Mahabharata 8.19: ekonaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

8.19.1

saṃjaya uvāca |
śvetāśvo'pi mahārāja vyadhamattāvakaṃ balam |
yathā vāyuḥ samāsādya tūlarāśiṃ samantataḥ || 1 ||

27

"Sanjaya said, 'The white steeded (Arjuna) also, O monarch, routed thy force even as the winds, approaching a heap of cotton, scatters it on all sides. Against him rushed the Trigartas, the Sivis, the Kauravas, the Salwas, the samsaptakas, and that force which consisted of the Narayanas. And Satyasena and Candradeva, and Mitradeva and Satrunjaya, and Susruta's son, and Citrasena, and Mitravarman, O Bharata, and the king of the Trigartas surrounded by his brothers and by his sons that were all mighty bowmen accomplished in diverse weapons, suddenly advanced, shooting and scattering showers of shafts in that battle, against Arjuna, like a fierce current of water towards the ocean. Those warriors in hundreds of thousands, approaching Arjuna, seemed to melt away like snakes at sight of Garuda. Though slaughtered in battle, they did not still leave the son of Pandu like insects, O monarch, never receding from a blazing fire. Satyasena, in that encounter, pierced that son of Pandu with three arrows, and Mitradeva pierced him with three and sixty, and Candradeva with seven. And Mitravarman pierced him with three and seventy arrows, and Susruta's son with seven. And Satrunjaya pierced him with twenty, and Susharma with nine. Thus pierced in that encounter by many, Arjuna pierced all those kings in return.

Indeed, piercing the son of Susruta with seven arrows, he pierced Satyasena with three, Satrunjaya with twenty and Candradeva with eight, Mitradeva with a hundred, Srutasena with three, Mitravarman with nine, and Susharma with eight. Then slaying king Satrunjaya with a number of arrows whetted on stone, he smote off from his trunk, the head, decked with headgear, of Susruta's son. Without any delay he then, with a number of other shafts, despatched Candradeva to the abode of Yama. As regards the other mighty car-warriors vigorously contending with him, he checked each of them with five arrows. Then Satyasena filled with rage, hurled a formidable lance in that battle aiming at Krishna and uttered a leonine roar. That ironmouthed lance having a golden shaft, piercing through the left arm of the high-souled Madhava, penetrated into the Earth. Madhava being thus pierced with that lance in great battle the goad and the reins, O king, fell down from his hands. Beholding Vasudeva's limb pierced through, Pritha's son Dhananjaya mustered all his wrath and addressing Vasudeva said, "O mighty-armed one, bear the car to Satyasena, O puissant one, so that I may, with keen shafts, despatch him to Yama's abode." The illustrious Keshava then, quickly taking up the goad and the reins, caused the steeds to bear the car to the front of Satyasena's vehicle.

Beholding the Ruler of the Universe pierced, Pritha's son Dhananjaya, that mighty car-warrior, checking Satyasena with some keen arrows, cut off with a number of broad-headed shafts of great sharpness, the large head of that king decked with earrings, from off his trunk at the head of the army. Having thus cut off Satyasena's head, he then despatched Citravarman with a number of keen shafts, and then the latter's driver, O sire, with a keen calf-toothed arrow. Filled with rage, the mighty Partha then, with hundreds of shafts, felled the samsaptakas in hundreds and thousands. Then, O king, with a razor-headed arrow equipped with wings of silver, that mighty car-warrior cut off the head of the illustrious Mitrasena. Filled with rage he then struck Susharma in the shoulder-joint. Then all the samsaptakas, filled with wrath, encompassed Dhananjaya on all sides and began to afflict him with showers of weapons and make all the points of the compass resound with their shouts. Afflicted by them thus, the mighty car-warrior Jishnu, of immeasurable soul, endued with prowess resembling that of Sakra himself, invoked the Aindra weapon. From that weapon, thousands of shafts, O king, began to issue continually.

Then O king, a loud din was heard of falling cars with standards and quivers and yokes, and axles and wheels and traces with chords, of bottoms of cars and wooden fences around them, of arrows and steeds and spears and swords, and maces and spiked clubs and darts and lances and axes, and Sataghnis equipped with wheels and arrows. Thighs and necklaces and Angadas and Keyuras, O sire, and garlands and cuirasses and coats of mail, O Bharata, and umbrellas and fans and heads decked with diadems lay on the battle-field. Heads adorned with earrings and beautiful eyes, and each resembling the full moon, looked, as they lay on the field, like stars in the firmament. Adorned with sandal-paste, beautiful garlands of flowers and excellent robes, many were the bodies of slain warriors that were seen to lie on the ground. The field of battle, terrible as it was, looked like the welkin teeming with vapoury forms. With the slain princes and kshatriyas of great might and fallen elephants and steeds, the Earth became impassable in that battle as if she were strewn with hills. There was no path on the field for the wheels of the illustrious Pandava's car, engaged as he was in continually slaying his foes and striking down elephants and steeds with his broad-headed shafts. It seemed, O sire, that the wheels of his car stopped in fright at the sight of his own self careering in that battle through that bloody mire.

