“Sanjaya said, ‘Then Drona’s son began to cause a great carnage amongst
his foes in that battle, like the Destroyer himself at the end of the
Yuga. Slaying his enemies by means of his broad-headed arrows,
Aswatthaman soon piled a mountain there of the dead. The standards of
cars formed its trees; and weapons its pointed summits; the lifeless
elephants formed its large rocks; the steeds, its Kimpurushas; and bows,
its creepers and plants. And it resounded with the cries of all
carnivorous creatures, that constituted its feathery population. And the
spirits that walked there formed its Yakshas[266]. Then roaring aloud, O
bull of Bharata’s race, Aswatthaman once more repeated his vow in the
hearing of thy son, thus, “Since Kunti’s son, Yudhishthira, assuming only
the outward garb of virtue, had caused the preceptor who was
(righteously) engaged in battle to lay aside his weapons, I shall, in his
very sight, rout and destroy his army. Having mangled all his troops, I
shall, then, slay the sinful prince of the Panchalas. Indeed, I shall
slay all of them, if they contend with me in battle. I tell thee truly,
therefore, rally thou thy troops.” Hearing these words of Aswatthaman,
thy son rallied the troops, having dispelled their fears with a loud
leonine roar. The encounter, then, O king, that once more took place
between the Kuru and the Pandava armies, became as terrible as that of
two oceans at full tide. The terrified Kauravas had their fears dispelled
by Drona’s son. The Pandus and the Panchalas had become fierce in
consequence of Drona’s slaughter. Great was the violence of that
collision, on the field of battle, between those warriors, all of whom
were cheerful and filled with rage and inspired with certain hopes of
victory. Like a mountain, striking against a mountain, or an ocean
against an ocean, O monarch, was that collision between the Kurus and the
Pandavas. Filled with joy, the Kuru and the Pandava warriors beat
thousands of drums. The loud and stunning uproar that arose from among
those troops resembled that of the ocean itself while churned (of old by
the gods and the Danavas). Then Drona’s son, aiming at the host of the
Pandavas and the Panchalas, invoked the weapon called Narayana. Then
thousands of arrows with blazing mouths appeared in the welkin,
resembling snakes of fiery mouths, that continued to agitate the
Pandavas. In that dreadful battle, those shafts, O king, like the very
rays of the sun in a moment shrouded all the points of the compass, the
welkin, and the troops. Innumerable iron balls also, O king, then
appeared, like resplendent luminaries in the clear firmament. Sataghnis,
some equipped with four and some with two wheels, and innumerable maces,
and discs, with edges sharp as razor and resplendent like the sun, also
appeared there. Beholding the welkin densely shrouded with those weapons,
O bull of Bharata’s race, the Pandavas, the Panchalas, and the Srinjayas,
became exceedingly agitated. In all those places, O ruler of men, where
the great car-warriors of the Pandavas contended in battle, that weapon
became exceedingly powerful. Slaughtered by the Narayana weapon, as if
consumed by a conflagration, the Pandava troops were exceedingly
afflicted all over the field in that battle. Indeed, O lord, as fire
consumeth a heap of dry grass in summer, even so did that weapon consume
the army of the Pandus. Beholding that weapon filling every side, seeing
his own troops destroyed in large numbers, king Yudhishthira the just, O
lord, became inspired with great fright. Seeing his army in course of
flight and deprived of its senses, and beholding Parthas standing
indifferent, Dharma’s son said these words, “O Dhrishtadyumna, fly away
with your Panchala troops. O Satyaki, you also go away, surrounded by the
Vrishnis and the Andhakas. Of virtuous soul, Vasudeva will himself seek
the means of his own safety. He is competent to offer advice to the whole
world. What need is there of telling him what he should do? We should not
any longer fight. I say so unto all the troops. As regards myself, I
will, with all my brothers ascend a funeral pile. Having crossed the
Bhishma and the Drona oceans in this battle, that are incapable of being
crossed by the timid, shall I sink with all my followers in the vestige,
represented by Drona’s son, of a cow’s hoof? Let the wishes of king
Duryodhana be crowned with success today, for I have today slain in
battle the preceptor, that always cherished such friendly feelings
towards us, that preceptor, who, without protecting, caused that child
unacquainted with battle, viz., the son of Subhadra, to be slain by a
multitude of wicked warriors, that preceptor, who with his son, sat
