Chapter 20

“Dhritarashtra said, ‘Thou didst mention to me before the name of Pandya,that hero of world-wide celebrity, but his feats, O Sanjaya, in battlehave never been narrated by thee. Tell me today in detail of the prowessof that great hero, his skill, spirit, and energy, the measure of hismight, and his pride.’

“Sanjaya said, ‘Bhishma and Drona and Kripa and Drona’s son and Karna andArjuna and Janardana, those thorough masters of the science of weapons,are regarded by thee as the foremost of car-warriors. Know, however, thatPandya regarded himself superior to all these foremost of car-warriors inenergy. Indeed he never regarded any one amongst the kings as equal tohimself. He never admitted his equality with Karna and Bhishma. Nor didhe admit within his heart that he was inferior in any respect to Vasudevaor Arjuna. Even such was Pandya, that foremost of kings, that first ofwielder of weapons. Filled with rage like the Destroyer himself, Pandyaat the time was slaughtering the army of Karna. That force, swelling withcars and steeds and teeming with foremost of foot-soldiers, struck byPandya, began to turn round like the potter’s wheel. Like the winddispersing a mass of congregated clouds, Pandya, with his well shotarrows, began to disperse that force, destroying its steeds and driversand standards and cars and causing its weapons and elephants to falldown. Like the splitter of mountains striking down mountains with histhunder, Pandya overthrew elephants with their riders, having previouslycut down the standards and banners and weapons with which they werearmed, as also the foot-soldiers that protected those beasts. And he cutdown horses, and horsemen with their darts and lances and quivers.Mangling with his shafts the Pulindas, the Khasas, the Bahlikas, theNishadas, the Andhakas, the Tanganas, the Southerners, and the Bhojas,all of whom, endued with great courage, were unyielding and obstinate inbattle, and divesting them of their weapons and coats of mail, Pandyadeprived them of their lives. Beholding Pandya destroying with his shaftsin battle that host consisting of four kinds of forces, the son of Dronafearlessly proceeded towards that fearless warrior. Fearlessly addressingin sweet words that warrior who then seemed to dance on his car, Drona’sson, that foremost of smiters, smiling the while, summoned him and said,”O king, O thou with eyes like the petals of the lotus, thy birth isnoble and learning great. Of celebrated might and prowess, thouresemblest Indra himself. Stretching with thy two massive arms the bowheld by thee and whose large string is attached to thy grasp, thoulookest beautiful like a mass of congregated clouds as thou pourest overthy foes thick showers of impetuous shafts. I do not see anybody savemyself that can be a match for thee in battle. Alone thou crushestnumerous cars and elephants and foot-soldiers and steeds, like thefearless lion of terrible might crushing herds of deer in the forest.Making the welkin and the Earth resound with the loud clatter of thycar-wheels thou lookest resplendent, O king, like a crop-destroyingautumnal cloud of loud roars. Taking out of thy quiver and shooting thykeen shafts resembling snakes of virulent poison fight with myself only,like (the asura) Andhaka fighting with the three-eyed deity.” Thusaddressed, Pandya answered, “So be it.” Then Drona’s son, telling him”Strike,” assailed him with vigour. In return, Malayadhwaja pierced theson of Drona with a barbed arrow. Then Drona’s son, that best ofpreceptors, smiling the while, struck Pandya with some fierce arrows,capable of penetrating into the very vitals and resembling flames offire. Then Ashvatthama once more sped at his foe some other large arrowsequipped with keen points and capable of piercing the very vitals,causing them to course through the welkin with the ten different kinds ofmotion. Pandya, however, with nine shafts of his cut off all those arrowsof his antagonist. With four other shafts he afflicted the four steeds ofhis foe, at which they speedily expired. Having then, with his sharpshafts, cut off the arrows of Drona’s son, Pandya then cut off thestretched bow-string of Ashvatthama, endued with the splendour of thesun. Then Drona’s son, that slayer of foes, stringing his unstringed bow,and seeing that his men had meanwhile speedily yoked other excellentsteeds unto his car, sped thousands of arrows (at his foe). By this, thatregenerate one filled the entire welkin and the ten points of the compasswith his arrows. Although knowing that those shafts of the high-souledson of Drona employed in shooting were really inexhaustible, yet Pandya,that bull among men, cut them all into pieces. The antagonist ofAshvatthama, carefully cutting off all those shafts shot by the latter,then slew with his own keen shafts the two protectors of the latter’s carwheels in that encounter. Beholding the lightness of hand displayed byhis foe, Drona’s son, drawing his bow to a circle, began to shoot hisarrows like a mass of