Chapter 110

“Sanjaya said, ‘O king, when Yuyudhana, from desire of battle proceededagainst thy troops, king Yudhishthira, surrounded by his forces, followedYuyudhana for reaching the car of Drona.Then the son of the king of thePanchalas, viz., the invincible warrior Dhrishtadyumna, the kingVasudana, both loudly exclaimed with the Pandava host, ‘Come, smitequickly, and rush against the foe, so that Satyaki, that warriorinvincible battle, in might pass easily (through the Kaurava host). Manymighty car-warriors will struggle for vanquishing him.’ The greatcar-warriors (of the Pandava army). saying this, fell impetuously upontheir foes. Indeed, they all rushed, saying, ‘We will vanquish those thatwill endeavour to vanquish Satyaki.’ Then a loud uproar was heard aboutthe car of Satyaki. Thy son’s host, however, covered with Satyaki’sshafts, fled away. Indeed, O king that host was broken into a hundredstruggling bodies by him of the Satwata race. And while that force wasbreaking, that mighty car-warrior, viz., the (grandson) of Sini, crushedseven heroic and great bowmen in the front rank of the foe. And, Omonarch, with his shafts that resembled blazing flames of fire, hedespatched many other heroes, kings of diverse realms, unto the region ofYama. He sometimes pierced a hundred warriors with one shaft, andsometimes one warrior with a hundred shafts. Like the great Rudradestroying creatures, he slew elephant-riders and car-warriors withsteeds and drivers. None amongst thy troops ventured to advance againstSatyaki who was displaying such lightness of hand and who showered suchclouds of shafts. Struck with panic and crushed grounded thus by thathero of long arms, those brave warriors all left the field at the sightof that proud hero. Although alone, they saw him multiplied manifold, andwere stupefied by his energy. And the earth looked exceedingly beautifulwith crushed cars and broken nidas,[150] O sire, and wheels and fallenumbrellas and standards and anukarshas, and banners, and headgears deckedwith gold, and human arms smeared with sandal-paste and adorned withAngadas, O king, and human thighs, resembling trunks of elephants or thetapering bodies of snakes, and faces, beautiful as the moon and deckedwith ear-rings, of large-eyed warriors lying all about the field. And theground there looked exceedingly beautiful with the huge bodies of fallenelephants, cut off in diverse ways, like a large plain strewn with hills.Crushed by that hero of long arms, steeds, deprived of life and fallendown on the ground, looked beautiful in their traces made of burnishedgold and decked with rows of pearls, and in their carcasses of handsomemake and design. Having slain diverse kinds of thy troops, he of theSatwata race entered into thy host, agitating and routing thy army. ThenSatyaki desired to go by that very track by which Dhananjaya had gonebefore him. Then Drona came and resisted him. Encountering the son ofBharadwaja, Yuyudhana., filled with rage, stopped not like a vast expanseof water upon encountering on embankment. Drona, however, checking inthat battle the mighty car-warrior Yuyudhana, pierced him with five keenshafts, capable of penetrating into the very vitals. Satyaki, however, Oking, in that battle pierced Drona with seven shafts whetted on stone,equipped with golden wings and the feathers of the Kanka and the peacock.Then Drona, afflicted Satyaki, his steeds and the drivers, with sixshafts. The mighty car-warrior Yuyudhana could not brook that feat ofDrona. Uttering a leonine shout, he then pierced Drona with ten shafts,and then with six, and then with eight others. And once more Yuyudhanapierced Drona with ten shafts, his charioteer with one and his foursteeds with four. And with another shaft, O sire, Satyaki struck Drona’sstandard. Then, Drona speedily covered Satyaki, his car, steeds, driver,and standard, with swiftly coursing shafts, countless in number like aflight of locusts. Similarly, Yuyudhana fearlessly covered Drona withcountless shafts of great speed. Then Drona, addressing Yuyudhana, said,’Thy preceptor (Arjuna) hath, like a coward, gone away, leaving thebattle, avoiding me who was fighting with him, proceeding by my flank. Othou of Madhu’s race, if like thy preceptor, thou too dost not quicklyavoid me in this battle, thou shalt not escape me with life today,engaged as I am in battle with thee.

“Satyaki, hearing these words, answered, ‘At the command of kingYudhishthira the just, I shall follow in the track of Dhananjaya. Blessedbe thou, O Brahmana, I would lose time (if I fight with thee). A discipleshould always tread in the way trod by his preceptor. I shall, thereforefollow in the track that has been trod by my preceptor.’

