Chapter 51

“Dhritarashtra said, ‘Exceedingly difficult of accomplishment was thatfeat, O Sanjaya, which was achieved by Bhima who caused the mighty-armedKarna himself to measure his length on the terrace of his car. There isonly one person, Karna, who will slay the Pandavas along with theSrinjayas–even this is what Duryodhana, O Suta, used very often to sayunto me. Beholding, however, that son of Radha now defeated by Bhima inbattle, what did my son Duryodhana next do?’

“Sanjaya said, ‘Beholding Radha’s son of the Suta caste turned back fromthe fight in that great battle, thy son, O monarch, addressed his uterinebrothers, saying, “Go ye quickly, blessed be ye, and protect the son ofRadha who is plunged into that fathomless ocean of calamity representedby the fear of Bhimasena.” Thus commanded by the king, those princes,excited with wrath and desirous of slaying Bhimasena, rushed towards himlike insects towards a blazing fire. They were Srutarvan and Durddharaand Kratha and Vivitsu and Vikata and Soma, and Nishangin and Kavashinand Pasin and Nanda and Upanandaka, and Duspradharsha and Suvahu andVatavega and Suvarchasas, and Dhanurgraha and Durmada and Jalasandha andSala and Saha. Surrounded by a large car-force, those princes, enduedwith great energy and might, approached Bhimasena and encompassed him onall sides. They sped at him from every side showers of arrows of diversekinds. Thus afflicted by them, Bhima of great strength, O king, quicklyslew fifty foremost car-warriors with five hundred others, amongst thosesons of thine that advanced against him. Filled with rage, Bhimasenathen, O king, with a broad-headed arrow, struck off the head of Vivitsuadorned with earrings and head-gear, and graced with a face resemblingthe full moon. Thus cut off, that prince fell down on the Earth.Beholding that heroic brother of theirs slain, the (other) brothersthere, O lord, rushed in that battle, from every side, upon Bhima ofterrible prowess. With two other broad-headed arrows then, Bhima ofterrible prowess took the lives of two other sons of thine in thatdreadful battle. Those two, Vikata and Saha, looking like a couple ofcelestial youths, O king, thereupon fell down on the Earth like a coupleof trees uprooted by the tempest. Then Bhima, without losing a moment,despatched Kratha to the abode of Yama, with a long arrow of keen point.Deprived of life, that prince fell down on the Earth. Loud cries of woethen, O ruler of men, arose there when those heroic sons of thine, allgreat bowmen, were being thus slaughtered. When those troops were oncemore agitated, the mighty Bhima, O monarch, then despatched Nanda andUpananda in that battle to Yama’s abode. Thereupon thy sons, exceedinglyagitated and inspired with fear, fled away, seeing that Bhimasena in thatbattle behaved like the Destroyer himself at the end of the Yuga.Beholding those sons of thine slain, the Suta’s son with a cheerlessheart once more urged his steeds of the hue of swans to that place wherethe son of Pandu was. Those steeds, O king, urged on by the ruler ofMadras, approached with great speed the car of Bhimasena and mingled inbattle. The collision, O monarch, that once more took place between Karnaand the son of Pandu in battle, became, O king, exceedingly fierce andawful and fraught with a loud din. Beholding, O king, those two mightycar-warriors close with each other, I became very curious to observe thecourse of the battle. Then Bhima, boasting of his prowess in battle,covered Karna in that encounter, O king, with showers of winged shafts inthe very sight of thy sons. Then Karna, that warrior acquainted with thehighest of weapons, filled with wrath, pierced Bhima with ninebroad-headed and straight arrows made entirely of iron. Thereupon themighty-armed Bhima of terrible prowess, thus struck by Karna, pierced hisassailant in return with seven shafts sped from his bow-string drawn tohis ear. Then Karna, O monarch, sighing like a snake of virulent poison,shrouded the son of Pandu with a thick shower of arrows. The mighty Bhimaalso, shrouding that mighty car-warrior with dense arrowy downpours inthe very sight of the Kauravas, uttered a loud shout. Then Karna, filledwith rage, grasped his strong bow and pierced Bhima with ten arrowswhetted on stone and equipped with kanka feathers. With anotherbroad-headed arrow of great sharpness, he also cut off Bhima’s bow. Thenthe mighty-armed Bhima of great strength, taking up a terrible parigha,twined round with hempen cords and decked with gold and resembling asecond bludgeon of Death himself, and desiring to slay Karna outright,hurled it at him with a loud roar. Karna, however, with a number ofarrows resembling snakes of virulent poison, cut off into many fragmentsthat spiked mace as it coursed towards him with the tremendous peal ofthunder. Then Bhima, that grinder of hostile troops, grasping his bowwith greater strength, covered Karna with keen shafts. The battle thattook place between Karna and the son of Pandu in that meeting becameawful for a moment, like that of a couple of huge lions desirous ofslaying each other. Then Karna, O king, drawing the bow with great forceand stretching the string to his very ear, pierced Bhimasena with threearrows. Deeply pierced by Karna, that great bowman and foremost of allpersons endued with might then took up a terrible shaft capable ofpiercing through the body of his antagonist. That shaft, cutting throughKarna’s armour and piercing through his body, passed out and entered theEarth like a snake into ant-hill. In consequence of the violence of thatstroke, Karna felt great pain and became exceedingly agitated. Indeed, hetrembled on his car like a mountain during an earthquake. Then Karna, Oking, filled with rage and the desire to retaliate, struck Bhima withfive and twenty shafts, and then with many more. With one arrow he thencut off Bhimasena’s standard, and with another broad-headed arrow