Chapter 8

“Sanjaya said, ‘After that night had passed away, king Duryodhana then,addressing all thy soldiers, said, “Arm, you mighty car-warriors!”Hearing the command of the king, the warriors began to put on theirarmour. Some began to yoke their steeds to their cars quickly, others ranhither and thither. The elephants began to be equipped. The foot-soldiersbegan to arm. Others, numbering thousands, began to spread carpets on theterraces of cars. The noise of musical instruments, O monarch, arosethere, for enhancing the martial enthusiasm of the soldiers. Then all thetroops, placed in their proper posts, were seen, O Bharata, to stand,clad in mail and resolved to make death their goal. Having made the rulerof the Madras their leader, the great car-warriors of the Kauravas,distributing their troops, stood in divisions. Then all thy warriors,with Kripa and Kritavarma and Drona’s son and Shalya and Subala’s son andthe other kings that were yet alive, met thy son, and arrived at thisunderstanding, that none of them would individually and alone fight withthe Pandavas. And they said, “He amongst us that will fight, alone andunsupported, with the Pandavas, or he that will abandon a comrade engagedin fight, will be stained with the five grave sins and all the minorsins.” And they said, “All of us, united together, will fight with thefoe.” Those great car-warriors, having made such an understanding withone another placed the ruler of the Madras at their head and quicklyproceeded against their foes. Similarly, all the Pandavas, having arrayedtheir troops in great battle, proceeded against the Kauravas, O king, forfighting with them on every side. Soon, O chief of the Bharatas, thathost, whose noise resembled that of the agitated ocean, and which seemedto be wonderful in consequence of its cars and elephants, presented theaspect of the vast deep swelling with its surges.’

“Dhritarashtra said, ‘I have heard of the fall of Drona, of Bhishma andof the son of Radha. Tell me now of the fall of Shalya and of my son.How, indeed, O Sanjaya, was Shalya slain by king Yudhishthira the just?And how was my son Duryodhana slain by Bhimasena of great might?’

“Sanjaya said, ‘Hear, O king, with patience, of the destruction of humanbodies and the loss of elephants and steeds, as I describe (to thee) thebattle. The hope became strong, O king, in the breasts of thy sons that,after Drona and Bhishma and the Suta’s son had been overthrown, Shalya, Osire, would slay all the Parthas in battle. Cherishing that hope in hisheart, and drawing comfort from it, O Bharata, thy son Duryodhana,relying in battle upon that mighty car-warrior, the ruler of the Madras,regarded himself as possessed of a protector. When after Karna’s fall theParthas had uttered leonine roars, a great fear, O king, had possessedthe hearts of the Dhartarashtras. Assuring him duly, the valiant king ofthe Madras, having formed, O monarch, a grand array whose arrangementswere auspicious in every respect, proceeded against the Parthas inbattle. And the valiant king of the Madras proceeded, shaking hisbeautiful and exceedingly strong bow capable of imparting a greatvelocity to the shafts sped from it. And that mighty car-warrior wasmounted upon the foremost of vehicles, having horses of the Sindhu breedyoked unto it. Riding upon his car, his driver made the vehicle lookresplendent. Protected by that car, that hero, that brave crusher of foes(Shalya), stood, O monarch, dispelling the fears of thy sons. The king ofthe Madras, clad in mail, proceeded at the head of the array, accompaniedby the brave Madrakas and the invincible sons of Karna. On the left wasKritavarma, surrounded by the Trigartas. On the right was Gautama (Kripa)with the Sakas and the Yavanas. In the rear was Ashvatthama surrounded bythe Kambojas. In the centre was Duryodhana, protected by the foremost ofthe Kuru warriors. Surrounded by a large force of cavalry and othertroops, Subala’s son Shakuni, as also the mighty car-warrior Uluka,proceeded with the others. The mighty bowmen amongst the Pandavas, thosechastisers of foes, dividing themselves, O monarch, into three bodies,rushed against thy troops. Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi and the mightycar-warrior Satyaki proceeded with great speed against the army ofShalya. Then king Yudhishthira, accompanied by his troops, rushed againstShalya alone, from desire of slaughtering him, O bull of Bharata’s race.Arjuna, that slayer of large bands of foes, rushed with great speedagainst that great bowman Kritavarma and the Samsaptakas. Bhimasena andthe great car-warriors among the Somakas rushed, O monarch, againstKripa, desirous of slaughtering their foes in battle. The two sons ofMadri, accompanied by their troops, proceeded against Shakuni and thegreat car-warrior Uluka at the head of their forces. Similarly, thousandsupon thousands of warriors of thy army, armed with diverse weapons andfilled with rage, proceeded against the Pandavas in that battle.’

“Dhritarashtra said, ‘After the fall of the mighty bowmen Bhishma andDrona and the great car-warrior Karna, and after both the Kurus and thePandavas had been reduced in numbers, and when, indeed, the Parthas,possessed of great prowess, became once more angry in battle, what, OSanjaya, was the strength of each of the armies?’

“Sanjaya said, ‘Hear, O king, how we and the enemy both stood for battleon that occasion and what was then the strength of the two armies. 11,000cars, O bull of Bharata’s race, 10,700 elephants, and full 200,000horses, and three millions of foot, composed the strength of thy army.6,000 cars, 6,000 elephants, 10,000 horses, and one million of foot, OBharata, were all that composed the remnant of the Pandava force in thebattle. These, O bull of Bharata’s race, encountered each other forbattle. Having distributed their forces in this way, O monarch,ourselves, excited with wrath and inspired with desire of victory,proceeded against the Pandavas, having placed ourselves under the commandof the ruler of the Madras. Similar, the brave Pandavas, those tigersamong men, desirous of victory, and the Pancalas possessed of great fame,came to battle. Even thus, O monarch, all those tigers among men,desirous of slaughtering their foes, encountered one another at dawn ofday, O lord. Then commenced a fierce and terrible battle between thytroops and the enemy, the combatants being all engaged in striking andslaughtering one another.'”