Chapter 229

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Then Vibhatsu, the son of Pandu, invoking hisexcellent weapons, prevented that shower of rain by Indra, by means of ashower of his own weapons. And Arjuna of immeasurable soul soon coveredthe forest of Khandava with innumerable arrows like the moon covering theatmosphere with a thick fog.

When the sky above that forest was thuscovered with the arrows of Arjuna no living creature could then escapefrom below. And it so happened that while that forest was burning,Takshaka, the chief of the Nagas, was not there, having gone at that timeto the field of Kurukshetra. But Aswasena, the mighty son of Takshaka,was there. He made great efforts to escape from that fire; but confinedby Arjuna’s shafts he succeeded not in finding a way. It was then thathis mother, the daughter of a snake, determined to save him by swallowinghim first. His mother first swallowed his head and then was swallowinghis tail. And desirous of saving her son, the sea-snake rose (up from theearth) while still employed in swallowing her son’s tail. But Arjuna assoon as he beheld her escaping, severed her head from her body by meansof a sharp and keen-edged arrow. Indra saw all this, and desiring to savehis friend’s son, the wielder of the thunderbolt, by raising a violentwind, deprived Arjuna of consciousness. During those few moments,Aswasena succeeded in effecting his escape. Beholding that manifestationof the power of illusion, and deceived by that snake, Arjuna was muchenraged. He forthwith cut every animal seeking to escape by the skies,into two, three, or more pieces. And Vibhatsu in anger, and Agni, andVasudeva also, cursed the snake that had escaped so deceitfully, saying,’Never shalt thou be famous!’ And Jishnu remembering the deceptionpractised upon him, became angry, and covering the firmament with a cloudof arrows, sought to fight with him of a thousand eyes. The chief of thecelestials also, seeing Arjuna in anger, sought to fight with him, andhurled his own fierce weapons, covering the wide expanse of thefirmament. Then the winds, making a loud roar and agitating all theoceans, brought together masses of clouds in the sky, charged withtorrents of rain. Those masses of clouds began to vomit thunder andterrible flashes of lightning charged with the thunderclap. Then Arjunapossessing a knowledge of means, hurled the excellent weapon calledVayavya with proper mantras to dispel those clouds. With that weapon theenergy and force of Indra’s thunderbolt and of those clouds weredestroyed. And the torrents of rain with which those clouds were chargedwere all dried up, and the lightning that played amongst them was alsodestroyed. Within a moment the sky was cleared of dust and darkness, anda delicious, cool breeze began to blow and the disc of the sun resumedits normal state. Then the eater of clarified butter (Agni), glad becausenone could baffle him, assumed various forms, and sprinkled over with thefat exuded by the bodies of creatures, blazed forth with all his flames,filling the universe with his roar. Then numerous birds of the Garudatribe bearing excellent feathers, beholding that the forest was protectedby Krishna and Arjuna, descended filled with pride, from the upper skies,desirous of striking those heroes with their thunderlike wings, beaks andclaws. Innumerable Nagas also, with faces emitting fire descending fromhigh, approached Arjuna, vomiting the most virulent poison all the while.Beholding them approach, Arjuna cut them into pieces by means of arrowssteeped in the fire of his own wrath. Then those birds and snakes,deprived of life, fell into the burning element below. And there camealso, desirous of battle, innumerable Asuras with Gandharvas and Yakshasand Rakshasas and Nagas sending forth terrific yells. Armed with machinesvomiting from their throats (mouths?) iron balls and bullets, andcatapults for propelling huge stones, and rockets, they approached tostrike Krishna and Partha, their energy and strength increased by wrath.But though they rained a perfect shower of weapons, Vibhatsu, addressingthem reproachfully, struck off their heads with his own sharp arrows.That slayer of foes, Krishna, also, endued with great energy, made agreat slaughter of the Daitya and the Danava with his discus. Many Asurasof immeasurable might, pierced with Krishna’s arrows and smitten with theforce of his discus, became motionless like waifs and strays stranded onthe bank by the violence of the waves. Then Sakra the lord of thecelestials, riding on his white elephant, rushed at those heroes, andtaking up his thunderbolt which could never go in vain, hurled it withgreat force. And the slayer of Asuras said unto the gods, ‘These two areslain.’ Beholding the fierce thunderbolt about to be hurled by theirchief, the celestials all took up their respective weapons. Yama, O king,took up the death-dealing mace, and Kuvera his spiked club, and Varunahis noose and beautiful missile. And Skanda (Kartikeya) took up his longlance and stood motionless like the mountain of Meru. The Aswins stoodthere with resplendent plants in their hands. Dhatri stood, bow in hand,and Jaya with a thick club. Tvashtri of great strength took up in wrath,a huge mountain and Surya stood with a bright dart, and Mrityu with abattle-axe. Aryaman stalked about with a terrible bludgeon furnished withsharp spikes, and Mitra stood there with a discus sharp as a razor. And,O monarch, Pusha and Bhaga and Savitri, in wrath, rushed at Krishna andPartha with bows and scimitars in hand. And Rudras and the Vasus, themighty Maruts and the Viswedevas and the Sadhyas, all resplendent withtheir own energy,–these and many other celestials, armed with variousweapons rushed against those exalted of men, Krishna and Partha, forsmiting them down. Then were seen in that great conflict wonderfulportents all around robbing every creature of his sense, and resemblingthose that appeared at the time of the universal dissolution. But Arjunaand Krishna, fearless and invincible in battle, beholding Sakra and theother celestials prepared for fight, calmly waited, bows in hands.Skilled in battle, those heroes in wrath assailed the advancing host ofcelestials with their own thunderlike arrows. The celestials repeatedlyrouted by Krishna and Arjuna, at last left the field of battle for fearand sought the protection of Indra. The Munis who were witnessing thebattle from the skies, beholding the celestials defeated by Madhava andArjuna, were filled with wonder. Sakra also repeatedly witnessing theirprowess in battle, became exceedingly gratified, and once more rushed tothe assault. The chastiser of Paka then caused a heavy shower of stones,desiring to ascertain the prowess of Arjuna who was able to draw the boweven with his left hand. Arjuna, in great wrath, dispelled with hisarrows that thick shower. Then he of a hundred sacrifices beholding thatshower baffled, once more caused a thicker shower of stones. But the sonof the chastiser of Paka (viz., Arjuna) gratified his father by bafflingthat shower also with his swift arrows. Then Sakra, desirous of smitingdown the son of Pandu, tore up with his hands a large peak from Mandara,with tall trees on it, and hurled it against him. But Arjuna divided thatmountain-peak into a thousand pieces by his swift-going and fire-mouthedarrows. The fragments of that mountain, in falling through the skies,looked as if the sun and the moon and the planets, displaced from theirpositions fell down on earth. That huge peak fell down upon that forestand by its fall killed numerous living creatures that dwelt in Khandava.'”