Chapter 1169(19)
‘Sanjaya said, “O great king! The one on the white horses252 killed your soldiers, like the wind scattering a mass of cotton in every direction. The Trigartas, Shibis, Kouravas, Shalvas, samshaptakas and the army of narayanas combined and attacked him. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were Satyasena, Satyakirti, Mitradeva, Shrutanjaya, Soushruti, Chitrasena and Mitravarma. In that battle, the king of Trigarta was surrounded by his brothers and sons. They were great archers and wielded many kinds of weapons while fighting. In that battle against Arjuna, they released a storm of arrows. They attacked in that encounter, like waves agitated by the wind in the ocean. Hundreds and thousands of warriors attacked Arjuna, but all of them encountered their destruction, like serpents at the sight of Tarkshya.253 O king! But though they were killed in that battle, they did not abandon Pandava. They were scorched, like insects in a fire.
‘ “In that battle, Satyasena pierced Pandava with three arrows, Mitradeva with sixty-three, Chandradeva with seven, Mitravarma with seventy-three, Soushruti with five, Shatrunjaya with twenty and Susharma with nine arrows. He254 killed King Shatrunjaya with arrows sharpened on stone. He severed Soushruti’s helmeted head from his body. He swiftly used arrows to convey Chandradeva to Yama’s eternal abode. O great king! When the other maharathas endeavoured against him, he struck them with five arrows each. Satyasena became angry in that battle. He roared like a lion and hurled a giant spear towards Krishna. It was extremely terrible and was made completely out of iron. It pierced the great-souled Madhava’s left arm and penetrated the ground. O lord of the earth! Madhava was thus pierced by the spear in that great battle, and the whip and the reins fell down from his hand. However, the immensely illustrious one picked up the whip and the reins again and drove the horses towards Satyasena’s chariot. On seeing that Vishvaksena255 had been pierced, the immensely strong Partha Dhananjaya struck Satyasena with sharp arrows. In the forefront of that army, with extremely sharp arrows, he severed the king’s large head, adorned with earrings, from his body. O venerable one! He then struck and killed Chitravarma with sharp arrows and used a sharp vatsadanta arrow to kill his charioteer. He angrily brought down hundreds and thousands from that mass of samshaptakas with hundreds of arrows. With a kshurapra arrow that was silver-tufted, the great-souled and immensely illustrious one severed King Mitradeva’s head. In wrath, he struck Susharma between his shoulder joints. At this, all the samshaptakas surrounded Dhananjaya. They angrily showered him with weapons and roared in the ten directions. Jishnu, who was like Shakra in his valour, was oppressed by them. The maharatha, whose soul was immeasurable, released the aindra256 weapon. O lord of the earth! Thousands of arrows were released from this. In that encounter, standards, bows, chariots and their flags, quivers with their arrows, axles, yokes, wheels, harnesses, seatings, bumpers and whips were shattered. In that battle, rocks rained down, with a shower of lances. There were clubs, maces, lances and spears. O venerable one! Shataghnis with wheels and arms and thighs fell down, with necklaces, armlets and bracelets. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! There were golden necklaces and body armour, with umbrellas, whisks and heads adorned with crowns. O lord of the earth! A great sound could be heard there. There were heads ornamented with earrings, with faces like the full moon. They could be seen lying there, like stars in the firmament. The slain bodies could be seen on the ground. They had excellent garlands and excellent garments and were smeared with sandalwood paste. At that time, the fierce field of battle looked like a city of the gandharvas. Immensely strong princes and kshatriyas were killed. Elephants and swift horses were brought down on the ground. In that battle, they were heaped around like mountains and it became difficult to pass. As the great-souled Pandava slew a large number of the enemy and elephants with his broad-headed arrows, there was no path for him. As he roamed around in that battle, in that red-coloured mud, it was as if the wheels of his own chariot were sinking in distress. But though the wheels seemed to sink, his horses possessed great energy and had the speed of the mind and the wind. They exerted a great effort and dragged along Pandu’s archer son, as he killed those soldiers. None of them could remain stationed in the battle and most of them retreated. In that battle, Jishnu defeated large numbers of samshaptakas. O great king! He was resplendent, like a blazing fire without any smoke.
