INDIA. said: PART II. HISTORY OF told all his story. But Drona made light of the matter, and -" There are many great warriors here who can protect Jayadratha; and on the morrow I will so arrange the army that Arjuna cannot come near him, and I will station him in the rear of the army." So Jayadratha was satisfied and returned to his own quarters. Fourteenth day of the war and fourth of Drona's command. Fierce struggle of Arjuna, Satyaki, and Jayadratha. Combat between Satyaki and Bhuris rava. Bhurisrava conquers Sátya to cut off his head. Krishna requests Arjuna to interfere. Arjuna cuts off the arms of Bhurisrava. Now when the morning had dawned of the fourth day of Drona's command, and fourteenth day of the war, Arjuna went out to fight Jayadratha, and Sátyaki and Bhíma went with him; but Duryodhana kept them at bay; and these Bhima to reach four Chieftains were like four gamblers, and Jayadratha was their stake. And Karna came up and fought Bhíma, and a warrior, whose name was Bhurisrava, fought against Sátyaki. And the battle between Bhurisrava and Sátyaki was very hot, and when their weapons were all exhausted they came to close quarters after the manner of wrestlers. And Bhuki and prepares risrava caught Sátyaki by the hair of his head, and kicked him on his breast, and dragged him along the ground, and made ready to cut off his head. Now Sátyaki was the kinsman of Krishna, and Krishna seeing that his kinsman was about to be slain, turned to Arjuna and said :-"We must hasten and release Sátyaki." So Arjuna threw a weapon which cut off the arms of Bhurisrava, and saved the life of Sátyaki. Then Bhurisrava opened his mouth in abuse of abuses Arjuna Krishna and Arjuna, and said :—“The Pandavas once were famous for fair fighting, but it is foul play that whilst I am engaged with my own antagonist, you should come up and wound me unawares: Will Yudhishthira praise you for such conduct, or is it Yudhishthira, or Indra, or Bráhma who has given you such lessons in war?" Arjuna answered:"War is altogether treachery and deceit, and the whole business of it is to get the better of one's enemy: Now Sátyaki is one of our side, and you had seized him by the hair, and were dragging him along the ground, and the injury was as if it was done to myself; and when you were going to cut off his head, where would have been any friendship in the world if I had not rescued him from your hands?" All the Kaura But all the Kauravas bitterly reproached Arjuna for throw Bhurisrava for interfering. Arjuna's defence. vas reproach Arjuna. INDIA. PART II. Arjuna's retort own son. ing a weapon at a man with whom he was not in conflict; HISTORY OF and Arjuna bade them look to themselves, who had sent six of their greatest warriors to murder his son Abhimanyu, who was a mere stripling and had done no harm. Mean- respecting the cowardly while, Bhurisrava in consequence of his wound had let his murder of his weapons fall to the ground, and prepared himself for death; and Arjuna said to him :-" Since it is I who have caused your death, I now send you to the assembly of Indra; so go thither until you are purified from all your sins." At this Sátyaki beheads time Sátyaki, who had been delivered from the hands of Bhurisrava, approached him in great anger; and notwithstanding all that Krishna and Arjuna could say to prevent his falling upon a dying man, he buffeted and kicked Bhurisrava, and then he cut off his head. Bhurisrava. flict between Jayadratha. When Sátyaki had thus slain his enemy, Arjuna went Desperate conwith him and Bhíma to fight against Jayadratha; and the Arjuna and day was far spent, and Duryodhana sent many warriors to fight against them, so that the sun might set without the fulfilment of the vow, and Arjuna be compelled to enter the fire. And Arjuna fought desperately and defeated many Chieftains of high renown; and at last he found Jayadratha, and engaged with him in battle. And Jayadratha strug- Arjuna beheads gled with all his might, for the sun was going down in the before sunset. west; and he and Arjuna came to kicks and buffets, and Arjuna at last threw him upon the ground, and cut off his head only a moment before the setting of the sun. Jayadratha just the Pandavas Kauravas. tinued through. Then Bhíma, when he saw the head of Jayadratha, set Exultation of up a loud shout of triumph; and the hearts of the Kauravas and grief of the were filled with sorrow, whilst the Pándavas rejoiced with exceeding joy. And the sun set in the heavens, but the warriors would not stay the battle in the evening as they Battle conhad done on all the previous days of the war, but they out the night. fought on and cared not for food or sleep; and there was much slaughter, for every man was in great wrath. And when the darkness came on they fought at hazard, not knowing friend from foe. And the night became terrible Frightful conbeyond all telling; fathers slew their sons and sons their darkness. fathers, and they cut and hewed like men that were mad. fusion in the INDIA. PART II. HISTORY OF Then Yudhishthira, seeing that the darkness was filling the plain with unutterable horror, ordered many lighted torches to be brought; and every man took a torch and fought rukshetra lit up with it in his hand, and ten torches were fastened to every Battle scenes by chariot. And the whole plain of Kurukshetra was as light Plain of Ku by torches. torchlight. Short interval of slumber at midnight. as day; and the golden cuirasses of the Rajas were as radiant as the sun; and the jewels on their arms and hands sparkled in the glare, and the swords and spears flashed like lightning. And they threw large stones at each other, and hurled chariot-wheels; and when a man threw his enemy down he cut