SECTION 22
"Sanjaya said, 'That foremost of car-warriors, O monarch, your son, riding
on his car and filled with the courage of despair, looked resplendent in
that battle like Rudra himself of great valour. With the thousands of
shafts shot by him, the Earth became completely covered. Indeed, he
drenched his enemies with showers of arrows like the clouds pouring rain
on mountain breasts. There was then not a man amongst the Pandavas in
that great battle, or a steed, or an elephant, or a car, that was not
struck with Duryodhana's arrows. Upon whomsoever amongst the warriors I
then cast my eyes, O monarch, I beheld that every one, O Bharata, was
struck by your son with his arrows. The Pandava army was then covered with
the shafts of that illustrious warrior, even as a host is covered with
the dust it raises while marching or rushing to battle. The Earth then, O
lord of Earth, seemed to me to be made one entire expanse of arrows by
thy son Duryodhana, that bowman possessed of great lightness of hands.
Amongst those thousands upon thousands of warriors on the field,
belonging to your side or that of the enemy, it seemed to me that
Duryodhana was then the only man. The prowess that we then beheld of thy
son seemed to be exceedingly wonderful, since the Parthas, even uniting
together, could not approach his single self. He pierced Yudhishthira, O
bull of Bharata's race, with a hundred arrows, and Bhimasena with
seventy, and Sahadeva with seven. And he pierced Nakula with four and
sixty, and Dhrishtadyumna with five, and the sons of Draupadi with seven,
and Satyaki with three arrows. With a broad-headed arrow, he then, O
sire, cut off the bow of Sahadeva. Laying aside that broken bow, the
valiant son of Madri, took up another formidable bow, and rushing against
king Duryodhana, pierced him with ten shafts in that battle. The great
bowman Nakula, possessed of courage, then pierced the king with nine
terrible arrows and uttered a loud roar. Satyaki struck the king with a
single straight shaft; the sons of Draupadi struck him with three and
seventy and king Yudhishthira struck him with five. And Bhimasena
afflicted the king with eighty shafts. Though pierced thus from every
side with numerous arrows by these illustrious warriors, Duryodhana
still, O monarch, did not waver, in the presence of all the troops who
stood there as spectators. The quickness, the skill, and the prowess of
that illustrious warrior were seen by all the men there to exceed those
of every creature. Meanwhile the Dhartarashtras, O monarch, who had not
fled far from that spot, beholding the king, rallied and returned there,
clad in mail. The noise made by them when they came back became
exceedingly awful, like the roar of the surging ocean in the season of
rains. Approaching their unvanquished king in that battle, those great
bowmen proceeded against the Pandavas for fight. The son of Drona
resisted in that battle the angry Bhimasena. With the arrows, O monarch,
that were shot in that battle, all the points of the compass became
completely shrouded, so that the brave combatants could not distinguish
the cardinal from the subsidiary points of the compass. As regards
Ashvatthama and Bhimasena, O Bharata, both of them were achievers of
cruel feats. Both of them were irresistible in battle. The arms of both
contained many cicatrices in consequence of both having repeatedly drawn
the bow-string. Counteracting each other's feats, they continued to fight
with each other, frightening the whole Universe. The heroic Shakuni
assailed Yudhishthira in that battle. The mighty son of Subala, having
slain the four steeds of the king, uttered a loud roar, causing all the
troops to tremble with fear. Meanwhile, the valiant Sahadeva bore away
the heroic and vanquished king on his car from that battle. Then king
Yudhishthira the just, riding upon another car (came back to battle), and
having pierced Shakuni at first with nine arrows, once more pierced him
with five. And that foremost of all bowmen then uttered a loud roar. That
battle, O sire, awful as it was, became wonderful to behold. It filled
the spectators with delight and was applauded by the Siddhas and the
Charanas. Uluka of immeasurable soul rushed against the mighty bowman
Nakula, in that battle, shooting showers of arrows from every side. The
heroic Nakula, however, in that battle, resisted the son of Shakuni with
a thick shower of arrows from every side. Both those heroes were
well-born and both were mighty car-warriors. They were seen to fight with
each other, each highly enraged with the other. Similarly Kritavarma, O
king, fighting with the grandson of Sini, that scorcher of foes, looked
resplendent, like Shakra battling with the Asura Vala. Duryodhana, having
cut off Dhrishtadyumna's bow in that battle, pierced his bowless
antagonist with keen shafts. Dhrishtadyumna then, in that encounter,
having taken up a formidable bow, fought with the king in the sight of
all the bowmen. The battle between those two heroes became exceedingly
fierce, O bull of Bharata's race, like the encounter between two wild and
infuriate elephants with juicy secretions trickling down their limbs. The
heroic Gautama, excited with rage in that battle, pierced the mighty sons
of Draupadi with many straight shafts. The battle that took place between
him and those five, resembled that which takes place between an embodied
being and his (five) senses. It was awful and exceedingly fierce, and
neither side showed any consideration for the other. The (five) sons of
Draupadi afflicted Kripa like the (five) senses afflicting a foolish man.
He, on the other hand, fighting with them, controlled them with vigour.
Even such and so wonderful, O Bharata, was that battle between him and
them. It resembled the repeated combats, O lord, between embodied
creatures and their senses. Men fought with men, elephants with
elephants, steeds with steeds and car-warriors with car-warriors. Once
more, O monarch, that battle became general and awful. Here an encounter
was beautiful, there another was awful, and there another was exceedingly
fierce, O lord! Many and awful, O monarch, were the encounters that took
place in course of that battle. Those chastisers of foes (belonging to
both armies), encountering one another, pierced and slew one another in
that dreadful engagement. A dense cloud of dust was then seen there,
raised by the vehicles and the animals of the warriors. Thick also, O
king, was the dust raised by the running steeds, a dust that was carried
from one place to another by the wind. Raised by the wheels of cars and
the breaths of the elephants, the dust, thick as an evening cloud, rose
into the welkin. That dust having been raised and the sun himself having
been dimmed therewith, the Earth became shrouded, and the heroic and
mighty car-warriors could not be seen. Anon that disappeared and
everything became clear when the Earth, O best of the Bharatas, became
drenched with the blood of heroes. Indeed, that dense and awful cloud of
dust was allayed. Then, O Bharata, I could once more see the diverse
single combats that the combatants fought at noon of day, each according
to his strength and his rank, all of which were exceedingly fierce. The
blazing splendour of those feats, O monarch, appeared full in view. Loud
became the noise of falling shafts in that battle, resembling that made
by a vast forest of bamboo while burning on every side.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 9 : UPA-PARVA 22 ---------------------
