Chapter 17

“Sanjaya said, ‘Then occurred that battle between Arjuna and Ashvatthamaresembling the planets Shukra and Brihaspati in splendour, like thebattle between Shukra and Brihaspati in the firmament for entering thesame constellation. Afflicting each other with blazing shafts thatconstituted their rays, those terrifiers of the world stood like twoplanets both deviating from their orbits. Then Arjuna deeply piercedAshvatthama with a shaft in the midst of his eyebrows. With that shaftthe son of Drona looked resplendent like the Sun with upward rays. Thetwo Krishnas (Nara and Narayana), also deeply afflicted by Ashvatthamawith hundreds of arrows, looked like two Suns at the end of the Yuga,resplendent with their own rays. Then when Vasudeva seemed to bestupefied, Arjuna shot a weapon from which issued torrents of shafts onall sides. And he struck the son of Drona with innumerable shafts, eachresembling the thunder or fire or the sceptre of Death. Endued withmighty energy, that achiever of fierce feats, (Ashvatthama) then piercedboth Keshava and Arjuna with well-shot shafts which were inspired withgreat impetuosity and struck with which Death himself would feel pain.Checking the shafts of Drona’s son, Arjuna covered him with twice as manyarrows equipped with goodly wings, and shrouding that foremost of heroesand his steeds and driver and standard, began to strike the samsaptakas.With his well-shot shafts Partha began to cut off the bows and quiversand bowstrings and hands and arms and tightly grasped weapons andumbrellas and standards and steeds and car shafts and robes and floralgarlands and ornaments and coats of mail and handsome shields andbeautiful heads, in large numbers, of his unretreating foes.Well-equipped cars and steeds and elephants, ridden by heroes fightingwith great care, were destroyed by the hundreds of shafts sped by Parthaand fell down along with the heroes that rode on them. Cut off withbroad-headed and crescent-shaped and razor-faced arrows, human heads,resembling the lotus, the Sun, or the full Moon in beauty and resplendentwith diadems and necklaces and crowns, dropped ceaselessly on the earth.Then the Kalinga, the Vanga, and the Nishada heroes, riding on elephants,that resembled in splendour the elephant of the great foe of the daityas,rushed with speed against the queller of the pride of the danavas, theson of Pandu, from desire of slaying him. Partha cut off the vital limbs,the trunks, the riders, the standards, and the banners of thoseelephants, upon which those beasts fell down like mountain summits rivenwith thunder. When that elephant force was broken, the diadem-deckedArjuna shrouded the son of his preceptor with shafts endued with thesplendour of the newly risen Sun, like the wind shrouding the risen Sunwith masses of congregated clouds. Checking with his own shafts those ofArjuna, Drona’s son shrouding both Arjuna and Vasudeva with his arrows,gave a loud roar, like a mass of clouds at the close of summer aftershrouding the Sun or the Moon in the firmament. Deeply afflicted withthose arrows, Arjuna, aiming his weapons at Ashvatthama and at thosefollowers of his belonging to the army, speedily dispelled that darknesscaused by Ashvatthama’s arrows, and pierced all of them with shaftsequipped with goodly wings. In that battle none could see when Savyasacitook up his shafts, when he aimed them, and when he let them off. Allthat could be seen was that elephants and steeds and foot-soldiers andcar-warriors, struck with his arrows, fell down deprived of life. ThenDrona’s son without losing a moment, aiming ten foremost of arrows, spedthem quickly as if they formed only one arrow. Shot with great force,five of these pierced Arjuna and the other five pierced Vasudeva. Struckwith those arrows, those two foremost of men, like Kuvera and Indra,became bathed in blood. Thus afflicted, all the people there regardedthose two heroes as slain by Ashvatthama the warrior who had completelymastered the science of arms. Then the chief of the Dasharhas addressedArjuna and said, “Why errest thou in thus sparing Ashvatthama? Slay thiswarrior. If treated with indifference, even this one will be the cause ofgreat woe, like a disease not sought to be put down by treatment.”Replying unto Keshava of unfading glory with the words “So be it!” Arjunaof unclouded understanding began with good care to mangle the son ofDrona with his shafts. Now the son of Pandu, filled with rage, quicklypierced the massive arms, smeared with sandal-paste, and the chest, thehead, and the unrivalled thighs of his antagonist with shafts equippedwith heads like goats’ ears, and shot with great force from gandiva. Thencutting off the traces of Ashvatthama’s steeds, Arjuna began to piercethe steeds themselves, whereat the latter bore Ashvatthama away to agreat distance from the field. Thus borne away by these steeds enduedwith the speed of the wind, the intelligent son of Drona, deeplyafflicted with the shafts of Partha, reflecting for some time, wished notto go back and renew the fight with Partha. Knowing that victory is everwith the chief of the Vrishnis and with Dhananjaya, that foremost one ofAngirasa’s race, endued with great activity, entered the army of Karna,deprived of hope and with shafts and weapons almost exhausted. Indeed,Drona’s son, restraining his steeds, and having comforted himself alittle, O sire, entered the force of Karna, teeming with cars and steedsand men. After Ashvatthama, that enemy of theirs, had been thus removedfrom the field by his steeds like a disease removed from the body byincantations and medicines and means, Keshava and Arjuna proceededtowards the samsaptakas, on their car whose rattle resembled the roar ofthe clouds and whose banner waved on the wind.'”