danger broke the arrow as it approached him at the speed of lightning; that powerful weapon could not be used a second time.
But Partha was not discouraged.
“It doesn’t matter if the guru’s son has neutralized my weapon,” he said with a smile on his face, “because I can do something else. Duryodhana doesn’t know how to wear that divine armor. In fact, he wears it like a child who has put on his father’s clothes; see how I arrange it”.
And at that moment, under the pressure of that mighty arm, a terrifying torrent of needle-thin arrows sprang from Gandiva that pierced Duryodhana in all the parts he had left uncovered, even under the nails and palms of his feet. Tortured by excruciating pain, Duryodhana could not help but flee.
Laughing in amusement at that funny scene, the two spurred the horses in the direction of the suchimukha-vyuha, the third layer, the one beyond which Jayadratha was. They were only three kilometers away, but in front they had a powerful formation crowded with practically invincible heroes. Arjuna had every reason to be worried.
“Krishna, now we are about to come into contact with yet another vyuha, where the strongest soldiers are stationed. Play the panchajanya, we’ll frighten our enemies and instill renewed enthusiasm in our distant allies, who do not even know if I am dead or alive.”
As the vigorous transcendental sound spread through the ether, Arjuna made Gandiva’s string vibrate; the Kauravas, who were not yet in sight, understood that the much feared adversaries were about to arrive, and prepared to receive them.
This was the point where there was the greatest concentration of maharatha: in front of him Arjuna began to see Bhurisrava, Shala, Karna, Vrishasena, Kripa, Shalya and Asvatthama, all followed by their respective battalions.
In a few moments they collided and the collision was tremendous.
But although Arjuna and his two helpers fought furiously, they realized that the afternoon was already well advanced and that the sun was going down inexorably.
They redoubled their efforts.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
To buy the complete book, click above
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