‘ “O great king! Yudhishthira shot a large number of arrows and King Duryodhana fearlessly received him himself. On seeing that your immensely strong son was violently descending, Dharmaraja asked him to wait and pierced him. He257 pierced him back with nine sharp arrows and, extremely angry, struck his charioteer with a broad-headed arrow. At this, King Yudhishthira shot thirteen arrows at Duryodhana. They were gold-tufted and sharpened on stone and possessed stone heads. The maharatha258 killed his four horses with four arrows and with a fifth, severed his charioteer’s head from his body. With a sixth, he brought down the king’s standard; with a seventh, his bow; and with an eighth, his sword, on the ground. With five more arrows, Dharmaraja severely struck the king. With the horses slain, your son descended from his chariot. He was stationed on the ground and was in supreme danger. On seeing that he was overcome by this calamity, Karna, Drona’s son, Kripa and the others collectively rushed there, wishing to save the king. O king! At this, all the sons of Pandu surrounded Yudhishthira in the battle and an encounter commenced.
‘ “In that great battle, thousands of trumpets were sounded. O lord of the earth! As the Panchalas clashed against the Kouravas, a tumultuous sound arose. Men clashed against men and elephants against supreme elephants. Rathas clashed against rathas and horses against horse riders. O great king! Duels could be witnessed in that encounter. As supreme weapons were used, the sight was wonderful and unthinkable. They wished to kill each other and fought with great force, killing each other in that battle and following the vow of warriors. In that encounter, for a short while, no one attacked from the rear and it was beautiful to see. O king! But it soon became crazy and no one followed codes of honour. As they roamed around in the field of battle, rathas attacked elephants and dispatched them to Yama, using straight-tufted arrows. Elephants attacked horses and brought down large numbers of them there, fiercely driving them away. O king! Having driven away large numbers of horses, the elephants were intoxicated with their strength and gored them with their tusks or severely crushed them. In that battle, they pierced horse riders and horses with their tusks. Others picked them up powerfully and flung them down with great force. In every direction, there were elephants that were struck by foot soldiers in their weak spots. They uttered fierce woes of lamentation and fled in the ten directions. In that great battle, foot soldiers were violently driven away. In the field of battle, there were many who quickly discarded their ornaments. Having determined that this was a sign, the giant elephants picked up those expensive ornaments and pierced them.259 Other elephants were severely wounded in their temples and the bases of their tusks by lances and spears. Others were sorely and fiercely struck along their sides with clubs hurled by rathas and horse riders. They were shattered and fell down on the ground. There were other giant elephants that powerfully brought charioteers and horse riders down on the ground, with their armour and their flags. O venerable one! In that great battle, some elephants assumed terrible forms. They approached rathas and picking them up, hurled them down violently. Giant elephants were killed by iron arrows and brought down. They lay down on the ground, like mountain peaks shattered by thunder. In the battle, warriors encountered warriors and struck each other with their fists. They dragged and seized each other by the hair. Others sought to use their arms and flung the foe down on the ground. They placed their feet on their chests and cheerfully severed their heads. O great king! With their feet, some kicked those that were already dead. Others used weapons to sever the bodies of those who were alive but dying. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In that spot, warriors fought great fights with their fists. They fiercely seized each other by the hair and ther
e were others who only wrestled. In that battle, there were many who were killed with weapons while they were fighting with another and were therefore ignorant.260 The warriors were thus engaged in that frightful encounter. Hundreds and thousands of headless torsos stood there. The weapons and armour were red. And in that great arena, so were the garments. Thus did that great and fierce battle rage on and filled the universe with a sound like that of violent waves. O king! Oppressed by arrows, they could not distinguish those on one’s own side from that of the enemy. O great king! Desiring victory, the kings fought as they should and killed those who advanced against them, whether they were from their own side or from the side of the enemy. As they advanced, the warriors on both sides were anxious. O great king! The chariots were shattered and the elephants were brought down. The horses were brought down and the men fell. The earth was covered with flesh, blood and mud and became impassable. O great king! In a short instant, there were currents of blood. Karna killed the Panchalas and Dhananjaya killed the Trigartas. O king! Bhimasena killed the Kurus and their entire army of elephants. O great king! In this way, there was carnage among the soldiers of the Kurus and the Pandavas, as they clashed in the afternoon, desiring a great victory.” ’
Chapter 1170(20)
‘Dhritarashtra said, “O Sanjaya! I have heard from you about many fierce and terrible sorrows that are difficult to tolerate and about the destruction of my sons. O suta! From what you have told me and from the way the war is going on, it is my firm view that the Kouravas don’t exist any more. In that great battle, Duryodhana was deprived of his chariot. What did Dharma’s son do then and what did the king261 do in return? How did the battle that makes the body hair stand up rage in the afternoon? O Sanjaya! You are skilled. Tell me all this in detail.”
