The Twelfth Day
And even before the hostilities began again, the samsaptakas went to the enemy camp, and called for Arjuna in a loud voice, giving him the solemn challenge. Then they went to take up positions to the south.
That novelty worried Arjuna a lot. It was not difficult to guess that this move was part of a plan to bring about the capture of Yudhisthira, but on the other hand he could only accept. So he went to his older brother.
“The Trigarta have called me. I can’t let go of a challenge like this,” he told him. “So for the moment I will not be able to defend you from Drona’s attacks, but Drupada’s strong brother, our dear friend Satyajit, who is strong and brave as a lion, will always be by your side and support you in crucial moments. But if the acarya should succeed in killing him, you must swear to me that you will flee, that you will not let him take you prisoner.”
Reassured by his brother, Arjuna went in the direction of the front where the Trigarta were waiting for him. When they saw that he accepted that suicidal challenge, everyone felt certain that the war would end that very day; who could have stopped Drona in his attack on Yudhisthira? And everyone hoped for a quick action from him so that they could save their life.
Although the samsaptaka had a large army and above all made up of brave fighters, Arjuna did not want to be accompanied by his troops; he preferred to go alone.
The fierce fighting began.
For the Trigartas it immediately got bad; Arjuna was in a hurry to get back to his brother and for that reason he was particularly aggressive. Two of Susharma’s brothers, Subahu and Sudhanva fell in the early morning, along with several of their soldiers. Arjuna fought with cruel wisdom: something that sent the warriors into complete agitation who, now considering their sacrifice useless, began to flee in disorder. But the brave Susharma reassured them and led them in further attacks.
When he had seen them flee, Arjuna had hoped that the fight was already over. But seeing them return, at the thought that at that moment his brother could be in great danger and that he was prevented from rushing to help him, he felt a burst of fury rise up to his face. He attacked them violently, throwing a divine weapon that caused the Trigarta to lose their sense of direction to the point that they had the impression that Krishna and Arjuna were everywhere. Thus mistaking their comrades for their adversaries, they began to fight each other, and the massacre that ensued was immense. Not yet satisfied, he also launched the vayavya-astra, which created a terrible tornado, and not only frightened but further decimated the unfortunate Trigarta, who again withdrew in disorder.
Then Arjuna was able to run to his brother.
But what had happened in the meantime?
Drona, who knew Arjuna would quickly put an end to his engagement with the samsaptakas, tried hard to get within range of Yudhisthira as soon as possible, attacking the enemy army decisively.
Seeing him approaching, Dhristadyumna stepped in front of him, but one of Duryodhana’s brothers, Durmukha, challenged him and led him away from the scene. It was a good duel: the Kaurava was a good warrior, and his purpose was achieved.
Meanwhile Drona had approached the Pandava and Satyajit fought valiantly until the end, when together with Vrika, another of Drupada’s brothers, he fell dead on the ground. When he fought hard, the acarya was truly terrible.
Seeing the two brave warriors dead, around Yudhisthira flocked many heroes who had never known defeat, yet it was all in vain: that day Drona seemed the destroyer himself and sowed devastation wherever he passed.
At that point, Yudhisthira escaped by fleeing on one of the horses of his chariot. Thus, even if he had not succeeded in capturing Yudhisthira, his vehement attack had served to discourage the Pandava soldiers, who fled as soon as they were in the vicinity of the elderly master.
For his part, Duryodhana, having seen Drona fight like that, felt relieved: a big smile lit up his face as he spoke to Karna.
“Look how our master fights. I am sure that today the Pandavas will abandon all hope of victory and will surrender.”
“I don’t think this is enough to dampen their courage,” the friend retorted. “The Pandavas have other resources.”
Duryodhana was surprised and bewildered by the words of his friend, who had never given weight to the value of his cousins; however, in his heart, he had to agree that those words were true. Together with some of his brothers and Karna he joined Drona and the effect of their arrival was devastating.
But on another front Nakula and Sahadeva were literally burning the Kaurava army, while Bhima was doing his usual work of exterminating the elephant army. This disturbed the great Bhagadatta, who decided to intervene.
This is a section of the book “Maha-bharata, Vol. 2”.
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