Chapter 13

“Sanjaya said, ‘When king Yudhishthira the just was thus afflicted by theruler of Madras, Satyaki and Bhimasena and the two sons of Madri byPandu, encompassing Shalya with their cars, began to afflict him in thatbattle. Beholding the unsupported Shalya thus afflicted by those greatcar-warriors (and seeing him successfully repel those attacks), loudsounds of applause were heard, and the Siddhas (who witnessed theencounter) became filled with delight. The ascetics, assembled together(for witnessing the battle), declared it to be wonderful. Then Bhimasenain that encounter, having pierced Shalya who had become (as his nameimplied) an irresistible dart in prowess, with one arrow, next piercedhim with seven. Satyaki, desirous of rescuing the son of Dharma, piercedShalya with a hundred arrows and uttered a loud leonine roar. Nakulapierced him with five arrows, and Sahadeva with seven; the latter thenonce more pierced him with as many. The heroic ruler of the Madras,struggling carefully in that battle, thus afflicted by those mightycar-warriors, drew a formidable bow capable of bearing a great strain andof imparting great force to the shafts sped from it, and pierced Satyaki,O sire, with five and twenty shafts and Bhima with three and seventy andNakula with seven. Then cutting off with a broad-headed arrow the bow,with shaft fixed on the string of Sahadeva, he pierced Sahadeva himself,in that battle, with three and seventy shafts. Sahadeva then, stringinganother bow, pierced his maternal uncle of great splendour with fiveshafts that resembled snakes of virulent poison or blazing fire. Filledwith great rage, he then struck his adversary’s driver with a straightshaft in that battle and then Shalya himself once more with three. ThenBhimasena pierced the ruler of the Madras with seventy arrows, andSatyaki pierced him with nine, and king Yudhishthira with sixty. Thuspierced, O monarch, by those mighty car-warriors, blood began to flowfrom Shalya’s body, like crimson streams, running down the breast of amountain of red chalk. Shalya, however, quickly pierced in return each ofthose great bowmen with five arrows, O king, which feat seemedexceedingly wonderful. With another broad-headed arrow, that mightycar-warrior then, O sire, cut off the stringed bow of Dharma’s son inthat encounter. Taking up another bow, that great car-warrior, the son ofDharma, covered Shalya, his steeds, and driver, and standard, and car,with many arrows. Thus shrouded in that battle by the son of Dharma withhis shafts, Shalya struck the former with ten keen arrows. Then Satyaki,filled with rage upon beholding the son of Dharma thus afflicted withshafts, checked the heroic ruler of the Madras with clouds of arrows. Atthis, Shalya cut off with a razor-faced arrow the formidable bow ofSatyaki, and pierced each of the other Pandava warriors with threearrows. Filled with rage, O monarch, Satyaki of unbaffled prowess thenhurled at Shalya a lance equipped with a golden staff and decked withmany jewels and gems. Bhimasena sped at him a cloth-yard shaft thatlooked like a blazing snake; Nakula hurled at him a dart, Sahadeva anexcellent mace, and the son of Dharma a Sataghni impelled by the desireof despatching him. The ruler of the Madras, however, quickly baffled inthat battle all those weapons, hurled from the arms of those fivewarriors at him, as these coursed towards his car. With a number ofbroad-headed arrows Shalya cut off the lance hurled by Satyaki. Possessedof valour and great lightness of hand, he cut off into two fragments thegold-decked shaft sped at him by Bhima. He then resisted with clouds ofshafts the terrible dart, equipped with a golden handle, that Nakula hadsped at him and the mace also that Sahadeva had thrown. With a couple ofother arrows, O Bharata, he cut off the Sataghni sped at him by the king,in the very sight of the sons of Pandu, and uttered a loud leonine roar.The grandson of Sini, however, could not endure the defeat of his weaponin that battle. Insensate with rage, Satyaki took up another bow andpierced the ruler of the Madras with two shafts and his driver withthree. At this, Shalya, O monarch, excited with rage, deeply pierced allof them with ten arrows, like persons piercing mighty elephants withsharp-pointed lances. Thus checked in that battle by the ruler of theMadras, O Bharata, those slayers of foes became unable to stay in frontof Shalya. King Duryodhana, beholding the prowess of Shalya, regarded thePandavas, the Pancalas, and the Srinjayas as already slain. Then, O king,the mighty-armed Bhimasena, possessed of great prowess and mentallyresolved to cast off his life-breaths, encountered the ruler of theMadras. Nakula and Sahadeva and Satyaki of great might, encompassingShalya, shot their arrows at him from every side. Though encompassed bythose four great bowmen and mighty car-warriors among the Pandavas, thevaliant ruler of the Madras still fought with them. Then, O king, theroyal son of Dharma, in that dreadful battle, quickly cut off with arazor-headed arrow one of the protectors of Shalya’s car-wheels. Whenthat brave and mighty car-warrior, that protector of Shalya’s car-wheel,was thus slain, Shalya of great strength covered the Pandava troops withshowers of arrows. Beholding his troops shrouded with arrows, O monarch,in that battle, king Yudhishthira the just began to reflect in thisstrain, “Verily, how shall those grave words of Madhava become true? Ihope, the rider of the Madras, excited with rage, will not annihilate myarmy in battle.’ Then the Pandavas, O elder brother of Pandu(Dhritarashtra), with cars and elephants and steeds, approached the rulerof the Madras and began to afflict him from every side. Like the winddispersing mighty masses of clouds, the king of the Madras, in thatbattle, dispersed that risen shower of arrows and diverse other kinds ofweapons in profusion. We then beheld the downpour of gold-winged arrowsshot by Shalya coursing through the welkin like a flight of locusts.Indeed, those arrows shot by the ruler of the Madras from the van ofbattle were seen to fall like swarms of birds. With the gold-deckedshafts that issued from the bow of the Madra king, the welkin, O monarch,became so filled that there was not an inch of empty space. When a thickgloom appeared, caused by the arrows shot by the mighty ruler of theMadras owing to his extreme lightness of hands in that dreadful battle,and when they beheld the vast host of the Pandavas thus agitated by thathero, the gods and the Gandharvas became filled with great wonder.Afflicting with vigour all the Pandava warriors with his shafts fromevery side, O sire, Shalya shrouded king Yudhishthira the just and roaredrepeatedly like a lion. The mighty car-warriors of the Pandavas, thusshrouded by Shalya in that battle, became unable to proceed against thatgreat hero for fighting with him. Those, however, amongst the Pandavas,that had Bhimasena at their head and that were led by king Yudhishthirathe just, did not fly away from that ornament of battle, the braveShalya.'”