Chapter 22

“Sanjaya said, ‘Many elephant-warriors riding on their beasts, urged bythy son, proceeded against Dhrishtadyumna, filled with rage and desirousof compassing his destruction.Many foremost of combatants skilled inelephant-fight, belonging to the Easterners, the Southerners, the Angas,the Vangas, the Pundras, the Magadhas, the Tamraliptakas, the Mekalas,the Koshalas, the Madras, the Dasharnas, the Nishadas uniting with theKalingas, O Bharata, and showering shafts and lances and arrows likepouring clouds, drenched the Pancala force therewith in that battle.Prishata’s son covered with his arrows and shafts those (foe-crushing)elephants urged forward by their riders with heels and toes and hooks.Each of those beasts that were huge as hills, the Pancala hero piercedwith ten, eight, or six whetted shafts, O Bharata. Beholding the princeof the Pancalas shrouded by those elephants like the Sun by the clouds,the Pandus and the Pancalas proceeded towards him (for his rescue)uttering loud roars and armed with sharp weapons. Pouring their weaponsupon those elephants, those warriors began to dance the dance of heroes,aided by the music of their bow-strings and the sound of their palms, andurged by heroes beating the time. Then Nakula and Sahadeva, and the sonsof Draupadi, and the Prabhadrakas, and Satyaki, and Shikhandi, andChekitana endued with great energy,–all those heroes–drenched thoseelephants from every side with their weapons, like the clouds drenchingthe hills with their showers. Those furious elephants, urged on bymleccha warriors dragging down with their trunks men and steeds and cars,crushed them with their feet. And some they pierced with the points oftheir tusks, and some they raised aloft and dashed down on the ground;others taken aloft on the tusks of those huge beasts, fell down inspiringspectators with fear. Then Satyaki, piercing the vitals of the elephantbelonging to the king of the Vangas staying before him, with a long shaftendued with great impetuosity, caused it to fall down on the field ofbattle. Then Satyaki pierced with another long shaft the chest of therider whom he could not hitherto touch, just as the latter was about tojump from the back of his beast. Thus struck by Satwata, he fell down onthe Earth.

“‘Meanwhile Sahadeva, with three shafts shot with great care, struck theelephant of Pundra, as it advanced against him like a moving mountain,depriving it of its standard and driver and armour and life. Having thuscut off that elephant, Sahadeva proceeded against the chief of the Angas.

“‘Nakula, however, causing Sahadeva to desist, himself afflicted theruler of the Angas with three long shafts, each resembling the rod ofYama, and his foe’s elephant with a hundred arrows. Then the ruler of theAngas hurled at Nakula eight hundred lances bright as the rays of theSun. Each of these Nakula cut off into three fragments. The son of Panduthen cut off the head of his antagonist with a crescent-shaped arrow. Atthis that mleccha king, deprived of life, fell down with the animal herode. Upon the fall of the prince of the Angas who was well-skilled inelephant-lore, the elephant-men of the Angas, filled with rage, proceededwith speed against Nakula, on their elephants decked with banners thatwaved in the air, possessing excellent mouths, adorned with housings ofgold, and looking like blazing mountains, from desire of crushing him topieces. And many Mekalas and Utkalas, and Kalingas, and Nishadas, andTamraliptakas, also advanced against Nakula, showering their shafts andlances, desirous of slaying him. Then the Pandus, the Pancalas, and theSomakas, filled with rage, rushed with speed for the rescue of Nakulashrouded by those warriors like the Sun by the clouds. Then occurred afierce battle between those car-warriors and elephant-men, the formershowering their arrows and shafts the latter their lances by thousands.The frontal globes and other limbs and the tusks and adornments of theelephants, exceedingly pierced with shafts, were split and mangled. ThenSahadeva, with four and sixty impetuous arrows, quickly slew eight ofthose huge elephants which fell down with their riders. And Nakula also,that delighter of his race, bending his excellent bow with great vigour,with many straight shafts, slew many elephants. Then the Pancala prince,and the grandson of Sini (Satyaki) and the sons of Draupadi and thePrabhadrakas, and Shikhandi, drenched those huge elephants with showersof shafts. Then in consequence of those rain-charged clouds constitutedby the Pandava warriors, those hills constituted by the elephants of thefoe, fell, struck down by torrents of rain formed by their numerousshafts, like real mountains struck down with a thunder-storm. Thoseleaders of the Pandava car-warriors then, thus slaying those elephants ofthine cast their eyes on the hostile army, which, as it fled away at thattime resembled a river whose continents had been washed away. Thosewarriors of Pandu’s son, having thus agitated that army of thine,agitated it once more, and then rushed against Karna.'”