Chapter 63

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Then while a great havoc was being made among theKurus, Santanu’s son, Bhishma, and grandsire of the Bharatas rushed atArjuna, taking up an excellent bow adorned with gold, and many arrowsalso of keen points and capable of piercing into the very vitals of thefoe and afflicting him sorely. And in consequence of a white umbrellabeing held over his head, that tiger among men looked beautiful like untoa hill at sunrise. And the son of Ganga, blowing his conch cheered thesons of Dhritarashtra, and wheeling along his right came upon Vibhatsuand impeded his course. And that slayer of hostile heroes, the son ofKunti, beholding him approach, received him with a glad heart, like ahill receiving a rain-charged cloud. And Bhishma, endued with greatenergy, pierced Partha’s flag-staff with eight arrows. The arrowsreaching the flag-staff of Pandu’s son, struck the blazing ape and thosecreatures also stationed in the banner-top. And then the son of Pandu,with a mighty javelin of sharp-edge cut of Bhishma’s umbrella whichinstantly fell on the ground. And then the light-handed son of Kuntistruck his adversary’s flag-staff also with many shafts, and then hissteeds and then the couple of drivers that protected Bhishma’s flanks.And unable to bear this, Bhishma though cognisant of the Pandava’s might,covered Dhananjaya with a powerful celestial weapon. And the son ofPandu, of immeasurable soul, hurling in return a celestial weapon atBhishma, received that from Bhishma like a hill receiving a deep mass ofclouds. And the encounter that took place between Partha and Bhishma, wasfierce and the Kaurava warriors with their troops stood as lookers on.And in the conflict between Bhishma and the son of Pandu, shafts strikingagainst shafts shone in the air like fireflies in the season of rains.And, O king, in consequence of Partha’s shooting arrows with both hisright and left hands, the bent Gandiva seemed like a continuous circle offire. And the son of Kunti then covered Bhishma with hundreds of sharpand keen-edged arrows, like a cloud covering the mountain-breast with itsheavy downpour. And Bhishma baffled with the own arrows that arrowyshower, like the bank resisting the swelling sea, and covered the son ofPandu in return. And those warriors, cut into a thousand pieces inbattle, fell fast in the vicinity of Falguna’s car. And then there was adownpour, from the car of Pandu’s son, of arrows furnished with goldenwing, and raining through the sky like a flight of locusts. And Bhishmaagain repelled that arrowy shower with hundreds of whetted shafts shot byhim. And then the Kauravas exclaimed.–Excellent! Excellent!–Indeed,Bhishma hath performed an exceedingly difficult feat inasmuch as he hathfought with Arjuna. Dhananjaya is mighty and youthful, and dexterous andswift of hand. Who else, save Bhishma, the son of Santanu, or Krishna,the son of Devaki, or the mighty son of Bharadwaja, the foremost ofpreceptors, is able to bear the impetus of Partha in battle? Andrepelling weapons with weapons, those two bulls of the Bharata race, bothendued with great might, fought on playfully and infatuated the eyes ofall created beings. And those illustrious warriors ranged on the field ofbattle, using the celestials weapons obtained from Prajapati and Indra,and Agni and the fierce Rudra, and Kuvera, and Varuna, and Yama, andVayu. And all beings were greatly surprised, upon beholding thosewarriors engaged in combat. And they all exclaimed,–Bravo Partha of longarms? Bravo Bhishma! Indeed, this application of celestial weapons thatis being witnessed in the combat between Bhishma and Partha is rare amonghuman beings.”

“Vaisampayana continued, ‘Thus raged that conflict with weapons betweenthose warriors conversant with all weapons. And when that conflict ofcelestial weapons ceased, then commenced a conflict with arrows. AndJishnu approaching his opponent, cut of with an arrow sharp like a razorthe gold-decked bow of Bhishma. Within the twinkling of the eye, however,Bhishma, that mighty-armed and great car-warrior, took up another bow andstringed it. And inflamed with wrath, he showered upon Dhananjaya a cloudof arrows. And Arjuna, too, endued with great energy, rained upon Bhishmainnumerable sharp-pointed and keen-edged arrows. And Bhishma also shotclouds of arrows upon Pandu’s son. And conversant with celestial weaponsand engaged in shooting and each other, arrows of keen points, nodistinction, O king, could then be perceived between those illustriouswarriors. And that mighty car-warrior, Kunti’s son, covered with adiadem, and the heroic son of Santanu, obscured the ten directions withtheir arrows. And the Pandava covered Bhishma, and Bhishma also coveredthe Pandava, with clouds of shafts. And, O king, wonderful was thiscombat that took place in this world of men. And the heroic warriors thatprotected Bhishma’s car, slain by the son of Pandu, fell prostrate, Omonarch, beside the car of Kunti’s son. And the feathery arrows ofSvetavahana, shot from the Gandiva, fell in all directions as if with theobject of making a wholesale slaughter of the foe. And issuing forth fromhis car those blazing arrows furnished with golden wings looked like rowsof swans in the sky. And all the celestials with Indra, stationed in thefirmament, gazed with wonder upon another celestial weapon hurled withgreat force by that wonderful archer Arjuna. And beholding that wonderfulweapon of great beauty, the mighty Gandiva, Chitrasena, highly pleased,addressed the lord of celestials, saying, ‘Behold these arrows shot byPartha coursing through the sky in one continuous line. Wonderful is thedexterity of Jishnu in evolving this celestial weapon! Human beings areincapable of shooting such a weapon, for it does not exist among men. Howwonderful again is this concourse of mighty weapons existing from days ofold! No interval can be perceived between his taking up the arrows,fixing them on the bow-string, and letting them off by stretching theGandiva. The soldiers are incapable of even looking at the son of Pandu,who is like unto the midday sun blazing in the sky. So also none venturesto look at Bhishma, the son of Ganga. Both are famous for theirachievements, and both are of fierce prowess. Both are equal in feats ofheroism, and both are difficult of being vanquished in battle.’

‘Thus addressed by the Gandharva about that combat between Partha andBhishma, the lord of the celestials, O Bharata, paid proper respect untoboth by a shower of celestial flowers. Meanwhile, Bhishma, the son ofSantanu, assailed Arjuna on the left side, while that drawer of the bowwith either hands was on the point of piercing him. And at this,Vibhatsu, laughing aloud, cut off with an arrow of keen edge andfurnished with vulturine wings, the bow of Bhishma, that hero of solareffulgence. And then Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti, pierced Bhishma in thebreast with ten shafts although the latter was contending with all hisprowess. And sorely afflicted with pain Ganga’s son of mighty arms andirresistible in battle, stood for a long time leaning on the pole of hiscar. And beholding him deprived of consciousness the driver of hiscar-steeds, calling to mind the instructions about protecting thewarriors when in a swoon, led him away for safety.'”