Chapter 80

Sanjaya said, “Then when the sun assumed a red hue, king Duryodhana,desirous of battle, rushed towards Bhima from desire of slaying him.Beholding that heroic warrior cherishing deep animosity (thus) comingtowards him, Bhimasena, excited with great wrath, said thesewords,–‘That hour hath come which I have desired for so many years. Iwill slay thee to-day if thou dost not abandon the battle. Slaying thee Ishall today dispel the sorrows of Kunti as also of Draupadi and the woesthat were ours during our exile in the woods. Filled with pride, thouhadst formerly humiliated the sons of Pandu. Behold, O son of Gandhari,the dire fruit of that sinful behaviour. Following the counsels of Karnaas also of Suvala’s son, and recking the Pandavas little, thou hadstformerly behaved towards them as thou hadst hinted. Thou hadst alsodisregarded Krishna who begged thee (for peace). With a joyous heartdidst thou despatch Uluka (to us) with thy messages. For all these, Ishall slay thee to-day with all thy kinsmen, and thus avenge all thoseoffences of thine of former days.’ Having said these words, Bhima bendinghis bow and stretching it repeatedly, and taking up a number of terribleshafts whose effulgence resembled that of the lightning itself, andfilled with wrath, quickly sped six and thirty of them at Duryodhana. Andthose shafts resembled the flames of a blazing fire, and coursed straightwith the force of the thunder-bolt. And then he pierced Duryodhana’s bowwith two shafts, and his charioteer with two. And with four shafts hedespatched Duryodhana’s (four) steeds to the regions of Yama. And thatgrinder of foes then, with two shafts shot with great force, cut off inthat battle the king’s umbrella from his excellent car. And with threeother shafts he cut off his handsome and blazing standard. And having cutit off, he uttered a loud shout in the very sight of thy son. And thatbeautiful standard of the latter, decked with diverse gems, suddenly felldown on the earth from his car like a flash of lightning from the clouds.And all the kings beheld that beautiful standard of the Kuru king,bearing the device of an elephant, decked with gems, and blazing like thesun, fell down cut off (by Bhimasena). And that mighty car-warrior, viz.,Bhima, then pierced Duryodhana in that battle, smiling the while, withten shafts like a guide piercing a mighty elephant with the hook. Thenthat foremost of car-warriors, viz., the mighty king of the Sindhus,supported by many brave warriors, placed himself on the flank ofDuryodhana. And then that great car-warrior, viz., Kripa, O king, causedthe vindictive Duryodhana, that son of Kuru’s race, of immeasurableenergy, to mount on his own car. Then king Duryodhana, deeply pierced byBhimasena and feeling great pain, sat down on the terrace of that car.Then Jayadratha, desirous of slaying Bhima, surrounded him on all sideswith several thousands of cars. Then, O king, Dhrishtaketu and Abhimanyuof great energy, and the Kekayas, and the sons of Draupadi, allencountered thy sons. And the high-souled Abhimanyu smote them all,piercing each with five straight shafts, resembling the bolts of heavenor Death’s selves, shot from his excellent bow. Thereupon, all of them,unable to bear it (coolly), showered on that foremost of car-warriors,viz., the son of Subhadra, a perfect down-pour of sharp shafts likerain-charged clouds pouring rain on the breast of the mountains of Meru.But Abhimanyu, that invisible warrior accomplished in arms, thusafflicted by them in battle, caused all thy sons, O king, to tremble likethe wielder of the thunder-bolt causing the mighty Asuras to tremble inthe battle between the celestials and the latter. Then that foremost ofcar-warriors, O Bharata, shot fourteen broad-headed shafts, fierce andlooking like snakes of virulent poison, at Vikarna. Endued with greatprowess and as if dancing in that battle, he felled with those shafts thestandard of Vikarna from his car and slew also his charioteer and steeds.Then that mighty car-warrior, the son of Subhadra, again sped at Vikarnamany other arrows that were well-tempered, straight-going, and capable ofpenetrating every armour. And those arrows furnished with feathers of thekanka bird, coming at Vikarna and passing through his body, entered theearth, like hissing snakes. And those arrows, with wings and pointsdecked with gold, bathed in Vikarna’s blood, seemed to vomit blood on theearth. Beholding Vikarna thus pierced, his other uterine brothers rushed,in