Chapter 13

“Sanjaya said, ‘After Drona had promised the kings seizure under thoselimitations, thy troops hearing of (that promise about) Yudhishthira’scapture, uttered many leonine shouts, mingling them with the whiz oftheir arrows and the blare of their conchs. King Yudhishthira the just,however, O Bharata, soon learnt in detail, through his spies, everythingabout the purpose upon which Bharadwaja’s son was intent. Then bringingtogether all his brothers and all the other kings of his army, kingYudhishthira the just addressed Dhananjaya, saying, ‘Thou hast heard, Otiger among men, about the intention of Drona. Let such measures,therefore, be adopted as may prevent the accomplishment of that purpose.It is true, Drona, that grinder of foes, hath vowed his pledge, subjectto limitations, however, O great bowman, rest on thee. Fight thou,therefore, today, O thou of mighty arms, in my vicinity, so thatDuryodhana may not obtain from Drona the fruition of his desire.’

“Arjuna said, ‘As the slaughter of my preceptor can never be accomplishedby me, so, king, I can never consent to give thee up. O son of Pandu, Iwould rather yield up my life in battle than fight against my preceptor.This son of Dhritarashtra desireth sovereignty, having seized thee as acaptive in battle. In this world he will never obtain the fruition ofthat desire of his. The firmament itself with its stars may fall down,the Earth herself may split into fragments, yet Drona will, surely, neversucceed in seizing thee as long as I am alive. If the wielder of thethunderbolt himself, or Vishnu at the head of the gods, assist him inbattle, still he shall not succeed in seizing thee on the field. As longas I am alive, O great king, it behoveth thee not to entertain any fearof Drona, although he is the foremost of all wielders of weapons. Ifurther say unto thee. O monarch, that my promise never remainsunfulfilled. I do not recollect having ever spoken any untruth. I do notrecollect having ever been vanquished. I do not recollect having ever,after making a vow, left the least part of it unfulfilled.

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Then, O king, conchs and drums and cymbals andsmaller drums were sounded and beaten in the Pandava camp. And thehigh-souled Pandavas uttered many leonine shouts. These and the awfultwang of their bow-strings and the slaps of palms reached the veryheaven. Hearing that loud blare of conchs that arose from the camp of themighty sons of Pandu, diverse instruments were sounded amongst thydivisions also. Then thy divisions as also those of theirs were arrayedin order of battle. And slowly they advanced against each other fromdesire of battle. Then commenced a battle, that was fierce and that madethe hairs stand on their ends, between the Pandavas and the Kurus, andDrona and the Panchalas. The Srinjayas, though struggling vigorously,were unable to beat in battle the host of Drona as it was protected byDrona himself. And so also the mighty car-warriors of thy son, skilled insmiting, could not beat the Pandava host, as it was protected by theDiadem-decked (Arjuna). Protected by Drona and Arjuna, both the hostsseemed to stand inactive like two blossoming forests in the silence ofthe night. Then he, of the golden car, (viz., Drona) like the Sun himselfof great splendour, crushing the ranks of the Pandavas, careered throughthem at will. And the Pandavas, and the Srinjayas, through fear, regardedthat single warrior of great activity upon his quickly-moving car as ifmultiplied into many. Shot by him, terrible shafts coursed in alldirections, frightening, O king, the army of Pandu’s son. Indeed, Dronathen seemed as the Sun himself at mid-day covered by a hundred rays oflight. And as the Danavas were unable to look at Indra, so there was notone amongst the Pandavas, who. O monarch, was able to look at the angryson of Bharadwaja in that battle. The valiant son of Bharadwaja then,having confound the (hostile) troops, speedily began to consume thedivision of Dhrishtadyumna by means of sharp shafts. And covering andobstructing all the points of the compass by means of his straightshafts, he began to crush the Pandava force even there, where Prishata’sson was.'”