Chapter 80

“Sanjaya said, ‘Then, O king, Dhananjaya, desirous of rescuing Kunti’sson Bhima who, assailed by many, foremost of warriors of the Kuru army,seemed to sink (under that attack), avoided, O Bharata, the troops of theSuta’s son and began, with his shafts, to despatch those hostile heroes(that were opposed to Bhima) to the regions of death. Successive showersof Arjuna’s shafts were seen overspread on the sky, while others wereseen to slay thy army. Filling the welkin with his shafts that resembleddense flights of feathery creatures, Dhananjaya, O monarch, at that time,became the very Destroyer unto the Kurus. With his broad-headed arrows,and those equipped with heads flat and sharp as razors, and cloth-yardshafts of bright polish, Partha mangled the bodies of his foes and cutoff their heads. The field of battle became strewn with falling warriors,some with bodies cut and mangled, some divested of armour and somedeprived of heads. Like the great Vaitarani (separating the regions oflife from those of the dead), the field of battle, O king, became unevenand impassable and unsightly and terrible, in consequence of steeds andcars and elephants, which struck with Dhananjaya’s shafts, were mangledand crushed and cut off in diverse ways. The earth was also covered withbroken shafts and wheels and axles, and with cars that were steedless orthat had their steeds and others that were driverless or that had theirdrivers. Then four hundred well-trained and ever-furious elephants,excited with wrath, and ridden by warriors cased in mail of golden hueand adorned with ornaments of gold, and urged by fierce guides withpressure of heels and toes, fell down, struck by the diadem-decked Arjunawith his shafts, like loosened summits, peopled with living creatures, ofgigantic mountains. Indeed, the earth became covered with (other) hugeelephants struck down by Dhananjaya with his arrows. Like the sunpiercing through masses of clouds, Arjuna’s car passed through densebodies of elephants with juicy secretions flowing down their bodies andlooking like masses of clouds. Phalguna caused his track to be heaped upwith slain elephants and steeds, and with cars broken in diverse ways,and with lifeless heroes deprived of weapons and engines and of armour,as also with arms of diverse kinds loosened from hands that held them.The twang of Gandiva became tremendously loud, like the peal of thunderin the welkin. The (Dhartarashtra) army then, smitten with the shafts ofDhananjaya, broke, like a large vessel on the bosom of the oceanviolently lashed by the tempest. Diverse kinds of fatal shafts, sped fromGandiva, and resembling burning brands and meteors and thunderbolts,burnt thy army. That mighty host, thus afflicted with Dhananjaya’sshafts, looked beautiful like a blazing forest of bamboos on a mountainin the night. Crushed and burnt and thrown into confusion, and mangledand massacred by the diadem-decked Arjuna with his arrows, that host ofthine then fled away on all sides. Indeed, the Kauravas, burnt bySavyasaci, dispersed on all sides, like animals in the great forestfrightened at a forest conflagration. The Kuru host then (that hadassailed Bhimasena) abandoning that mighty-armed hero, turned their facesfrom battle, filled with anxiety. After the Kurus had been routed, theunvanquished Vibhatsu, approaching Bhimasena, stayed there for a moment.Having met Bhima and held a consultation with him, Phalguna informed hisbrother that the arrows had been extracted from Yudhishthira’s body andthat the latter was perfectly well.

“‘With Bhimasena’s leave, Dhananjaya then proceeded (once more againsthis foes), causing the earth and the welkin, O Bharata, to resound withthe rattle of his car. He was then surrounded by ten heroic and foremostof warriors, viz., thy sons, all of whom were Duhshasana’s juniors inage. Afflicting Arjuna with their shafts like hunters afflicting anelephant with burning brands, those heroes, with outstretched bow, seemedto dance, O Bharata, (on their cars). The slayer of Madhu then, guidinghis, car placed all of them to his right. Indeed, he expected that Arjunawould very soon send all of them to Yama’s presence. Beholding Arjuna’scar proceeding in a different direction, those heroes rushed towards him.Soon, however, Partha, with a number of cloth-yard shafts andcrescent-shaped arrows, cut off their standards and steeds and bows andarrows, causing them to fall down on the earth. Then with somebroad-headed arrows he cut off and felled their heads decked with lipsbit and eyes blood-red in rage. Those faces looked beautiful like anassemblage of lotuses. Having slain those ten Kauravas cased in goldenmail, with ten broad-headed shafts endued with great, impetuosity andequipped with wings of gold that slayer of foes, Arjuna continued toproceed.'”