His steeds, however, endued with the speed of the mind or the wind, dragged with great efforts and labour those wheels that had refused to move. Thus slaughtered by Pandu's son armed with the bow, that host fled away almost entirely, without leaving even a remnant, O Bharata, contending with the foe. Having vanquished large numbers of the samsaptakas in battle, Pritha's son Jishnu looked resplendent, like a blazing fire without smoke.'"

"Sanjaya said, 'The white steeded (Arjuna) also, O monarch, routed thy force even as the winds, approaching a heap of cotton, scatters it on all sides. Against him rushed the Trigartas, the Sivis, the Kauravas, the Salwas, the samsaptakas, and that force which consisted of the Narayanas. And Satyasena and Candradeva, and Mitradeva and Satrunjaya, and Susruta's son, and Citrasena, and Mitravarman, O Bharata, and the king of the Trigartas surrounded by his brothers and by his sons that were all mighty bowmen accomplished in diverse weapons, suddenly advanced, shooting and scattering showers of shafts in that battle, against Arjuna, like a fierce current of water towards the ocean. Those warriors in hundreds of thousands, approaching Arjuna, seemed to melt away like snakes at sight of Garuda. Though slaughtered in battle, they did not still leave the son of Pandu like insects, O monarch, never receding from a blazing fire. Satyasena, in that encounter, pierced that son of Pandu with three arrows, and Mitradeva pierced him with three and sixty, and Candradeva with seven. And Mitravarman pierced him with three and seventy arrows, and Susruta's son with seven. And Satrunjaya pierced him with twenty, and Susharma with nine. Thus pierced in that encounter by many, Arjuna pierced all those kings in return.

8.19.2

pratyudyayustrigartāstaṃ śibayaḥ kauravaiḥ saha |
śālvāḥ saṃśaptakāścaiva nārāyaṇabalaṃ ca yat || 2 ||

8.19.3

satyasenaḥ satyakīrtirmitradevaḥ śrutaṃjayaḥ |
sauśrutiścitrasenaśca mitravarmā ca bhārata || 3 ||

8.19.4

trigartarājaḥ samare bhrātṛbhiḥ parivāritaḥ |
putraiścaiva maheṣvāsairnānāśastradharairyudhi || 4 ||

8.19.5

te sṛjantaḥ śaravrātānkiranto'rjunamāhave |
abhyadravanta samare vāryoghā iva sāgaram || 5 ||

8.19.6

te tvarjunaṃ samāsādya yodhāḥ śatasahasraśaḥ |
agacchanvilayaṃ sarve tārkṣyaṃ dṛṣṭveva pannagāḥ || 6 ||

8.19.7

te vadhyamānāḥ samare nājahuḥ pāṇḍavaṃ tadā |
dahyamānā yathā rājañśalabhā iva pāvakam || 7 ||

8.19.8

satyasenastribhirbāṇairvivyādha yudhi pāṇḍavam |
mitradevastriṣaṣṭyā ca candradevaśca saptabhiḥ || 8 ||

8.19.9

mitravarmā trisaptatyā sauśrutiścāpi pañcabhiḥ |
śatruṃjayaśca viṃśatyā suśarmā navabhiḥ śaraiḥ || 9 ||

8.19.10

śatruṃjayaṃ ca rājānaṃ hatvā tatra śilāśitaiḥ |
sauśruteḥ saśirastrāṇaṃ śiraḥ kāyādapāharat |
tvaritaścandradevaṃ ca śarairninye yamakṣayam || 10 ||

Indeed, piercing the son of Susruta with seven arrows, he pierced Satyasena with three, Satrunjaya with twenty and Candradeva with eight, Mitradeva with a hundred, Srutasena with three, Mitravarman with nine, and Susharma with eight. Then slaying king Satrunjaya with a number of arrows whetted on stone, he smote off from his trunk, the head, decked with headgear, of Susruta's son. Without any delay he then, with a number of other shafts, despatched Candradeva to the abode of Yama. As regards the other mighty car-warriors vigorously contending with him, he checked each of them with five arrows. Then Satyasena filled with rage, hurled a formidable lance in that battle aiming at Krishna and uttered a leonine roar. That ironmouthed lance having a golden shaft, piercing through the left arm of the high-souled Madhava, penetrated into the Earth. Madhava being thus pierced with that lance in great battle the goad and the reins, O king, fell down from his hands. Beholding Vasudeva's limb pierced through, Pritha's son Dhananjaya mustered all his wrath and addressing Vasudeva said, "O mighty-armed one, bear the car to Satyasena, O puissant one, so that I may, with keen shafts, despatch him to Yama's abode." The illustrious Keshava then, quickly taking up the goad and the reins, caused the steeds to bear the car to the front of Satyasena's vehicle.

