“Dhritarashtra said, ‘After the Kuru warrior Bhurisravas had been slain
under those circumstances, tell me, O Sanjaya, how proceeded the battle.’
“Sanjaya said, ‘After Bhurisravas had proceeded to the other world, O
Bharata, the mighty-armed Arjuna urged Vasudeva, saying, “Urge the
steeds, O Krishna, to greater speed for taking me to the spot where king
Jayadratha is. O sinless one, the sun is quickly proceeding towards the
Asta hills. O tiger among men, this great task should be achieved by me.
The ruler of the Sindhus is, again, protected by many mighty car-warriors
among the Kuru army. Urge thou the steeds, therefore, O Krishna, in such
a way that I may, by slaying Jayadratha before the sun sets, make my vow
true.” Then the mighty-armed Krishna conversant with horse-lore, urged
those steeds of silvery hue towards the car of Jayadratha. Then, O king,
many leaders of the Kuru army, such as Duryodhana and Karna and
Vrishasena and the ruler of the Sindhus himself, rushed with speed, O
king, against Arjuna whose shafts were never baffled and who was
proceeding, on his car drawn by steeds of great fleetness. Vibhatsu,
however, getting at the ruler of the Sindhus who was staying before him,
and casting his glances upon him, seemed to scorch him with his eyes
blazing with wrath. Then, king Duryodhana, quickly addressed the son of
Radha. Indeed, O monarch, thy son Suyodhana said unto Karna, “O son of
Vikartana, that time of battle hath come at last. O high-souled one,
exhibit now thy might. O Karna, act in such a way that Jayadratha may not
be slain by Arjuna! O foremost of men, the day is about to expire, strike
now the foe with clouds of shafts! If the day expire, O foremost of men,
victory, O Karna, will certainly be ours! If the ruler of the Sindhus can
be protected till the setting of the sun, then Partha, his vow being
falsified, will enter into blazing fire. O giver of honours, the
brothers, then, of Arjuna, with all their followers, will not be able to
live for even a moment in a world that is destitute of Arjuna! Upon the
death of the sons of Pandu, the whole of the earth, O Karna, with her
mountains and waters and forests, we will enjoy without a thorn on our
side! O giver of honours, it seems that Partha, who without ascertaining
what is practicable and what is impracticable, made this vow in battle,
was afflicted by destiny itself, his judgment having taken a misdirected
course! Without doubt, O Karna, the diadem-decked son of Pandu must have
made this vow about the slaughter of Jayadratha for his own destruction!
How, O son of Radha, when thou art alive will Phalguna succeed in slaying
the ruler of the Sindhus before the sun goes to the Asta hills? How will
Dhananjaya slay Jayadratha in battle when the latter is protected by the
king of the Madras and by the illustrious Kripa? How will Vibhatsu, who
seems to have been urged on by Fate, get at the ruler of the Sindhus when
the latter is protected by Drona’s son, by myself, and Duhsasana? Many
are the heroes engaged in fight. The sun is hanging low in the sky.
Partha will not even get at Jayadratha in battle, O giver of honours. Do
thou therefore, O Karna, with myself and other brave and mighty
car-warriors, with Drona’s son and the ruler of the Madras and Kripa
fight with Partha in battle, exerting thyself with the greatest firmness
and resolution.” Thus addressed by thy son, O sire, the son of Radha
replied unto Duryodhana, that foremost one among the Kurus, in these
words, “Deeply hath my body been pierced in battle by the brave bowman
Bhimasena, capable of striking vigorously with repeated showers of
arrows. O giver of honours, that I am yet present in battle is because
that one like me should be present here. Scorched with the powerful
shafts of Bhimasena, every limb of mine is suffering from torturing pain.
I shall, however, for all that, fight to the best of my powers. My life
itself is for thee. I shall strive my best so that this foremost one of
the sons of Pandu may not succeed in slaying the ruler of the Sindhus. As
long as I shall fight, shooting my whetted shafts, the heroic Dhananjaya,
capable of drawing the bow with even his left hand, will not succeed in
getting at the ruler of the Sindhus. All that a person, bearing love and
affection to thee and always solicitous of thy good, may do, shall be
done by me, O thou of Kuru’s race! As regards victory, that depends on
destiny. I shall in battle today exert myself to my utmost for the sake
of the ruler of the Sindhus, and for achieving thy good. O king, victory,
however, is dependent on destiny. Relying on my manliness, I shall fight
with Arjuna today for thy sake, O tiger among men! Victory, however, is
dependent on destiny. O chief of the Kurus, let all the troops behold
today the fierce battle, making the very hair stand on end, that takes
place between myself and Arjuna.” While Karna and the Kuru king were thus
talking to each other in battle, Arjuna began, with his keen arrows, to
slaughter thy host. With his broad-headed arrows of great sharpness he
began to cut off in that battle the arms, looking like spiked clubs or
the trunks of elephants, of unreturning heroes. And the mighty-armed hero
also cut off their heads with whetted shafts. And Vibhatsu also cut off
the trunks of elephants and the necks of steeds and the Akshas of cars
all around, as also blood-dyed horsemen, armed with spears and lances,
with razor-faced arrows into two or three fragments. And steeds and
foremost of elephants and standards and umbrellas and bows and Yak-tails
and heads fell fast on all sides. Consuming thy host like a blazing fire
consuming a heap of dry grass, Partha soon caused the earth to be covered
with blood. And the mighty and invincible Partha, of prowess incapable of
being baffled, causing an immense slaughter in that army of thine, soon
reached the ruler of the Sindhus. Protected by Bhimasena and by Satwata,
Vibhatsu, O chief of the Bharatas, looked resplendent like a blazing
fire. Beholding Phalguna in that state, the mighty bowmen of thy army,
those bulls among men, endued with wealth of energy, could not brook him.
