Brotherhood//
"Hold the line", cried our officer,
As we raised our shield to counter the rage of a thousand arrows falling from the sky above.
It has been 13 days of a total bloodbath.
I am fortunate enough to have survived so far.
I have traveled thousands of miles,
From Pragjyotishpura to Kurushetra.
I don't understand the complications behind the war,
But I had sworn to protect our leader,
As had my brother.
Yesterday I saw our leader, King Bhagadatta being slayed by Prince Arjuna.
His elephant Supratika too fell a martyr,
Falling to the volley of wild fire from the Bow of Kapidhwaja.
Sitting beside our leader was my elder brother, the mahout of Majestic Supratika,
Who too died with an arrow piercing his head.
But no one mourns him as he was just an ordinary soldier,
But for me he was my only brother.
So now I fight
To honor our leader,
To honor the pride of Pragjyotishpura,
And to avenge my brother.
But I haven't see Prince Arjuna since morning today.
Where has he disappeared?
Something has been different today in our camp,
For we have been arranging ourselves to some strange patterns,
I have never heard of.
Several thousands of us constantly moving to the tunes of our officers.
Chakravyuhu, someone just explained the name of the pattern.
A strategy to capture whoever dares to break into the formation,
Dead or alive doesn't even matter.
But I hear that only the young warrior Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna has managed to breach into the formation.
I have seen Abhimanyu duel with our King Bhagadatta too
And the boy is as skilled as his father,
If not more.
Though I can't see him yet,
But his arrows are already creating an inferno.
"Hold the line", cried our officer again, As few of the soldiers tried to run away hearing the approach of Abhimanyu's chariot.
The ground beneath us rumbles,
As a cloud of dust emerge.
I can see Abhimanyu's chariot now,
As keeps releasing infinite arrows,
Holding his divine bow Raudra.
As Abhimanyu's chariot gets closer,
I look at our officer for the final order.
"Attack!", he yells.
And we charge towards Abhimanyu on foot,
Holding our ordinary shields and spears.
(c) Anurag Talukdar
Epilogue: Abhimanyu continued to wreak havoc for several more hours and ultimately reached to the centre of the Chakravyuhu. Unfortunately he didn't know his way out. It took the combined might of 7 Kaurava warriors to finally kill Abhimanyu. He was just 17 years old.
As for our unknown protagonist, he never stood a chance. One of the many casualties in the battle of Kurushetra, who finds no mention anywhere.
Notes:
Kapidhwaja- Another name of Prince Arjuna, the greatest warrior in the battle of Kurushetra
Pragjyotishpura- Kingdom of Kamrupa in modern day Assam
Bhagadatta- King of Pragjyotishpura and father-in-law of Crown Prince Duryodhana. King Bhagadatta commanded the strongest elephant regiment in the war
Supratika- A gigantic war elephant mounted by King Bhagadatta. Supratika fought many battles with Prince Bheema in the battle of Kurushetra
Raudra- Divine bow of Prince Abhimanyu, gifted by Lord Balarama
Mahout- A person who takes care of an elephant and rides it too. Usually it is a lifetime bond
Battle of Kurushetra- A 18 days battle between Pandavas and Kauravas that eventually involved all major powers of Indian subcontinent
Unknown protagonist- Our unknown protagonist fought from the Kauravas side and is unsure of the reasons for the war. But he fought to honor his allegiance to his King Bhagadatta. He died facing Prince Abhimanyu