"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!'"