On The Seventeenth Day
“Today I will not return to my tents,” Vivasvan’s son solemnly said to Duryodhana at dawn on the seventeenth day, “without having killed Arjuna first. This is my solemn vow, and only if I succeed will the fate of this war be able to still turn in our favor. But I need something from you.”
Duryodhana could not believe his ears: if Karna had sworn to kill Arjuna he would surely have succeeded; he was ready to do anything to facilitate it.
“You know it’s not easy at all,” he continued, “because Arjuna is very strong. But I know the real secret of his overwhelming power: it is Krishna, who drives his chariot perfectly. Unfortunately I must admit that my charioteer is not up to a fight like this. So the help I ask of you is to have someone highly qualified to drive my chariot. And the only one I know who is certainly up to this task is Shalya: only he can lead me to victory. Convince the king of Madra to be my charioteer.”
Duryodhana considered this.
“It won’t be easy,” he retorted, “Shalya is very proud; his prowess in battle is incomparable and he is of noble stock. On the contrary, you belong to an inferior lineage for society, so he will feel offended just to hear it proposed.”
With determination, the two went to the Madra monarch’s tent and humbly presented him with the problem and finally the only possible solution.
“I drive the chariot of a Suta?” he retorted in a strong tone. “Duryodhana, you want to insult me. How could you have thought that I would have agreed to do such a thing?”
“Forgive us if we haven’t been able to explain ourselves well,” Duryodhana, who was a very skilled politician, told him. “When we asked you to drive Karna’s chariot we certainly didn’t mean that you were inferior to him, but that you, by leading us to victory, are even superior to Krishna. Drive Karna’s chariot as Krishna himself does with Arjuna’s; accept it; this assignment, O Shalya, and make our armies succeed where Bhishma and Drona have failed.”
Shalya was silent for a few minutes; then, mindful of the promise made to Yudhisthira before the battle began, he decided to make himself useful to the just cause and accepted the job. In fact, we will remember that he had reassured Yudhisthira that on the day of the last challenge he would do everything to disturb Karna.
“Provided,” Shalya pointed out, “that during the battle I am free to say and do what I want, and that he does not give me orders in a peremptory tone as one does with a normal subordinate.”
“I accept all conditions,” Karna said gratefully, “and I thank you for the great honor you have bestowed on me. Now that you guide me I am sure I can defeat Arjuna.”
So Karna and Shalya presented themselves in front of the soldiers who were nothing short of enthusiastic about that news; this mighty combination was their last chance at victory, and everyone knew it. But those who knew Karna well could see a veil of sadness on his face; he was not happy at all: inside he had a presentiment that this was going to be his last day of life.
Seeing Duryodhana concerned about the many ominous omens that continually appeared above them, Karna spurred his charioteer.
“Noble Shalya, steer the chariot in the direction of the five Pandavas, so that I take advantage of the fact that they are gathered in the same spot and can overwhelm them once and for all.”
But as they ran to meet the enemy, Shalya laughed out loud.
“How can you be so presumptuous as to think you can beat the five Pandavas in one stroke? You have always had a disproportionate confidence in your abilities and this will be noticed by Indra’s son, Arjuna, who is the only truly invincible one in this world.”
Though he felt stung by those words, Karna didn’t answer.
And while the chariot of the great warrior darted in the middle of the enemy lines, claiming thousands of victims, in an attempt to undermine his enthusiasm, Shalya continued to criticize him by taking a cue from the smallest things. Although painfully wounded by those cruel words, the son of Surya continued his mad rush in search of Arjuna, and no one could even slow him down.
The only one who kept him busy for a few moments was Bhima, but then Karna moved on, creating a real furrow in the enemy ranks.
Seeing Karna overtaking the soldiers, the Pandava then stopped Satyasena, one of Karna’s sons who had the task of protecting his father from lateral attacks. Following a bitter duel, the young man fell, mortally wounded.
After overcoming the obstacle represented by Bhima, Karna ran into Yudhisthira and challenged him. The king competed with valor, but then he too had to yield to that irrepressible force and, pardoned by the enemy, he withdrew from the fight to have his wounds treated.
In any case, the scene did not go unnoticed by Bhima who from a distance saw his older brother at the mercy of Karna. A tremendous rage filled his heart and, roaring in an impressive way, he rushed against what had always been the black soul of Duryodhana; Bhima’s attack had disastrous effects: in a few seconds Karna’s chariot and all weapons were destroyed, and his horses shot down. Overwhelmed by that inhuman fury, Karna lay unconscious on the ground. But the moment Bhima raised his mace and, screaming like a madman, was about to finish him off, Shalya stopped him.
“No, Bhima, don’t do that. Remember that Arjuna has sworn to kill him. Don’t defeat your brother’s promise.”
At those words Bhima stopped and looked around, looking for someone on whom to vent the repressed fury; and just then some of Dhritarastra’s sons were rushing to help their general. Licking his mustache with a delighted expression on his face, Bhima wasted no time: he lifted the huge club over his head and hurled himself into the heap. When he emerged, he had left behind ten corpses.
But Bhima’s anger was by no means subsided. Again he looked for other victims, clutching the bloody weapon until it nearly broke.
Meanwhile, seriously injured by Karna, Yudhisthira had retired to his tent to undergo medical attention. But as he lay on the bed he could not find peace thinking of the terrible enemy and of Arjuna who would soon have to meet him.
Arjuna, at the same time, not seeing his brother on the battlefield, was asking where he was. They told him that the king had retired to his tent.
“Krishna, my friend, I wish to go and see Yudhisthira. Surely he was hurt by Karna and I want to know how he is.”
So when he saw his older brother in that state, he solemnly swore that the sun would not set without seeing their greatest enemy dead. He returned to the battlefield, among the devastated ranks of his soldiers.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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