8.19.11

athetarānmahārāja yatamānānmahārathān |
pañcabhiḥ pañcabhirbāṇairekaikaṃ pratyavārayat || 11 ||

8.19.12

satyasenastu saṃkruddhastomaraṃ vyasṛjanmahat |
samuddiśya raṇe kṛṣṇaṃ siṃhanādaṃ nanāda ca || 12 ||

8.19.13

sa nirbhidya bhujaṃ savyaṃ mādhavasya mahātmanaḥ |
ayasmayo mahācaṇḍo jagāma dharaṇīṃ tadā || 13 ||

8.19.14

mādhavasya tu viddhasya tomareṇa mahāraṇe |
pratodaḥ prāpataddhastādraśmayaśca viśāṃ pate || 14 ||

8.19.15

sa pratodaṃ punargṛhya raśmīṃścaiva mahāyaśāḥ |
vāhayāmāsa tānaśvānsatyasenarathaṃ prati || 15 ||

8.19.16

viṣvaksenaṃ tu nirbhinnaṃ prekṣya pārtho dhanaṃjayaḥ |
satyasenaṃ śaraistīkṣṇairdārayitvā mahābalaḥ || 16 ||

Beholding the Ruler of the Universe pierced, Pritha's son Dhananjaya, that mighty car-warrior, checking Satyasena with some keen arrows, cut off with a number of broad-headed shafts of great sharpness, the large head of that king decked with earrings, from off his trunk at the head of the army. Having thus cut off Satyasena's head, he then despatched Citravarman with a number of keen shafts, and then the latter's driver, O sire, with a keen calf-toothed arrow. Filled with rage, the mighty Partha then, with hundreds of shafts, felled the samsaptakas in hundreds and thousands. Then, O king, with a razor-headed arrow equipped with wings of silver, that mighty car-warrior cut off the head of the illustrious Mitrasena. Filled with rage he then struck Susharma in the shoulder-joint. Then all the samsaptakas, filled with wrath, encompassed Dhananjaya on all sides and began to afflict him with showers of weapons and make all the points of the compass resound with their shouts. Afflicted by them thus, the mighty car-warrior Jishnu, of immeasurable soul, endued with prowess resembling that of Sakra himself, invoked the Aindra weapon. From that weapon, thousands of shafts, O king, began to issue continually.

8.19.17

tataḥ suniśitairbāṇai rājñastasya mahacchiraḥ |
kuṇḍalopacitaṃ kāyāccakarta pṛtanāntare || 17 ||

8.19.18

taṃ nihatya śitairbāṇairmitravarmāṇamākṣipat |
vatsadantena tīkṣṇena sārathiṃ cāsya māriṣa || 18 ||

8.19.19

tataḥ śaraśatairbhūyaḥ saṃśaptakagaṇānvaśī |
pātayāmāsa saṃkruddhaḥ śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ || 19 ||

8.19.20

tato rajatapuṅkhena rājñaḥ śīrṣaṃ mahātmanaḥ |
mitradevasya ciccheda kṣurapreṇa mahāyaśāḥ |
suśarmāṇaṃ ca saṃkruddho jatrudeśe samārdayat || 20 ||

8.19.21

tataḥ saṃśaptakāḥ sarve parivārya dhanaṃjayam |
śastraughairmamṛduḥ kruddhā nādayanto diśo daśa || 21 ||

8.19.22

abhyarditastu tairjiṣṇuḥ śakratulyaparākramaḥ |
aindramastramameyātmā prāduścakre mahārathaḥ |
tataḥ śarasahasrāṇi prādurāsanviśāṃ pate || 22 ||

8.19.23

dhvajānāṃ chidyamānānāṃ kārmukāṇāṃ ca saṃyuge |
rathānāṃ sapatākānāṃ tūṇīrāṇāṃ śaraiḥ saha || 23 ||

Then O king, a loud din was heard of falling cars with standards and quivers and yokes, and axles and wheels and traces with chords, of bottoms of cars and wooden fences around them, of arrows and steeds and spears and swords, and maces and spiked clubs and darts and lances and axes, and Sataghnis equipped with wheels and arrows. Thighs and necklaces and Angadas and Keyuras, O sire, and garlands and cuirasses and coats of mail, O Bharata, and umbrellas and fans and heads decked with diadems lay on the battle-field. Heads adorned with earrings and beautiful eyes, and each resembling the full moon, looked, as they lay on the field, like stars in the firmament. Adorned with sandal-paste, beautiful garlands of flowers and excellent robes, many were the bodies of slain warriors that were seen to lie on the ground. The field of battle, terrible as it was, looked like the welkin teeming with vapoury forms. With the slain princes and kshatriyas of great might and fallen elephants and steeds, the Earth became impassable in that battle as if she were strewn with hills. There was no path on the field for the wheels of the illustrious Pandava's car, engaged as he was in continually slaying his foes and striking down elephants and steeds with his broad-headed shafts. It seemed, O sire, that the wheels of his car stopped in fright at the sight of his own self careering in that battle through that bloody mire.

