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."