Parva 2 Chapter 36: jarāsaṁdphapayānam - Jarāsaṁdha Retires from Battlefield

vaiśampāyana said: Then there was a terrible battle between the vṛṣṇi-s and the mahouts of the great kings accompanying māgadha (jarāsaṁdha). rukmiṇā vāsudevasya bhīṣmakeṇāhukasya ca | krathasya vasudevena kaishikasya tu babhruṇā ||2-36-2 rukmi fought with vāsudeva (kṛṣṇa), bhīṣmaka with Ahuka, kratha with vasudeva and kaishika with babhru. gadena cedirājasya dantavaktrasya śaṅkunā | tathānyairvṛṣṇivīrāṇāṁ nṛpāṇāṁ ca mahātmanām ||2-36-3 The king of chedi fought with gada, dantavaktra with śaṅku and other great kings fought with the leaders of vṛṣṇis. yuddhamāsīddhi sainyānāṁ sainikairbharatarṣabha | ahāni paṣcha chaikaṁ ca ṣaṭ saptāṣṭau ca dāruṇam ||2-36-4 (vaiśampāyana said) O the bull of bharata race (janamejaya)! The armies fought terrible battles with each other. Terrible battles were fought for five days and one, then six, seven and eight days (twenty-seven days). gajairgajā hayairaśvāḥ padātāścha padātibhiḥ | rathai rathā vimiśrāścha yodhā yuyudhire nṛpa ||2-36-5 (vaiśampāyana said) O king (janamejaya)! elephants fought with elephants, horses with horses, infantry with infantry, chariot with chariot and soldiers fought with soldiers. jarāsaṁdhasya nṛpate rāmeṇāsītsamāgamaḥ | mahendrasyeva vṛtreṇa dāruṇo romaharṣaṇaḥ ||2-36-6 king jarāsaṁdha fought with balarāma. It was terrible, like the fight indra had with vṛtra. avekṣya rukmiṇīṁ kṛṣṇo rukmiṇaṁ na vyapothayat | Considering rukmiṇi, kṛṣṇa did not kill rukmi. jvalanārkāṁśusaṅkāśānāśīviṣaviṣopamān ||2-36-7 vārayāmāsa kṛṣṇo vai śarāṁstasya tu śikṣayā | He (rukmi) shot arrows with tips having snake poison, similar to blazing sun. With his training, kṛṣṇa blocked them. ityeṣāṁ sumahānāsīdbalaughānāṁ parikṣayaḥ ||2-36-8 ubhayoḥ senayo rājanmāṁsaśoṇitakardamaḥ | O king! In this manner, there was a terrible battle between the two powerful armies. (Mangled) flesh mixed up with blood and piled up as dirt on both sides of the armies. kabandhāni samuttasthuḥ subahūni samantataḥ ||2-36-9 tasminvimarde yodhānāṁ saṅkhyāvṛttikarāṇi ca | Vast number of headless bodies arose in that battlefield. The number of soldiers killed in that battle were enermous, impossible to count. rathī rāmo jarāsaṁdhaṁ śarairāśīviṣopamaiḥ ||2-36-10 āvṛṇvannabhyayādvīrastaṁ ca rājā sa māgadhaḥ | abhyavartata vegena syandanenāśugāminā ||2-36-11 balarāma, expert in chariot battle, showered a group of arrows with snake poison on jarāsaṁdha. Then the king of magadha counter attacked with a fast moving chariot. anyonyaṁ vividhairastrairviddhvā viddhvā vinedatuḥ | tau kṣīṇaśastrau virathau hatāśvau hatasārathī ||2-36-12 Shooting various arrows against each other, they fought. Their arrows were exhausted, their chariots were lost, their horses and charioteers were killed. gade gṛhītvā vikrāntāvanyonyamabhidhāvatāt | kaṁpayantau bhuvaṁ vīrau tāvudyatagadāvubhau ||2-36-13 Picking up maces, they attacked each other. Fighting with their maces, those valiant fighters shook the earth. dadarśāte mahātmānau girī saśikharāviva | vyupāramanta yuddhāni paśyatāṁ tau mahābhujau | saṁrabdhāvabhidhāvantau gadāyuddheṣu vishrutau ||2-36-14 Those great souls appeared like mountains decorated with peaks. Those seeing them with great arms forgot the battle. They, famous in mace-fight, attacked each other angrily. ubhau tau paramācāryau loke khyātau mahābalau | mattāviva gajau yuddhe tāvanyonyamayuddhyatām ||2-36-15 Both supreme teachers were famous in the world as having great power. They fought against each other like intoxicated