8.19.24

akṣāṇāmatha yoktrāṇāṃ cakrāṇāṃ raśmibhiḥ saha |
kūbarāṇāṃ varūthānāṃ pṛṣatkānāṃ ca saṃyuge || 24 ||

8.19.25

aśmanāṃ patatāṃ caiva prāsānāmṛṣṭibhiḥ saha |
gadānāṃ parighāṇāṃ ca śaktīnāṃ tomaraiḥ saha || 25 ||

8.19.26

śataghnīnāṃ sacakrāṇāṃ bhujānāmūrubhiḥ saha |
kaṇṭhasūtrāṅgadānāṃ ca keyūrāṇāṃ ca māriṣa || 26 ||

8.19.27

hārāṇāmatha niṣkāṇāṃ tanutrāṇāṃ ca bhārata |
chatrāṇāṃ vyajanānāṃ ca śirasāṃ mukuṭaiḥ saha |
aśrūyata mahāñśabdastatra tatra viśāṃ pate || 27 ||

8.19.28

sakuṇḍalāni svakṣīṇi pūrṇacandranibhāni ca |
śirāṃsyurvyāmadṛśyanta tārāgaṇa ivāmbare || 28 ||

8.19.29

susragvīṇi suvāsāṃsi candanenokṣitāni ca |
śarīrāṇi vyadṛśyanta hatānāṃ ca mahītale |
gandharvanagarākāraṃ ghoramāyodhanaṃ tadā || 29 ||

8.19.30

nihatai rājaputraiśca kṣatriyaiśca mahābalaiḥ |
hastibhiḥ patitaiścaiva turagaiścābhavanmahī |
agamyamārgā samare viśīrṇairiva parvataiḥ || 30 ||

8.19.31

nāsīccakrapathaścaiva pāṇḍavasya mahātmanaḥ |
nighnataḥ śātravānbhallairhastyaśvaṃ cāmitaṃ mahat || 31 ||

8.19.32

ā tumbādavasīdanti rathacakrāṇi māriṣa |
raṇe vicaratastasya tasmim̐llohitakardame || 32 ||

8.19.33

sīdamānāni cakrāṇi samūhusturagā bhṛśam |
śrameṇa mahatā yuktā manomārutaraṃhasaḥ || 33 ||

His steeds, however, endued with the speed of the mind or the wind, dragged with great efforts and labour those wheels that had refused to move. Thus slaughtered by Pandu's son armed with the bow, that host fled away almost entirely, without leaving even a remnant, O Bharata, contending with the foe. Having vanquished large numbers of the samsaptakas in battle, Pritha's son Jishnu looked resplendent, like a blazing fire without smoke.'"

8.19.34

vadhyamānaṃ tu tatsainyaṃ pāṇḍuputreṇa dhanvinā |
prāyaśo vimukhaṃ sarvaṃ nāvatiṣṭhata saṃyuge || 34 ||

8.19.35

tāñjitvā samare jiṣṇuḥ saṃśaptakagaṇānbahūn |
rarāja sa mahārāja vidhūmo'gniriva jvalan || 35 ||

8.19.36

yudhiṣṭhiraṃ mahārāja visṛjantaṃ śarānbahūn |
svayaṃ duryodhano rājā pratyagṛhṇādabhītavat || 36 ||

"Sanjaya said, 'King Duryodhana, O monarch, himself fearlessly received Yudhishthira, as the latter was engaged in shooting large numbers of shafts. The royal Yudhishthira the just, speedily piercing thy son, that mighty car-warrior, as the latter was rushing towards him with impetuosity, addressed him, saying, "Wait, Wait." Duryodhana, however, pierced Yudhishthira, in return, with nine keen arrows, and filled with great wrath, struck Yudhishthira's driver also with a broad-headed shaft. Then king Yudhishthira sped at Duryodhana three and ten arrows equipped with wings of gold and whetted on stone. With four shafts that mighty car-warrior then slew the four steeds of his foe, and with the fifth he cut off from his trunk the head of Duryodhana's driver. With the sixth arrow he felled the (Kuru) king's standard on the Earth, with the seventh his bow, and with the eighth his scimitar. And then with five more shafts king Yudhishthira the just deeply afflicted the Kuru monarch. Thy son, then, alighting from that steedless car, stood on the Earth in imminent danger. Beholding him in that situation of great peril, Karna and Drona's son and Kripa and others rushed suddenly towards the spot, desirous of rescuing the king. Then the (other) sons of Pandu, surrounding Yudhishthira, all proceeded to the encounter, upon which, O king, a fierce battle was fought. Thousands of trumpets then were blown in that great engagement, and a confused din of myriad voices arose there, O king.