indifferently, without answering, when Krishna in such distress, dragged
into the assembly and sought to be made a slave, asked him to say the
truth, that preceptor, who, while all the other warriors were fatigued,
cased Duryodhana in invulnerable armour when the latter desired to slay
Phalguna and who, having cased him so, appointed him to protect
Jayadratha, who, being acquainted with the Brahma weapon, scrupled not to
exterminate the Panchalas, headed by Satyajit, that had exerted
themselves for my victory, that preceptor, who, whilst we were being
unrighteously exiled from our kingdom, freely told us to go into the
woods although he had been solicited by our friends to withhold his
permission[267]. Alas, that great friend of our hath been slain! For his
sake, I will, with my friends, lay down my life.” After Kunti’s son,
Yudhishthira had said this, he of Dasarha’s race, (viz., Kesava) quickly
forbidding the troops, by motion of his arms, to fly away said these
words, “Speedily lay down your weapons, all of you, and alight from your
vehicles. Even this is the means ordained by the illustrious one, (viz.,
Narayana himself) for baffling this weapon. Come down on the earth, all
of you from your elephants and steeds and cars. If you stand weaponless
on the earth, this weapon will not slay you. In those places where you
will fight for quelling the force of this weapon the Kauravas will become
more powerful than you. Those men, however, that will throw down their
weapons and alight from their vehicles, will not in this battle, be slain
by this weapon. They, however, that will, even in imagination, contend
against this weapon, will all be slain even if they seek refuge deep
beneath the earth”. The warriors of the Pandava army, hearing, O Bharata,
these words of Vasudeva, threw their weapons and drove away from their
hearts all desire of battle. Then Bhimasena, the son of Pandu, beholding
the warriors about to abandon their weapons, said these words, O king,
gladdening them all: “None should lay down his weapons here. I shall,
with my shafts, oppose this weapon of Drona’s son. With this heavy mace
of mine, that is decked with gold, I shall career in this battle like the
Destroyer himself, quelling this weapon of Drona’s son. There is no man
here that is equal to me in prowess, even as there is no luminary in the
firmament that is equal to the sun. Beholding these two strong arms of
mine like unto the trunks of a couple of mighty elephants, capable of
pulling down the mountain of Himavat, I am the one person here that
possesses the might of the thousand elephants. I am without a peer, even
as Sakra is known to be in heaven among the celestials. Let people
witness today the prowess of these two arms of my broad-chested self,
while engaged in baffling the bright and blazing weapon of Drona’s son.
If there be none (else) capable of contending against the Narayana
weapon, even I shall contend against it today in the very sight of all
the Kurus and the Pandavas. O Arjuna, O Vibhatsu, thou shouldst not lay
Gandiva aside. A stain will then attach to thee like that of the moon.”
Thus addressed by Bhima, Arjuna said, “O Bhima, even this is my great vow,
viz., that my Gandiva shall not be used against the Narayana weapon,
kine, and Brahmanas.” Thus answered by Arjuna, Bhima, that chastiser of
foes, riding on his car of solar effulgence, whose rattle, besides,
resembled the roar of the clouds, rushed against the son of Drona. Endued
with great energy and prowess, the son of Kunti, in consequence of his
extreme lightness of hand, within the twinkling of an eye, covered
Aswatthaman with a shower of weapons. Then Drona’s son, smiling at the
rushing Bhima and addressing him (in proper words) covered him with
arrows, inspired with mantras and equipped with blazing points. Shrouded
with those shafts that vomited fire and resembled snakes of blazing
mouths, as if covered with sparks of gold, the form, O king, of Bhimasena
in that battle looked like that of a mountain in the evening when covered
with fire. That weapon of Drona’s son, directed against Bhimasena
increased in energy and might, O king, like a conflagration assisted by
the wind. Beholding that weapon of terrible energy thus increasing in
might, a panic entered the hearts of all the combatants of the Pandava
army with the exception of Bhima. Then all of them, throwing down their
weapons on the earth, alighted from their cars and steeds. After they had
thrown their weapons and alighted from their vehicles, that weapon of
exceeding energy fell upon the head of Bhima. All creatures, especially
the Pandavas, uttered cries of Oh and Alas, beholding Bhimasena
overwhelmed by the energy of that weapon.’”