Sarangadhwaja

Sarangadhwaja

Sarangadhwaja had a warrior rank of Maharathi. Affiliation: Pandava. He is the king of Pandya Kingdom. He came to help the Pandavas with an army and also was a maharatha on the side of Pandavas.

Quote

“Filled with rage like the Destroyer himself, Pandya at the time was slaughtering the army of Karna. That force, swelling with cars and steeds and teeming with foremost of foot-soldiers, struck by Pandya, began to turn round like the potter’s wheel. Like the wind dispersing a mass of congregated clouds, Pandya, with his well shot arrows, began to disperse that force, destroying its steeds and drivers and standards and cars and causing its weapons and elephants to fall down. Like the splitter of mountains striking down mountains with his thunder, Pandya overthrew elephants with their riders, having previously cut down the standards and banners and weapons with which they were armed, as also the foot-soldiers that protected those beasts. And he cut down horses, and horsemen with their darts and lances and quivers. Mangling with his shafts the Pulindas, the Khasas, the Bahlikas, the Nishadas, the Andhakas, the Tanganas, the Southerners, and the Bhojas, all of whom, endued with great courage, were unyielding and obstinate in battle, and divesting them of their weapons and coats of mail, Pandya deprived them of their lives. Beholding Pandya destroying with his shafts in battle that host consisting of four kinds of forces, the son of Drona fearlessly proceeded towards that fearless warrior….
With four other shafts he afflicted the four steeds of his foe, at which they speedily expired. Having then, with his sharp shafts, cut off the arrows of Drona’s son, Pandya then cut off the stretched bow-string of Ashvatthama, endued with the splendour of the sun. Then Drona’s son, that slayer of foes, stringing his unstringed bow, and seeing that his men had meanwhile speedily yoked other excellent steeds unto his car, sped thousands of arrows (at his foe).
Pandya, who was well acquainted with the method of fighting from the neck of an elephant, quickly ascended that beast like a lion springing with a loud roar to the top of a mountain summit. Then that lord of the prince of mountains, striking the elephant with the hook, and inspired with rage, and with that cool care for which he was distinguished in hurling weapons with great force, quickly sped a lance, bright as Surya’s rays, at the preceptor’s son and uttered a loud shout. Repeatedly shouting in joy, “Thou art slain, Thou art slain!” Pandya (with that lance) crushed to pieces the diadem of Drona’s son adorned with foremost of jewels and diamonds of the first water and the very best kind of gold and excellent cloth and strings of pearls. That diadem possessed of the splendour of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, or the fire, in consequence of the violence of the stroke, fell down, split into fragments, like a mountain summit riven by Indra’s thunder, falling down on the Earth with great noise.
Ashvatthama blazed up with exceeding rage like a prince of snakes struck with the foot, and took up four and ten shafts capable of inflicting great pain upon foes and each resembling the Destroyer’s rod. With five of those shafts he cut off the four feet and the trunk of his adversary’s elephant, and with three the two arms and the head of the king, and with six he slew the six mighty carwarriors, endued with great effulgence, that followed king Pandya.
”- The Mahabharata, Book 8: Karna Parva: Section 20.
“Devoted to the Pandavas and endued with great bravery, there is another great Ratha of the Pandavas, viz., king Pandya, that bowman of mighty energy.” – The Mahabharata, Book 5: Udyoga Parva: Uluka Dutagamana Parva: Section CLXXII

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