Chapter 81

Sanjaya said, “Then those heroes, O king, who cherished feelings ofhostility towards one another, retired to their tents, their personscovered with blood. Having rested for a while agreeably to rule, andpraising one another (for the feats of the day), they were again seenclad in mail, desirous of battle. Then thy son, O king, overwhelmed withanxiety and covered with blood trickling down (from his wounds), askedthe grandsire, saying.[406] ‘Our troops are fierce and terrible and carryinnumerable standards. They are, again, arrayed properly. Yet the braveand mighty car-warriors of the Pandavas, having penetrated (into ourarray) and afflicted and slaughtered (our troops), escaped unhurt.[407]Confounding us all, they have won great fame in battle. Bhima again,having penetrated into our Makara array which was strong as thethunder-bolt, afflicted me with his terrible shafts each resembling therod of Death. Beholding him excited with wrath, O king, I was deprived ofmy senses. Even now I cannot regain my peace of mind. Through thy grace,O thou that art firm in truth, I desire to obtain victory and slay thesons of Pandu.’ Thus addressed by him, the high-souled son of Ganga, thatforemost of all wielders of weapons, endued with great mental energy,understanding that Duryodhana was possessed by grief replied unto him,laughing the while though cheerless, saying,[408] ‘Penetrating into(their) army with the utmost exertions and with my whole soul, O prince,I wish to give thee victory and joy. For thy sake I do not at alldissemble. They that have become the allies of the Pandavas in thisbattle are fierce and numerous. Mighty car-warriors of great renown, theyare exceedingly brave and accomplished in arms. Incapable of beingfatigued, they vomit forth their wrath. Cherishing feelings of animositytowards thee, and swelling with prowess, they are not capable of beingdefeated easily. I will, however, O king, contend against those heroeswith my whole soul and throwing away my very life. For thy sake, inbattle, O thou of great glory, my life itself shall today be recklesslyexposed. For thy sake I would consume all the worlds with the celestialsand the Daityas, let alone thy foes here. I will, O king, fight withthose Pandavas, and do all that is agreeable to thee. Hearing thesewords, Duryodhana became inspired with great confidence and his heart wasfilled with delight. And cheerfully he ordered all the troops, and allthe kings, (in his army) saying, Advance. And at that command, O king,his army consisting of cars, steeds, foot-soldiers, and elephants, beganto advance. And that large force. O king, armed with diverse kinds ofweapons, was exceedingly cheerful. And that army of thine, O monarch,consisting of elephants, steeds, and foot-soldiers, on the field ofbattle, looked exceedingly beautiful. And huge tuskers, stationed inlarge bodies, and skilfully urged, looked resplendent on the field allaround. And many royal combatants accomplished in diverse weapons wereseen in the midst of thy troops. And the dust, red as the morning sun,raised by those cars and foot-soldiers and elephants and steeds in largebodies as they were duly moved over the field, looked beautiful,shrouding the rays of the sun. And the many-coloured banners stationed oncars and elephants, waving in the air and moving along the welkin, lookedbeautiful like flashes of lightning amid the clouds. And loud and fiercewas the uproar made by the twang of the bows stretched by the kings,resembling the roar of the ocean while churned in the Krita age by thegods and the great Asuras. And that army of thy sons, looking so proud,consisting of (combatants of) diverse hues and shapes, shouting sofiercely, and capable of slaying hostile warriors, then looked like thosemasses of clouds that appear at the end of the Yuga.[409]'”