Chapter 116

Dhritarashtra said, “How, O Sanjaya, did Santanu’s son Bhishma of mightyenergy fight on the tenth day of battle, with the Pandavas and theSrinjayas? How also did the Kurus resist the Pandavas in battle? Describeto me the great battle fought by Bhishma, that ornament of battle.”

Sanjaya said, “I will presently describe to thee, O Bharata, how theKauravas fought with the Pandavas, and how that battle took place. Dayafter day many mighty car-warriors of thy army, excited with wrath, weredespatched to the other world by the diadem-decked (Arjuna) with hisgreat weapons. The ever-victorious Kuru warrior Bhishma also, agreeablyto his vow, always caused a great carnage among the Partha army. Ochastiser of foes, beholding Bhishma, fighting at the head of the Kurus,and Arjuna also fighting at the head of the Panchalas, we could not saytruly on which side the victory would declare itself. On the tenth day ofbattle, when Bhishma and Arjuna encountered each other, awful was thecarnage that took place. On that day, O scorcher of foes, Santanu’s son,Bhishma, conversant with high and mighty weapons, repeatedly slewthousands upon thousands of warriors. Many, O Bharata, whose names andfamilies were not known, but who, endued with great bravery, wereunretreating from battle, were on that day slain by Bhishma. Scorchingthe Pandava army for ten days, Bhishma of virtuous soul, gave up alldesire of protecting his life. Wishing his own slaughter presently at thehead of his troops,–No more shall I slay large numbers of foremost ofwarriors.–thought thy mighty-armed sire Devavrata. And seeingYudhishthira near him, O king, he addressed him, saying, ‘O Yudhishthira,O thou of great wisdom, O thou that art acquainted with every branch oflearning, listen to these righteous and heaven-leading words, O sire,that I say. O Bharata, I no longer desire to protect, O sire, this bodyof mine. I have passed much time in slaying large numbers of men inbattle. If thou wishest to do what is agreeable to me, strive to slay me,placing Partha with the Panchalas and the Srinjayas at thy van’.Ascertaining this to be his intention, king Yudhishthira of true sightproceeded to battle with the Srinjayas (for his support). ThenDhrishtadyumna, O king, and Pandu’s son Yudhishthira, having heard thosewords of Bhishma urged their array on. And Yudhishthira said, ‘Advance!Fight! Vanquish Bhishma in battle. Ye all will be protected by thatconqueror of foes, viz., Jishnu of unbaffled aim. And this great bowman,this generalissimo (of our forces), viz., the son of Prishata, as alsoBhima, will assuredly protect you. Ye Srinjayas, entertain no fear todayof Bhishma in battle. Without doubt, we will vanquish Bhishma today,placing Sikhandin in our van’. Having, on the tenth day of battle, madesuch a vow, the Pandavas, resolved to (conquer or) go to heaven,advanced, blinded by rage, with Sikhandin and Dhananjaya the son of Panduto the fore. And they made the most vigorous efforts for the overthrow ofBhishma. Then diverse kings, of great might, urged by thy son, andaccompanied by Drona and his son and a large force, and the mightyDussasana at the head of all his uterine brothers, proceeded towardsBhishma staying in the midst of that battle. Then those brave warriors ofthy army, placing Bhishma of high vows in their van, battled with theParthas headed by Sikhandin. Supported by the Chedis and the Panchalas,the ape-bannered Arjuna, placing Sikhandin ahead, proceeded towardsBhishma, the son of Santanu. And the grandson of Sini battled withDrona’s son, and Dhrishtaketu with the descendant of Puru, and Yudhamanyuwith thy son Duryodhana at the head of his followers. And Virata, at thehead of his forces, encountered Jayadratha supported by his own troops.And Vardhakshatra’s heir, O chastiser of foes, encountered thy sonChitrasena armed with excellent bow and arrows.[479] And Yudhishthiraproceeded against the mighty bowman Salya at the head of his troops. AndBhimasena, well-protected, proceeded against the elephant-division (ofthe Kaurava army). And Dhrishtadyumna, the prince of Panchala, excitedwith fury and accompanied by his brothers, proceeded against Drona, thatforemost of all wielders of weapons, invincible, and irresistible. Thatchastiser of foes, viz., prince Vrihadvala, bearing on his standard thedevice of the lion, proceeded against Subhadra’s son whose standard borethe device of the Karnikara flower. Thy sons, accompanied by many kings,proceeded against Sikhandin and Dhananjaya the son of Pritha, from desireof slaughtering both of them. When the combatants of both armies rushedagainst each other with awful prowess, the earth shook (under theirtread). Beholding Santanu’s son in battle, the divisions of thy army andof the foe, O Bharata, became mingled with one another. Tremendous wasthe din, O Bharata, that arose there of those warriors burning with rageand rushing against each other. And it was heard on all sides, O king.With the blare of conchs and the leonine shouts of the soldiers, theuproar became awful. The splendour, equal to that of either the Sun orthe Moon, of bracelets and diadems of all the heroic kings, becamedimmed. And the dust that rose looked like a cloud, the flash of brightweapons constituting its lightning. And the twang of bows, the whiz ofarrows, the blare of conchs, the loud beat of drums, and the rattle ofcars, of both the armies, constituted the fierce roar of those clouds.And the welkin, over the field of battle, in consequence of the beardeddarts, the javelins, the swords and showers of arrows of both armies, wasdarkened. And car-warriors, and horsemen felled horsemen, in thatdreadful battle. And elephants killed elephants, and foot-soldiers slewfoot-soldiers. And the battle that took place there for Bhishma’s sake,between the Kurus and the Pandavas, O tiger among men, was fierce in theextreme, like that between two hawks for a piece of flesh. Engaged inbattle, that encounter between those combatants desirous of slaughteringand vanquishing one another, was extremely dreadful.”