The Shadow of Death over Jayadratha
Although Jayadratha agreed to stay back on the battlefield, in his heart still lingered the dread of Arjuna’s Gandiva. But, maybe, he would be able to avert his destiny if he could somehow remain out of Arjuna’s reach, he thought.
When Vriddhakshara, king of the Sindhus, was blessed with a male child, he was overjoyed. Jayadratha, as his son was named, became the centre of his entire existence. But he was utterly unhinged when he heard in his dream, one night, a voice that said: ‘Anchor not yourself in the shallow waters of your fantasy, O King, for your son is fated to have only a short life. He is destined to be killed in the prime of his life by someone who will be charioteered by Lord Krishna himself.’
Shaken out of his sleep, the king asked, ‘Is there no way to avert this doom?’
But the voice had already faded away.
Vriddhakshara then decided to let his son succeed him as the king of the Sindhus, while he himself retreated into a forest to do tapas. As regards his son’s safety, how could he be killed when he was guarded by such illustrious warriors as Radheya and Asvatthama? And, above all, could Arjuna possibly stand up against Drona, his own guru? But Jayadratha still decided to seek a word of reassurance from Dronacharya directly.
‘O guru, I have come to seek your advice,’ he said, respectfully. ‘You know that Arjuna is now thirsting for my blood. You have been a teacher to both Arjuna and myself. How would you compare us in martial skill? If forced into a combat with him, would I be able to defend myself?’
Drona’s forehead became furrowed. Reluctantly, he said, ‘Any teacher would feel embarrassed to grade his pupils, because he gives the same training to each one of them. However, I must say that Arjuna always stood out for his discipline. His real strength lay in his absolute concentration in aiming at his target.’ Then, realizing that his words might dishearten Jayadratha, he added, ‘But why should you feel scared, when I’d be around to ensure that Arjuna does not get anywhere near you. I propose to position some of my bravest soldiers around you, in a ring that would be virtually impregnable. So conduct yourself as a fearless fighter. Dying on a battlefield is real glory for every Kshatriya, for while the brave die only once, the cowards see the shadow of doom all the time.’
The Shadow of Death over Jayadratha
Jayadratha now found himself securely guarded, far away behind the main Kaurava forces. Around him stood Radheya, Kripa and Asvatthama. Between him and the Pandava army, Drona had positioned a strong contingent of soldiers in a circular shape. This part of the Kaurava force was further secured by a lotus formation. Furthermore, there were several concentric circles of soldiers, making it impossible for Arjuna to penetrate to the point where stood Jayadratha. To make the entire formation absolutely impenetrable, Drona placed himself right on the front line, in his magnificent chariot driven by four chestnut-coloured steeds. Atop his chariot fluttered, in the morning breeze, his banner. With his hair glowing at sunrise, he looked like a god poised to determine human destiny.
Soon, the Kaurava army heard the rumbling sound of a chariot emerging from the enemy ranks. It was Arjuna tearing through the open ground that separated the two armies. Momentarily, his chariot stopped to take in the Kaurava formation. He saw in front of him a horde of elephants and horses poised to resist any intrusion, and then there was the chariot of Dharmarshahu, one of the sons of Dhritarashtra.
He now heard a voice boom in the air. ‘O Arjuna, it seems Yama himself has driven you to meet your death at my hands,’ said Dharmarshahu. ‘Much have I heard about your valour, but let me now see how your Gandiva would fare against my bow.’
Arjuna responded with a sardonic smile. Then, glowering at his enemy, he snapped: ‘I never use words as my weapons. Let my Gandiva do the speaking for me.’ Then he let a volley of arrows fly from his bow, routing Dhamarshahu and his soldiers. Since there was no time to lose, Arjuna let Krishna whip the horses into a full gallop. As their chariot was now advancing, they were confronted by Drona. For a moment, Arjuna was caught in a dilemma: how to get his guru out of his way?
‘O peerless master,’ he addressed Drona, ‘I am on a mission of vengeance against the Sindhu king. So bless me, O Lord, instead of blocking my way. As you know already, I have to accomplish my task before sunset.’
Drona responded with a stern look on his face.
‘I too have a mission, dear Arjuna, to protect Jayadratha. I will not let you proceed any further until you first vanquish me.’
Since there was no alternative, Arjuna twanged his bow and the Acharya also readied himself to start shooting his arrows. Thus began a fierce combat between teacher and pupil. Each time Arjuna shot an arrow at Drona, it was parried with a smile. He then decided to cut the Acharya’s bow. But just as he was about to shoot an arrow, he found his bow’s string snapped by Drona. Soon, the Acharya’s arrows began to whiz past Arjuna’s ears. So fast and thick they fell that both Arjuna and Krishna were enveloped in darkness. Sensing that Drona’s real strategy was to obstruct Arjuna’s advance and thus gain time, Krishna advised him to bypass the devious Brahmin. But just as Krishna whipped the horses into a gallop, Drona shouted, ‘You can move forward only over my dead body. I am determined to guard Jayadratha at all costs.’
Now looking at his guru directly, Arjuna implored: ‘O esteemed guru, let me move on. I have always looked upon you more as my father than teacher. I entreat you, therefore, not to waste my time.’
With these words, he asked Krishna to drive on, even as the Acharya kept shooting his arrows at their chariot. But hardly had Arjuna wedged his way deeper into the enemy ranks when he was challenged by Srutayudha, brandishing a mace above his head. As a reward for his mother’s prayers, God Varuna had granted her a boon that no enemy would ever be able to vanquish her son. But there was also a condition attached to the boon – that Srutayudha must never use his mace against an unarmed person. If he did so, the weapon would bounce back to him and kill him forthwith.
