FIVE
Arjuna’s vayavyastra has just swept away the Trigarta army, when he hears the alarm of the Pandava forces being savaged by Bhagadatta and Supritika. Arjuna says, “He was my father Pandu’s friend, but he kills thousands of our men. Bhagadatta must die today, if I have to kill him myself.”
But as soon as Krishna turns his horses round, Susharma roars at Arjuna again, “Are you afraid to fight that your little wind has died down, Pandava? Why do you run from us at every chance?”
Krishna holds his horses and says, “Enough of these Trigartas. Burn them with the Vajra, there are more important battles to fight elsewhere.”
Already, Susharma and his brothers cloak the white chariot again in a bank of arrows. Arjuna invokes the Vajra and shoots a silver shaft charged with that final weapon at the Trigartas. It is an adamantine thunderbolt and gashes across the field in a jagged thousand-jointed streak. Like a small sun, it erupts among the Trigarta legions and nine of every ten men Susharma brought to war are pillars of ash. Susharma himself survives and some of his brothers. That king still calls arrogantly to Arjuna, “Fight me to the end, Pandava. You will not live to see the sun set. Fight me if you dare!”
Arjuna says in amazement, “Susharma isn’t dead. You decide, Krishna, shall I fight him or ride against Bhagadatta?”
Without a word, Krishna turns his chariot back to the Trigartas. His ire up, because he can hear the screams of the Pandava army beset by Supritika, Arjuna faces Susharma and his men. Arrows radiate from the Gandiva like rays from a star and he lights up the field with a clutch of astras. The Trigartas have not yet seen such battle from Arjuna: he wilts them. He takes Satyaratha’s head off with a crescent-tipped shaft, like the one with which Drona killed Satyajit and attacks Susharma himself with such violence that king faints. The rest of his men, those left alive, take to their heels.
Krishna laughs, “At last you fight as you can. One man has wiped out the dreaded Trigarta legion. Today I am proud of my kshatriya!”
And Arjuna’s heart is full with his sarathy’s rare praise. They turn back to the main Kaurava army on Kurukshetra. Seeing the gandharva horses, a cheer goes up from the Pandava ranks. Like a bright and dangerous wind comes Arjuna and Kaurava soldiers run from him for their lives. Their roars turn quickly to cries of fear. Seeing how many of his men had died while he fought the Trigartas, Arjuna blazes on Kurukshetra like Siva’s son Karttikeya did when he fought Tarakasura’s fell legions!
Krishna steers his chariot to confront Bhagadatta. The Pandava and the Asura fight. The air is an opaqueness of arrows, some plain and sharp, others astras, locking with each other, burning the sky. Bhagadatta prods Supritika with his goad so the elephant rushes at Arjuna’s chariot. The Pandava does not have the heart to shoot the magnificent beast, so, at the last moment, Krishna has to veer out of the way and the colossus thunders by, his tread missing the chariot by a hand’s width.
Swirling his mount round with astonishing speed, Bhagadatta covers Arjuna with arrows. Arjuna fights back powerfully and Bhagadatta begins to shoot more at Krishna than his warrior. He burns him with flaming shafts, while the dark sarathy bears no arms and can make no reply. Bhagadatta has remembered that Krishna killed his father Narakasura and means to have revenge. In fury, Arjuna cuts the demon’s bow in shards. At once, fourteen eerie lances appear one after another in Bhagada-tta’s hands; he casts them, bands of light, at Krishna. Arjuna smashes them in the air with some ethereal archery.
Arjuna aims at Supritika’s armor, cutting it away piece by piece. Bhagadatta casts a livid shakti at Krishna. Arjuna snuffs its fires in flight and the next two missiles. With a roar, Bhagadatta casts another shakti at Arjuna himself, knocking his crown askew. Smiling, the Pandava rights the jeweled kirita with his hand, while the Gandiva still streams arrows, miraculously! Once more, he breaks Bhagadatta’s bow.
Maddened that this mere boy shames him yet again, the lord of the mountain chants a deep mantra and hurls the elephant-goad in his hand at his antagonist. The goad turns into an occult ayudha, which lights up earth and sky with towering flames, as it flares at Arjuna. The Pandava shoots ten arrows, quick as thoughts, at the infernal thing. It consumes them easily and flies on at him. A cry goes up from Yudhishtira’s men that Arjuna would be killed. At the last instant, Krishna stands up and receives the weapon in his chest!
A flash of light as of a star exploding: then, utter darkness for another moment. When the darkness clears, Krishna stands smiling, unhurt and the vaishnavastra that Bhagadatta cast has turned into a garland of blue lotuses around the Avatara’s neck. Rapturous cheering echoes across the Pandava ranks. Bheema hugs Yudhishtira, crying, “They are both alive!”
But Arjuna says, “Krishna, he cast the astra at me; why did you take it upon yourself? You swore to be just my sarathy.”
Krishna smiles, “A sarathy will save his kshatriya’s life, won’t he? Besides, I only took back what was mine.”
“How is that?”
“It was the vaishnavastra he cast at you, which Bhumi Devi begged from Vishnu for her son Nar-akasura. Naraka was invincible for it, until I killed him. Before he died, he gave the astra to his son. It is not only an astra of fire, Arjuna; it protects whoever has it against every other weapon. The vaish-nava was Bhagadatta’s strength and his elephant’s. Now you can kill them.”
Arjuna raises the Gandiva again. He feels a new current of power in his fingers. He looses an orient shaft at the white elephant Supritika. It hums into the beast’s lofty brow, from where Arjuna has shot away the armor. Splitting the creature’s temples as thunder does a mountain, the arrow of golden wings pierces deep into the animal’s brain, like a snake into an anthill and, with a long scream, the pale giant sinks to his knees, already dead. Bhagadatta roars in shock. Another crescent-headed shaft from Arjuna crashes into his chest, cleaving his old heart and the lord of Pragjyotishapura falls from his elephant’s back, dead himself.
Jubilation breaks out among the Pandavas. Both armies stop fighting and gather thickly around the fallen ancient. Arjuna climbs down from his chariot and approaches the dead asura. Folding his hands to one of the last kshatriyas from a bygone age and both his fathers, Pandu and Indra’s, friend besides, Arjuna walks around Bhagadatta in a reverent pradakshina.