Mahabharata
– 223
by
Sankar Mukherjee
&
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Aadivamsa Avatarana Parva
The Tourney
The ground was prepared for the tourney.Auspicious music rained upon the sports scape.
The Princes of different countries entered, with various arms. And then the mighty warriors,of princes of the Bharata's race entered, furnished with finger-protectors and bows,and arrows with Yudhishthira at their head. The courageous princes entered in order of age and began to show wonderful skill with their weapons. Some of the spectators lowered their heads, apprehending fall of arrows while others fearlessly gazed on with wonder.And riding swiftly on horses and managing them efficiently the princes began to hit marks with shafts with their respective names engraved on the shafts. And seeing the prowess of the princes armed with bows and arrows, the spectators thought that they were as it were seeing a city of the gandharvas with whom war is always a sport.They became filled with amazement. Some hundreds and thousands of spectators,with eyes wide open in wonder,exclaimed ------- Bravo! Well done! Well done! And having repeatedly displayed their skill and efficiency in the use of bows and arrows and in the management of chariots the mighty warriors took up their swords. The spectators saw with wonder their agility, the symmetry of their bodies,their grace, their calmness, the firmness of their grasp and their deftness in the use of sword and armor.Then
Bhima and Druyodhana,entered the arena,mace in hand, like two mountains jubilantly. And those mighty-armed warriors prepared for the mock fight,and summoning all their energy.They roared like two enraged elephants contending for a female elephant. Like two enraged elephants those mighty heroes faultlessly rushed at each other right and left.And Vidura described to Dhritarashtra and Kunti and Gandhari, all the feats of the princes. The spectators were divided into two parties.Some others cried,See Druyodhana the hero king –some others shouted —See Bhima!--And on account of these cries, there was,all on a sudden,a loud uproar. And seeing the place become like a troubled ocean, the intelligent Drona said to his son, Aswatthaman,--Restrain both these mighty warriors so proficient in arms. Let not the anger of the assembly be provoked by this combat of Bhima and Duryodhana.Then Aswatthaman, restrained those combatants with their maces uplifted and resembling two swollen oceans agitated by the winds that blow at the hour of the dissolution of the universe.And Drona himself entering the yard of the arena commanded the musicians to stop.With a voice deep as that of the clouds Drona addressed in these words ----You now see Arjuna who is dearer to me than my own son,than master of all arms,the son of Indra himself, and in prowess equal to, Vishnu! And having performed the spiritual rites, Arjuna, equipped with the finger protector and his quiver full of shafts and bow in hand,clad in his golden amour, appeared like an evening cloud reflecting the rays of the setting sun and illuminated by the hues of the rainbow and flashes of lightning. On seeing Arjuna,the whole assembly were delighted and conchs began to be blown all around with other musical instruments. And there rose a great roar in consequence.
The spectators shouted ---This is the graceful son of Kunti!—This is the third Pandava!--This is the son of the mighty Indra!--This is the protector of the Kurus--This is the foremost of those well versed in arms!--This is the foremost of all devotees of virtue!--This is the foremost of the persons of correct behavior, a personification of ideal manners! At those exclamations,the tears of Kunti, mixing with the milk of her breast, wetted her mammary gland.And the ears of
Dhritarashtra were filled with that roar,Dhritarashtra, asked Vidura in delight ---- What is this great uproar for.It likens the roar of the great ocean, arising all on a sudden. Vidura replied -------Oh! mighty monarch, the son of Pandu and Pritha,Arjuna,dressed in his amour has entered the arena. And hence this roar! Dhritarashtra said ---Oh! Three fires sprang from Pritha.Pritha is even like the sacred source, of souls so great as Pandavas,I have indeed been
blessed, favored and protected. When the spectators excited with delight,had somewhat regained their calm Arjuna began to display his lightness in the use of weapons. By the Agneya weapon, he created fire,and by the Varuna weapon he created water,by the Vayavya weapon, he created wind,and by the Parjanya weapon he created clouds.
And by the Bhauma weapon,he created land, and by the Parvatya weapon, he brought mountains into being.By the Antardhana weapon all these were made to disappear.Arjuna appeared now tall and now short now he was seen as a driver of the chariot,and now on the chariot itself and the next moment he was on the ground.And the hero favoured by his agility, hit some tender, some fine and some of hard objects with various blows. By the by the spectators espied boar made of iron. It was loafing about on the ground. Arjuna flung five separate arrows into the mouth of the boar as if they were one arrow only. There was a horn of a cow dangling from a rope. Arjuna shot twenty one arrows into the hole of it.
by
Sankar Mukherjee
&
Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Aadivamsa Avatarana Parva
The Tourney
The ground was prepared for the tourney.Auspicious music rained upon the sports scape.
