Malayadhvaja, the Pāṇḍya King
Malayadhvaja was the king of the Pāṇḍyas. He fought on the Pāṇḍava side at Kurukshetra. Bhīshma names him among the Pāṇḍava rathas (chariot-warriors). Aśvatthāmā killed him on the seventeenth day of the war.
The Pāṇḍya king in the host
The Pāṇḍya kingdom was one of three great kingdoms of the far south of Bhāratavarsha. The other two were the Cola and the Kerala. At Kurukshetra the Pāṇḍya kingdom was represented by its king Malayadhvaja, who sided with the Pāṇḍavas. In the Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna, Bhīshma lists the warriors of both sides by rank. He names Malayadhvaja among the Pāṇḍava rathas.
Death on the seventeenth day
On the seventeenth day of the war, the Pāṇḍya king fought so fiercely that Kṛshṇa was astonished. The Mahābhārata says that he held himself equal to Bhīshma, Droṇa, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāmā, Karṇa, Arjuna and Kṛshṇa, and that he accepted no one as above him. He tore through the Kaurava ranks with great force. He destroyed ratha after ratha, and elephants, horses and foot-soldiers. He heaped the Kaurava warriors around him as Indra destroys asuras with his vajra (thunderbolt). Kṛshṇa drove the chariot past this ruin, looked at it and marvelled.
Aśvatthāmā faced Malayadhvaja. He spoke to him with courteous challenge. He praised his arms, his mighty bow and his terrible speed, and he called him to single combat. The Pāṇḍya king accepted. They fought a fierce duel.
At one point Malayadhvaja hurled a tomara (a throwing spear) at Aśvatthāmā. It struck his kirīṭa (crown) squarely. The crown of the ācārya’s son broke and fell to the ground with a great sound, like a mountain peak struck down by Indra’s vajra. Aśvatthāmā blazed with anger.
Aśvatthāmā answered with full force. He cut down the Pāṇḍya king’s banner, killed his horses and his charioteer, and broke his bow. Malayadhvaja climbed onto a great elephant and went on fighting. Aśvatthāmā then shot fourteen arrows in quick succession:
- Five arrows cut the elephant’s four legs and its trunk.
- Three arrows struck the king’s two arms and his head.
- Six arrows wounded the six great mahārathas (chief chariot-warriors) who stood with him.
The Pāṇḍya king’s two arms fell to the ground. The text compares them to great serpents torn by Garuḍa and twisting. His head, with its earrings, fell and rolled. The text compares it to the moon rolling among the stars of Viśākhā. Aśvatthāmā then cut the elephant into ten pieces with five arrows.
Duryodhana came and praised Aśvatthāmā for this deed. He compared the honour to Indra praising Vishṇu after the defeat of Bali.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Rathātiratha-Saṃkhyāna Parva, Chapters 165–172
- Mahābhārata, Karṇa Parva, Chapter 20