‘Sanjaya replied, “The soldiers fought in accordance with their different divisions. O lord of the earth! Your son resorted to another chariot. He was overcome by great rage, like a venomous snake. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing Dharmaraja Yudhishthira, Duryodhana quickly told his charioteer, ‘O charioteer! Drive and swiftly take me to the spot where Pandava is. The king is resplendent in his armour there and an umbrella is held aloft his head.’ Having been thus instructed by the king, in that encounter, the charioteer drove that supreme chariot towards King Yudhishthira. Yudhisthira was also angry and maddened, like an excellent bull. He instructed his charioteer to go to the spot where Suyodhana was. The best of rathas, those two brave brothers who were immensely valorous, clashed against each other, armoured and invincible in battle. In the battle, those two great archers mangled each other with their arrows. O venerable one! In that encounter, with a broad-headed arrow that was sharpened on stone, King Duryodhana severed the bow of the one who observed dharma in his conduct. Yudhishthira could not tolerate this conduct and became enraged. In front of the army, Dharma’s son cast aside that severed bow and, his eyes red with rage, picked up another bow and severed Duryodhana’s standard and bow. He262 picked up another bow and pierced Pandava back. Extremely angry, they showered down arrows on each other. They wished to defeat each other and were as enraged as lions. They struck each other and roared like bulls. The maharathas roamed around, glancing at each other. O great king! They drew their bows back to the complete extent and wounded each other. They were as resplendent as flowering kimshukas. O king! They roared repeatedly at each other, like lions. In that great battle, they made sounds with the slapping of their palms and the twangs of their bows. O great king! Those best of rathas blew on their conch shells and severely wounded each other. King Yudhishthira angrily struck your son in the chest with three arrows that were irresistible and had the force of the vajra. Your son quickly pierced the king back, using five sharp arrows that were gold-tufted and sharpened on stone. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! King Duryodhana hurled a lance. It was sharp, made completely out of iron and like a giant meteor. On seeing it descend violently, Dharmaraja used sharp arrows to powerfully shatter it into three fragments and then pierced him with seven arrows. That extremely expensive lance fell down, with its golden handle, blazing like a giant meteor with trails of fire. O lord of the earth! On seeing that the lance had been destroyed, your son struck Yudhishthira with nine sharp and broad-headed arrows. The foremost among scorcher of enemies263 was powerfully and severely struck and quickly affixed an arrow in Duryodhana’s direction. The immensely strong and valiant king affixed the arrow on his fierce bow and angrily released it at the king.264 That arrow struck your maharatha son. Having robbed the king of his senses, it penetrated the ground. Duryodhana became angry at this and forcefully raised a club. He advanced against Pandava, wishing to bring an end to the feud.265 With that upraised club, he was like Yama with a staff in his hand. On seeing this, Dharmaraja hurled a giant spear towards your son. It blazed and was immensely powerful, flaming like a giant meteor. As he266 was stationed on his chariot, it pierced his armour in the great battle. Severely wounded and struck in the chest, he lost his senses and fell down.
‘ “Kritavarma swiftly approached your son, as the king was immersed in an ocean of hardship. Bhima also grasped a giant club that was decorated with gold and in that battle, powerfully advanced against Kritavarma. Thus the battle raged between those on your side and the enemy.” ’
Chapter 1171(21)
‘Sanjaya said, “Those on your side placed Karna at the forefront. They were invincible in battle and the encounter commenced again, like that between the gods and the asuras. There was the sound of elephants, chariots, men, horses and conch shells and that of many weapons descending. Elephants, rathas and foot soldiers, with their leaders, were cheered by this and descended and struck each other. The riders used arrows, battleaxes, supreme swords, spikes and many different kinds of arrows. In that great battle, there were elephants, chariots, horses, the best of men and the vehicles of the men. The ground was beautiful, strewn with the heads of men. The faces possessed the complexion of the lotus, the sun or the moon. The teeth were white. The mouths, eyes and noses were excellent. They were adorned with beautiful crowns and earrings. Thousands of elephants, men and horses were killed with hundreds of clubs, maces, spears, javelins, nails, catapults and bludgeons. A river of blood began to flow. The slain and wounded men, rathas, horses and elephants were terrible to look at. Because that large army was destroyed in the cause, it was like the kingdom of the lord of the ancestors267 when there is a destruction of beings.
