“Sanjaya said, ‘Beholding Drona filled with great anxiety and almost
deprived of his senses by grief, Dhrishtadyumna, the son of the Panchala
king, rushed at him. That hero had, for the destruction of Drona, been
obtained by Drupada, that ruler of men, at a great sacrifice, from the
Bearer of sacrificial libations. Desirous of slaying Drona, he now took
up a victory-giving and formidable bow whose twang resembled the roll of
the clouds, whose string was possessed of great strength, and which was
irrefragable and celestial. And he fixed on it a fierce arrow, resembling
a snake of virulent poison and possessed of the splendour of fire. That
arrow, resembling a fire of fierce flame, while within the circle of his
bow, looked like the autumnal sun of great splendour within a radiant
circle. Beholding that blazing bow bent with force by Prishata’s son, the
troops regarded that to be the last hour (of the world). Seeing that
arrow aimed at him, the valiant son of Bharadwaja thought that the last
hour of his body had come. The preceptor prepared with care to baffle
that shaft. The weapons, however, of that high-souled one, O monarch, no
longer appeared at his bidding.[253] His weapons had not been exhausted
although he had shot them ceaselessly for four days and one night. On the
expiry, however, of the third part of that of the fifth day, his arrows
became exhausted. Seeing the exhaustion of his arrows and afflicted with
grief on account of his son’s death, and in consequence also of the
unwillingness of the celestial weapons to appear at his bidding, he
desired to lay aside his weapons, as requested by the words of the Rishis
also. Though filled with great energy, he could not however, fight as
before. Then taking up another celestial bow that Angiras had given him,
and certain arrows that resembled a Brahmana’s curse, he continued to
fight with Dhrishtadyumna. He covered the Panchala prince with a thick
shower of arrows, and filled with rage, mangled his angry antagonist.
With his own keen shafts he cut off in a hundred fragments those of the
prince as also the latter’s standard and bow. He then killed his
antagonist’s driver. Then Dhrishtadyumna, smiling, took up another bow,
and pierced Drona with a keen shaft in the centre of the chest. Deeply
pierced therewith and losing his self-possession in that encounter, that
mighty bowman, then, with a sharp and broad-headed arrow, once more cut off
Dhrishtadyumna’s bow. Indeed, the invincible Drona then cut off all the
weapons, O king, and all the bows that his antagonist had, with the
exception only of his mace and sword. Filled with rage, he then pierced
the angry Dhrishtadyumna, O chastiser of foes, with nine keen arrows,
capable of taking the life of every foe. Then the mighty car-warrior
Dhrishtadyumna, of immeasurable soul, invoking into existence the Brahma
weapon, caused the steeds of his own car to be mingled with those of his
foes. Endued with the speed of the wind, those steeds that were red and
of the hue of pigeons, O bull of Bharata’s race, thus mingled together,
looked exceedingly beautiful. Indeed, O king, those steeds thus mingled
together on the field of battle, looked beautiful like roaring clouds in
the season of rains, charged with lightning. Then that twice-born one of
immeasurable soul cut off the shaft-joints, the wheel-joints, and (other)
car-joints of Dhrishtadyumna. Deprived of his bow, and made carless and
steedless and driverless, the heroic Dhrishtadyumna, fallen into great
distress, grasped a mace. Filled with rage, the mighty car-warrior,
Drona, of unbaffled prowess, by means of a number of keen shafts, cut off
that mace, while it was on the point of being hurled at him. Beholding
his mace cut off by Drona with arrows, that tiger among men, (viz., the
Panchala prince), took up a spotless sword and a bright shield decked
with a hundred moons. Without doubt, under those circumstances, the
Panchala prince determined to make an end of that foremost of preceptors,
that high-souled warrior. Sometimes sheltering himself in his car-box
and sometimes riding on his car-shafts, the prince moved about, uplifting
his swords and whirling his bright shield. The mighty car-warrior
Dhrishtadyumna, desirous of achieving, from folly, a difficult feat,
hoped to pierce the chest of Bharadwaja’s son in that battle. Sometimes,
he stayed upon the yoke, and sometimes under the haunches of Drona’s red
steeds. These movements of his were highly applauded by all the troops.