Arjuna’s first impulse was to let Krishna evade this intruder. But since Srutayudha stood defiantly right in front of him, with his mace held high in his right hand, there was no choice but to kill him. ‘Let this man have a taste of my Gandiva,’ Arjuna said to himself. Then ensued a combat in which arrows flew from both sides.
Overpowered by Arjuna’s arrows, Srutayudha lost his mental poise and, instead of fighting Arjuna, picked up his mace and hurled it at Krishna, hoping to immobilize the chariot. But to his amazement, the mace bounced back to him and smote his own skull. He had forgotten that by attacking a weaponless person, he had made inefffective the boon granted by God Varuna to his mother.
Arjuna now hastened to press forward, hoping that there would be no more hurdles on the way. However, since there appeared before him the king of Kambhoja, at the head of his formidable army, Arjuna immediately swung into action. His arrows now flew all around like a powerful gale. It did not take him too long to kill hundreds of his enemies. In the course of this battle, Arjuna received some wounds on his body. Now tired, he leant against the flagstaff of his chariot for respite. Seeing him in that state, Krishna admonished him, saying, ‘O Arjuna, rest is not for a brave warrior like you. You were born to mow down armies, not just individual soliders. So seize your Gandiva and let it flash like lightning. Don’t forget that you must kill Jayadratha before sunset.’
Arjuna then resumed shooting his arrows all around. So devastating was the impact of his onslaught that the Kaurava soldiers simply melted away, like snow under a blazing sun.
Arjuna now kept pressing forward towards his real target, Jayadratha. Blood surged in his veins as he drew close to the heart of the chakravyuha. As he breached the outer circle, and his chariot wedged deep into the vyuha, Duryodhana was alarmed. So the inevitable was about to happen, he realized. Panicked, he raced his chariot towards Drona and again complained: ‘Why did you let that terror bypass you? I am surprised how my stalwarts have failed to display their true valour.’ He paused as he had almost run out of breath. ‘If I had known that I would be let down, I would have allowed Jayadratha to go back to his kingdom. So, in a sense, I have broken my word to him, haven’t I?’
Surprisingly enough, Drona did not take offence at Duryodhana’s accusation. On the contrary, he responded with composure, ‘Indeed, Duryodhana, I do understand your predicament. But would you also understand my helplessness? I have done my duty to the best of my capability. I hope you would believe that I have the same affection for you as I have for Asvatthama. I do want you to win this war, but I cannot anticipate the future.’ He paused as if something had just flashed through his mind. ‘Look, let me help you in some other way.’ Then, holding a coat of arms in his right hand, he said, ‘If you wear this, Arjuna’s arrows will not be able to kill you. Indra always went into battle against his enemies protected by this armour that Brahma had given him. So here is the moment for you to confront the Pandava warrior, fearlessly.’
Foolhardy that Duryodhana was, he felt happy with the armour, not realizing that Drona had, once again, managed to avoid fighting Arjuna.
Arjuna was now closing in on the innermost part of the enemy formation where Jayadratha stood, securely protected. But just then, Duryodhana’s chariot drew up right in front of him. Arjuna knew that if he lost any more time, he would not be able to kill Jayadratha.
Seeing Duryodhana poised for battle, Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘This is a godsend, O Arjuna. Let us seize this moment. Don’t forget that it was this evil man who was the prime mover behind Abhimanyu’s death, although I know that our real target today is Jayadratha, not Duryodhana.’
Nodding his approval, Arjuna picked up his Gandiva and turned to Duryodhana.
‘So here we meet to settle our old scores, dear cousin,’ he said. ‘But since you are asking for death at my hands, let me close this chapter forever.’
‘On the contrary, I would be very sad to kill my dear cousin,’ retorted Duryodhana. ‘You have come so far, but no further. Before you reach Jayadratha, you will have to fight with me.’
Arjuna began to shoot his arrows at his adversary, who deflected each arrow with great skill and confidence. If some arrows did succeed in hitting Duryodhana’s body, they fell off, blunted and twisted. As this combat raged for quite a while, Krishna looked perplexed.
‘What’s the matter with your Gandiva today, O Arjuna?’ Krishna asked. ‘Has it lost its old vigour? If this fight goes on any longer, it may soon be sunset. Isn’t it a matter of life and death for you?’
Arjuna, however, responded with an omniscient smile, as if he had suddenly fathomed the mystery behind Duryodhana’s invincibility.
‘Now I know that this man is wearing a divine coat of arms given to him by Drona. But the same Acharya once taught me the secret to penetrate it. This armour, I now recall, has some chinks which are vulnerable to arrows. So far, I have been shooting my arrows indiscriminately. I will now hit just those parts of his body which are exposed through these chinks.’
Beaming, Krishna said, ‘Then let us not waste any more time. If you could get the fish’s eye at Draupadi’s svayamvara, you can also hit this man’s body through these chinks.’
But Arjuna did not appear to be in any undue haste. He first damaged Duryodhana’s chariot and then killed his charioteer and horses. Thereafter, he let his arrows penetrate the chinks in the armour and grievously wounded Duryodhana, who bolted away, confused and crestfallen.
‘Marvellous!’ exclaimed Krishna.
‘But it is not my prowess, O Vasudeva. It is some divine power guiding me.’
Krishna flashed a benign smile and then blew into his Panchajanya, which sounded like a burst of thunder tearing across the sky. When Duryodhana, Kripa, Asvatthama and Bhurisravas heard the bugle, they knew that Arjuna had reached the centre of the chakravyuha and that he was now poised to kill Jayadratha. So they buckled themselves for a desperate fight, before Arjuna could reach his prey.