28

"Sanjaya said, 'King Duryodhana, O monarch, himself fearlessly received Yudhishthira, as the latter was engaged in shooting large numbers of shafts. The royal Yudhishthira the just, speedily piercing thy son, that mighty car-warrior, as the latter was rushing towards him with impetuosity, addressed him, saying, "Wait, Wait." Duryodhana, however, pierced Yudhishthira, in return, with nine keen arrows, and filled with great wrath, struck Yudhishthira's driver also with a broad-headed shaft. Then king Yudhishthira sped at Duryodhana three and ten arrows equipped with wings of gold and whetted on stone. With four shafts that mighty car-warrior then slew the four steeds of his foe, and with the fifth he cut off from his trunk the head of Duryodhana's driver. With the sixth arrow he felled the (Kuru) king's standard on the Earth, with the seventh his bow, and with the eighth his scimitar. And then with five more shafts king Yudhishthira the just deeply afflicted the Kuru monarch. Thy son, then, alighting from that steedless car, stood on the Earth in imminent danger. Beholding him in that situation of great peril, Karna and Drona's son and Kripa and others rushed suddenly towards the spot, desirous of rescuing the king. Then the (other) sons of Pandu, surrounding Yudhishthira, all proceeded to the encounter, upon which, O king, a fierce battle was fought. Thousands of trumpets then were blown in that great engagement, and a confused din of myriad voices arose there, O king.

There where the Pancalas engaged the Kauravas, in battle, men closed with men, and elephants with foremost of elephants. And car-warriors closed with car-warriors, and horse with horse. And the various couples of battling men and animals, of great prowess and armed with diverse kinds of weapons and possessed of great skill presented a beautiful sight, O king, over the field. All those heroes endued with great impetuosity and desirous of compassing the destruction of one another, fought beautifully and with great activity and skill. Observing the (sanctioned) practices of warriors, they slew one another in battle. None of them fought from behind others. For only a very short time that battle presented a beautiful aspect. Soon it became an encounter of mad men, in which the combatants showed no regard for one another. The car-warrior, approaching the elephant, pierced the latter with keen shafts and despatched it to Yama's presence by means of straight arrows. Elephants, approaching steeds, dragged down many of them in that battle, and tore them (with their tusks) most fiercely in diverse places. Large numbers of horsemen also, encompassing many foremost of steeds, made a loud noise with their palms, and closed with them. And those horsemen slew those steeds as they ran hither and thither, as also many huge elephants as these wandered over the field, from behind and the flanks.

Infuriate elephants, O king, routing large numbers of steeds, slew them with their tusks or crushed them with great force. Some elephants, filled with wrath pierced with their tusks horses with horsemen. Others seizing such with great force hurled them to the ground with violence. Many elephants, struck by foot-soldiers availing of the proper opportunities, uttered terrible cries of pain and fled away on all sides. Among the foot-soldiers that fled away in that great battle throwing down their ornaments, there were many that were quickly encompassed on the field. Elephant-warriors, riding on huge elephants, understanding indications of victory, wheeled their beasts and causing them to seize those beautiful ornaments, made the beasts to pierce them with their tusks. Other foot-soldiers endued with great impetuosity and fierce might, surrounding those elephant-warriors thus engaged in those spots began to slay them. Others in that great battle, thrown aloft into the air by elephants with their trunks, were pierced by those trained beasts with the points of their tusks as they fell down. Others, suddenly seized by other elephants, were deprived of life with their tusks. Others, borne away from their own divisions into the midst of others, were, O king, mangled by huge elephants which rolled them repeatedly on the ground. Others, whirled on high like fans, were slain in that battle.

Others, hither and thither on the field, that stood full in front of other elephants had their bodies exceedingly pierced and torn. Many elephants were deeply wounded with spears and lances and darts in their cheeks and frontal globes and parts between their tusks. Exceedingly afflicted by fierce car-warriors and horsemen stationed on their flanks, many elephants, ripped open, fell down on the Earth. In that dreadful battle many horsemen on their steeds, striking foot-soldiers with their lances, pinned them down to the Earth or crushed them with great force. Some elephants, approaching mail-clad car-warriors, O sire, raised them aloft from their vehicles and hurled them down with great force upon the Earth in that fierce and awful fight. Some huge elephants slain by means of cloth-yard shafts, fell down on the Earth like mountain summits riven by thunder. Combatants, encountering combatants, began to strike each other with their fists, or seizing each other by the hair, began to drag and throw down and mangle each other. Others, stretching their arms and throwing down their foes on the Earth, placed their feet on their chests and with great activity cut off their heads. Some combatant, O king, struck with his feet some foe that was dead, and some, O king, struck off with his sword, the head of a falling foe, and some thrust his weapon into the body of a living foe.

