Upon seeing his partner captured by the enemy, Sinduloba goes berserk. Calling for Darmapati's army to unite with his army, Sinduloba leaps from his elephant, swinging his mace to attack Suryakestu. But suddenly Candrakestu stands in front of him and blocks him. Armed with their maces they clash with each other, until Sinduloba staggers and falls. Candrakestu seems incapable of stopping himself from bringing his mace down on his opponent's head, and without doubt his opponent would soon die. However, he also holds Sumantri's message, even though he does not know what his commander's message means. He orders his soldiers to tie Sinduloba up and take him as a prisoner.
Also read:
> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (77)
> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (76)
> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (75)
> The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (74)
With the defeat of Darmapati and Sinduloba, Widarba's army loses strength. They are like an elephant which has lost its two front legs. But they do not want to admit defeat. In spite of everything they still have an army, which is like the two tusks of an elephant, led by Kodrabanu and Rodrapaksa. So the army attacks even more ferociously, like a giant elephant that is wounded. The two commanders, Kodrabanu and Rodrapaksa, make a sudden rush forward, attacking Maespati's troops blindly like an elephant thrusting its tusks into their opponents. The swords and spears of Widarba's troops tear Maespati's troops apart viciously.
They breathe a sigh of relief when the two high-ranking officials of Maespati simply order his soldiers to tie them up and take them away.
Under the command of Kodrabanu and Rodrapaksa, the troops of Prabu Darmawasesa are like an elephant that has regained its tusks. Their fury is unstoppable. But Maespati's troops do not wait long. Kalinggaprana and Kalinggapati get down from their horses. The two of them motivate Maespati's troops to be fierce like the claws of an eagle. They jump up and down lightly, then pounce on the opponents, with maces, spears or swords. They fire arrows, which send the enemy troops into a state of uncontrolled excitement. Simultaneously Kalinggaprana and Kalinggapati jump up high, then plunge together to strike Kodrabanu and Rodrapaksa. The two main officials of Widarba fall down, in pain like being clawed by an eagle. They surrender, death is in front of them when they see Kalinggaprana and Kalinggapati point their swords at their necks. They breathe a sigh of relief when the two high-ranking officials of Maespati simply order his soldiers to tie them up and take them away.
Seeing the four kings, who are also his mainstay officials, surrender and his troops in chaos, Prabu Darmawasesa can no longer hold back his ruthlessness. He does not feel that his war tactics have been crippled, despite the fact that like an elephant, both its front legs and its tusks have been broken. This even makes it an excuse for him to deploy all the remaining troops under his command. After all, he can still rely on Patih Dendawasesa, who in this gajendra-byuha (elephant lord) strategy is like an elephant's trunks. And Patih Dendawasesa and all his troops simultaneously stretch out their gandewa (bows). The arrows fly, like water gushing from an elephant's trunk. The sky is colored with an array of arrows. So many arrows are blown away, not knowing which one to target. But the arrows seem to know where to go. Because suddenly, the arrows fall down and slash fiercely at the necks of the Maespati soldiers. The four high-ranking officials of Maespati immediately realize where the powerful arrows have come from. Simultaneously they surround Patih Dendawasesa.
Seeing his commander surrounded by opposing officials, Prabu Darmawasesa immediately swings his heirloom, Wijahmarkata's mace. He throws the heirloom mace into the sky just as it enters dusk. The club swirls amidst the red light, before becoming thousands of maces that glow with colorful light. The light is getting brighter, because without the soldiers realizing, the twilight has already set, and the battlefield enters the night. Sumantri sees the glowing maces as if they have eyes, so they know who the opponents they are going to hit are. If it is not immediately addressed, many Maespati soldiers will be killed. So he takes off his heirloom, Endrasara's arrow and shoots. In the sky the heirloom turns into thousands of arrows which coil like a rainbow around the moon. The maces in the form of various kinds of light are then enclosed in a rainbow of moonlight chains.
When they reach out to it, the soldiers only touch cruelty, who become like blind people when no ray of light can be seen.
For a moment the sky of Magada's battlefield is distanced away from the war. All of them stop the cruelty, and jointly they look up at the sky, watching the beauty of light maces of various colors which dance in the rainbow circle of the moon. Gripped by the sight, everyone asks, why should there be beauty in war, if war is only cruelty? The soldiers feel as though they want to escape from the war. In the midst of the excitement of the battlefield, they think that war is the courage to win. Now they are startled, war turns out to be just a surrender to the shackles of cruelty, which binds them to destruction. They want to be released from the shackles of cruelty and dissolve in the beauty they are witnessing. But the light maces have gone out, and the moon rainbow has disappeared, returning to Wijahmarkata's mace in Prabu Darmawasesa's hand, and Endrasara's arrow in Sumantri's hand. Without more ado, darkness covers them. The darkness turns out to be a hotbed of cruelty. When they reach out to it, the soldiers only touch cruelty, who become like blind people when no ray of light can be seen. Then simply in a moment their longing for peace is gone.
The cruelty reawakens their desire for war. Even in the dark, they raise their weapons and attack. Darkness does not give them eyes, so they do not know who to attack. Swords flash, and spears pierce, not infrequently is it not the opponent but the friends themselves who become victims. Blood splatters in vain, both on the part of Widarba and Maespati. Sumantri immediately sees this detrimental sign, so he releases his heirloom, the arrow of Bramastra. The radiance of the Bramastra arrow that shoots like a burning star makes the sky glow. It suddenly turns bright and the soldiers are wide-eyed to see their friends fall, not because of the opponents' weapons, but because of their own swords and spears. Now their eyes are open. They know which opponents have to be destroyed. So the soldiers of Widarba and Maespati continue the battle with Bramastra’s arrow floating in the sky as a nightlight.
(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).