off his head, and carried it in his hand; and their mouths were stained with blood as they thirsted for the blood of each other, and the plain was filled with dead corpses. And the son of Bhíma, by his Asura wife, was amongst the slain. And when it was about midnight, and sleep was overpowering the eyes of all those who remained alive, Arjuna cried out with a loud voice that the battle should cease for a while, and that all men should rest and sleep. Then all the warriors on either side rejoiced at the words of Arjuna; and the rider of the elephant laid his head upon his elephant, and the horseman laid his head upon his horse, and for a brief space they were in a deep slumber; but presently Renewal of the the moon arose, and both armies were awakened and again begirt themselves for shedding each other's blood. Then Duryodhana reproached Drona, inasmuch as he had not murdered the Pándavas whilst they were sleeping; but Drona objected to the wicked perfidy, and said that Arjuna The battle goes could never be taken thus. And the battle raged furi battle by moon light. against the Pándavas. ously, and Yudhishthira was sorely wounded, and the Rajas Viráta and Drupada were both defeated by Drona, and Drona cut off their heads upon the plain. Now the Pándavas were nearly vanquished, for thousands of their warVowof Dhrishta- riors were slain; but Dhrishta-dyumna, the Generalissimo of the Pandavas, vowed to avenge the death of his father Drupada, and took an oath that he would not drink water until he should have slain Drona. Then Bhíma said to Dhrishta-dyumna :-"You are too young a warrior to cope dyumna to slay Drona. Bhima fights sunrise. INDIA. PART II. Fifteenth day fifth of Drona's Dhrishta-dyum Drona overcome with such an experienced soldier as Drona, so let me engage HISTORY OF him first so as to tire him, and then do you come up and finish him." And Bhíma fought with Drona until the rising of the sun, and then Dhrishta-dyumna fought against of the war and Drona until it was mid-day, but neither could prevail against command. him; but at this moment it was falsely told Drona that his na fights Drona. son Aswattháma was dead; and Drona laid down his arms, by means of a and Dhrishta-dyumna rushed upon him and severed his head from his body. And Dhrishta-dyumna then took up Dhrishta-dyumthe head of Drona, and threw it towards Duryodhana and Drona. the other Kauravas, saying:-"Take the head of him in whom you prided yourselves, and I will cut off all your heads in like manner." lie. na beheads the Pandavas. the Kauravas at Drona. Then all the Pándavas rejoiced exceedingly, and Bhíma Rejoicings of ran to Dhrishta-dyumna and embraced him, and kissed his hand and face, and said:-"To-morrow, when Karna also has lost his head, I will kiss and embrace you again." But all the Kauravas were very sorrowful when they beheld the Deep regret of head of Drona, and they were all disheartened, and like a the death of flock without a shepherd; and they were in great despair, and said:" The Pándavas have extinguished the light of us all." Then they all burst into tears and forsook the field of battle. At this time, Aswattháma, not knowing that his father Drona had been slain, went to Raja Duryodhana, and asked him why he desisted from fighting; and when As- Vow of Aswatwattháma heard all that had happened, he said :-" If I do venge the death not revenge the death of my father, and slay Dhrishta-dyumna, and all his kinsfolk, I am not the son of Drona: So long as I have breath will I make war against the Pándavas." tháma to re of Drona. foregoing ac command. The foregoing narrative of the five days of Review of the Drona's command comprises some of the most sig- count of the five nificant incidents in the history of the great war. Whilst it has been found impossible on all occasions to separate the mythical from the real, still the graphic pictures of barbarous warfare, and the terrible illustrations of the savage passion for re INDIA. HISTORY OF Venge, which are frequently presented to the imaginaPART II. tion, throw a strong light upon the real character of this memorable conflict. Yudhishthira represented as a coward. The first point which demands consideration is the representation of Yudhishthira, not merely as a man of peace, but as an arrant coward. In the negotiations which preceded the war, he had offered to sacrifice so large a proportion of his own rights and those of his brothers as to excite the anger of Draupadi and the disapproval of Krishna. But in the foregoing narrative he exhibits a pusillanimity which is scarcely intelligible. When attacked by Drona he mounted a horse and galloped away; and such cowardice is excused on the ground that it was no shame for a Kshatriya to run away from a Brahman. This assumption in favour of the Bráhfor his coward mans is startling from its very audacity, and may be ascribed to the same Brahmanical compilers who would convert Drona into a Brahmanical Guru Brahmanical reasons assigned ice. or Acharya. Again, when Drona had drawn up his army in dangerous array, Yudhishthira refrained from charging the enemy himself, and commanded his young nephew, the boy bridegroom of sixteen years of age, to make the desperate attempt; but he appears to have been so ashamed of his conduct on this occasion that when he was called upon to tell the sad story to Arjuna, he carefully suppressed the fact that he had himself ordered Abhimanyu to charge the "spider's web." How far this singular timidity formed a part of the real character of Yudhishthira, or how far it is the result of the effort of the Brahmanical compilers to represent him in the character of Dharma, must of course be open to question. Possibly Yudhishthira, who is elsewhere |