“Sanjaya said, ‘Bhuri, O king, in that battle, resisted that foremost of
car-warriors, viz., the grandson of Sini, who advanced like an elephant
towards a lake full of water. Then Satyaki, excited with wrath, pierced
his foe in chest with five keen shafts. At this, the latter’s blood began
to flow. The Kuru warrior in that encounter similarly pierced with great
speed the grandson of Sini, that hero difficult of defeat in battle, with
ten shafts in the chest. Those warriors, drawing their bows to their
fullest stretch, and with eyes red in wrath, began, O king, to mangle
each other in that combat. The arrowy downpours of those two warriors,
both excited with rage and resembling Death himself or the sun
scattering his rays, were exceedingly terrible. Shrouding each other with
shafts, each stayed before the other in that battle. For a short while
that battle proceeded equally. Then, O king, the grandson of Sini,
excited with rage and smiling the while, cut off the bow of the
illustrious Kuru warrior in that battle. Having cut off his bow, Satyaki
quickly pierced him in the chest with nine keen arrows and addressing
him, said, “Wait! Wait!” That scorcher of foes deeply pierced his mighty
foe, quickly took up another bow and pierced the Satwata warrior in
return. Having pierced the Satwata hero with three shafts, O monarch,
Bhuri, then, smiling the while, cut off his foe’s bow with a sharp and
broad-headed shaft. His bow being cut off, Satyaki, O king, maddened with
rage, hurled an impetuous dart at the broad chest of Bhuri. Pierced with
that dart, Bhuri fell down from his excellent car, covered with blood,
like the sun dropping down from the firmament. Beholding him thus slain,
the mighty car-warrior Aswatthaman, O Bharata, rushed impetuously against
grandson of Sini. Having addressed Satyaki, O king, saying, “Wait, Wait,”
he shrouded him with showers of shafts, like the clouds pouring torrents
of rain on the crest of Meru. Beholding him rushing towards the car of
Sini’s grandson, the mighty car-warrior Ghatotkacha, O king, uttering a
loud roar, addressed saying, “Wait, Wait, O son of Drona! Thou shalt not
escape from me with life. I will presently slay thee like the six-faced
(Karttikeya) slaying (the Asura) Mahisha. I shall today, on the field,
purge thy heart of all desire of battle.” Having said these words, that
slayer of hostile heroes, viz., the Rakshasa (Ghatotkacha), with eyes red
like copper in wrath, rushed furiously against the son of Drona, like a
lion rushing against a prince of elephants. And Ghatotkacha sped at his
foe shafts of the measure of the Aksha of a car, and covered that bull
among car-warriors therewith, like clouds pouring torrents of rain. With
his own shafts resembling snakes of virulent poison, Drona’s son,
however, in that battle, quickly dispelled that arrowy shower before it
could reach him. He then pierced that chastiser of foes, viz.,
Ghatotkacha, that prince of the Rakshasas, with hundreds of keen and
swift-coursing arrows, all capable of penetrating into the very vitals.
Thus pierced with those shafts by Aswatthaman, that Rakshasa, on the
field of battle, looked beautiful, O monarch, like a porcupine with
quills erect on its body. Then the valiant son of Bhimasena, filled with
rage, mangled the son of Drona with many fierce arrows, whizzing through
the air with the roar of thunder. And he rained on Aswatthaman a perfect
shower of arrows of diverse kinds; some, equipped with heads like razors;
some, shaped as the crescent; some, only pointed; some, frog-faced; some,
with heads resembling the boar’s ear; some, barbed; and some of other
species.[221] Like the wind dispersing mighty masses of clouds, Drona’s
son, O king, without his senses being agitated, destroyed with his own
terrible arrows, inspired by mantras with the force of celestial weapons,
that fierce, unbearable and unrivalled shower of weapons, whose sound
resembled the roar of thunder, and which fell incessantly upon him. It
seemed then that another encounter was taking place in the welkin between
weapons (as the combatants), which was terrible, and which, O king,
filled the warriors with awe. With the sparks all around, generated by
the clash of the weapons, shot by those two warriors, the welkin looked
beautiful as illumined by myriads of fire-flies in the evening. Drona’s
son then, filling all the points of the compass with his shafts, shrouded
the Rakshasa himself, for doing what was agreeable to thy sons. Then
commenced a battle once more between Drona’s son and the Rakshasa on that
night of thick darkness, which resembled the encounter between Sakra and
Prahlada. Then Ghatotkacha, filled with rage, struck Drona’s son, in that
battle, on the chest with ten shafts, each resembling the Yuga-fire.
