SECTION 23
"Sanjaya said, 'During the progress of that terrible and awful battle,
the army of your son was broken by the Pandavas. Rallying their great
car-warriors, however, with vigorous efforts, your sons continued to fight
with the Pandava army. The (Kuru) warriors, desirous of your son's
welfare, suddenly returned. Upon their return, the battle once more
became exceedingly fierce between your warriors and those of the foe,
resembling that between the gods and the Asuras in days of old. Neither
amongst the enemies nor amongst yours was there a single combatant that
turned away from that battle. The warriors fought, aided by guess and by
the names they uttered. Great was the destruction that occurred as they
thus fought with one another. Then king Yudhishthira, filled with great
wrath and becoming desirous of vanquishing the Dhartarashtras and their
king in that battle, pierced the son of Saradwat with three arrows winged
with gold and whetted on stone, and next slew with four others the four
steeds of Kritavarma. Then Ashvatthama bore away the celebrated son of
Hridika. Saradwat's son pierced Yudhishthira in return with eight arrows.
Then king Duryodhana despatched seven hundred cars to the spot where king
Yudhishthira was battling. Those cars ridden by excellent warriors and
endued with speed of the wind or thought, rushed in that battle against
the car of Kunti's son. Encompassing Yudhishthira on every side, they
made him invisible with their shafts like clouds hiding the sun from the
view. Then the Pandava heroes headed by Shikhandi, beholding king
Yudhishthira the just assailed in that way by the Kauravas, became filled
with rage and were unable to put up with it. Desirous of rescuing
Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, they came to that spot upon their cars
possessed of great speed and adorned with rows of bells. Then commenced
an awful battle, in which blood flowed as water, between the Pandavas and
the Kurus, that increased the population of Yama's domains. Slaying those
seven hundred hostile car-warriors of the Kuru army, the Pandavas and the
Pancalas once more resisted (the whole Kuru army). There a fierce battle
was fought between your son and the Pandavas. We had never before seen or
heard of its like. During the progress of that battle in which no
consideration was showed by anybody for anybody, and while the warriors
of your army and those of the foe were falling fast, and the combatants
were all shouting and blowing their conchs, and the bowmen were roaring
and uttering loud noises of diverse kinds, while, indeed, the battle was
raging fiercely and the very vitals of the combatants were being struck,
and the troops, O sire, desirous of victory, were rushing with speed,
while, verily, everything on Earth seemed to be undergoing a woeful
destruction, during that time when innumerable ladies of birth and beauty
were being made widows, during, indeed, the progress of that fierce
engagement in which the warriors behaved without any consideration for
friends and foes, awful portents appeared, presaging the destruction of
everything. The Earth, with her mountains and forests, trembled, making a
loud noise. Meteors like blazing brands equipped with handles dropped
from the sky, O king, on every side on the Earth as if from the solar
disc. A hurricane arose, blowing on all sides, and bearing away hard
pebbles along its lower course. The elephants shed copious tears and
trembled exceedingly. Disregarding all these fierce and awful portents,
the Kshatriyas, taking counsel with one another, cheerfully stood on the
field for battle again, on the beautiful and sacred field called after
Kuru, desirous of obtaining heaven. Then Shakuni, the son of the Gandhara
king, said, "Fight all of the in front! I, however, will slay the Pandavas
from behind." Then the Madraka warriors, endued with great activity,
amongst those on our side that were advancing, became filled with joy and
uttered diverse sounds of delight. Others too did the same. The
invincible Pandavas, however, possessed of sureness of aim, once more
coming against us, shook their bows and covered us with showers of
arrows. The forces of the Madrakas then were slain by the foe. Beholding
this, the troops of Duryodhana once more turned away from the battle. The
mighty king of the Gandharvas, however, once more said these words,
"Stop, the sinful ones! Fight (with the foe)! What use is there of
flight?" At that time, O bull of Bharata's race, the king of the
Gandharas had full 10,000 horse-men capable of fighting with bright
lances. During the progress of that great carnage, Shakuni, aided by that
force, put forth his valour and assailed the Pandava army at the rear,
slaughtering it with his keen shafts. The vast force of the Pandus then,
O monarch, broke even as a mass of clouds is dispersed on all sides by a
mighty wind. Then Yudhishthira, beholding from a near point his own army
routed, coolly urged the mighty Sahadeva, saying, "Yonder the son of
Subala, afflicting our rear, stayeth, clad in mail! He slaughtereth our
forces! Behold that wicked wight, O son of Pandu! Aided by the son of
Draupadi, proceed towards him and slay Shakuni, the son of Subala!