Then Duryodhana and Karna and Vrishasena and the ruler of the Madras, and
Aswatthaman and Kripa and the ruler of the Sindhus himself, excited with
wrath and fighting for the sake of the Sindhu king, encompassed the
diadem-decked Arjuna on all sides. All those warriors, skilled in battle,
placing the ruler of the Sindhus at their back, and desirous of slaying
Arjuna and Krishna, surrounded Partha, that hero conversant with battle,
who was then dancing along the track of his car, producing fierce sounds
with the bowstring and his palms and resembling the Destroyer himself
with wide-opened mouth. The sun then had assumed a red hue in the sky.
Desirous of his (speedy) setting, the Kaurava warriors, bending their
bows with arms, resembling the (tapering) bodies of snake sped their
shafts in hundreds towards Phalguna, resembling the rays of the sun.
Cutting off those shafts thus sped towards him, into two, three, or eight
fragments the diadem-decked Arjuna, invincible in battle, pierced them
all in that encounter. Then Aswatthaman, bearing on his banner the mark
of a lion’s tail, displaying his might, began, O king, to resist Arjuna.
Indeed, the son of Saradwata’s daughter piercing Partha with ten shafts
and Vasudeva with seven, stayed in the track of Arjuna’s car, protecting
the ruler of the Sindhus. Then, many foremost ones among the Kurus, great
car-warriors, all encompassed Arjuna on all sides with a large throng of
cars. Stretching their bows and shooting countless shafts, they began to
protect the ruler of the Sindhus, at the command of thy son. We then
beheld the prowess of the brave Partha as also the inexhaustible
character of his shafts, and the might, too, of his bow Gandiva. Baffling
with his own weapons those of Drona’s son and Kripa, he pierced every one
of those warriors with nine shafts. Then, Drona’s son pierced him with
five and twenty arrows, and Vrishasena with seven, and Duryodhana pierced
him with twenty, and Karna and Salya each with three. And all of them
roared at him and continued to pierce him frequently, and shaking their
bows, they surrounded him on all sides. And soon they caused their cars
to be drawn up in a serried line around Arjuna. Desirous of the (speedy)
setting of the sun, those mighty car-warriors of the Kaurava army, endued
with great activity, began to roar at Arjuna, and shaking their bows,
covered him with showers of keen arrows like cloud pouring rain on a
mountain. Those brave warriors, with arms resembling heavy clubs, also
discharged on that occasion, O king, on Dhananjaya’s body celestial
weapons. Having caused an immense slaughter in thy army, the mighty and
invincible Dhananjaya, of prowess incapable of being baffled came upon
the ruler of the Sindhus. Karna, however, O king, with his arrows,
resisted him in that battle in the very sight, O Bharata, of Bhimasena
and Satwata. The mighty-armed Partha, in the very sight of all the
troops, pierced the Suta’s son, in return, with ten arrows, on the field
of battle. Then Satwata, O sire, pierced Karna with three arrows. And
Bhimasena pierced him with three arrows, and Partha himself, once more,
with seven. The mighty car-warrior, Karna, then pierced each of those
three warriors with sixty arrows. And thus, O king, raged that battle
between Karna alone (on one side) and the many (on the other). The
prowess, O sire, that we then beheld of the Suta’s son was wonderful in
the extreme, since, excited with wrath in battle, he singly resisted
those three great car-warriors. Then the mighty-armed Phalguna, in that
battle, pierced Karna, the son of Vikartana, in all his limbs with a
hundred arrows. All his limbs bathed in blood, the Suta’s son of great
prowess and bravery, pierced Phalguna in return with fifty arrows.