elephants. tato devāḥ sagandharvāḥ siddhāścha samaharṣayaḥ | samantataścāpsarasaḥ samājagmuḥ sahasraśaḥ ||2-36-16 Then deva-s along with gandharva-s, siddha-s and great sages and celestial women assembled in thousands (to watch the fight). taddevayakṣagandharvamaharṣibhiralaṅkṛtam | śuśubhe'bhyadhikaṁ rājandivaṁ jyotigaṇairiva ||2-36-17 (vaiśampāyana said) O king (janamejaya)! Then the sky, decorated with the assembly of deva-s, yakṣas, gandharvas and the sages, appeared shining as though with sparkling stars. abhidudrāva rāmaṁ tu jarāsaṁdho mahābalaḥ | savyaṁ maṇḍalamāśritya baladevastu dakṣiṇam ||2-36-18 Powerful jarāsaṁdha ran towards balarāma and attacked him turning from the left side. In the same way, balarāma attacked from the right side. praharantau tato'nyonyaṁ gadāyuddhaviśāradau | dantābhyāmiva mātaṅgau nādayantau disho daśa ||2-36-19 Then the two experts in mace-fight struck against each other, like two elephants fighting with their tusks, the sound filling all the ten directions. gadānipāto rāmasya śuśruve'śaniniḥsvanaḥ | jarāsaṁdhasya charaṇe parvatasyeva dīryataḥ ||2-36-20 balarāma's mace strike was heard like the sound of thunder. jarāsamdha's mace strike was heard as though splitting a mountain. na sma kaṁpayate rāmaṁ jarāsaṁdhakarachyutā | gadā gadābhṛtāṁ śreṣṭhaṁ vindhyaṁ girimivānilaḥ ||2-36-21 The mace thrown by jarāsaṁdha was unable to move balarāma, best among mace fighters, like the wind is unable to shake the mountain, vindhya. rāmasya tu gadāvegaṁ vīryātsa magadheśvaraḥ | sehe dhairyeṇa mahatā śikṣayā ca vyapohayat ||2-36-22 The lord of magadha (jarāsaṁdha) was able to withstand the speed of the mace of balarāma due to his valiancy and training. evaṁ tau tatra saṅgrāme vicarantau mahābalau | maṇḍalāni vicitrāṇi viceraturarindamau ||2-36-23 O oppressor of enemies (janamejaya)! In this manner, the powerful fighters fought the battle using a variety of strange techniques. vyāyacchantau ciraṁ kālaṁ pariśrāntau ca tasthatuḥ | samāśvāsya muhūrtaṁ tu punaranyonyamāhatām ||2-36-24 Fighting for a long time, they became exhausted. They stopped and relaxed for a while. Again they struck against each other. evaṁ tau yodhamukhyau tu samaṁ yuyudhatushciram | na ca tau yuddhavaimukhyamubhāveva prajagmatuḥ ||2-36-25 In this way the great fighters fought for a long time. No one was ready to retire from the fight accepting defeat. athāpaśyadgadāyuddhe viśeṣaṁ tasya vīryavān | rāmaḥ kruddho gadāṁ tyaktvā jagrāha musalottamam ||2-36-26 Realising that jarāsaṁdha was skilled in mace fight, valiant balarāma became angry. He abandoned the mace and picked up his best club. tamudyantaṁ tadā dṛṣṭvā musalaṁ ghoradarshanam | amoghaṁ baladevena kruddhena tu mahāraṇe ||2-36-27 Seeing the angry balarāma picking up the infallible club, terrible at sight, in the great battle, tato'ntarikṣe vāgāsitsusvarā lokasākṣiṇī | uvāca baladevaṁ tam samudyatahalāyudham ||2-36-28 the voice of the witness of the world, was heard in the sky, telling baladeva (balarāma), who had picked up his weapon, the club. na tvayā rāma vadhyo'yamalaṁ khedena māgadhe | vidito'sya mayā mṛtyustasmātsādhu vyupārama | O rāma (balarāma)! māgadha (jarāsaṁdha) is not to be killed by you. You need not lament. I have foreseen his death. Hence control yourself. achireṇaiva kālena prāṇāṁstyakṣyati māgadhaḥ ||2-36-29 In a short time, the lord of magadha (jarāsaṁdha) will lose his life. jarāsaṁdhastu tacchrutvā vimanāḥ samapadyata | na prajahre tatastasmai punareva halāyudhaḥ ||2-36-30 Hearing this, jarāsaṁdha became disappointed as if he lost his mind. balarāma, having