hedespatched Bhima’s driver to the presence of Yama. Next quickly cuttingoff the bow of Pandu’s son with another winged arrow, Karna deprivedBhima of terrible feats of his car. Deprived of his car, O chief ofBharata’s race, the mighty-armed Bhima, who resembled the Wind-god (inprowess) took up a mace and jumped down from his excellent vehicle.Indeed, jumping down from his car with great fury, Bhima began to slaythy troops, O king, like the wind destroying the clouds of autumn.Suddenly the son of Pandu, that scorcher of foes, filled with wrath,routed seven hundred elephants, O king, endued with tusks as large asplough-shafts, and all skilled in smiting hostile troops. Possessed ofgreat strength and a knowledge of what the vital parts of an elephantare, he struck them on their temples and frontal globes and eyes and theparts above their gums. Thereupon those animals, inspired with fear, ranaway. But urged again by their drivers they surrounded Bhimasena oncemore, like the clouds covering the Sun. Like Indra felling mountains withthunder, Bhima with his mace prostrated those seven hundred elephantswith their riders and weapons and standards. That chastiser of foes, theson of Kunti, next pressed down two and fifty elephants of great strengthbelonging to the son of Subala. Scorching thy army, the son of Pandu thendestroyed a century of foremost cars and several hundreds offoot-soldiers in that battle. Scorched by the Sun as also by thehigh-souled Bhima, thy army began to shrink like a piece of leatherspread over a fire. Those troops of thine, O bull of Bharata’s race,filled with anxiety through fear of Bhimasena, avoided Bhima in thatbattle and fled away in all directions. Then five hundred car-warriors,cased in excellent mail, rushed towards Bhima with loud shouts, shootingthick showers of arrows on all sides. Like Vishnu destroying the Asuras,Bhima destroyed with his mace all those brave warriors with their driversand cars and banners and standards and weapons. Then 3,000 horsemen,despatched by Shakuni, respected by all brave men and armed with dartsand swords and lances, rushed towards Bhima. That slayer of foes,advancing impetuously towards them, and coursing in diverse tracks, slewthem with his mace. Loud sounds arose from among them while they werebeing assailed by Bhima, like those that arise from among herd ofelephants struck with large pieces of rocks. Having slain those 3,000excellent horses of Subala’s son in that way, he rode upon another car,and filled with rage proceeded against the son of Radha. Meanwhile, Karnaalso, O king, covered Dharma’s son (Yudhishthira) that chastiser of foes,with thick showers of arrows, and felled his driver. Then that mightycar-warrior beholding Yudhishthira fly away in that battle, pursued him,shooting many straight-coursing shafts equipped with Kanka feathers. Theson of the Wind-god, filled with wrath, and covering the entire welkinwith his shafts, shrouded Karna with thick showers of arrows as thelatter pursued the king from behind. The son of Radha then, that crusherof foes, turning back from the pursuit, quickly covered Bhima himselfwith sharp arrows from every side. Then Satyaki, of immeasurable soul, OBharata, placing himself on the side of Bhima’s car, began to afflictKarna who was in front of Bhima. Though exceedingly afflicted by Satyaki,Karna still approached Bhima. Approaching each other those two bullsamong all wielders of bows, those two heroes endued with great energy,looked exceedingly resplendent as they sped their beautiful arrows ateach other. Spread by them, O monarch, in the welkin, those flights ofarrows, blazing as the backs of cranes, looked exceedingly fierce andterrible. In consequence of those thousands of arrows, O king, neitherthe rays of the Sun nor the points of the compass, cardinal andsubsidiary, could any longer be noticed either by ourselves or by theenemy. Indeed, the blazing effulgence of the Sun shining at mid-day wasdispelled by those dense showers of arrows shot by Karna and the son ofPandu. Beholding the son of Subala, and Kritavarma, and Drona’s son, andAdhiratha’s son, and Kripa, engaged with the Pandavas, the Kauravasrallied and came back to the fight. Tremendous became the din, O monarch,that was made by that host as it rushed impetuously against their foes,resembling that terrible noise that is made by many oceans swollen withrains. Furiously engaged in battle, the two hosts became filled withgreat joy as the warriors beheld and seized one another in that dreadfulmelee. The battle that commenced at that hour when the Sun had reachedthe meridian was such that its like had never been heard or seen by us.One vast host rushed against another, like a vast reservoir of waterrushing towards the ocean. The din that arose from the two hosts as theyroared at each other, was loud and deep as that which may be heard whenseveral oceans mingle with one another. Indeed, the two furious hosts,approaching each other, mingled into one mass like two furious riversthat run into each other.

“‘The battle then commenced, awful and terrible, between the Kurus andthe Pandavas, both of whom were inspired with the desire of winning greatfame. A perfect Babel of voices of the shouting warriors was incessantlyheard there, O royal Bharata, as they addressed one another by name. Hewho had anything, by his father’s or mother’s side or in respect of hisacts or conduct, that could furnish matter for ridicule, was in thatbattle made to hear it by his antagonist. Beholding those brave warriorsloudly rebuking one another in that battle, I thought, O king, that theirperiods of life had been run out. Beholding the bodies of those angryheroes of immeasurable energy a great fear entered my heart, respectingthe dire consequences that would ensue. Then the Pandavas, O king, andthe Kauravas also, mighty car-warriors all, striking one another, beganto mangle one another with their keen shafts.'”