Chapter 82

Sanjaya said, “O chief of the Bharatas, Ganga’s son, once more addressingthy son who was plunged in thought, told him these delightful words,’Myself and Drona and Salya and Kritavarman of Satwata’s race, andAswatthaman and Vikarna and Bhagadatta and Suvala’s son and Vinda andAnuvinda of Avanti, and Valhika with the Valhikas,[410] and the mightyking of the Trigartas and the invincible ruler of the Magadhas,Vrihadvala the king of the Kosalas, and Chitrasena and Vivingsati andmany thousands of car-warriors graced with tall standards, a large numberof country-born steeds well-mounted with excellent horse-soldiers andmany infuriate elephants of large size with temporal juice issuing fromtheir mouths and cheeks, and many brave foot-soldiers armed with diverseweapons and born in diverse realms, are all prepared to do battle for thysake.[411] These, and many others ready for thy sake to lay down theirlives, are, as I think, competent to vanquish the very gods in battle. Ishould, however, always tell thee, O king, what is for thy good. ThePandavas are incapable of being vanquished by the very gods with Vasava.They have Vasudeva for their ally and are equal to Mahendra himself inprowess. As regards myself, I shall, however, always do thy bidding.Either I shall vanquish the Pandavas in battle or they will vanquish me.Having said these words, the grandsire gave him an excellent herb ofgreat efficacy for healing his wounds. And therewith thy son was cured ofhis wounds. Then at dawn when the sky was clear, the valiant Bhishma,that foremost of men well-versed in all kinds of array, himself disposedhis troops in that array called Mandala bristling with weapons. And itabounded with foremost of warriors and with tuskers and foot-soldiers.And it was surrounded on all sides with many thousands of cars, and withlarge bodies of horsemen armed with swords and lances. Near unto everyelephant were placed seven cars, and near unto every car were placedseven horsemen. And behind every horseman were placed seven bowmen, andbehind every bowman were seven combatants with shields. And thus, O king,thy army, arrayed by mighty car-warriors, stood for fierce battle,protected by Bhishma. And ten thousand horses, and as many elephants, andten thousand cars, and thy sons, all equipped in mail, viz., the heroicChitrasena and others, protected the grandsire. And it was seen thatBhishma was protected by those brave warriors, and those princesthemselves of great strength, accoutred in mail, were (in their turn)protected by him. And Duryodhana accoutred in mail sat upon his car onthe field, and possessed of every grace, looked resplendent like Sakrahimself in heaven. Then, O Bharata, loud were the shouts uttered by thysons and deafening the clatter of cars and the uproar of musicalinstruments. That mighty and impenetrable array of those slayer of foes,viz., the Dhartarashtras (in the form called) Mandala, (thus) arrayed byBhishma, began to proceed, facing the west. Incapable of being defeatedby enemies, it looked beautiful in every point. Beholding then the arraycalled Mandala that was exceedingly fierce, king Yudhishthira himselfdisposed his troops in the array called Vajra. And when the divisionswere thus arrayed, car-warriors and horsemen, stationed in their properplaces, uttered leonine shouts. Accompanied by their respective forces,the brave warriors of both armies, well versed in smiting, and longingfor battle, proceeded, desirous of breaking each other’s array. AndBharadwaja’s son proceeded against the king of the Matsyas, and his son(Aswatthaman) against Sikhandin. And king Duryodhana himself rushedagainst the son of Prishata. And Nakula and Sahadeva went forth againstthe king of the Madras. And Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti proceededagainst Iravat. And many kings together battled with Dhananjaya. AndBhimasena, exerting himself well, opposed the son of Hridika in battle.And possessed of great prowess, (Abhimanyu) the son of Arjuna, fought inbattle, O king, against the sons Chitrasena and Vikarna, and Durmarshana.And Hidimva’s son, that prince of the Rakshasas, rushed against thatmighty bowman, the ruler of the Pragjyotishas, like one infuriateelephant against another. And the Rakshasa Alamvusha, O king, excitedwith wrath, rushed in battle against the invincible Satyaki in the midstof his followers. And Bhurisravas, exerting himself greatly, foughtagainst Dhrishtaketu. And Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma, proceededagainst king Srutayush. And Chekitana in that battle fought againstKripa. And others (among the Kuru warriors), exerting themselvespowerfully, proceeded against that mighty car-warrior Bhima. Andthousands of (other) kings surrounded Dhananjaya, with darts, lances,arrows, maces, and spiked clubs in their hands. Then Arjuna, excited withgreat wrath, addressing him of Vrishni’s race, said, ‘Behold, O Madhava,the Dhartarashtra troops in battle, arrayed by the high-souled son ofGanga, acquainted with every kind of array. Behold, O Madhava, thosebrave warriors, countless in number, and desirous of battle (with me).Behold, O Kesava, the ruler of the Trigartas with his brothers.[412] Thisvery day I shall slay them all, O Janardana, before thy eyes,–them, thatis, O foremost of the Yadus, who, longing for battle (with me), are onthe field.’ Having said these words, the son of Kunti, rubbing hisbowstring, showered his arrows on that multitude of kings. And thosegreat bowmen also, poured on him thick showers of arrows, like cloudsthat fill a lake with torrents of rain in the rainy season. And loudshouts were heard in thy army, O monarch, when in that great battle thetwo Krishnas were seen covered with thick showers of arrows. And thegods, the celestial Rishis, and the Gandharvas with the Uragas, beholdingthe two Krishnas in that state, were filled with great wonder. ThenArjuna, O king, excited with wrath, invoked the Aindra weapon. And thenthe prowess we beheld of Vijaya seemed to be highly wonderful insomuchthat those showers of weapons shot by his foes were checked by hismyriads of arrows. And there among those thousands of kings and steedsand elephants, was none, O king, that was not wounded. And others, Osire, the son of Pritha pierced, each with two or three arrows. And whilebeing thus struck by Pritha, they sought the protection of Bhishma, theson of Santanu. But Bhishma then became the rescuer of those warriors whowere like men sinking in the fathomless deep. And in consequence of thosewarriors thus flying away and mixing with thy troops, thy broken ranks, Oking, were agitated like the vast deep with a tempest.”