Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling by Carole Satyamurti

Author:Carole Satyamurti [Satyamurti, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2015-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

Sanjaya continued:

The fourth day of the war. The Kauravas

moved forward in a formidable array.

Elephants were adorned with dazzling cloths

in festive colors, as if this were a day

of celebration. Bhishma rode in front,

his own brilliant banner flying high.

But hearts quailed when they saw the Pandavas

marching toward them, led by Arjuna.

Their army was arranged in a vast crescent,

as the day before; four thousand elephants

on each flank, packed shoulder to shoulder,

advanced like the approach of doom itself.

Bhima was the hero of that day.

Determined to engage with Duryodhana,

Wolf-belly launched himself among the enemy,

mace whirling, roaring like a man possessed.

Alhough the Kauravas were well equipped

and organized, advancing like massed storm clouds,

Bhima, a hulking one-man war machine,

rolled on, relentless, with great loss of life.

Among the several hundred infantry

he sent to Yama’s realm with his deadly mace

were fourteen of Duryodhana’s brothers.

Abhimanyu and the sons of Draupadi

supported him, as he wiped out an entire

elephant division, inexorable

as death personified, his mace swinging,

dripping with blood and flesh. The dead animals

looked like a range of hills, and their riders

lay slumped over their necks, like fallen trees.

Meanwhile Dhrishtadyumna, Satyaki

and Ghatotkacha killed tough adversaries.

Then Duryodhana rallied his divisions

to attack Wolf-belly, and succeeded

in smashing him into unconsciousness.

Seeing this, the powerful Ghatotkacha

flew to his father’s aid, wild with fury.

Master of sorcery, he took the form

of a monster, riding a giant elephant.

He engaged with Bhagadatta; and Bhishma,

seeing that Bhagadatta was struggling,

called a halt for the day. The Pandavas

surged back to their camp in exultation.

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