The Princes of different countries entered, with various arms. And then the mighty warriors,of princes of the Bharata's race entered, furnished with finger-protectors and bows,and arrows with Yudhishthira at their head. The courageous princes entered in order of age and began to show wonderful skill with their weapons. Some of the spectators lowered their heads, apprehending fall of arrows while others fearlessly gazed on with wonder.And riding swiftly on horses and managing them efficiently the princes began to hit marks with shafts with their respective names engraved on the shafts. And seeing the prowess of the princes armed with bows and arrows, the spectators thought that they were as it were seeing a city of the gandharvas with whom war is always a sport.They became filled with amazement. Some hundreds and thousands of spectators,with eyes wide open in wonder,exclaimed ------- Bravo! Well done! Well done! And having repeatedly displayed their skill and efficiency in the use of bows and arrows and in the management of chariots the mighty warriors took up their swords. The spectators saw with wonder their agility, the symmetry of their bodies,their grace, their calmness, the firmness of their grasp and their deftness in the use of sword and armor.Then
Bhima and Druyodhana,entered the arena,mace in hand, like two mountains jubilantly. And those mighty-armed warriors prepared for the mock fight,and summoning all their energy.They roared like two enraged elephants contending for a female elephant. Like two enraged elephants those mighty heroes faultlessly rushed at each other right and left.And Vidura described to Dhritarashtra and Kunti and Gandhari, all the feats of the princes. The spectators were divided into two parties.Some others cried,See Druyodhana the hero king –some others shouted —See Bhima!--And on account of these cries, there was,all on a sudden,a loud uproar. And seeing the place become like a troubled ocean, the intelligent Drona said to his son, Aswatthaman,--Restrain both these mighty warriors so proficient in arms. Let not the anger of the assembly be provoked by this combat of Bhima and Duryodhana.Then Aswatthaman, restrained those combatants with their maces uplifted and resembling two swollen oceans agitated by the winds that blow at the hour of the dissolution of the universe.And Drona himself entering the yard of the arena commanded the musicians to stop.With a voice deep as that of the clouds Drona addressed in these words ----You now see Arjuna who is dearer to me than my own son,than master of all arms,the son of Indra himself, and in prowess equal to, Vishnu! And having performed the spiritual rites, Arjuna, equipped with the finger protector and his quiver full of shafts and bow in hand,clad in his golden amour, appeared like an evening cloud reflecting the rays of the setting sun and illuminated by the hues of the rainbow and flashes of lightning. On seeing Arjuna,the whole assembly were delighted and conchs began to be blown all around with other musical instruments. And there rose a great roar in consequence.
The spectators shouted ---This is the graceful son of Kunti!—This is the third Pandava!--This is the son of the mighty Indra!--This is the protector of the Kurus--This is the foremost of those well versed in arms!--This is the foremost of all devotees of virtue!--This is the foremost of the persons of correct behavior, a personification of ideal manners! At those exclamations,the tears of Kunti, mixing with the milk of her breast, wetted her mammary gland.And the ears of
Dhritarashtra were filled with that roar,Dhritarashtra, asked Vidura in delight ---- What is this great uproar for.It likens the roar of the great ocean, arising all on a sudden. Vidura replied -------Oh! mighty monarch, the son of Pandu and Pritha,Arjuna,dressed in his amour has entered the arena. And hence this roar! Dhritarashtra said ---Oh! Three fires sprang from Pritha.Pritha is even like the sacred source, of souls so great as Pandavas,I have indeed been
blessed, favored and protected. When the spectators excited with delight,had somewhat regained their calm Arjuna began to display his lightness in the use of weapons. By the Agneya weapon, he created fire,and by the Varuna weapon he created water,by the Vayavya weapon, he created wind,and by the Parjanya weapon he created clouds.
And by the Bhauma weapon,he created land, and by the Parvatya weapon, he brought mountains into being.By the Antardhana weapon all these were made to disappear.Arjuna appeared now tall and now short now he was seen as a driver of the chariot,and now on the chariot itself and the next moment he was on the ground.And the hero favoured by his agility, hit some tender, some fine and some of hard objects with various blows. By the by the spectators espied boar made of iron. It was loafing about on the ground. Arjuna flung five separate arrows into the mouth of the boar as if they were one arrow only. There was a horn of a cow dangling from a rope. Arjuna shot twenty one arrows into the hole of it.
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