Suprātīka

Suprātīka was the war elephant of Bhagadatta, king of Prāgjyotisha (today’s Assam). Bhagadatta was one of the strongest allies of the Kauravas at Kurukshetra.

Suprātīka was no ordinary elephant. It was a beast of great strength, trained in the fiercest methods of elephant warfare. With Bhagadatta guiding it, it charged through the Pāṇḍava formations and did great damage. Bhagadatta was the foremost elephant-warrior of his age, and Suprātīka was his chief weapon.

Identity

Suprātīka was the name of Bhagadatta’s war elephant at Kurukshetra. The name means “of a beautiful or excellent form”.

The tradition regards Suprātīka as divine, or at least as an extraordinary animal. Its line goes back to the diggajas, the great elephants that support the four directions. The Mahābhārata names Bhagadatta as the greatest of all elephant-warriors. Together, Bhagadatta and Suprātīka were the high point of war on elephant-back in that heroic age.

Role at Kurukshetra

On Day 4 and in later fighting of the Bhīshma Parva, Bhagadatta rode Suprātīka into the Pāṇḍava formations. The elephant’s size and strength made it very hard for warriors in chariots to stop. Arrows could trouble it but could not halt its charge. Ordinary chariots that came in front of it were crushed.

Bhagadatta directed Suprātīka with the skill of a lifetime of elephant warfare. The elephant answered his commands with terrible effect. It broke through the Pāṇḍava lines in its part of the field and caused many deaths.

Bhīmasena fought the elephant forces directly to stop Bhagadatta’s advance. His bodily strength made him one of the few warriors who could grapple with an elephant’s attack. The fight between Bhīma and Bhagadatta on Suprātīka was one of the fierce encounters of the middle days of the battle.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva, Chapters 61–65