Asvatthama’s Anger
News that Drona was dead quickly spread to every remote part of Kurukshetra. It took some time for everyone to believe it. And the Kauravas withdrew disorderly from the battlefield, leaving the enemy masters of that tragic stage of death.
Duryodhana had been among those who had watched helplessly at the scene. He could not believe it: the invincible Drona, the master of all the greatest warriors in the world, on whom his hopes of victory were based, had fallen in Kurukshetra at the hands of the son of Drupada. It was a bad blow for him.
On a distant front, Asvatthama fought ardently, unaware of his father’s death. When he saw the army retreating for no apparent reason, he returned to the camps. He saw the assembled generals and recognized a deep sadness on their faces. But no one had the courage to look him in the eye.
“O king, my friend,” he said then, turning to Duryodhana, “what has happened so badly? Why have the troops withdrawn prematurely? And why do you seem desperate?”
However, it seemed that no one was going to answer him. Finally, as Asvatthama insisted, it was Kripa who told him everything in detail. As soon as he learned how the Pandavas had deceived his father with the false news of his death and how Dhristadyumna had taken advantage of his meditation to strike him, the anger of the impetuous Brahmana flared like a fire. And he swore revenge.
“What are we waiting for?” he said to the others. “Let’s go back to the field immediately and destroy our enemies, who have committed an unprecedented crime.”
Galvanized by Asvatthama’s fury, they all regained their courage and poured again into the bloody plain, screaming as if they were possessed.
When he saw the enemies return, Yudhisthira wondered how they had recovered so quickly from a blow as hard as Drona’s death.
“It’s not difficult to understand,” Arjuna retorted. “Try to imagine what Asvatthama’s reaction may have been. I think we will have to work hard now; I know him well: when he is angry he becomes very dangerous. And I think I know who will be the main object of his anger.”
And the Pandavas prepared to receive Asvatthama and to protect Dhristadyumna.
Meanwhile the Kauravas, led by the Brahmana, proceeded threateningly: it seemed to witness the wrath of the stormy sea, when its waves advance aggressively, giving the impression of wanting to wrap everything in their spirals of death. At that moment the sky darkened, and hostile thunder darkened the atmosphere, which vibrated as if an army of evil goblins were about to materialize and unleash a demonic war.
As if by magic, the Pandavas saw on the horizon a massive wall taking shape and preparing quickly; seconds later they realized that they were deadly weapons that were about to fall upon them, as if suddenly millions of warriors were about to hurl their weapons at the same time. In a few seconds it was a massacre; the Pandava soldiers began to fall by the hundreds, battered in several places of the body. Faced with that mysterious portent, even Yudhisthira was seized by panic.
“This is surely Asvatthama’s work,” he said. “He wants revenge. Before, he had esteem for us, and for this he fought lukewarmly. But after what we did to his father, he hates us and will destroy us all. The war is lost, we have no hope. Save yourselves, that all return to their homes!”
But Krishna’s smile calmed everyone.
“No, you must not fear. I know this weapon well. It is My narayana-astra. It cannot be counterattacked in any way, and no one can resist it; however, it does not strike anyone who does not oppose it. On the contrary, it increases its strength and its intensity the more you try to resist it. Prostrate all of you, touch the ground with your forehead, pay homage to it and you will be saved.”
They all did as Krishna had said; all except Bhima. And as the others bent down into that tornado of fire, he cried out, flushed with rage:
“I will never bow to any weapon, whether human or divine.”
It was an incredible scene: in all of Kurukshetra Bhima was the only one left standing, and he roared like an angry lion, while all around him the power of the narayana-astra was unleashed, which concentrated a real vortex of fire around him. Covered in arrows like a porcupine, Bhima was the very portrait of warrior glory. It was a sight to see. As a result of the weapons hitting him, a tremendous heat had developed all around him that seemed to flare up at every moment. Refreshed by the varuna-astra that Arjuna sent to cool him, despite the intense pain and the danger of death, Bhima showed no intention of stooping to the ground.
Arjuna, Dhristadyumna, and his other friends managed to save him by forcibly pushing him down, just in time to avoid being devoured by the eye of the storm. The narayana-astra passed over them without causing significant damage.
Having seen that yet another attempt fail, Duryodhana felt panic and shouted:
“Asvatthama, send that weapon again and destroy your father’s killers.”
“I can’t,” he replied. “Like all celestial weapons that are forbidden in the world of men, the narayana-astra can only be used once, or it would unleash against us and destroy us all.”
The battle raged again, tremendous as never before. Asvatthama tried everything he had against his opponents, but he saw every attempt fail. Frustrated and desperate, he left the battlefield and went to seek advice from Vyasa.
“This war is unbelievable: Bhishma and my father have fallen, thousands of warriors considered invincible have died and all my weapons have failed: why could all this happen? How was it possible? How can the Pandavas always win?”
Vyasa gave him a merciful look, then said:
“This truth has always been clear to me from day one, and I have not even kept silent about it. To all of you I have always told you that the Pandavas cannot be destroyed by anyone because Krishna is with them, and He is no ordinary man: He is the Supreme Person, the God who creates and destroys all that exists. His will is unquestionable, and He wants the virtuous Pandavas to win. Therefore, without a shadow of a doubt, they will triumph. But you are a Kshatriya and your duty is to fight. Go back to the field, then, and always act according to what is right.”
Evening fell, and a merciful veil fell over that umpteenth massacre.
The survivors of the last fifteen dreadful days retreated to their tents, exhausted.
But while the Pandavas slept peacefully, Duryodhana could not find peace.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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