Chapter 54

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Having disorganised the hostile host by force andhaving recovered the kine, that foremost of bowmen, desirous of fightingagain, proceeded towards Duryodhana. And beholding the kine running wildtowards the city of the Matsyas, the foremost warriors of the Kurusregarded Kiritin to have already achieved success. And all of a suddenthey fell upon Arjuna who was advancing towards Duryodhana. And beholdingtheir countless divisions firmly arrayed in order of battle withcountless banners waving over them, that slayer of foes, addressing theson of the king of the Matsyas, said, ‘Urge on, to the best of theirspeed by this road, these white steeds decked with golden bridles. Strivethou well, for I would approach this crowd of Kuru lions. Like anelephant desiring an encounter with another, the Suta’s son of wickedsoul eagerly desireth a battle with me. Take me, O prince, to him whohath grown so proud under the patronage of Duryodhana. Thus addressed,the son of Virata by means of those large steeds endued with the speed ofthe wind and furnished with golden armour, broke that array of cars andtook the Pandava into the midst of the battle-field. And seeing thisthose mighty car-warriors, Chitrasena and Sangramajit and Satrusaha andJaya, desirous of aiding Karna, rushed with arrows and long shafts,towards the advancing hero of Bharata’s race. Then that foremost of men,inflamed with wrath, began to consume by means of fiery arrows shot fromhis bow, that array of cars belonging to those bulls among the Kurus,like a tremendous conflagration consuming a forest. Then, when the battlebegan to rage furiously, the Kuru hero, Vikarna, mounted on his car,approached that foremost of car-warriors, Partha, the younger brother ofBhima,–showering upon him terrible shafts thick and long. Then cuttingVikarna’s bow furnished with a tough string and horns overlaid with gold,Arjuna cut off his flagstaff. And Vikarna, beholding his flagstaff cutoff, speedily took to flight. And after Vikarna’s flight, Satruntapa,unable to repress his ire, began to afflict Partha, that obstructer offoes and achiever of super-human feats, by means of a perfect shower ofarrows. And drowned, as it were, in the midst of the Kuru-array, Arjuna,pierced by that mighty car-warrior,–king Satruntapa–pierced the latterin return with five and then slew his car-driver with ten shafts, andpierced by that bull of the Bharata race with an arrow capable ofcleaving the thickest coat of mail, Satruntapa fell dead on the field ofbattle, like a tree from a mountain-top torn up by the wind. And thosebrave bulls among men, mangled in battle by that braver bull among men,began to waver and tremble like mighty forests shaken by the violence ofthe wind that blows at the time of the universal dissolution. And struckin battle by Partha, the son of Vasava, those well-dressed heroes amongmen–those givers of wealth endued with the energy of Vasava–defeatedand deprived of life, began to measure their lengths on the ground, likefull-grown Himalayan elephants clad in mails of black steel decked withgold. And like unto a raging fire consuming a forest at the close ofsummer, that foremost of men, wielding the Gandiva, ranged the field inall directions, slaying his foes in battle thus. And as the wind rangethat will, scattering masses of clouds and fallen leaves in the season ofspring, so did that foremost of car-warriors–Kiritin–ranged in thatbattle, scattering all his foes before him. And soon slaying the redsteeds yoked unto the car of Sangramajit, the brother of Vikatana’s son,that hero decked in diadem and endued with great vigour then cut off hisantagonist’s head by a crescent-shaped arrow. And when his brother wasslain, Vikartana’s son of the Suta caste, mustering all his prowess,rushed at Arjuna, like a huge elephant with out-stretched tusks, or likea tiger at a mighty bull. And the son of Vikarna quickly pierced the sonof Pandu with twelve shafts and all his steeds also in every part oftheir bodies and Virata’s son too in his hand. And rushing impetuouslyagainst Vikarna’s son who was suddenly advancing against him, Kiritinattacked him fiercely like Garuda of variegated plumage swooping downupon a snake. And both of them were foremost of bowmen, and both wereendued with great strength, and both were capable of slaying foes. Andseeing that an encounter was imminent between them, the Kauravas, anxiousto witness it, stood aloof as lookers on. And beholding the offenderKarna, the son of Pandu, excited to fury, and glad also at having him,soon made him, his horses, his car, and car-driver invisible by means ofa frightful shower of countless arrows. And the warriors of the Bharatasheaded by Bhishma, with their horses, elephants, and cars, pierced byKiritin and rendered invisible by means of his shafts, their ranks alsoscattered and broken, began to wail aloud in grief. The illustrious andheroic Karna, however counteracting with numberless arrows of his ownthose shafts by Arjuna’s hand, soon burst forth in view with bow andarrows like a blazing fire. And then there arose the sound of loudclapping of hands, with the blare of conchs and trumpets and kettle-drumsmade by the Kurus while they applauded Vikartana’s son who filled theatmosphere with the sound of his bow-string flapping against his fence.And beholding Kiritin filling the air with the twang of Gandiva, and theupraised tail of the monkey that constituted his flag and that terriblecreature yelling furiously from the top of his flagstaff, Karna sentforth a loud roar. And afflicting by means of his shafts, Vikartana’s sonalong with his steeds, car and car-driver, Kiritin impetuously poured anarrowy shower on him, casting his eyes on the grandsire and Drona andKripa. And Vikartana’s son also poured upon Partha a heavy shower ofarrows like a rain-charged cloud. And the diadem-decked Arjuna alsocovered Karna with a thick down-pour of keen-edged shafts. And the twoheroes stationed on their cars, creating clouds of keen-edged arrows in acombat carried on by means of countless shafts and weapons, appeared tothe spectators like the sun and the moon covered by clouds, and thelight-handed Karna, unable to bear the sight of the foe, pierced the fourhorses of the diadem-decked hero with whetted arrows, and then struck hiscar-driver with three shafts, and his flagstaff also with three. Thusstruck, that grinder of all adversaries in battle, that bull of the Kururace, Jishnu wielding the Gandiva, like a lion awaked from slumber,furiously attacked Kama by means of straight-going arrows. And afflictedby the arrowy shower (of Karna), that illustrious achiever of super-humandeeds soon displayed a thick shower of arrows in return. And he coveredKarna’s car with countless shafts like the sun covering the differentworlds with rays. And like a lion attacked by an elephant, Arjuna, takingsome keen crescent-shaped arrows from out of his quiver and drawing hisbow to his ear, pierced the Suta’s son on every part of his body. Andthat grinder of foes pierced Karna’s arms and thighs and head andforehead and neck and other principal parts of his body with whettedshafts endued with the impetuosity of the thunderbolt and shot from theGandiva in battle. And mangled and afflicted by the arrows shot by Parthathe son of Pandu, Vikartana’s son, quitted the van of battle, and quicklytook to flight, like one elephant vanquished by another.'”