Chapter 11

“Dhritarashtra said, ‘After having obtained the command of the army, andafter he had been addressed by the king himself in those sweet andbrotherly words, and after he had ordered the troops to be arrayed at thehour of sunrise, tell me, O Sanjaya, what did Vikartana’s son Karna do?’

“Sanjaya said, ‘Having learnt Karna’s wishes, thy sons, O bull ofBharata’s race, ordered the troops to be arrayed with joyful music. Whileit still wanted a long period for the coming of the dawn, a loud noise of”Array, Array!” O king, suddenly arose among thy troops. And the uproarthat arose, became tremendous and touched the very heavens, of foremostof elephants and fenced cars while under process of equipment, offoot-soldiers and steeds, O monarch, while putting on their armour or incourse of being harnessed, and of combatants moving with activity andshouting unto one another! Then the Suta’s son bearing a gold-backed bowappeared (on the field) in his car possessed of the splendour of theradiant Sun, crowned with many banners, equipped with a white standard,with steeds of the hue of cranes, bearing the device of the elephants’rope, filled with a hundred quivers, furnished with mace and woodenfence, freighted with shataghnis and rows of bells and darts and lancesand spears, and supplied with many bows. And the Suta’s son appeared onthe field, blowing his conch, O king; decorated with a net-work of gold,and shaking his formidable bow adorned with pure gold. Beholding themighty bowman Karna, that foremost of car-warriors, seated on his car,difficult of approach and resembling the risen Sun that destroys thegloom, none amongst the Kauravas, O tiger among men, recked, O sire, theloss of Bhishma or Drona or other men! Speeding the warriors, O sire,with the blasts of his conch, Karna caused the vast army of the Kauravasto be drawn out. Having arrayed the troops in the makara array, thatmighty bowman, that scorcher of foes, viz., Karna, proceeded against thePandavas from desire of victory. In the tip of the beak of that makara, Oking, was stationed Karna himself. In the two eyes were the brave Shakuniand the mighty car-warrior Uluka. In the head was Drona’s son and in theneck were all the uterine brothers. In the middle was king Duryodhanasupported by a large force. In the left foot, O monarch, was stationedKritavarma accompanied by the Narayana troops, and those invinciblewarriors, the gopalas. In the right foot, O king, was Gotama’s son ofprowess incapable of being baffled, surrounded by those mighty bowmenviz., the Trigartas and by the Southerners. In the left hind-foot wasstationed Shalya with a large force raised in the country of Madras. Inthe right (hind-foot), O monarch, was Sushena of true vows, surrounded bya 1,000 cars and 300 elephants. In the tail were the two royal brothersof mighty energy, viz., Citra and Citrasena surrounded by a large force.

“‘When, O great king, that foremost of men, Karna, thus came out, kingYudhishthira the just, casting his eyes on Arjuna, said these words:”Behold, O Partha, how the Dhartarashtra force, O hero, in this battle,protected by heroes and mighty car-warriors, hath been arrayed by Karna!This vast Dhartarashtra force hath lost its bravest warriors. They thatremain, O mighty-armed one, are feeble, equal, as I think, to straw! Onlyone great bowman, viz., the Suta’s son, shineth in it! That foremost ofcar-warriors is incapable of being vanquished by the three worlds withtheir mobile and immobile creatures, including the gods, Asuras andGandharvas, and the Kinnaras and great serpents! If thou slayest himtoday, O mighty-armed one, the victory will be thine, O Phalguna! Thethorn also which for twelve years hath been planted in my heart will thenbe plucked out! Knowing this, O thou of mighty arms, form thou the arraythat thou wishest!” Hearing those words of his brother, that Pandava ofthe white steeds disposed his army in counter array after the form of thehalf moon. On the left side was stationed Bhimasena, and on the right wasstationed the great bowman Dhrishtadyumna. In the middle of the arraywere the king and Dhananjaya the son of Pandu. Nakula and Sahadeva wereat the rear of king Yudhishthira the just. The two Pancala princes,Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja, became the protectors of (Arjuna’s) car wheels.Protected by the diadem-decked Arjuna himself, they did not quit Arjunafor a moment. The remaining kings, possessed of great courage, clad inmail, stood in the array, each in the position assigned to him, accordingto the measure of his enthusiasm and resolution, O Bharata. Having thusformed their great array, O Bharata, the Pandavas, and the mighty bowmenof thy army set their hearts on battle. Beholding thy army disposed intobattle array by the Suta’s son in battle Duryodhana with all his brethrenregarded the Pandavas to be already slain. Similarly Yudhishthira, Oking, beholding the Pandava army disposed in array, regarded theDhartarashtras with Karna to be already slain. Then conches, andkettle-drums, and tabours, and large drums, and cymbals, and Dindimas,and Jharjharas, were loudly blown and beaten on all sides! Indeed, thoseloud-sounding instruments were blown and beaten, O king, among both thearmies. Leonine roars also arose, uttered by brave warriors for victory.And there also arose, O king, the noise of neighing steeds and gruntingelephants, and the fierce clatter of car-wheels. None, O Bharata, (in theKaurava army), at that time, felt the loss of Drona, seeing the greatbowman Karna clad in mail and stationed at the head of the array. Botharmies, O monarch, teeming with joyous men, stood, eager for battle and(ready) to destroy each other without delay. There, the two heroes, viz.,Karna and the son of Pandu, excited with wrath at sight of each other,and both firmly resolved, stood or careered, O king, through theirrespective divisions. The two armies, as they advanced to meet eachother, seemed to dance (in joy). From the wings and the side-wings ofboth, warriors desirous of battle came forth. Then commenced the battle,O monarch, of men, elephants, steeds, and cars, engaged in destroying oneanother.'”