Suśarmā of Trigarta Raids Virāṭa's Cattle

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King Suśarmā of the Trigartas had been beaten many times by Kīcaka, who had fought for the Matsyas with the Śālvas. When Kīcaka was killed by the supposed Gandharva, Suśarmā went to Duryodhana. Matsya, he said, was now without its protector, and the Kauravas should strike: seize Virāṭa's wealth, divide his villages, drive off his best cattle, or subjugate the kingdom outright. Karṇa agreed that the time was right and said the Pāṇḍavas, of whom nothing had been heard for a year, were gone or dead. Duryodhana accepted the plan and ordered Duḥśāsana to prepare the army after consulting the elders. The two forces would strike on successive days. Suśarmā and the Trigartas would go first, to the south-east, attacking the cowherds by surprise, and the Kauravas would follow a day later. On the seventh day of the dark fortnight Suśarmā set out; on the eighth the Kauravas began taking cattle by the thousands.

The Pāṇḍavas were by now at the end of the thirteenth year. A herdsman rushed to Virāṭa, who was in court with Kaṅka and the others, and reported that Suśarmā and the Trigartas had beaten the herders and were driving off the herds. Virāṭa armed his sons, his brother Śatānīka, Sūryadatta and Madirākṣa, and the king himself put on armour marked with suns, circles and eyes. He ordered chariots, mail and weapons for Kaṅka, Vallava, Tantipāla and Granthika, the four disguised Pāṇḍavas, who joined the host, eight thousand chariots, a thousand elephants and sixty thousand horses strong.

The Matsya army caught the Trigartas after midday. The battle, said Vaiśampāyana, was like that of gods and asuras. Neither side gained; dust hid the birds; the fallen lay with their earrings on. Śatānīka killed a hundred and Viśālākṣa four hundred. Virāṭa fought his way to Suśarmā, and they dueled with arrows like two bulls in a pen. Then dusk and dust made it impossible to tell the armies apart. In the night the Trigartas captured Virāṭa.

Yudhiṣṭhira told Bhīma to rescue the king. Bhīma tore up a great tree, was told by Yudhiṣṭhira to fight with weapons so he would not be recognised, and cut his way to Suśarmā, whom he captured. Humbled by Yudhiṣṭhira's words, Suśarmā was released and went to pay his respects to Virāṭa. That night the Pāṇḍavas slept on the field. Virāṭa offered them wealth, women and a share in rule, saying they had rescued him; Yudhiṣṭhira answered for them, and suggested messengers be sent to announce the victory. At sunrise the city heard the news, not knowing that the second half of the plan, the Kaurava raid in the north, had already begun.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Suśarmā, Virāṭa, Bhīma, Yudhiṣṭhira, Duryodhana, Karṇa, Śatānīka

Bound to

Kīcaka and Draupadī: Bhīma Kills Kīcaka origin

The Northern Cattle Raid: Uttara Takes Bṛhannaḍā as Charioteer origin

Places: Trigarta, Matsya (Virāṭanagara)

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Virata Parva, Section XXX (Suśarmā's proposal)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Virata Parva, Section XXXI (Virāṭa arms)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Virata Parva, Section XXXII (the battle)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Virata Parva, Section XXXIV (Suśarmā freed, the victory)

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