Vaisampayana said, “Hearing the words of Yudhishthira, those bulls among
men, headed by Bhimasena, rose up with faces beaming in joy. And those
mighty warriors, O Bharata, then began to case themselves in impenetrable
mail that were besides variegated with pure gold, and armed themselves
with celestial weapons of various kinds. And the Pandavas thus cased in
mail, and mounted on those chariots furnished with flagstaffs and armed
with bows and arrows, looked like blazing fires. And those tigers among
warriors, riding upon those well furnished cars drawn by fleet horses,
proceeded to that spot without losing a moment. And beholding those
mighty warriors--the sons of Pandu--thus proceeding together (for the
liberation of Duryodhana), the Kuru army sent forth a loud shout. And
soon did those rangers of the sky flushed with victory, and those
impetuous warriors, the sons of Pandu, fearlessly encounter each other in
that forest. The Gandharvas were flushed with success, and beholding the
four brave sons of Pandu coming to battle seated on their cars, they all
turned back towards the advancing combatants. And, the dwellers of the
Gandhamadana, beholding the Pandavas looking like blazing guardians of
the world provoked to ire, stood arrayed in order of battle. And, O
Bharata, in accordance with words of king Yudhishthira of great wisdom,
the encounter that took place was a skirmish. But when Arjuna--that
persecutor of foes--saw that the foolish soldiers of the king of
Gandharvas could not be made to understand what was good for them by
means of a light skirmish, he addressed those invincible rangers of the
skies in a conciliatory tone and said, ‘Leave ye my brother king
Suyodhana.’ Thus addressed by the illustrious son of Pandu, the
Gandharvas, laughing aloud, replied unto him saying, ‘O child, there is
but one in the world whose behests we obey and living under whose rule we
pass our days in happiness: O Bharata, we always act as that one only
person commandeth us! Besides that celestial chief there is none that can
command us!’ Thus addressed by the Gandharvas, Dhananjaya, the son of
Kunti, replied unto them, saying, ‘This contact with other people’s wives
and this hostile encounter with human beings are acts that are both
censurable in the king of the Gandharvas and not proper for him.
Therefore, leave ye these sons of Dhritarashtra all endued with mighty
energy. And liberate ye also these ladies, at the command of king
Yudhishthira the just. If, ye Gandharvas, ye do not set the sons of
Dhritarashtra free peacefully, I shall certainly rescue Suyodhana (and
his party) by exerting my prowess.’ And speaking unto them thus, Pritha’s
son, Dhananjaya, capable of wielding the bow with his left hand also,
then rained a shower of sharp pointed sky-ranging shafts upon those
rangers of the firmament. Thus attacked, the mighty Gandharvas then
encountered the sons of Pandu with a shower of arrows equally thick, and
the Pandavas also replied by attacking those dwellers of heaven. And the
battle then, O Bharata, that ranged between the active and agile
Gandharvas and the impetuous son of Pandu was fierce in the extreme.”