Indeed, while he stayed amid the trappings of the yoke or behind those
red steeds, Drona found no opportunity to strike him. All this seemed
exceedingly wonderful. The movements of both Drona and Prishata’s son in
that battle resembled the fight of hawk careering through the welkin for
a piece of meat. Then Drona, by means of a dart pierced the white steeds
of his antagonist, one after another, not striking, however, the red ones
amongst them (that belonged to himself)[254]. Deprived of life, those
steeds of Dhrishtadyumna fell down upon the earth. Thereupon, the red
steeds of Drona himself, O king, were freed from the entanglements of
Dhrishtadyumna’s car. Beholding his steeds slain by that foremost of
Brahmanas, Prishata’s son, that mighty car-warrior, that foremost of
fighters, could not brook it. Though deprived of his car, still that
foremost of all swordsmen, armed with his sword, sprang towards Drona, O
monarch, like Vinata’s son (Garuda) making a swoop at a snake. The form,
O king, of Dhrishtadyumna at that time, when he sought to slay the son of
Bharadwaja, resembled the form of Vishnu himself in days of yore when at
the point of slaying Hiranyakasipu. He performed diverse evolutions, in
fact. O Kauravya, the son of Prishata, careering in that battle,
exhibited the well-known one and twenty different kinds of motion. Armed
with the sword, and shield in hand, Prishata’s son wheeled about and
whirled his sword on high, and made side thrusts, and rushed forward, and
ran sideways, and leapt high, and assailed the flanks of his antagonists
and receded backwards, and closed with his foes, and pressed them hard.
Having practised them well, he also showed the evolutions called Bharata,
Kausika Satwata, as he careened in that battle for compassing the
destruction of Drona. Beholding those beautiful evolutions of
Dhrishtadyumna, as he careered on the field, sword and shield in hand,
all the warriors, as also the celestials assembled there, were filled
with wonder. The regenerate Drona then, shooting a thousand arrows in the
thick of fight, cut off the sword of Dhrishtadyumna as also his shield,
decked with a hundred moons. Those arrows that Drona shot, while fighting
from such a near point, were of the length of a span. Such arrows are
used only in close fight. None else have arrows of that kind, except
Kripa, and Partha, and Aswatthaman and Karna, Pradyumna and Yuyudhana;
Abhimanyu also had such arrows. Then the preceptor, desirous of slaying
his disciple who was unto him even as his own son, fixed on his
bow-string a shaft endued with great impetuosity. That shaft, however,
Satyaki cut off by means of ten arrows, in the very sight of thy son as
also of the high-souled Karna, as thus rescued Dhrishtadyumna who was on
the point of succumbing to Drona. Then Kesava and Dhananjaya beheld
Satyaki of prowess incapable of being baffled, who, O Bharata, was thus
careering in the car-tracks (of the Kuru warriors) and within the range
of the shafts of Drona and Karna and Kripa. Saying. “Excellent,
Excellent!” both of them loudly applauded Satyaki of unfading glory, who
was thus destroying the celestial weapons of all those warriors. Then
Kesava and Dhananjaya rushed towards the Kurus. Addressing Krishna,
Dhananjaya said, “Behold, O Kesava, that perpetuator of Madhu’s race,
viz., Satyaki of true prowess, sporting before the preceptor and those
mighty car-warriors and gladdening me and the twins and Bhima and king
Yudhishthira. With skill acquired by practice and without insolence,
behold that enhancer of the fame of the Vrishnis, viz., Satyaki,
careering in battle, sporting the while with those mighty car-warriors.
All these troops, as also the Siddhas (in the welkin), beholding him
invincible in battle, are filled with wonder, and applauding him, saying,
‘Excellent, Excellent!’ Indeed, O king, the warriors of both armies all
applauded the Satwata hero, for his feats.”’”