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Having said this much, the grandson of Sini avoidedthe preceptor and suddenly proceeded onwards, O king! And addressing hischarioteer, he said, ‘Drona will, by every means, endeavour to check myprogress. Proceed carefully, O Suta, in battle and listen to these gravewords of mine. Yonder is seen the host of great splendour of Avantis.Next to them, is the mighty host of the Southerners. And next to it, isthe great host of the Valhikas. By the side of the Valhikas, standsresolved for fight the mighty host commanded by Karna. O charioteer, allthese hosts are different from one another, but relying upon one another,they protect one another on the field of battle. Arrived at the spaceleft open between these divisions cheerfully urge thou the steed. Indeed,O charioteer, bear me thither, making the steeds adopt a tolerablespeed,–thither, that is, where are seen the Valhikas with diverseweapons uplifted in their arms, and the countless Southerners headed bythe Suta’s son and whose division is seen to present a serried array ofelephants and steeds and cars and in which stand foot-soldiers fromvarious realm.’ Having said this much unto his driver, avoiding theBrahmana (Drona), he proceeded, telling his charioteer, Pass through theopen space between those two divisions towards the fierce and mighty hostof Karna.’ Drona, however, excited with wrath, pursued him from behind,shooting at him countless shafts. Indeed, the preceptor closely followedhighly blessed Yuyudhana who advanced without any desire of turning back.Smiting the great host of Karna with whetted arrows, Satyaki penetratedinto the vast and limitless army of the Bharatas. When Yuyudhana,however, entered the army, the troops (opposed to him) fled away. Atthis, wrathful Kritavarman came forward to resist Satyaki. The valiantSatyaki striking the advancing Kritavarman with six shafts, quickly slewhis four steeds with four other shafts. And once again, he piercedKritavarman in the centre of the chest with four other shafts. And onceagain, he pierced Kritavarman in the centre of the chest with sixteenstraight shafts of great speed. Thus encountered; O monarch; with manyshafts of fierce energy by him of the Satwata race, Kritavarman wasunable to brook it. Aiming then a calf-toothed shaft resembling a shakeof virulent poison and endued With the speed of the wind, and drawing thebow-string, O monarch, to his ear, he pierced Satyaki in the chest. Thatshaft, equipped with beautiful feathers, penetrating through his armourand body, and dyed in blood, entered the earth. Then, O king,Kritavarman, that warrior equipped with the highest weapons, shootingmany shafts, cut off the bow of Satyaki with arrows fixed thereon. Andexcited with rage, he then, in that battle, O king, pierced Satyaki ofunbaffled prowess in the centre of the chest with ten shafts of greatkeenness. Upon his bow being broken, the foremost of mighty men, viz.,Satyaki, hurled a dart at the right arm of Kritavarman. And taking up anddrawing a tougher bow, Yuyudhana quickly shot at his foe, shafts byhundreds and thousands and entirely shrouded Kritavarman and his car withthat arrowy downpour. Having thus shrouded the son of Hridika, O monarch,in that battle, Satyaki cut of, with a broad-headed arrow, the head ofhis foe’s charioteer from his trunk. The charioteer of Hridika’s sonthen, thus slain, fell down from that great car. At this, the steeds ofKritavarman, deprived of a driver, ran away with great speed. The rulerof the Bhojas, then, in great agitation, himself checked those steeds.That heroic warrior then, bow in hand, stood upon his car (ready forbattle). Beholding this feat, his troops applauded it highly. Resting fora short space of time, Kritavarman then urged those good steeds of his.Himself devoid of fear, he inspired his foes with great fear. Satyaki,however, had by that time, left him behind, while Kritavarman himself nowrushed against Bhimasena without pursuing Satyaki. Thus issuing out ofthe division of the Bhojas, Satyaki proceeded with great speed towardsthe mighty division of the Kamvojas. Resisted there by many brave andmighty car-warriors, Yuyudhana, of prowess incapable of being thwarted,could not then, O monarch, proceed a step. Meanwhile, Drona, havingplaced his troops in a proper position and made over the burthen of theirprotection to the ruler of the Bhojas, firmly resolved, proceeded withgreat speed towards Yuyudhana from desire of battle. Then the foremostwarriors of the Pandava host, beholding Drona thus pursuing Yuyudhanafrom behind, cheerfully began to resist him. The Panchalas, however, whowere headed by Bhimasena, having approached the son of Hridika, thatforemost of car-warriors, all became cheerless. The heroic Kritavarman, Oking, displaying his prowess, resisted all those warriors who, althoughthey had become a little heartless, struggled yet with great vigour.Fearlessly he weakened, by means of his arrowy showers, the animals ofhis foes. The brave warriors, however, (of the Pandava army), though thusafflicted by the ruler of the Bhojas, stood, like high-born soldiers thatthey were, resolved to fight with the division of the Bhojas itself, froma desire of great renown.'”