Supported by the Pancalas, O sinless one, I will meanwhile destroy the
car force of the enemy! Let all the elephants and all the horse and 3,000
foot, proceed with thee! Supported by these, slay Shakuni!" At this, 700
elephants ridden by combatants armed with the bow, and 5,000 horses, and
the valiant Sahadeva, and 3,000 foot-soldiers, and the sons of Draupadi
all rushed against Shakuni difficult of defeat in battle. Subala's son,
however, of great valour, O king, prevailing over the Pandavas and
longing for victory, began to slay their forces from the rear. The
horsemen, infuriate with rage, belonging to the Pandavas endued with
great activity, penetrated the division of Subala's son, prevailing over
the latter's car-warriors. Those heroic horsemen, staying in the midst of
their own elephants, covered the large host of Subala's son with showers
of shafts. In consequence of your evil counsels, O king, dreadful was the
battle that then ensued in which maces and lances were used and in which
heroes only took part. The twang of bow-string was no longer heard there,
for all the car-warriors stood as spectators of that fight. At that time
no difference could be seen between the contending parties. Both the
Kurus and the Pandavas, O bull of Bharata's race, beheld the darts hurled
from heroic arms course like meteors through the welkin. The entire
welkin, O monarch, shrouded with falling swords of great brightness,
seemed to become exceedingly beautiful. The aspect presented, O chief of
the Bharatas, by the lances hurled all around, became like that of swarms
of locusts in the welkin. Steeds, with limbs bathed in blood in
consequence of wounds inflicted by horsemen themselves wounded with
arrows, dropped down on all sides in hundreds and thousands. Encountering
one another and huddled together, many of them were seen to be mangled
and many to vomit blood from their mouths. A thick darkness came there
when the troops were covered with a dusty cloud. When that darkness
shrouded everything, O king, we beheld those brave combatants, steeds and
men, move away from that spot. Others were seen to fall down on the
Earth, vomiting blood in profusion. Many combatants, entangled with one
another by their locks, could not stir. Many, endued with great strength,
dragged one another from the backs of their horses, and encountering one
another thus, slew one another like combatants in a wrestling match. Many
deprived of life, were borne away on the backs of the steeds. Many men,
proud of their valour and inspired with desire of victory, were seen to
fall down on the Earth. The Earth became strewn over with hundreds and
thousands of combatants bathed in blood, deprived of limbs, and divested
of hair. In consequence of the surface of the Earth being covered with
elephant-riders and horsemen and slain steeds and combatants with
blood-stained armour and others armed with weapons and others who had
sought to slay one another with diverse kinds of terrible weapons, all
lying closely huddled together in that battle fraught with fearful
carnage, no warrior could proceed far on his horse. Having fought for a
little while, Shakuni, the son of Subala, O monarch, went away from that
spot with the remnant of his cavalry numbering 6,000. Similarly, the
Pandava force, covered with blood, and its animals fatigued, moved away
from that spot with its remnant consisting of 6,000 horses. The
blood-stained horsemen of the Pandava army then, with hearts intent on
battle and prepared to lay down their lives, said, "It is no longer
possible to fight here on cars; how much more difficult then to fight
here on elephants! Let cars proceed against cars, and elephants against
elephants! Having retreated, Shakuni is now within his own division. The
royal son of Subala will not again come to battle." Then the sons of
Draupadi and those infuriate elephants proceeded to the place where the
Pancala prince Dhrishtadyumna, that great car-warrior, was. Sahadeva
also, when that dusty cloud arose, proceeded alone to where king
Yudhishthira was. After all those had gone away, Shakuni, the son of
Subala, excited with wrath, once more fell upon Dhrishtadyumna's division
and began to strike it. Once more a dreadful battle took place, in which
the combatants were all regardless of their lives, between your soldiers
and those of the foe, all of whom were desirous of slaying one another.