A fierce battle took place there, O Bharata, in which the combatants struck one another with fists or seized one another's hair or wrestled with one another with bare arms. In many instances, combatants, using diverse kinds of weapons, took the lives of combatants engaged with others and, therefore, unperceived by them. During the progress of that general engagement when all the combatants were mangled in battle, hundreds and thousands of headless trunks stood up on the field. Weapons and coats of mail, drenched with gore, looked resplendent, like cloths dyed with gorgeous red. Even thus occurred that fierce battle marked by the awful clash of weapons. Like the mad and roaring current of the Ganga it seemed to fill the whole universe with its uproar. Afflicted with shafts, the warriors failed to distinguish friends from foes. Solicitous of victory, the kings fought on because they fought that fight they should. The warriors slew both friends and foes, with whom they came in contact. The combatants of both the armies were deprived of reason by the heroes of both the armies assailing them with fury. With broken cars, O monarch, the fallen elephants, and steeds lying on the ground, and men laid low, the Earth, miry with gore and flesh, and covered with streams of blood, soon became impassable, Karna slaughtered the Pancalas while Dhananjaya slaughtered the Trigartas. And Bhimasena, O king, slaughtered the Kurus and all the elephant divisions of the latter.

Even thus occurred that destruction of troops of both the Kurus and the Pandavas, both parties having been actuated by the desire of winning great fame, at that hour when the Sun had passed the meridian.'"

8.19.37

tamāpatantaṃ sahasā tava putraṃ mahābalam |
dharmarājo drutaṃ viddhvā tiṣṭha tiṣṭheti cābravīt || 37 ||

8.19.38

sa ca taṃ prativivyādha navabhirniśitaiḥ śaraiḥ |
sārathiṃ cāsya bhallena bhṛśaṃ kruddho'bhyatāḍayat || 38 ||

8.19.39

tato yudhiṣṭhiro rājā hemapuṅkhāñśilīmukhān |
duryodhanāya cikṣepa trayodaśa śilāśitān || 39 ||

8.19.40

caturbhiścaturo vāhāṃstasya hatvā mahārathaḥ |
pañcamena śiraḥ kāyātsārathestu samākṣipat || 40 ||

8.19.41

ṣaṣṭhena ca dhvajaṃ rājñaḥ saptamena ca kārmukam |
aṣṭamena tathā khaḍgaṃ pātayāmāsa bhūtale |
pañcabhirnṛpatiṃ cāpi dharmarājo'rdayadbhṛśam || 41 ||

8.19.42

hatāśvāttu rathāttasmādavaplutya sutastava |
uttamaṃ vyasanaṃ prāpto bhūmāveva vyatiṣṭhata || 42 ||

8.19.43

taṃ tu kṛcchragataṃ dṛṣṭvā karṇadrauṇikṛpādayaḥ |
abhyavartanta sahitāḥ parīpsanto narādhipam || 43 ||

8.19.44

atha pāṇḍusutāḥ sarve parivārya yudhiṣṭhiram |
abhyayuḥ samare rājaṃstato yuddhamavartata || 44 ||

8.19.45

atha tūryasahasrāṇi prāvādyanta mahāmṛdhe |
kṣveḍāḥ kilakilāśabdāḥ prādurāsanmahīpate |
yadabhyagacchansamare pāñcālāḥ kauravaiḥ saha || 45 ||

There where the Pancalas engaged the Kauravas, in battle, men closed with men, and elephants with foremost of elephants. And car-warriors closed with car-warriors, and horse with horse. And the various couples of battling men and animals, of great prowess and armed with diverse kinds of weapons and possessed of great skill presented a beautiful sight, O king, over the field. All those heroes endued with great impetuosity and desirous of compassing the destruction of one another, fought beautifully and with great activity and skill. Observing the (sanctioned) practices of warriors, they slew one another in battle. None of them fought from behind others. For only a very short time that battle presented a beautiful aspect. Soon it became an encounter of mad men, in which the combatants showed no regard for one another. The car-warrior, approaching the elephant, pierced the latter with keen shafts and despatched it to Yama's presence by means of straight arrows. Elephants, approaching steeds, dragged down many of them in that battle, and tore them (with their tusks) most fiercely in diverse places. Large numbers of horsemen also, encompassing many foremost of steeds, made a loud noise with their palms, and closed with them. And those horsemen slew those steeds as they ran hither and thither, as also many huge elephants as these wandered over the field, from behind and the flanks.

