The Sixth Day
Early in the morning the battle became as intense as the day before. Drona preferred to avoid confrontation with Bhima and concentrated on decimating the soldiers. He too, like Bhishma, could not conceive of killing any of the Pandavas.
But taking advantage of a moment of confusion, the Pandava, as strong as ten thousand elephants, ordered his charioteer to point towards the enemy army and penetrate it; and when the soldiers saw him approaching with his typical furious frown, they were terrified. Panic spread.
“Bhima is coming; let us flee, or this will be our last moment of life,” they shouted.
Leaving the general turmoil behind him, he penetrated the enemy ranks with the swiftness of the wind. But he calculated that the speed of the horses was not enough for him so, grabbing the giant club, he continued his race on foot with the same violence of a hurricane. Nobody could even see him: his passage could only be deduced from the trail of destruction he left behind.
When Dhristadyumna learned that Bhima had entered the enemy ranks without the help of the troops, he was worried and wanted to follow him.
At one point he found Vishoka, the charioteer of the Pandava.
“Where is Bhima, my dearest friend? Where has he gone? Why is he no longer in his chariot?” he shouted.
“He did not want the chariot’s protection,” the latter replied. “He came down with only the club in his hand and entered the enemy ranks on foot. I advised him not to, but he did not want to listen to me.”
Dhristadyumna, who was well aware of Bhima’s innate impulsiveness, particularly anxious, decided to keep looking for him until he found him. And he too hurled himself against the enemy, wedging himself more and more, and causing, like his friend, an immense desolation. He did not go blind, he had a trail to follow: wherever there were corpses of men and animals still bleeding, the Pandava must have just passed by.
Suddenly he could see him as smoldering rage and terrible as the god of death, he was surrounded by thousands of enemies. Sensing Dhristadyumna’s arrival, Bhima gave him a pleased look. The two continued to fight together with terrible effectiveness. At the sight of the two maharathas facing his soldiers, Duryodhana worried about what they might cause. He sent a group of his stronger brothers to protect the troops.
Having put Drupada to flight, Drona noticed that many of the king’s brothers were in the vicinity of Bhima: they were therefore in mortal danger. And he tried to help them. But when, in the wake of the Pandavas, Abhimanyu also arrived, the ensuing carnage became unspeakable. Terrified by this devilish trio, the sons of Dhritarastra fled hastily; the only one who remained was Vikarna, who engaged in a fabulous duel against Abhimanyu, during which it was impossible to determine which of the two was the best.
Duryodhana saw his brothers flee and rushed at Pandu’s son, but was barely able to keep his life safe. A great massacre followed when King Kaurava escaped.
During those very hard battles, the sun went down. Soon after, the troops withdrew.
In the evening Bhishma went to Duryodhana’s tent, who was suffering painfully from the wounds inflicted on him by Bhima, and treated him with herbal infusions. Yet the pain caused by his wounds was little compared to the pain his disappointed pride gave him. A carousel of images constantly crowded his mind and each one clearly reproduced the furious grin of Bhima, the warrior skills of Arjuna and Abhimanyu, his troops slain in the field.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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