‘ “O god among men! Your soldiers and your sons looked like the sons of the gods, when, in the forefront of the battle, those bulls among the Kurus advanced against Shini’s descendant.268 That army was extremely beautiful and was fierce in its sentiments. It was full of the best of men, horses, chariots and elephants. It was like the soldiers of the immortals or the asuras and made a sound like the salty ocean. The son of the sun269 was like the lord of the gods in his valour. As a warrior, he was equal to the best among the thirty gods. He attacked the foremost among the Shini lineage with arrows that blazed like the rays of the sun. In that encounter, the bull among the Shini lineage quickly used many kinds of arrows, which were as resplendent as venomous snakes, and enveloped the supreme among men,270 with his chariot, his horses and his charioteer. Vasusena271 was oppressed because of the arrows of the bull among the Shinis, and the atirathas and well-wishers on your side quickly advanced towards that bull among rathas,272 together with their elephants, chariots, horses and foot soldiers. That force was as large as the ocean. But it was quickly driven away by the enemy, the friends of Drupada’s son,273 and there was a great destruction of men, rathas, horses and elephants.
‘ “The best of men, Arjuna and Keshava, performed their religious ceremonies and worshipped Lord Bhava274 in accordance with the proper rites. They set their minds on killing the enemy and swiftly rushed against your army. The chariot roared like a cloud and the flags and standard fluttered in the wind. It was drawn by white horses. On seeing it advance towards them, like Death, they275 were distressed i
n their minds. Arjuna stretched Gandiva and seemed to dance around in the battle. He showered arrows and covered the sky, the directions and the sub-directions. There were chariots that were like celestial vehicles, equipped with machines, weapons and standards. Using his arrows, he destroyed these, together with their charioteers, like a wind driving away clouds. There were elephants with triumphant standards and weapons and those who controlled these elephants. There were horse riders, horses and foot soldiers. Using his arrows, he conveyed them to Yama’s eternal abode. The maharatha was angry and unassailable, like Yama. Duryodhana advanced against him alone and struck him with his arrows. However, Arjuna used seven arrows to strike his bow, his charioteer, his standard and his horses.276 With another arrow, he then brought down his umbrella. He then affixed a ninth arrow, with the desire of killing Duryodhana. However, Drona’s son shattered that supreme arrow into seven fragments. Pandava then used supreme arrows to destroy the bow of Drona’s son and also killed his horses. He then severed Kripa’s fierce bow. Having severed Hardikya’s bow and standard and killed his horses, he cut down Duhshasana’s supreme bow and attacked Radheya. At this, Karna abandoned Satyaki and struck Arjuna with three arrows. He then pierced Krishna with twenty arrows and struck Partha with three more. However, Satyaki advanced against Karna and pierced him with sharp arrows, first with ninety-nine fierce arrows and yet again with one hundred. All the foremost among the Pandus oppressed Karna—Yudhamanyu, Shikhandi, Droupadi’s sons, the Prabhadrakas, Uttamouja, Yuyutsu, the twins and Parshata.277 The Chedis, Karushas, Matsyas, Kekayas and their armies, the powerful Chekitana and Dharmaraja, excellent in his vows—these rathas, horses, elephants and foot soldiers who were fierce in their valour—surrounded Karna in that battle and released many kinds of weapons. All of them devoted themselves to killing Karna and addressed him in fierce and eloquent words. Karna used his sharp arrows to cut down those numerous showers of weapons. He destroyed all of them, like a wind breaks down trees. One saw Karna angrily use his storm of arrows to destroy rathas, elephants and their riders, horses and their riders. The Pandu forces were slaughtered by Karna’s energy. Most of them lost their weapons and their bodies were wounded. They retreated. Then, Arjuna himself countered Karna’s weapons with his own weapons. He enveloped the directions, the sky and the earth with his showers of arrows. Those arrows descended like clubs and bludgeons. Some were like shataghnis and others were as fierce as the vajra. The soldiers, the foot soldiers, horses, rathas and elephants, were destroyed. They closed their eyes, uttered woes of lamentation and fled distractedly in different directions. In that battle, horses, men and elephants were destroyed. The soldiers were killed by the arrows and terrified, fled.
Mahabharata: Volume 7 Page 12