8.19.46

narā naraiḥ samājagmurvāraṇā varavāraṇaiḥ |
rathāśca rathibhiḥ sārdhaṃ hayāśca hayasādibhiḥ || 46 ||

8.19.47

dvaṃdvānyāsanmahārāja prekṣaṇīyāni saṃyuge |
vismāpanānyacintyāni śastravantyuttamāni ca || 47 ||

8.19.48

ayudhyanta mahāvegāḥ parasparavadhaiṣiṇaḥ |
anyonyaṃ samare jaghnuryodhavratamanuṣṭhitāḥ |
na hi te samaraṃ cakruḥ pṛṣṭhato vai kathaṃcana || 48 ||

8.19.49

muhūrtameva tadyuddhamāsīnmadhuradarśanam |
tata unmattavadrājannirmaryādamavartata || 49 ||

8.19.50

rathī nāgaṃ samāsādya vicaranraṇamūrdhani |
preṣayāmāsa kālāya śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ || 50 ||

8.19.51

nāgā hayānsamāsādya vikṣipanto bahūnatha |
drāvayāmāsuratyugrāstatra tatra tadā tadā || 51 ||

8.19.52

vidrāvya ca bahūnaśvānnāgā rājanbalotkaṭāḥ |
viṣāṇaiścāpare jaghnurmamṛduścāpare bhṛśam || 52 ||

Infuriate elephants, O king, routing large numbers of steeds, slew them with their tusks or crushed them with great force. Some elephants, filled with wrath pierced with their tusks horses with horsemen. Others seizing such with great force hurled them to the ground with violence. Many elephants, struck by foot-soldiers availing of the proper opportunities, uttered terrible cries of pain and fled away on all sides. Among the foot-soldiers that fled away in that great battle throwing down their ornaments, there were many that were quickly encompassed on the field. Elephant-warriors, riding on huge elephants, understanding indications of victory, wheeled their beasts and causing them to seize those beautiful ornaments, made the beasts to pierce them with their tusks. Other foot-soldiers endued with great impetuosity and fierce might, surrounding those elephant-warriors thus engaged in those spots began to slay them. Others in that great battle, thrown aloft into the air by elephants with their trunks, were pierced by those trained beasts with the points of their tusks as they fell down. Others, suddenly seized by other elephants, were deprived of life with their tusks. Others, borne away from their own divisions into the midst of others, were, O king, mangled by huge elephants which rolled them repeatedly on the ground. Others, whirled on high like fans, were slain in that battle.

8.19.53

sāśvārohāṃśca turagānviṣāṇairbibhidū raṇe |
aparāṃścikṣipurvegātpragṛhyātibalāstathā || 53 ||

8.19.54

pādātairāhatā nāgā vivareṣu samantataḥ |
cakrurārtasvaraṃ ghoraṃ vyadravanta diśo daśa || 54 ||

8.19.55

padātīnāṃ tu sahasā pradrutānāṃ mahāmṛdhe |
utsṛjyābharaṇaṃ tūrṇamavaplutya raṇājire || 55 ||

8.19.56

nimittaṃ manyamānāstu pariṇamya mahāgajāḥ |
jagṛhurbibhiduścaiva citrāṇyābharaṇāni ca || 56 ||

8.19.57

pratimāneṣu kumbheṣu dantaveṣṭeṣu cāpare |
nigṛhītā bhṛśaṃ nāgāḥ prāsatomaraśaktibhiḥ || 57 ||

Others, hither and thither on the field, that stood full in front of other elephants had their bodies exceedingly pierced and torn. Many elephants were deeply wounded with spears and lances and darts in their cheeks and frontal globes and parts between their tusks. Exceedingly afflicted by fierce car-warriors and horsemen stationed on their flanks, many elephants, ripped open, fell down on the Earth. In that dreadful battle many horsemen on their steeds, striking foot-soldiers with their lances, pinned them down to the Earth or crushed them with great force. Some elephants, approaching mail-clad car-warriors, O sire, raised them aloft from their vehicles and hurled them down with great force upon the Earth in that fierce and awful fight. Some huge elephants slain by means of cloth-yard shafts, fell down on the Earth like mountain summits riven by thunder. Combatants, encountering combatants, began to strike each other with their fists, or seizing each other by the hair, began to drag and throw down and mangle each other. Others, stretching their arms and throwing down their foes on the Earth, placed their feet on their chests and with great activity cut off their heads. Some combatant, O king, struck with his feet some foe that was dead, and some, O king, struck off with his sword, the head of a falling foe, and some thrust his weapon into the body of a living foe.

