SECTION LXX
Sanjaya said, "Then Bhishma the son of Santanu fought fiercely,[394]
desirous of protecting the sons from the fear of Bhimasena. And the
battle that then took place between the kings of the Kaurava and the
Pandava armies was awful in the extreme and destructive of great heroes.
And in that general engagement, so fierce and terrible, tremendous was
the din that arose, touching the very heavens. And in consequence of the
shrieks of huge elephants and the neigh of steeds and the blare of
conches and beat of drums, the uproar was deafening. Fighting for the
sake of victory, the mighty combatants endued with great prowess roared
at one another like bulls in a cow-pen. And heads cut off in that battle
with keen-edged shafts, incessantly falling, created, O bull of Bharata's
race, the appearance of a stony shower in the welkin. Indeed, O bull of
Bharata's race, innumerable were the heads lying on the field of battle,
decked with ear-rings and turbans and resplendent with ornaments of gold.
And the earth was covered with limbs cut off with broad-headed shafts,
with heads decked with ear-rings, and with arms adorned with ornaments.
And in a moment the whole field was strewn over with bodies cased in
mail, with arms decked with ornaments, with faces beautiful as the moon
and having eyes with reddish corners, and with every limb, O king, of
elephants, steeds and men. And the dust (raised by the warriors) looked
like a thick cloud, and the bright implements of destruction, like
flashes of lightning. And the noise made by the weapons resembled the
roar of thunder. And that fierce and awful passage-at-arms, O Bharata,
between the Kurus and the Pandavas caused a very river of blood to flow
there. And in that terrible, fierce, and awful battle causing the hair
stand on end, Kshatriya warriors incapable of defeat incessantly poured
their arrowy showers. And the elephants of both your army and the enemy's,
afflicted with those arrowy showers, shrieked aloud and ran hither and
thither in fury. And in consequence of (the twang of) bows, endued with
great energy, of fierce and heroic warriors excited with fury, and of
flapping of their bow-strings against their leathern fences, nothing
could be distinguished.[395] And all over the field which looked like a
lake of blood, headless trunks stood up, and the kings bent upon slaying
their foes, rushed to battle. And brave warriors of immeasurable energy
and possessed of arms resembling stout bludgeons, slew one another with
arrows and darts and maces and scimitars. And elephants, pierced with
arrows and deprived of riders to guide them with hooks, and steeds
destitute of riders, wildly ran in all directions. And many warriors, O
best of the Bharatas, belonging to both your army and that of the foe,
deeply pierced with shafts jumped up and fell down. And in that encounter
between Bhima and Bhishma, heaps of arms and heads, as also of bows and
maces and spiked clubs and hands and thighs, of legs and ornaments and
bracelets, were seen lying over the field. And here and there over the
field, O king, were seen large bodies of unretreating elephants and
steeds and cars. And the Kshatriya warriors, urged on by fate, slew one
another with maces, swords, lances, and straight shafts. And others
endued with great heroism and accomplished in fight, encountered one
another with their bare arms that resembled spiked clubs made of iron.
And other heroic warriors of your army, engaged with the combatants of the
Pandava host, fought on slaying one another with clenched fists and
knees, and slaps and blows, O king. And with the fallen and falling
warriors and those weltering in agony on the ground, the field of battle
everywhere became, O king, terrible to behold, and car-warriors, deprived
of the cars and grasping excellent swords, rushed at one another,
desirous of slaughter. Then king Duryodhana, surrounded by a large
division of Kalingas, and placing Bhishma ahead, rushed towards the
Pandavas. And so the Pandava combatants also, supporting Vrikodara, and
owning fleet animals, rushed, excited with rage, against Bhishma."
--------------------END OF PARVA 6 : UPA-PARVA 70 ---------------------