Deeply pierced by the Rakshasa, the mighty son of Drona began to tremble in
that battle like a tall tree shaken by the wind. Supporting himself by
holding the flagstaff, he swooned away. Then all thy troops, O king,
uttered cries of Oh and Alas. Indeed, O monarch, all thy warriors then
regarded Drona’s son as slain. Beholding Aswatthaman in that plight, the
Panchalas and the Srinjayas in that battle uttered leonine roars. Then
that crusher of foes, viz., the mighty car-warrior Aswatthaman,
recovering his senses, forcibly drawing the bow with his left hand,
stretching the bowstring to his ear, quickly shot a terrible shaft
resembling the rod of Yama himself, aiming at Ghatotkacha. That excellent
shaft, fierce and equipped with golden wings, piercing through the chest
of the Rakshasa, entered the earth, O king. Deeply pierced, O monarch, by
Drona’s son who was proud of his prowess in battle, that prince of
Rakshasas, endued with great strength, sat down on the terrace of his
car. Beholding Hidimva’s son deprived of his senses, his charioteer,
inspired with fear, speedily removed him from the field, bearing him away
from the presence of Drona’s son. Having pierced that prince of
Rakshasas, viz., Ghatotkacha, in that encounter thus, Drona’s son, that
mighty car-warrior, uttered a loud roar. Worshipped by thy sons as also
by all thy warriors, O Bharata, Aswatthaman’s body blazed up like the
midday sun.
“‘As regards Bhimasena who was battling in front of Drona’s car, king
Duryodhana himself pierced him with many whetted shafts. Bhimasena,
however, O Bharata, pierced him in return with nine arrows. Duryodhana,
then, pierced Bhimasena with twenty arrows. Covered with each other’s
arrows on the field of battle, those two warriors looked like the sun and
the moon covered with clouds in the firmament. Then king Duryodhana, O
chief of Bharatas, pierced Bhima with five winged arrows and said, “Wait!
Wait!” Bhima then, cutting off his bow as also his standard with keen
shafts, pierced the Kuru king himself with ninety straight arrows. Then,
Duryodhana filled with rage, taking up a more formidable bow, O chief of
the Bharatas, afflicted Bhimasena, at the van of battle, with many
whetted shafts, in the very sight of all the bowmen. Baffling those
shafts shot from Duryodhana’s bow, Bhima pierced the Kuru king with five
and twenty short arrows. Duryodhana then, O sire, excited with wrath, cut
off Bhimasena’s bow with a razor-faced arrow and pierced Bhima himself
with ten shafts in return. Then the mighty Bhimasena, taking up another
bow, quickly pierced the king with seven keen shafts. Displaying great
lightness of hand, Duryodhana cut off even that bow of Bhima. The second,
the third, the fourth, and the fifth, bow that Bhima took up were
similarly cut off. Indeed, O king, thy son, proud of his prowess and
desirous of victory, cut off Bhima’s bow as soon as the latter took up
one. Seeing his bows repeatedly cut off, Bhima then hurled, in that
battle, a dart made wholly of iron and hard as the thunder. That dart
blazing as a flame of fire, resembled the sister of Death. The Kuru king,
however, in the very sight of all the warriors and before the eyes of
Bhima himself, cut in three fragments that dart, which coursed towards
him through the welkin with the splendour of fire and dividing it, as it
were by a straight line such as is visible on the head of a woman parting
her tresses. Then Bhima, O king, whirling his heavy and blazing mace,
hurled it with great force at the car of Duryodhana. That heavy mace
speedily crushed the steeds, the driver, and the car also, of thy son in
that encounter. Thy son, then, O monarch, afraid of Bhima and shrinking
within the narrowest compass, ascended another car, viz., that of the
illustrious Nandaka. Then Bhima, regarding Suyodhana to have been slain
amid the darkness of that night, uttered a loud leonine roar challenging
the Kauravas. Thy warriors regarded the king to be slain. All of them
uttered loud cries of Oh and Alas. Hearing the wails of the affrighted
warriors and the roars of the high souled Bhima, O king, king
Yudhishthira also regarded Suyodhana to have been slain. And the eldest
son of Pandu, thereupon, rushed quickly to the spot where Vrikodara, the
son of Pritha, was. And the Panchalas, the Srinjayas, the Matsyas, the
Kaikeyas, and the Chedis, speedily advanced, with all their might against
Drona from desire of slaying him. There also occurred a dreadful battle
between Drona and the enemy. And the combatants of both sides were
enveloped in thick gloom and struck and slew one another’.”