club as his weapon, did not strike jarāsaṁdha again. tau vyupāramatāṁ yuddham vṛṣṇayaste ca pārthivāḥ | asaktamabhavadyuddhaṁ teṣāmeva sudāruṇam ||2-36-31 Both stopped fighting. The vṛṣṇi-s and the kings also stopped fighting. In this way the terrible battle between them became devoid of any interest. dīrghakālam mahārāja nighnatāmitaretaram | (vaiśampāyana said) O great king (janamejaya)! (In this way, the terrible battle that resulted in ) killing each other for a long time came to an end. parājite tvapakrānte jarāsaṁdhe mahīpatau ||2-36-32 astaṁ yāte dinakare nānusasrustadā nishi | When jarāsaṁdha was defeated, he left the battlefield. As the sun set, the yādava-s did not chase him in the night. samānīya svakaṁ sainyaṁ labdhalakṣyā mahābalāḥ ||2-36-33 purīṁ praviviśurhṛṣṭāḥ keśavenābhipālitāḥ | Assembling their forces, the (yādava-s) warriors of great power, protected by keshava (kṛṣṇa), achieving their aim, happily entered the city. khācchyutānyāyudhānyevaṁ tānyevāntardadhustadā ||2-36-34 All the weapons that came from the sky disappeared. jarāsaṁdho'pi nṛpatirvimanāḥ svapurīṁ yayau | rājānaścānugā ye'sya svarāṣṭrāṇyeva te yayuḥ ||2-36-35 king jarāsaṁdha, disappointed, returned to his city. The kings who followed him also returned to their kingdoms. jarāsaṁdhaṁ tu te jitvā menire naiva nirjitam | vṛṣṇayaḥ kuruśārdūla rājā hyatibalaḥ sa vai ||2-36-36 O tiger of the kuru race (janamejaya)! Even though they defeated jarāsaṁdha, the vṛṣṇī-s did not think so. The king jarāsaṁdha is most powerful. daśa cāṣṭau ca saṅgrāmāṣjarāsaṁdhasya yādavāḥ | dadurna chainaṁ samare hantuṁ śekurmahābalāḥ ||2-36-37 The yādava-s fought with jarāsaṁdha ten and eight (eighteen) battles. The powerful yādava-s were unable to kill him. akṣauhiṇyaścha tasyāsanviṁśatiścha mahāmate | jarāsaṁdhasya nṛpatestadarthaṁ yāḥ samāgatāḥ ||2-36-38 O One with great intellect (janamejaya)! king jarāsaṁdha has twenty akṣauhiṇi-s who came for fighting the battle for him. alpatvādabhibhūtāstu vṛṣṇayo bharatarṣabha | bārhadrathena rājendra rājabhiḥ sahitena vai ||2-36-39 O the bull of bharata race! Compared to jarāsaṁdha's army, the army of vṛṣṇi-s is meager. O the king of kings (janamejaya)! they were baffled on being attacked by jarāsaṁdha along with other kings. bhūyaḥ kṛtvodyamam prāyādyādavānkṛṣṇapālitān | jarāsaṁdha again came prepared and attacked yādavas, protected by kṛṣṇa. jitvā tu māgadhaṁ saṅkhye jarāsaṁdhaṁ mahīpatim | viharanti sma sukhino vṛṣṇisiṁhā mahārathāḥ ||2-36-40 After defeating jarāsaṁdha, the king of magadha in the battle, the lions of the vṛṣṇi race, the great chariot fighters lived comfortably. iti śrīmahābhārate khileṣu harivaṁśe viṣṇuparvaṇī jarāsaṁdhāpayānaṁ nāma ṣaṭtriṁśo'dhyāyaḥ nīlakaṇṭha commentary śaṭtriṁśe'tha jarāsandhodvandayuddhe parājitaḥ | balabhadreṇa taṁ hitvā palāyana itiryate || 1 || · 2-36-1 tato yudhānīti | · 2-36-4 āhāni paṣchetyādi sarvasaṁkhyāsaṁkalane saptaviṁśatidināni yuddhamāsīdityarthaḥ || · 2-36-7 avekṣya rukmiṇīmityato jṣāyate itaḥ pūrvaṁ rukmiṇīharaṇamiti | anāgatāvekṣaṇaparaṁ vā idam || · 2-36-9 lakṣasya vadhe ekaikabandhasamuthānam | atra tu saṁkhyāyā āvṛttiḥ | kabandhsaṁkhyaiva kartuṁ na śakyā ityarthaḥ || · 2-36-17 divaṁ sthānam || · 2-36-24 āhatāṁ ājaghnatuḥ || · 2-36-31 asaktaṁ niranukrośaṁ praśāntamiti prājṣaḥ || · 2-36-38 akṣauhiṇyā iti | "sā senā'kṣauhiṇī nāma svāṅkāṣṭaikadvikairgajaiḥ 21890 rathairetaiḥ 21890 hayerstrighnaiḥ 65670 paṣchaghnaiścha 109450 padātibhiḥ" iti || · 2-36-39 abhibhūtāḥ punaḥ punarāveṣṭitāḥ || iti śrīharivaṁśe viṣṇuparvaṇi ṭīkāyāṁ śaṭtrimśo'dhyāyaḥ ||