SECTION XIX
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then Yuyudhana, the great hero of the Satwata race,
came to Yudhishthira with a large army of foot, and horses and cars and
elephants. And his soldiers of great valour come from various lands, bore
various weapons of war, and heroic in look they beautified the Pandava
army. And that army looked splendid by reason of battleaxes, and missiles
and spears, and lances, and mallets, and clubs, and staves, and cords,
and stainless swords, and daggers, and arrows of various kinds, all of
the best temper. And the army, beautified by those weapons, and
resembling in colour the cloudy sky, assumed an appearance like to amass
of clouds with lightning-flashes in its midst. And the army counted an
Akshauhini of troops. And when absorbed in the troops of Yudhishthira it
entirely disappeared, as doth a small river when it enters the sea. And
similarly, the powerful chief of the Chedis, Dhrishtaketu, accompanied by
an Akshauhini, came to the sons of Pandu of immeasurable strength. And
the king of Magadha, Jayatsena of great strength, brought with him for
Yudhishthira an Akshauhini of troops. And similarly, Pandya, who dwelt on
the coast-land near the sea, came accompanied by troops of various kinds
to Yudhishthira, the king of kings. And, O king, when all these troops
had assembled, his army, finely dressed and exceedingly strong, assumed
an appearance pleasant to the eye. And the army of Drupada, also was
beautified by valiant soldiers who had come from various lands, and also
by his mighty sons. And similarly, Virata, the king of the Matsyas, a
leader of troops, accompanied by the king of the hilly regions, came to
Pandu's sons. And for the high-souled sons of Pandu there were thus
assembled from various directions, seven Akshauhini of troops, bristling
with banners of various forms. And eager to fight with the Kurus, they
gladdened the hearts of the Pandavas. And in the same way king
Bhagadatta, gladdening the heart of Dhritarashtra's son, gave an
Akshauhini of troops to him. And the unassailable mass of his troops,
crowded with Chins and Kiratas, all looking like figures of gold, assumed
a beauty like to that of a forest of Karnikara trees. And so the valiant
Bhurisravas, and Salya, O son of Kuru, came to Duryodhana, with an
Akshauhini of troops each. And Kritavarman, the son of Hridika,
accompanied by the Bhojas, the Andhas, and the Kukuras, came to
Duryodhana with an Akshauhini of troops. And the body of his troops
composed of those mighty soldiers, who wore on their persons garlands of
many-coloured flowers, looked as graceful as a number of sportive
elephants that have passed through a wood. And others led by Jayadratha,
the dwellers of the land of Sindhusauvira, came in such force that the
hills seemed to tremble under their tread. And their force, counting an
Akshauhini, looked like a mass of clouds moved by the wind. And
Sudakshina, the king of the Kambhojas, O ruler of men, accompanied by the
Yavanas and Sakas, came to the Kuru chief with an Akshauhini of troops.
And the body of his troops that looked like a flight of locusts, meeting
with the Kuru force, was absorbed and disappeared in it. And similarly
came king Nila, the resident of the city of the Mahishmati, with mighty
soldiers from the southern country who carried weapons of pretty make.
And the two kings of Avanti, accompanied by a mighty force, brought to
Duryodhana, each a separate Akshauhini of troops. And those tigers among
men, the five royal brothers, the princes of Kekaya, hastened to
Duryodhana with an Akshauhini of troops, and gladdened his heart. And
from the illustrious king, of other quarters there came, O best of
Bharata's race, three large divisions of troops. And thus Duryodhana had
a force which numbered eleven Akshauhinis all eager to fight with the
sons of Kunti, and bristling with banners of various forms. And, O
descendant of Bharata, there was no space in the city of Hastinapura even
for the principal leaders of Duryodhana's army. And for this reason the
land of the five rivers, and the whole of the region called Kurujangala,
and the forest of Rohitaka which was uniformly wild, and Ahichatra and
Kalakuta, and the banks of the Ganga, and Varana, and Vatadhana, and the
hill tracts on the border of the Yamuna--the whole of this extensive
tract--full of abundant corn and wealth, was entirely overspread with the
army of the Kauravas. And that army, so arranged, was beheld by the
priest who had been sent by the king of the Panchalas to the Kurus.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 5 : UPA-PARVA 19 ---------------------