that battle, against those car-warriors headed by Subhadra’s son. Andwhen these invincible warriors upon their (own) cars came upon thosecombatants (of the Pandava army) resplendent like so many suns andstaying on their cars both began to pierce one another.. And Durmukha,having pierced Srutakarman with five shafts, cut off the latter’sstandard with a single shaft and then pierced his charioteer with seven.And advancing closer, he slew with half a dozen shafts his foe’s steeds,fleet as the wind and cased in golden armour, and then felled hischarioteer. Srutakarman, however, staying on that car of his, the steedsof which had been slain, hurled in great wrath a dart blazing like afierce meteor. That dart, blazing with effulgence, passing through therenowned Durmukha’s hard coat of mail, penetrated into the earth.Meanwhile the mighty Sutasoma beholding Srutakarman deprived of his car,caused him to mount upon his own car in the very sight of all the troops.The heroic Srutakirti rushed against thy son Jayatsena in that battle,desirous, O king, of slaying that renowned warrior. Then thy sonJayatsena, O king, with a sharp arrow having a horse-shoe head, smilingthe while, cut off the bow of the high-souled Srutakirti as the lattercame along stretching it in his hands. Then Satanika, beholding hisuterine brother’s bow cut off, endued as he was with great valour,quickly came at that spot repeatedly roaring like a lion. And Satanika,drawing his bow in that battle with great force, speedily piercedJayatsena with ten shafts, and uttered a loud shout like an infuriateelephant. And with another arrow of sharp point and capable ofpenetrating every armour, Satanika deeply pierced Jayatsena in the chest.Just at that time, Dushkarna who was near his brother. (Jayatsena)infuriate with anger, cut off Satanika’s bow and arrow. Then the mightySatanika taking up another excellent bow capable of bearing a greatstrain, aimed many sharp shafts. And addressing Dushkarna in the presenceof his brother (Jayatsena), saying–‘Wait’, ‘Wait’,–he sped at him thosesharp and blazing shafts resembling so many snakes. And then he speedilycut off Dushkarna’s bow with one arrow, and slew his charioteer, O sire,with two, and then pierced Dushkarna himself with seven arrows. And thatspotless warrior then with a dozen sharp shafts slew all the steeds ofDushkarna that were fleet as the mind and of variegated hue. And thenwith another broad-headed arrow, well-aimed and capable of coursingswiftly, Satanika, excited with great wrath deeply pierced Dushkarna inthe chest. And thereupon the latter fell down on the earth like a treestruck with lightning. Beholding Dushkarna slain, five mightycar-warriors, O king, surrounded Satanika on all sides, from desire ofslaying him. And they struck the renowned Satanika with showers ofarrows. Then the five Kekaya brothers, excited with wrath, approached(Satanika for rescuing him). Beholding the latter coming upon them, thysons–those mighty car-warriors,–rushed towards them like elephantsrushing against mighty elephants. (These amongst thy sons, viz.,)Durmukha and Durjaya and the youthful Durmarshana and Satranjaya andSatrusha, all renowned warriors, excited with rage, proceeded, O king,against the (five) Kekaya brothers. On their cars that resembled(fortified) towns, unto which were yoked steeds decked with ornaments,and which were graced with beautiful standards of variegated hue, thoseheroes wielding excellent bows and cased in beautiful coats of mail andowning excellent standards, entered the hostile army like lions enteringone forest from another. Smiting one another, fierce and terrific was thebattle that ensued between them and the foe, in which cars and elephantsgot entangled with one another. Cherishing feelings of hostility towardsone another, the terrible battle in which they took part lasted for ashort space of time about sunset, increasing the population of Yama’skingdom. And car-warriors and horsemen by thousands were strewn over thefield. And Bhishma the son of Santanu excited with wrath, began toslaughter the troops of the high-souled Pandavas with his straightshafts. And with his arrows he began to despatch the combatants of thePanchalas to the domains of Yama. And the grandsire, having thus brokenthe ranks of the Pandavas at last withdrew his troops and retired, Oking, to his encampment. And king Yudhishthira also, beholding bothDhrishtadyumna and Vrikodara, smelt their heads, and filled with joy,retired to his tents.”