Satyaki, The Great Hero
Despite being exhausted from the hard duel he fought with Drona, Satyaki passed the first layer with relative ease, which had already been nearly destroyed earlier by Arjuna. It was the second vyuha that caused him the greatest difficulty.
There, in fact, he met Drona again, who, worried about the frightening death trail that Satyaki was leaving behind, stepped in front of him and challenged him again. But it was immediately clear to everyone that this was a challenge that could also last forever: a show that would certainly delight martial arts experts but that would never have any practical result. The two were equal in everything.
But when the Vrishni understood that the opponent’s intention was precisely that, namely to block him in an endless duel and thus delay his advance, he greeted him respectfully and ran away.
While Drona pursued him, Satyaki also avoided Bahlika’s army and entered Karna’s, who was caught by surprise by his unleashed fury. In a few minutes he came out on the other side of the line and clashed with his friend Kritavarma, defeating and humiliating him.
During Yuyudhana’s hasty advance, the Kauravas were deprived of another famous hero, King Jalasandha, who after losing his entire army of elephants and being defeated in a duel, was shot in the neck by an arrow which decapitated him. Thus another noble warrior, loved and respected by all, not only by the Kauravas but also by the Pandavas themselves, had lost his life.
Taking advantage of the slowdown it had taken Satyaki to defeat his opponent, Drona, Duryodhana and Kritavarma had reunited and managed to catch up with him. Satyaki looked at them mockingly.
“If you think you are frightening me and preventing me from advancing,” he said, “you are very wrong: don’t you know that I am Arjuna’s disciple and Krishna’s cousin? Thanks to them, no one can defeat me.”
At that point a river of fiery arrows sprang from his bow, and sowed panic everywhere; they barely managed to save Drona’s life as Duryodhana fled hastily. Satyaki was truly irrepressible: whatever came close to him, he seemed to burn like a huge fire, just as strong as the sun in its hour of its maximum splendor.
After killing the brave Sudarshana as well, he resumed his run to get close to Arjuna.
The Kauravas felt at the same time frightened, enraged and impressed: that day the great Satyaki was tarnishing even the fame of Arjuna, causing more confusion than the Pandava himself. A battalion of stone throwers from the northern mountainous regions was sent against him; but Satyaki broke all the boulders as they darted at him in midair and slaughtered those good fighters entirely. It was then Duhssasana’s turn who wanted to try to stop him, but the latter was saved only because Satyaki wanted to leave him to Bhima.
Having also put this other Kaurava to flight, Yuyudhana resumed his unstoppable run.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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