In that encounter of heroes, the combatants first eyed one another
steadfastly, and then rushed, O king, and fell upon one another in
hundreds and thousands. In that destructive carnage, heads severed with
swords fell down with a noise like that of falling palmyra fruits. Loud
also became the noise, making the very hair to stand on end, of bodies
falling down on the ground, divested of armour and mangled with weapons
and of falling weapons also, O king, and of arms and thighs severed from
the trunk. Striking brothers and sons and even sires with keen weapons,
the combatants were seen to fight like birds, for pieces of meat. Excited
with rage, thousands of warriors, falling upon one another, impatiently
struck one another in that battle. Hundreds and thousands of combatants,
killed by the weight of slain horsemen while falling down from their
steeds, fell down on the field. Loud became the noise of neighing steeds
of great fleetness, and of shouting men clad in mail, and of the falling
darts and swords, O king, of combatants desirous of piercing the vitals
of one another in consequence, O monarch, of your evil policy. At that
time, your soldiers, overcome with toil, spent with rage, their animals
fatigued, themselves parched with thirst mangled with keen weapons, began
to turn away from the battle. Maddened with the scent of blood, many
became so insensate that they slew friends and foes alike, in fact, every
one they got at. Large numbers of Kshatriyas, inspired with desire of
victory, were struck down with arrows, O king, and fell prostrate on the
Earth. Wolves and vultures and jackals began to howl and scream in glee
and make a loud noise. In the very sight of your son, your army suffered a
great loss. The Earth, O monarch, became strewn with the bodies of men
and steeds, and covered with streams of blood that inspired the timid
with terror. Struck and mangled repeatedly with swords and battle axes
and lances, your warriors, as also the Pandavas, O Bharata, ceased to
approach one another. Striking one another according to the measure of
their strength, and fighting to the last drop of their blood, the
combatants fell down vomiting blood from their wounds. Headless forms
were seen, seizing the hair of their heads (with one hand) and with
uplifted swords dyed with blood (in the other). When many headless forms,
O king, had thus risen up, when the scent of blood had made the
combatants nearly senseless, and when the loud noise had somewhat
subsided, Subala's son (once more) approached the large host of the
Pandavas, with the small remnant of his horse. At this, the Pandavas,
inspired with desires of victory and endued with foot-soldiers and
elephants and cavalry, all with uplifted weapons, desirous of reaching
the end of the hostilities, the Pandavas, forming a wall, encompassed
Shakuni on all sides, and began to strike him with diverse kinds of
weapons. Beholding those troops of yours assailed from every side, the
Kauravas, with horsemen, foot-soldiers, elephants, and cars, rushed
towards the Pandavas. Some foot-soldiers of great courage, destitute of
weapons, attacked their foes in that battle, with feet and fists, and
brought them down. Car-warriors fell down from cars, and elephant-men
from elephants, like meritorious persons falling down from their
celestial vehicles upon the exhaustion of their merits. Thus the
combatants, engaged with one another in that great battle, slew sires and
friends and sons. Thus occurred that battle, O best of the Bharatas, in
which no consideration was shown by anybody for anyone, and in which
lances and swords and arrows fell fast, on every side and made the scene
exceedingly terrible to behold.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 9 : UPA-PARVA 23 ---------------------