Beholding that lightness of hand displayed by him in battle, Arjuna
brooked it not. Cutting off his bow, that hero, viz., Dhananjaya, the son
of Pritha, quickly pierced Karna in the centre of the chest with nine
arrows. Then Dhananjaya, with great speed at a time, when speed was
necessary shot in that battle a shaft of solar effulgence for the
destruction of Karna. Drona’s son, however, with a crescent-shaped arrow,
cut off that shaft as it coursed impetuously (towards Karna). Thus cut
off by Aswatthaman, that shaft fell down on the earth. Endued with great
prowess, the Suta’s son, then, O king, took up another bow, and covered
the son of Pandu with several thousands of arrows. Partha, however, like
the wind dispersing flight of locusts, dispelled with his own arrows that
extraordinary shower of arrows issuing out of Karna’s bow. Then Arjuna,
displaying his lightness of hands, covered Karna, in that battle, with
his arrows, in the very sight of all thy troops. Karna also, that slayer
of hosts, desirous of counteracting Arjuna’s feat, covered Arjuna with
several thousands of arrows. Roaring at each other like two bulls, those
lions among men, those mighty car-warriors, shrouded the welkin with
clouds of straight shafts. Each rendered invisible by the other’s arrowy
showers, they continued to strike each other. And they roared at each
other and pierced each other with their wordy darts, saying, “I am
Partha, wait”--or, “I am Karna, wait, O Phalguna!” Indeed these two
heroes fought with each other wonderfully, displaying great activity and
skill. And the sight they presented was such that other warriors became
witnesses of that battle. And applauded by Siddhas, Charnas and Pannagas,
they fought with each other, O king, each desirous of slaying the other.
Then Duryodhana, O king addressing thy warriors, said, “Carefully protect
the son of Radha! Without slaying Arjuna he would not abstain from
battle. Even this is what Vrisha told me.” Meanwhile, O monarch,
beholding the prowess of Karna, Arjuna, of white steeds, with four shafts
shot from the bow-string drawn to the ear, despatched the four steeds of
Karna to Yama’s domain. And he also felled with a broad-headed arrow,
Karna’s charioteer from his niche in the car. And he covered Karna
himself with clouds of shafts in the very sight of thy son. Thus shrouded
with arrows the steedless and driverless Karna, stupefied by that arrowy
shower, knew not what to do. Beholding him made carless, Aswatthaman, O
king, caused him to ride on his car, and continued to fight with Arjuna.
Then the ruler of the Madras pierced the son of Kunti with thirty arrows.
Saradwata’s son pierced Vasudeva with twenty arrows. And he struck
Dhananjaya also with a dozen shafts. And the ruler of the Sindhus pierced
each with four arrows, and Vrishasena also pierced each of them, O king,
with seven arrows. Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, pierced all of them in
return. Indeed, piercing Drona’s son with four and sixty shafts, and the
ruler of the Madras with a hundred, and the Sindhu king with ten
broad-headed arrows, and Vrishasena with three arrows and Saradwata’s son
with twenty, Partha uttered a loud shout. Desirous of baffling the vow of
Savyasachin, thy warriors, excited with wrath, quickly rushed at
Dhananjaya from all sides. Then Arjuna, frightening the Dhartarashtras,
invoked into existence the Varuna weapon on all sides. The Kauravas,
however, on their costly cars, pouring showers of arrows, advanced
against the son of Pandu. But, O Bharata, in course of that stupefying
and fierce engagement, fraught with the greatest confusion, that prince,
viz., Arjuna, decked with diadem and gold chain never lost his senses. On
the other hand, he continued to pour showers of arrows. Desirous of
recovering the kingdom and recollecting all the wrongs he had suffered
for twelve years in consequence of the Kurus, the high-souled and
immeasurable Arjuna darkened all the points of the compass with shafts
from Gandiva. The welkin seemed ablaze with meteors. Innumerable crows,
alighting from the sky, perched on the bodies (of dead combatants).
Meanwhile, Arjuna continued to slay the foe with his Gandiva, like
Mahadeva slaying the Asuras with his Pinaka equipped with tawny
string.[174] Then the illustrious Kiritin, that subjugator of (hostile)
ranks, dispersing the shafts of the foe by means of his own formidable
bow, slaughtered with his arrows many foremost ones among the Kurus,
mounted on their foremost of steeds and elephants. Then many kings,
taking up heavy maces and clubs of iron and swords and darts and diverse
other kinds of powerful weapons, assuming terrible forms, rushed suddenly
against Partha in that battle. Then Arjuna, bending with his arms his
formidable bow Gandiva which resembled the bow of Indra himself and whose
twang was as loud as the roar of the clouds congregating at the end of
the Yuga, and laughing the while, went on consuming thy troops and
increasing the population of Yama’s kingdom. Indeed, that hero caused
those enraged warriors with their cars and elephants and with the
foot-soldiers and bowmen supporting them, to be deprived of their arms
and lives and thus to swell the population of Yama’s domain.’”