SECTION 18
"Gandhari said, Behold, O Madhava, my century of sons, incapable of
fatigue (from exertion in battle), have all been slain by Bhimasena with
his mace in battle! That which grieves me more today is that these my
daughters-in-law, of tender years, deprived of sons and with dishevelled
hair, are wandering on the field today. Alas, they who formerly walked
only on the terraces of goodly mansions with feet adorned with many
ornaments, are now, in great affliction of heart, obliged to touch with
those feet of theirs this hard earth, miry with blood! Reeling in sorrow,
they are wandering like inebriated persons, driving away vultures and
jackals and crows with difficulty. Behold, that lady of faultless limbs
and slender waist, seeing this terrible carnage, falleth down,
overwhelmed with grief. Beholding this princess, this mother of
Lakshmana, O thou of mighty arms, my heart is torn with grief. These
beautiful ladies of fair arms, some seeing their brothers, some their
husbands, and some their sons, lying down in death on the bare ground,
are themselves falling down, seizing the arms of the slain. Listen, O
unvanquished one, to the loud wails of those elderly ladies and those
others of middle age at sight of this terrible carnage. Supporting
themselves against broken boxes of cars and the bodies of slain elephants
and steeds, behold, O thou of great might, those ladies, worn out with
fatigue, are resting themselves. Behold, O Krishna, some one amongst
them, taking up some kinsmans severed head decked with beautiful nose and
earrings, is standing in grief. I think, O sinless one, that both those
and myself of little understanding must have committed great sins in our
former lives, since, O Janardana, all our relatives and kinsmen have thus
been slain by king Yudhishthira the just! Our acts, righteous or
unrighteous, cannot go for nothing, O thou of Vrishnis race! Behold, O
Madhava, those young ladies of beautiful bosoms and abdomen, well-born,
possessed of modesty, having black eye-lashes and tresses of the same
colour on their heads, endued with voice sweet and dear like that of
swans, are falling down, deprived of their senses in great grief and
uttering piteous cries like flights of cranes. Behold, O lotus-eyed hero,
their beautiful faces resembling full-blown lotuses, are scorched by the
sun. Alas, O Vasudeva, the wives of my proud children possessed of
prowess like that of infuriated elephants, are now exposed to the gaze of
common people. Behold, O Govinda, the shields decked with hundred moons,
the standards of solar effulgence, the golden coats of mail, and the
collars and cuirasses made of gold, and the head-gears, of my sons,
scattered on the earth, are blazing with splendour like sacrificial fires
over which have been poured libations, of clarified butter. There,
Duhshasana sleepeth, felled by Bhima, and the blood of all his limbs
quaffed by that heroic slayer of foes. Behold that other son of mine, O
Madhava, slain by Bhima with his mace, impelled by Draupadi and the
recollection of his woes at the time of the match at dice. Addressing the
dice-won princess of Pancala in the midst of the assembly, this
Duhshasana, desirous of doing what was agreeable to his (elder) brother
as also to Karna, O Janardana, had said, "Thou art now the wife of a
slave! With Sahadeva and Nakula and Arjuna, O lady, enter our household
now!" On that occasion, O Krishna, I said unto king Duryodhana, "O son,
cast off (from thy side) the wrathful Shakuni. Know that thy maternal
uncle is of very wicked soul and exceedingly fond of quarrel. Casting him
off without delay, make peace with the Pandavas, O son! O thou of little
intelligence, thinkest thou not of Bhimasena filled with wrath? Thou art
piercing him with thy wordy shafts like a person striking an elephant
with burning brands." Alas, disregarding my words, he vomitted his wordy
poison at them, like a snake vomitting its poison at a bull,--at them who
had already been pierced with his wordy darts. There, that Duhshasana
sleepeth, stretching his two massive arms, slain by Bhimasena like a
mighty elephant by a lion. The very wrathful Bhimasena perpetrated a most
horrible act by drinking in battle the blood of his foe!"