clouds pouring torrents of rain. During that spaceof time, O sire, which consisted only of the eighth part of a day, theson of Drona shot as many arrows as were carried on eight carts eachdrawn by eight bullocks. Almost all those men that then beheldAshvatthama, who at the time looked like the Destroyer himself filledwith rage, or rather the Destroyer of the Destroyer, lost their senses.Like a mass of clouds at the close of summer drenching with torrents ofrain, the Earth with her mountains and trees, the preceptor’s son pouredon that hostile force his arrowy shower. Baffling with the Vayavya weaponthat unbearable shower of arrows shot by the Ashvatthama-cloud, thePandya-wind, filled with joy, uttered loud roars. Then Drona’s soncutting off the standard, smeared with sandal-paste and other perfumedunguents and bearing the device of the Malaya mountain on it, of theroaring Pandya, slew the four steeds of the latter. Slaying then hisfoe’s driver with a single shaft, and cutting off with a crescent-shapedarrow the bow also of that warrior whose twang resembled the roar of theclouds, Ashvatthama cut off his enemy’s car into minute fragments.Checking with the weapons those of his enemy, and cutting off all theweapons of the latter, Drona’s son, although he obtained the opportunityto do his enemy the crowning evil, still slew him not, from desire ofbattling with him for some time more. Meanwhile Karna rushed against thelarge elephant force of the Pandavas and began to rout and destroy it.Depriving car-warriors of their cars, he struck elephants and steeds andhuman warriors, O Bharata, with innumerable straight shafts. That mightybowman, the son of Drona, although he had made Pandya, that slayer offoes and foremost of car-warriors, carless, yet he did not slay him fromdesire of fight. At that time a huge riderless elephant with large tusks,well-equipped with all utensils of war, treading with speed, endued withgreat might, quick to proceed against any enemy, struck withAshvatthama’s shafts, advanced towards the direction of Pandya with greatimpetuosity, roaring against a hostile compeer. Beholding that prince ofelephants, looking like a cloven mountain summit, Pandya, who was wellacquainted with the method of fighting from the neck of an elephant,quickly ascended that beast like a lion springing with a loud roar to thetop of a mountain summit. Then that lord of the prince of mountains,striking the elephant with the hook, and inspired with rage, and withthat cool care for which he was distinguished in hurling weapons withgreat force, quickly sped a lance, bright as Surya’s rays, at thepreceptor’s son and uttered a loud shout. Repeatedly shouting in joy,”Thou art slain, Thou art slain!” Pandya (with that lance) crushed topieces the diadem of Drona’s son adorned with foremost of jewels anddiamonds of the first water and the very best kind of gold and excellentcloth and strings of pearls. That diadem possessed of the splendour ofthe Sun, the Moon, the planets, or the fire, in consequence of theviolence of the stroke, fell down, split into fragments, like a mountainsummit riven by Indra’s thunder, falling down on the Earth with greatnoise. At this, Ashvatthama blazed up with exceeding rage like a princeof snakes struck with the foot, and took up four and ten shafts capableof inflicting great pain upon foes and each resembling the Destroyer’srod. With five of those shafts he cut off the four feet and the trunk ofhis adversary’s elephant, and with three the two arms and the head of theking, and with six he slew the six mighty car-warriors, endued with greateffulgence, that followed king Pandya. Those long and well-rounded armsof the king, smeared with excellent sandal-paste, and adorned with goldand pearls and gems and diamonds falling upon the Earth, began to writhelike a couple of snakes slain by Garuda. That head also, graced with aface bright as the full Moon, having a prominent nose and a pair of largeeyes, red as copper with rage, adorned with earrings, falling on theground, looked resplendent like the Moon himself between two brightconstellations. The elephant, thus cut off by that skilful warrior intosix pieces with those five shafts and the king into four pieces withthose three shafts lay divided in all into ten pieces that looked likethe sacrificial butter distributed into ten portions intended for the tendeities. Having cut off numerous steeds and men and elephants into piecesand offered them as food into the Rakshasas, king Pandya was thus quietedby Drona’s son with his shafts like a blazing fire in a crematorium,extinguished with water after it has received a libation in the shape ofa lifeless body. Then like the chief of the celestials joyfullyworshipping Vishnu after the subjugation of the Asura Vali, thy son, theking, accompanied by his brothers approaching the preceptor’s sonworshipped with great respect that warrior who is a complete master ofthe science of arms, after indeed, he had completed the task he hadundertaken.”