Chapter 117

“Sanjaya said, Having the vanquished the Yavanas and the Kamvojas thatforemost of car-warriors, viz., Yuyudhana, proceeded towards Arjuna,right through the midst of thy troops. Like a hunter slaying deer, thattiger among men, (Satyaki), endued with beautiful teeth, clad inexcellent armour, and owning a beautiful standard, slew the Kauravatroops and inspired them with fear. Proceeding on his car, he shook hisbow with great force, that bow, the back of whose staff was decked withgold, whose toughness was great, and which was adorned with many goldenmoons. His arms decked with golden Angadas, his head-gear adorned withgold; his body clad in golden mail, his standard and bow also was soembellished with gold, that he shone like the summit of Meru. Himselfshedding such effulgence, and bearing that circular bow in his hand, helooked like a second sun in autumn, That bull among men, possessing theshoulders and the tread and eyes of a bull, looked in the midst of thytroops, like a bull in a cow-pen. Thy warriors approached him from desireof slaughter like a tiger approaching the leader, with rent temples, ofan elephant-herd, standing proudly in the midst of his herd, resemblingas he did and possessed as he was of the tread of an infuriated elephant.Indeed, after he had passed through Drona’s division, and the unfordabledivision of the Bhojas, after he had forded through the sea ofJalasandha’s troops as also the host of the Kamvojas, after he hadescaped the alligator constituted by Hridika’s son, after he hadtraversed those ocean-like host, many car-warriors of thy army, excitedwith wrath, surrounded Satyaki. And Duryodhana and Chitrasena andDuhsasana and Vivinsati, and Sakuni and Duhsaha, and the youthfulDurdharshana, and Kratha, and many other brave warriors well-conversantwith weapons and difficult of defeat, wrathfully followed Satyaki frombehind as he proceeded onwards. Then, O sire, loud was the uproar thatarose among thy troops, resembling that of the ocean itself at full tidewhen lashed into fury by the tempest. Beholding all those warriorsrushing at him, that bull among the Sinis smilingly addressed hischarioteer, saying, ‘Proceed slowly. The Dhartarashtra force, swelling(with rage and pride), and teeming with elephants and steeds and cars andfoot-soldiers, that is rushing with speed towards me, filling the tenpoints of the compass with deep roar of its cars, O charioteer, andcausing the earth, the welkin, and the very seas, to tremble,therewith,–this sea of troops, O driver, I will resist in great battle,like the continent resisting the ocean swelling to its utmost height atfull moon. Behold, O charioteer, my prowess which is equal to that ofIndra himself in great battle. I will consume this hostile force by meansof my whetted arrows. Behold these foot-soldiers and horsemen andcar-warriors, and elephants slain by me in thousands, their bodiespierced with my fiery arrows.’ While saying these words (unto hischarioteer), those combatants from desire of battle, speedily came beforeSatyaki of immeasurable prowess. They made a loud noise, saying as theycame, ‘Slay, Rush, Wait, See, See!’ Of those brave warriors that saidthese words, Satyaki, by means of his sharp arrows, slew three hundredhorsemen and four hundred elephants. The passage at arms between thoseunited bowmen (on the one side) and Satyaki (on the other) wasexceedingly fierce, resembling that between the gods and the Asuras (indays of old). An awful carnage set in. The grandson of Sini received withhis shafts resembling snakes of virulent poison that force, O sire, ofthy son which looked like a mass of clouds. Shrouding every side, in thatbattle with his arrowy downpours, that valiant hero, O monarch,fearlessly slew a large number of thy troops. Exceedingly wonderful, Oking, was the sight that I witnessed there, viz., that not an arrow even,O lord, of Satyaki failed in effect. That sea of troops, abounding incars and elephants and steeds, and full of waves constituted byfoot-soldiers, stood still as soon as it came in contact with the Satyakicontinent. That host consisting of panic-stricken combatants andelephants and steeds, slaughtered on all sides by Satyaki with his shaftsrepeatedly turned round, and wandered hither and thither as if afflictedwith the chilling blasts of winter. We saw not foot-soldiers orcar-warriors or elephants or horsemen or steeds that were not struck withYuyudhana’s arrows. Not even Phalguna, O king, had caused such a carnagethere as Satyaki, O monarch, then caused among those troops. That bullamong men, viz., the dauntless grandson of Sini, endued with greatlightness of hand and displaying the utmost skill, fighteth, surpassingArjuna himself. Then king Duryodhana pierced the charioteer of Satwatawith three keen shafts and his four steeds with four shafts. And hepierced Satyaki himself with three arrows and once again with eight. AndDuhsasana pierced that bull among the Sinis with sixteen arrows. AndSakuni pierced him with five and twenty arrows and Chitrasena with five.And Duhsasana pierced Satyaki in the chest with five and ten arrows. Thattiger amongst the Vrishnis then, thus struck with their arrows, proudlypierced every one of them, O monarch, with three arrows. Deeply piercingall his foes with shafts endued with great energy, the grandson of Sini,possessed of great activity and prowess, careered on the field with thecelerity of a hawk. Cutting off the bow of Suvala’s son and the leathernfence that cased his hand. Yuyudhana pierced Duryodhana in the centre ofthe chest with three shafts. And he pierced Chitrasena with a hundredarrows, and Duhsaha with ten. And that bull of Sini’s race then piercedDuhsasana with twenty arrows. Thy brother-in-law (Sakuni) then, O king,taking up another bow, pierced Satyaki with eight arrows and once morewith five. And Duhsasana pierced him with three. And Durmukha, O king,pierced Satyaki with a dozen shafts. And Duryodhana, having piercedMadhava with three and seventy arrows, then pierced his charioteer withthree keen shafts. Then Satyaki pierced each of those brave and mightycar-warriors vigorously contending in battle together with five shafts inreturn. Then the foremost of car-warriors, (viz., Yuyudhana) speedilystruck thy son’s charioteer with a broad-headed shaft; whereupon, thelatter deprived of life, fell down on the earth. Upon the fall of thecharioteer, O lord, thy son’s car was taken away from the battle by thesteeds yoked thereto, with the speed of the wind. Then thy sons, O king,and the other warriors, O monarch, setting their eyes, on the king’s carfled away in hundreds. Beholding that host fly away, O Bharata, Satyakicovered it with showers of keen shafts whetted on stone and equipped withwings of gold. Routing all thy combatants counting by thousands, Satyaki,O king, proceeded towards the car of Arjuna. Indeed, thy troopsworshipped Yuyudhana, beholding him shooting arrows and protecting hischarioteer and himself as he fought in battle.'”