"Vasudeva continued, 'O king of kings, Salwa, the lord of Saubha, came
towards our city with an immense force consisting of infantry, cavalry
and elephants! And the army headed by king Salwa, consisting of four
kinds of forces, occupied a level ground commanding a copious
water-supply. And forsaking cemeteries and temples dedicated to the
gods, and sacred trees, and grounds covered by ant-hills, that host
occupied every other place. And the roads (leading to the city) were
blocked up by the divisions of the army, and the secret entrances also
were all blocked up by the enemy's camp. And, O Kauravya, like unto the
lord of birds (Garuda), the ruler of Saubha rushed towards Dwaraka,
bringing with him, O bull among men, his host equipped with all kinds of
arms, skilled in all weapons, consisting of a dense display of cars and
elephants and cavalry abounding in banners, and well-paid and well-fed
foot-soldiers possessed of great strength and bearing every mark of
heroism and furnished with wonderful chariots and bows. And beholding
the army of Salwa, the youthful princes of the Vrishni race resolved to
encounter it sallying out of the city. And, O king, Charudeshna, Samva,
and the mighty warrior Pradyumna, O descendant of the Kuru race, sallied
out, ascending on their chariots, and clad in mail, and decked with
ornaments, with colours flying, resolved to encounter the mighty and
countless host of Salwa! And Samva taking up his bows eagerly attacked
on the field of battle Kshemavriddhi, the commander of Salwa's forces
and his chief counsellor also! And, O thou foremost of Bharatas, the son
of Jambavati then began to shower arrows in a continuous stream even as
Indra showereth down rain! And, O mighty king, then Kshemavriddhi, the
commander of Salwa's forces, bore that shower of arrows, immovable as
the Himavat! And, O foremost of kings, Kshemavriddhi on his part,
discharged at Samva a mightier volley of shafts, aided by his powers of
illusion! And dispersing by counter illusion that discharge inspired by
illusion, Samva showered on his (adversary's) car a thousand arrows!
Then pierced by the shafts of Samva and overwhelmed there with those of
Kshemavriddhi, the commander of the hostile host, left the field by the
help of his fleet steed! And when the wicked general of Salwa had left
the field, a mighty Daitya called Vegavat rushed at my son! And, O best
of monarchs, thus attacked, the heroic Samva, the perpetuator of the
Vrishni race, bore that onset of Vegavat, keeping his ground. And, O son
of Kunti, the heroic Samva, of prowess incapable of being baffled,
whirling a quickly-going mace, hurled it speedily at Vegavat! And, O
king, struck with that mace, Vegavat fell down on the ground, like a
weather-beaten and faded lord of the forest of decayed roots! And on
that heroic Asura of mighty energy, being slain with the mace, my son
entered within that mighty host and began to fight with all. And, O
great king, a well-known Danava named Vivindhya, a mighty warrior
wielding a large and powerful bow, encountered Charudeshna! And, O
monarch, the encounter between Charudeshna and Vivindhya was as fierce
as that in days of yore between Vritra and Vasava! And enraged with each
other the combatants pierced each other with their arrows, uttering loud
roars like unto two powerful lions! Then the son of Rukmini fixed on his
bow-string a mighty weapon possessing the splendour of fire or the sun,
and capable of destroying all foes, having first vivified it with
incantations! Then, O monarch, that mighty warrior my son, fired with
wrath, challenged Vivindhya and discharged the weapon at him. And the
Danava struck with that weapon, fell down on the ground a lifeless
corpse! And beholding Vivindhya slain, and the whole host waver, Salwa
advanced again on his beautiful car capable of going everywhere. And, O
king of mighty arms, beholding Salwa on that beautiful car of his, the
combatants of Dwaraka wavered with fear! But, O thou of the Kuru race,
Pradyumna sallied out, and, O great king, bidding the Anarttas be of good
cheer, said, "Waver ye not, and staying behold me fight! Even I shall,
by force, repel that car with Salwa on it! Ye Yadavas, this day, I
shall, with my weapons like unto serpents discharged from my bow with my
hand, destroy this host of the lord of Saubha! Be of good cheer, ye all!
Fear not! The lord of Saubha will be slain today! Attacked by me, the
wretch will meet with destruction together with his car!" O son of
Pandu, upon Pradyumna speaking thus with cheerful heart, the Yadava
host, O hero, remained on the field, and began to fight cheerfully!'"