The Events Of The Night
When the Kauravas heard that deafening tumult coming from the encampments of the enemies, they were very worried. What was happening? What was the reason for so much noise? What were they celebrating? Abhimanyu had recently died and the Pandavas had no reason to celebrate, but to despair. Duryodhana fell into the blackest anxiety until the spies arrived.
“Quick, tell me,” he asked, “why did the Pandavas and their allies play their instruments? What are they celebrating?”
“Arjuna has just learned of the death of his beloved son and has sworn to avenge him by killing King Jayadratha before sunset; if he fails, he will enter the fire and let himself die.”
At these words Jayadratha suddenly turned pale and could not utter a word. Terror had captured him, completely confusing him.
“If Arjuna has sworn to kill me tomorrow, he certainly will,” he stammered. “I have no hope against him and Krishna. But I will not stay. It would be suicide. Tomorrow I will return to my kingdom.”
Duryodhana calmed him.
“No, you must not flee. The situation that has arisen can be to our advantage. If Arjuna fails to keep his promise tomorrow, we will have got rid of the most difficult obstacle between us and victory. We must not miss such an opportunity.”
“We’ve all seen him fight; what do you think could stop him? This is not a challenge, but a futile suicide. I will leave tomorrow.”
“Yes, I have seen him fight, and there is no doubt that he is one of the strongest warriors there is. But if we all fight with the sole purpose of saving you, he will have no escape, and he will be lost. Or you think perhaps that he could defeat men like Drona, Karna, Shalya and thousands of others united for the same end? And you, don’t forget, are a maharatha, capable of facing Arjuna alone. Stay, and give us the opportunity to eliminate him from the fight”.
Jayadratha, despite not feeling reassured at all, allowed himself to be persuaded by the words of the Kaurava.
The generals agreed on the plan for the following day: the first order for all was not to allow Indra’s son to approach the Sindhu monarch.
Jayadratha couldn’t sleep that night.
He had allowed himself to be persuaded to stay, but that didn’t make him feel comfortable at all. Hoping to receive reassurance from Drona who knew both him and Arjuna well for having been the master of both, he left the tent and walked towards that of the acarya.
“Arjuna has sworn that he will kill me tomorrow,” he told him, “and I fear for my life. Duryodhana has tried to give me courage, claiming that the army will be deployed in such a way as to keep me very far from the front and that I will be defended by all the heroes fighting on our side. But I have seen the Pandava in action and I believe that not even all the Devas together could repel him. He will have an unleashed fury and I am not at all sure that tomorrow they will be able to keep him away from me. So I now ask you to clarify this doubt: if he manages to get to where I am stationed and forces me to fight, do I have any hope of victory? In a duel, who among us has the best chance of emerging victorious?”
“Since I see you very worried,” Drona told him, “I will answer you frankly, without concealing the truth. You two have taken lessons from the same teacher, me, and I have taught you without partiality; therefore you should have the same strength. But there is no doubt that Arjuna is superior to you in every respect. He is more skilled, stronger and more intelligent. Besides that he possesses divine weapons which he has obtained in the celestial planets and above all he has Krishna on his side; therefore he is invincible. But you, you are a Kshatriya, and death must not frighten you. Tomorrow we will all be before you and create an impassable barrier; furthermore I will build a three-layered vyuha absolutely impenetrable even to the Devas themselves. Take heart, nothing is lost. We will try in every way to prevent his advance and save your life. Don’t be afraid.”
A little reassured Jayadratha returned to his tent, but still struggled to sleep.
Arjuna, on the other hand, was sleeping; but his dreams were not peaceful. They were all aimed at the memory of his son. To that boy of just sixteen, full of energy and enthusiasm who for an act of generosity and courage had found himself barbarously slaughtered by six maharathas. Throughout the night his thoughts were continually troubled by this gruesome scene and the equally chilling scene of Jayadratha preventing his brothers from advancing.
Krishna then came to curb that swing of images, who had revealed to him that to kill Jayadratha he would have to use the Pashupata, the weapon granted to him long ago by Shiva. Thus in the dream he had seen himself worshiping the great Deva and, together with Krishna, then flying towards the Mandara mountain, where they had met Shiva.
“There’s a big lake nearby,” Shiva had told them; “there you will find someone who will give you what you are looking for.”
The two friends had followed his directions and arrived near an immense lake. A hundred-headed serpent had sprung out of the waters, its mouths emanating gigantic flames. As soon as he became aware of Krishna and Arjuna, the beast immediately transformed into a great bow which the two hastened to bring to Shiva. The latter had thus taught them all the secrets to be able to use the Pashupata correctly. After training, they returned to earth.
This dream had occupied him the whole night.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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