The Night War
The Pandavas were overjoyed. Not only had Arjuna succeeded in his feat, but many great Kaurava fighters had fallen that day and Drona had also failed to capture Yudhisthira. Their victory had been brilliant on all fronts.
Duryodhana, on the other hand, could not find peace: his army had suffered incalculable losses: it had been an unprecedented massacre, the bloodiest day since that war had begun. Drona tried to console him, to calm him with words full of wisdom, but he could not. How many brothers and how many dear friends had perished that day, how many griefs.
He screamed with anger.
“Those cursed ones are slaughtering the people I care about the most. I can no longer tolerate such a sight. Tonight I will kill the Pandavas or be killed by them,” he shouted, losing all control.
And he ordered the battle to be resumed immediately, by torchlight.
When they learned that the Kauravas were preparing to return to the field, the Pandavas took back their weapons and organized troops. A majestic and evocative scenario emerged: half of the soldiers were holding torches in their hands, the other half preparing for the fight. Swallowed by the gloom, the Kshatriyas of Bharata-varsha, forgetting family ties and the very desire to live, threw themselves against each other, and it was an unspeakable devastation. In the dark it was difficult even to distinguish allies from adversaries, and it was not uncommon for soldiers of the same army to fight and kill each other.
It was merciless carnage.
That night Drona vented all his pent-up anger and mercilessly killed anyone who came within range; and Bhima certainly did not sit idle, that night he killed many of Dhritarastra’s sons, while Satyaki was dealing with Somadatta, whose two sons he had killed that day. Especially the latter wanted to avenge the death of Bhurisrava; but he did not succeed in his intent and, defeated, he had to retire.
Duryodhana had to immediately repent of his impulsiveness: in fact when he ordered the resumption of hostilities, he had not considered Ghatotkacha and his army of Rakshasas, whose strength in the darkness increased tenfold, so that at night they fought much better than during the day. And indeed the son of Bhima, with his mighty Rakshasas, sowed terror and death from the very beginning. Ghatotkacha was looking for someone who could fight him, but the only one who could compete with him in the magical arts was Alambusha, who had sadly fallen. Only Asvatthama managed for a few minutes to contain his impetuosity, but then also the Brahmana was defeated and Ghatotkacha spread his terror: for the Kauravas it was the most atrocious nightmare.
While on one front the son crushed the Kauravas under his physical power, in another part of the camp Bhima was no less; even the bravest trembled just to see him. And it was ten sons of Dhritarastra who perished miserably. The elderly and noble Bahlika had tried to protect them, but that night Bhima did not respect anyone: in a lake of blood this noble leader also lost his life. At the sight of the lifeless body, the Pandava himself wept and paid homage to him. There was no person who did not love and respect the good monarch.
There was a great deal of tension among the Kaurava generals. Nobody knew what to do against the Rakshasa and his father anymore.
Duryodhana called his dear friend Karna and said to him:
“I really think we made a serious mistake in returning to the battlefield during the night. These Rakshasas are masters in this kind of warfare, and we don’t know how to defend ourselves. Look, there is Arjuna: if you defeat him our soldiers would regain enthusiasm and we could relaunch the offensive. Only you can lead us to victory.”
Having greeted the Kaurava with a nod of his head, Surya’s son entered the fray and headed for the spot where he was fighting his hated enemy. And with his arrival, that nocturnal fury flared up even more.
For a brief moment Karna managed to reach the distance necessary to start a duel, but as soon as Krishna noticed his arrival, with skillful moves he drove the chariot away from the scene of those bitter fights: he did not forget that he had with him the shakti of Indra, which was the only real danger to his friend. He never stopped thinking about how to deprive him of that weapon.
The best of the Kauravas in night combat turned out to be the experienced Asvatthama, who even managed to defeat and drive Dhristadyumna back.
Meanwhile, Drona had not yet forgotten his vow to capture Yudhisthira, and he put into action his most strategic moves to achieve the intended goal; Yudhisthira, on the other hand, gave the opponent a lot of trouble. Thus, by the lights of the torches, numerous duels between the greatest heroes were lit, while the dust that rose from the ground made the darkness even more impenetrable. The chariots no longer sped by at the speed of the first days, but moved with difficulty, hampered by the gloomy mountains of human and animal corpses and by the debris of the wagons that were now piled on top of each other.
At a certain point Karna found himself facing the brave Sahadeva; a bitter duel broke out between the two and despite the value of the Pandava, the son of the Suta was victorious. But, although he had him totally at his mercy, he did not kill him. Instead, he attacked the troops violently: seeing him arrive with a threatening frown, the Pandavas’ soldiers fled, and not even the arrival of Satyaki was able to cheer them up. The panic was total.
Arjuna was not far from that area.
“Krishna, my friend,” he said, “hear these screams. It is our soldiers asking for help, and you know that only Karna can cause such a fuss. Lead me to him, I want to face him.”
But Krishna did not agree at all.
“No, you better not go,” he replied. “The right time for a confrontation has not yet arrived. But it will come soon, don’t be impatient. I believe that Ghatotkacha is for now the best person to oppose him. Let’s send him.”
Ghatotkacha and Satyaki wasted no time and headed decisively towards the place where the screams were heard.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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