Vaisampayana said, "Then those Gandharvas decked in golden garlands and
accomplished in celestial weapons, showing their blazing shafts,
encountered the Pandavas from every side. And as the sons of Pandu were
only four in number and the Gandharvas counted by thousands, the battle
that ensued appeared to be extraordinary. And as the cars of Karna and
Duryodhana had formerly been broken into a hundred fragments by the
Gandharvas, so were the cars of the four heroes attempted to be broken.
But those tigers among men began to encounter with their showers of
arrows thousands upon thousands of Gandharvas rushing towards them.
Those rangers of skies endued with great energy, thus checked on all
sides by that arrowy down-pour, succeeded not in even coming near to the
sons of Pandu. Then Arjuna whose ire had been provoked, aiming at the
angry Gandharvas, prepared to hurl against them his celestial weapons.
And in that encounter, the mighty Arjuna, by means of his _Agneya_
weapon, sent ten hundreds of thousands of Gandharvas to the abode of
Yama. And that mighty bowman, Bhima, also, that foremost of all warriors
in battle, slew, by means of his sharp arrows, Gandharvas by hundreds.
And the mighty sons of Madri also, battling with vigour, encountered
hundreds of Gandharvas, O king, and slaughtered them all. And as
Gandharvas were being thus slaughtered by the mighty warriors with their
celestial weapons, they rose up to the skies, taking with them the sons
of Dhritarashtra. But Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti, beholding them rise
up to the skies, surrounded them on every side by a wide net of arrows.
And confined within that arrowy net like birds within a cage, they
showered in wrath upon Arjuna maces and darts and broad-swords. But
Arjuna who was conversant with the most efficacious weapons, soon
checked that shower of maces and darts and broad-swords, and in return
began to mangle the limbs of the Gandharvas with his crescent-shaped
arrows. And heads and legs and arms began to drop down from above
resembling a shower of stones. And at that sight, the foe was struck
with panic. And as the Gandharvas were being slaughtered by the
illustrious son of Pandu, they began to shower from the skies a heavy
downpour of shafts upon Arjuna, who was on the surface of the earth. But
that chastiser of foes, Arjuna, endued with mighty energy checked that
shower of arrows by means of his own weapons and began, in return, to
wound them. Then Arjuna of the Kuru race shot his well-known weapons
called _Sthunakarna, Indrajala, Saura, Agneya_ and _Saumya_. And the
Gandharvas consumed by the fiery weapons of Kunti's son, began to suffer
heavily, like the sons of Diti, while being scorched by Sakra's
thunder-bolt. And when they attacked Arjuna from above, they were
checked by his net of arrows. And while they attacked him from all sides
on the surface of the earth, they were checked by his crescent-shaped
arrows. And beholding the Gandharvas put in fear by Kunti's son,
Chitrasena rushed, O Bharata, at Dhananjaya, armed with a mace. And as
the king of the Gandharvas was rushing at Arjuna from above with that
mace in hand, the latter cut with his arrows that mace wholly made of
iron into seven pieces. And beholding that mace of his cut into many
pieces by Arjuna of great activity, with his arrows, Chitrasena, by
means of his science, concealed himself from the view of the Pandava and
began to fight with him. The heroic Arjuna, however, by means of his own
celestial weapons checked all the celestial weapons that were aimed at
him by the Gandharvas. And when the chief of the Gandharvas saw that he
was checked by the illustrious Arjuna with those weapons of his he
entirely disappeared from sight by help of his powers of illusion. And
Arjuna, observing that the chief of the Gandharvas was striking at him
concealed from sight, attacked his assailant with celestial weapon
inspired with proper _Mantras_. And the multiform Dhananjaya filled with
wrath, prevented the disappearance of his foe by means of his weapon
known by the name of _Sabda-veda_. And assailed with those weapons by
the illustrious Arjuna, his dear friend, the king of the Gandharvas,
showed himself unto him. And Chitrasena said, 'Behold in me thy friend
battling with thee!' And beholding his friend Chitrasena exhausted in
the battle, that bull among the sons of Pandu withdrew the weapons he
had shot. And the other sons of Pandu beholding Arjuna withdraw his
weapons, checked their flying steeds and the impetus of their weapons
and withdrew their bows. And Chitrasena and Bhima and Arjuna and the
twins enquiring about one another's welfare, sat awhile on their
respective cars."