“Vasudeva said, ‘When Salwa had left the city of the Anarttas, I returned
to it, O king, on the completion of thy great Rajasuya sacrifice! On my
arrival I found Dwaraka shorn of its splendour, and, O great monarch,
there were not sounds of Vedic recitation or sacrificial offering, And
the excellent damsels were all destitute of ornaments, and the gardens
were devoid of beauty. And alarmed by the aspect, I asked the son of
Hridika saying, ‘Why is it that the men and women of the city of the
Vrishnis are so woe-begone, O tiger among men?’ O thou best of kings thus
asked the son of Hridika (Kritavarman) relate to me in detail the
invasion of the city by Salwa, and his subsequent departure from it. And,
O thou foremost of Bharatas, hearing all, even then I made up my mind to
slay Salwa. And encouraging the citizens, O best of Bharatas, I
cheerfully addressed king Ahuka, and Anakdundhuvi, and the chief heroes
of the Vrishni race, saying, ‘Do ye, O bulls among the Yadavas, stay in
the city, taking every care, and know that I go to slay Salwa! I return
not to the city of Dwaravati without slaying him. I will again come to ye
having compassed the destruction of Salwa together with his car of
precious metals. Do ye strike up the sharp and middle and flat notes of
the Dundhuvi so dreadful to foes!’ And O thou bull of the Bharata race,
thus adequately encouraged by me, those heroes cheerfully said unto me,
‘Go and slay the enemies!’ And thus receiving the benedictions of those
warriors with glad hearts, and causing the Brahmanas to utter auspicious
words and bowing down to the best of the regenerate ones, and to Siva
also, I set out on my car unto which were yoked the horses Saivya, and
Sugriva, filling all sides with the clatter (of my wheels) and blowing
that best of conchs, the Panchajanya! And, O king, O tiger among men,
accompanied by my redoubted and victorious army consisting of the four
kinds of the forces so persevering in battle, I set out. And leaving many
countries, and mountains, crowned with trees, and pieces of water, and
streams, I at last arrived at the country of Matrikavarta. It is there, O
thou tiger among men, that I heard that Salwa was coursing on his car of
precious metals near the ocean, and I followed in his pursuit. And, O
thou slayer of thy foes, having reached the main, Salwa on his car of
costly metals was in the midst of the deep heaving with billows! And on
seeing me from a distance, O Yudhishthira, that one of wicked soul
himself challenged me repeatedly to the fight. And many arrows capable of
piercing to the quick, discharged from my bow reached not his car. And at
this I was wroth! And, O king, that essentially sinful wretch of a
Daitya’s son of irrepressible energy, on his part began to shoot thousand
upon thousands of arrows in torrents! And, O Bharata, he rained shafts
upon my soldiers and upon my charioteer and upon my steeds! But without
thinking of the shafts, we continued the conflict. Then the warriors
following Salwa poured on me straight arrows by thousands. And the Asuras
covered my horses and my car and Daruka with arrows capable of piercing
the very vitals. And, O hero, I could not at that time see either my
horses, or my car, or my charioteer Daruka! And I with my army was
covered with weapons. And, O son of Kunti, superhumanly skilled in
weapons, I also let fly from my bow arrows by tens of thousands,
inspiring them with mantras! But as that car of costly metals was in the
sky, full two miles off, it could not, O Bharata, be seen by my troops.
They could therefore only remaining on the field of battle look on like
spectators in a place of amusement, cheering me on by shouts loud as the
roar of the lion, and also by the sound of their clapping. And the tinted
arrows shot by the fore-part of hand penetrated into the bodies of the
Danavas like biting insects. And then arose cries in the car of precious
metals from those that were dying of wounds by those sharp arrows and
falling into the waters of the mighty ocean. And the Danavas deprived of
their arms, necks, and wearing the form of Kavandhas,--fell, sending up
tremendous roars. And as they fell they were devoured by animals living
in the waters of the ocean. And then I powerfully blew the Panchajanya
obtained from the waters and graceful as the lotus-stalk and white as
milk or the Kunda flower or the moon or silver. And seeing his soldiers
fall, Salwa the possessor of the car of precious metals, began to fight
with the help of illusion. And then he began to ceaselessly hurl at me
maces, and ploughshares, and winged darts and lances, and javelins, and
battle-axes, and swords and arrows blazing like javelins and
thunderbolts, and nooses, and broad swords, and bullets from barrels, and
shafts, and axes, and rockets. And permitting them to come towards me, I
soon destroyed them all by counter-illusion. And on this illusion being
rendered ineffectual, he began the contest with mountain peaks. And, O
Bharata, then there was darkness and light alternately, and the day was
now fair, and now gloomy, and now hot, and now cold. And there was a
perfect shower of coals, and ashes, and weapons. And creating such
illusion the enemy fought with me. And ascertaining it I destroyed his
illusion by counter-illusion. And in the due time I showered arrows all
round. And then, O mighty king, the dome of heaven blazed as with a
hundred suns, and, O son of Kunti with one hundred moons, and thousands
and ten thousands of stars! And then none could ascertain whether it was
day or night, or distinguish the points of the horizon. And, becoming
bewildered, I fixed on my bowstring the weapon called Pragnastra. And, O
son of Kunti, the weapon went like unto flakes of pure cotton blown away
by the winds! And a great fight took place, calculated to make the down
on one’s body stand on end. And O best of monarchs, having regained,
light, I again fought with the enemy!’”