Chapter 114

Sanjaya said, “Hearing these words of the high-souled Drona, Bhagadattaand Kripa and Salya and Kritavarman, and Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti,and Jayadratha the ruler of the Sindhus, and Chitrasena and Vikarna andDurmarshana and others, these ten warriors of thy army, supported by alarge host consisting of many nationalities, fought with Bhimasena,desirous of winning high renown in the battle for Bhishma’s sake. AndSalya struck Bhima with nine arrows, and Kritavarman struck him withthree, and Kripa with nine. And Chitrasena and Vikarna and Bhagadatta, Osire, each struck him with ten arrows. And the ruler of the Sindhusstruck him with three, and Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti each struck himwith five arrows. And Duryodhana struck that son of Pandu with twentysharp arrows. Bhimasena, O king, pierced in return every one of thosekings, those foremost of men in the world, those mighty car-warriors ofthe Dhartarashtra army, one after another. The brave Pandava, that slayerof hostile heroes, pierced Salya with seven arrows, and Kritavarman witheight. And he cut off Kripa’s bow with arrow fixed thereon, O Bharata, inthe middle, dividing it in twain. And after thus cutting off his bow, hepierced Kripa once more with seven arrows. And he struck Vinda andAnuvinda with three arrows each. And he pierced Durmarshana with twentyarrows, and Chitrasena with five, and Vikarna with ten, and Jayadrathawith five. And once more striking the ruler of the Sindhus with threearrows, he uttered a loud shout, filled with joy. Then Gautama, thatforemost of car-warriors, taking up another bow, angrily pierced Bhimawith ten sharp shafts. Pierced with those ten shafts like a huge elephantwith the hook, the valiant Bhimasena, O king, filled with wrath, struckGautama in that battle with many shafts. Possessed of the splendour ofYama himself, as he appears at the end of the Yuga, Bhimasena then, withthree arrows, despatched unto Death’s domain the steeds of the ruler ofthe Sindhus as also his charioteer. Thereupon that mighty car-warrior,(viz., Jayadratha), quickly jumping down from that car whose steeds hadbeen slain, shot in that battle many sharp-pointed shafts at Bhimasena.Then, O sire, with a couple of broad-headed arrows, he cut off, O chiefof the Bharatas, the bow of the high-souled king of the Sindhus in themiddle. His bow cut off, himself deprived of car, his steeds andcharioteer slain, Jayadratha then, O king, quickly mounted on the car ofChitrasena. Indeed, the son of Pandu achieved in that battle a mostwonderful feat, for piercing all those mighty car-warriors and holdingthem in check, he deprived, O sire, the ruler of the Sindhus of his carin the very sight of all the army. Salya could not brook to see theprowess that Bhimasena displayed, for saying unto him,–Wait, Wait,–heaimed some sharp arrows well-polished by the forger’s hands, and piercedBhima therewith in that battle. And Kripa and Kritavarman and the valiantBhagadatta, and Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti, and Chitrasena, andDurmarshana, and Vikarna, and the valiant ruler of the Sindhus also, inthat battle,–These chastisers of foes, all quickly pierced Bhima for thesake of Salya. Bhima then pierced each of them in return with fivearrows. And he pierced Salya then with seventy arrows and once more withten. And Salya then pierced him with nine arrows and once more with five.And he pierced Bhimasena’s charioteer also, deep in his vitals, with abroad-headed arrow. The valiant Bhimasena then, beholding his charioteerVisoka deeply pierced, sped three arrows at the arms and chest of theruler of Madras. And as regards the other great bowmen, he pierced eachof them in that battle With three straight arrows, and then uttered aloud roar like that of a lion. Each of those great bowmen then, exertinghimself with vigour, deeply Pierced that son of Pandu skilled in battle,with three arrows in his vitals. That mighty bowman viz., Bhimasena,though pierced deeply, trembled not (but stood still) like a mountaindrenched with torrents of rain by showering clouds. Then that mightycar-warrior of the Pandavas, filled with wrath, that celebrated hero,deeply, pierced the ruler of the Madras with three arrows. And he piercedthe ruler of the Pragjyotishas, O king, in that battle, with a hundredarrows. Of great renown, he then pierced Kripa with many arrows, andthen, displaying great dexterity, he cut off with a keen-edged shaft thebow, with arrow fixed thereon, of the high-souled Kritavarman. ThenKritavarman, that scorcher of foes, taking up another bow, struckVrikodara between his eyebrows with a long arrow. Bhima, however, in thatbattle, having pierced Salya with nine arrows made wholly of iron, andBhagadatta with three, and Kritavarman with eight, pierced each of theothers with Gautama at their head, with two arrows. Those warriors also,in return, pierced him, O king, with sharp-pointed shafts. Though thusafflicted by those mighty car-warriors with all kinds of weapons, yet,regarding them all as straw, he coursed on the field without any anxiety.Those foremost of car-warriors (on the other hand), with great coolness,sped at Bhima sharp-pointed arrows by hundreds and thousands. The heroicand mighty Bhagadatta then, in that battle, hurled at him a dart offierce impetuosity furnished with a golden staff. And the Sindhu king, ofstrong arms, hurled at him a lance and an axe. And Kripa, O king, hurledat him a Sataghni, and Salya an arrow. And the other great bowmen eachsped at him five arrows with great force. The son of the Wind-god thencut off, with a sharp shaft, that lance in twain. And he cut off that axealso with three shafts, as if it were a sesame stalk. And with fiveshafts winged with the feathers of the Kanka bird, he cut that Sataghniinto fragments. That mighty car-warrior then, having cut off the arrowsped by the ruler of the Madras, forcibly cut off the dart sped byBhagadatta in that battle. As regards the other fierce shafts, Bhimasena,proud of his feats in battle, cut them each into three fragments by meansof his own straight shafts. And he struck each of those great bowmen alsowith three shafts. Then Dhananjaya, during the progress of that dreadfulbattle, beholding the mighty car-warrior Bhima striking the foe andbattling (against many) with his arrows, came thither on his car. Thenthose bulls among men, of thy army, beholding those two high-souled sonsof Pandu together, gave up all hopes of victory. Then Arjuna, desirous ofslaying Bhishma, placing Sikhandin before him, approached Bhima who hadbeen fighting with those great car-warriors and fell upon those fiercecombatants, numbering ten, of thy army, O Bharata. Then Vibhatsu,desirous of doing what was agreeable to Bhima, pierced all thosewarriors, O king, who had been battling with Bhima. Then king Duryodhanaurged Susarman, for the destruction of both Arjuna and Bhimasena, saying,’O Susarman, go thou quickly supported by a large force. Slay those twosons of Pandu, viz., Dhananjaya and Vrikodara.’ Hearing these words ofhis, the Trigarta king who ruled the country called Prasthala, quicklyrushed in battle upon those two bowmen, viz., Bhima and Dhananjaya, andsurrounded them both by many thousands of cars. Then commenced a fiercebattle between Arjuna and the foe.”