8.19.58

nigṛhya ca gadāḥ kecitpārśvasthairbhṛśadāruṇaiḥ |
rathāśvasādibhistatra saṃbhinnā nyapatanbhuvi || 58 ||

8.19.59

sarathaṃ sādinaṃ tatra apare tu mahāgajāḥ |
bhūmāvamṛdnanvegena savarmāṇaṃ patākinam || 59 ||

8.19.60

rathaṃ nāgāḥ samāsādya dhuri gṛhya ca māriṣa |
vyākṣipansahasā tatra ghorarūpe mahāmṛdhe || 60 ||

8.19.61

nārācairnihataścāpi nipapāta mahāgajaḥ |
parvatasyeva śikharaṃ vajrabhagnaṃ mahītale || 61 ||

8.19.62

yodhā yodhānsamāsādya muṣṭibhirvyahananyudhi |
keśeṣvanyonyamākṣipya cicchidurbibhiduḥ saha || 62 ||

8.19.63

udyamya ca bhujāvanyo nikṣipya ca mahītale |
padā coraḥ samākramya sphurato vyahanacchiraḥ || 63 ||

8.19.64

mṛtamanyo mahārāja padbhyāṃ tāḍitavāṃstadā |
jīvataśca tathaivānyaḥ śastraṃ kāye nyamajjayat || 64 ||

8.19.65

muṣṭiyuddhaṃ mahaccāsīdyodhānāṃ tatra bhārata |
tathā keśagrahaścogro bāhuyuddhaṃ ca kevalam || 65 ||

A fierce battle took place there, O Bharata, in which the combatants struck one another with fists or seized one another's hair or wrestled with one another with bare arms. In many instances, combatants, using diverse kinds of weapons, took the lives of combatants engaged with others and, therefore, unperceived by them. During the progress of that general engagement when all the combatants were mangled in battle, hundreds and thousands of headless trunks stood up on the field. Weapons and coats of mail, drenched with gore, looked resplendent, like cloths dyed with gorgeous red. Even thus occurred that fierce battle marked by the awful clash of weapons. Like the mad and roaring current of the Ganga it seemed to fill the whole universe with its uproar. Afflicted with shafts, the warriors failed to distinguish friends from foes. Solicitous of victory, the kings fought on because they fought that fight they should. The warriors slew both friends and foes, with whom they came in contact. The combatants of both the armies were deprived of reason by the heroes of both the armies assailing them with fury. With broken cars, O monarch, the fallen elephants, and steeds lying on the ground, and men laid low, the Earth, miry with gore and flesh, and covered with streams of blood, soon became impassable, Karna slaughtered the Pancalas while Dhananjaya slaughtered the Trigartas. And Bhimasena, O king, slaughtered the Kurus and all the elephant divisions of the latter.

8.19.66

samāsaktasya cānyena avijñātastathāparaḥ |
jahāra samare prāṇānnānāśastrairanekadhā || 66 ||

8.19.67

saṃsakteṣu ca yodheṣu vartamāne ca saṃkule |
kabandhānyutthitāni sma śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ || 67 ||

8.19.68

lohitaiḥ sicyamānāni śastrāṇi kavacāni ca |
mahāraṅgānuraktāni vastrāṇīva cakāśire || 68 ||

8.19.69

evametanmahāyuddhaṃ dāruṇaṃ bhṛśasaṃkulam |
unmattaraṅgapratimaṃ śabdenāpūrayajjagat || 69 ||

8.19.70

naiva sve na pare rājanvijñāyante śarāturāḥ |
yoddhavyamiti yudhyante rājāno jayagṛddhinaḥ || 70 ||

8.19.71

svānsve jaghnurmahārāja parāṃścaiva samāgatān |
ubhayoḥ senayorvīrairvyākulaṃ samapadyata || 71 ||

8.19.72

rathairbhagnairmahārāja vāraṇaiśca nipātitaiḥ |
hayaiśca patitaistatra naraiśca vinipātitaiḥ || 72 ||

8.19.73

agamyarūpā pṛthivī māṃsaśoṇitakardamā |
kṣaṇenāsīnmahārāja kṣatajaughapravartinī || 73 ||

8.19.74

pāñcālānavadhītkarṇastrigartāṃśca dhanaṃjayaḥ |
bhīmasenaḥ kurūnrājanhastyanīkaṃ ca sarvaśaḥ || 74 ||

8.19.75

evameṣa kṣayo vṛttaḥ kurupāṇḍavasenayoḥ |
aparāhṇe mahārāja kāṅkṣantyorvipulaṃ jayam || 75 ||

Even thus occurred that destruction of troops of both the Kurus and the Pandavas, both parties having been actuated by the desire of winning great fame, at that hour when the Sun had passed the meridian.'"