Mb096. King Bhagadatta And Elephant Supratika Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

MAHABHARATA

Many attempts Drona tried
Yudhishthira to take, but failed.
To support him, Duryodhana
Came there along with Karna.

With the elephants Duryodhana,
To trample the forces of Bhima,
In the enemies' field, he rushed.
Soldiers and horses got crushed.

A crescent shot Bhima sent now,
That broke Duryodhana's bow.
In return, King Anga sent an arrow,
But Bhima had an escape narrow.

Many arrows then Bhima shot.
The king succumbed to the hit.
A furore his death created.
The Kauravas forces got scattered.

A close friend of Duryodhana,
The brave king Bhagadatta,
On his giant elephant Supratika,
Rushed there to attack Bhima.

Bhima's chariot they crushed.
He was on the ground pushed.
But below Supratika he stood,
On its vital points he knocked.

The mad elephant circled.
Around the center it whirled.
To crush Bhima it tried,
But miserably it failed.

The elephant suffered pain,
When he gave blows in chain.
Yudhishthira sent a rescue team,
With their help, out Bhima came.

Bhagadatta attacked everywhere.
His elephant brought havoc there.
Afresh Bhima came once again.
He challenged the king but in vain.

The cry of Supratika, Arjuna heard,
Things had gone wrong, he feared
"Krishna, better we go, " he told.
Back to the field, His chariot rolled.

Bhagadatta, the old and able warrior,
He was famous for his valour.
A Vaishnava arrow he sent
In Arjuna's direction it went.

Around Krishna's neck it became
A beautiful garland as it came.
Thus Arjuna was saved from hit.
And wasn't injured, even a bit.

Arjuna first killed the elephant,
With hundreds of arrows he sent.
The king was next hit by a shot,
He immediately died on the spot.

His death sent Kauravas in fear,
In panic they ran here and there.
Pandavas attacked right and left.
In their favour, it came as a shift.

The fight was over by sunset.
Kauravas' forces were badly hit.
The other side was in high spirit.
Loss or gain, it went by their merit.