Chapter 152

“Vaisampayana said, ‘When Krishna had said this, all the monarchs therewere filled with joy. And the shout sent forth by those delighted kingswas tremendous.And the troops began to move about with great speed,saying, ‘Draw up, Draw up.’ And the neighing of steeds and roars ofelephants and the clatter of car-wheels and the blare of conchs and thesound of drums, heard everywhere, produced a tremendous din. And teemingwith cars and foot-soldiers and steeds and elephants, that invinciblehost of the marching Pandavas moving hither and thither, donning theircoats of mail, and uttering their war-cries, looked like the impetuouscurrent of the Ganga when at its full, agitated with fierce eddies andwaves. And in the van of that host marched Bhimasena, and the two sons ofMadri encased in their coats of mail, and Subhadra’s son and the fivesons of Draupadi and Dhrishtadyumna of Prishata’s race. And thePrabhadrakas and the Panchalas marched behind Bhimasena. And the din madeby the marching hosts, filled with joy, was like unto the roars of thedeep when the tide is highest on the day of the new moon. Indeed, thetumult was such that it seemed to reach the very heavens. And capable ofbreaking hostile ranks, those warriors cased in armour marched thus,filled with joy. And Kunti’s son, king Yudhishthira, amongst themmarched, taking with him the cars and other vehicles for transport, thefood-stores and fodder, the tents, carriages, and draught-cattle, thecash-chests, the machines and weapons, the surgeons and physicians, theinvalids, and all the emaciated and weak soldiers, and all the attendantsand camp-followers. And truthful Draupadi, the princess of Panchala,accompanied by the ladies of the household, and surrounded by servantsand maids, remained at Upaplavya. And causing their treasure and ladiesto be guarded by bodies of soldiers, some of whom were placed aspermanent lines of circumvallation and some ordered to move about at adistance from this line, the Pandavas set out with their mighty host. Andhaving made presents of kine and gold to the Brahmanas, who walked aroundthem and uttered blessings, the sons of Pandu commenced the march ontheir cars decked with jewels. And the princes of Kekaya, andDhrishtaketu, and the son of the king of the Kasis, and Srenimat, andVasudana, and the invincible Sikhandin, all hale and hearty, cased inarmour and armed with weapons and decked with ornaments, marched behindYudhishthira, keeping him in their centre. And in the rear, were Virata,Yajnasena’s son of the Somaka race (Dhrishtadyumna), Susarman,Kuntibhoja, Dhrishtadyumna’s sons, forty thousand cars, five times asmuch cavalry, infantry ten times more numerous (than the last), and sixtythousand elephants. And Anadhrishti, and Chekitana and Dhrishtaketu andSatyaki all marched, surrounding Vasudeva and Dhananjaya. And reachingthe field of Kurukshetra with their forces in battle-array, thosesmiters, the sons of Pandu, looked like roaring bulls. And entering thefield, those chastisers of foes blew their conchs. And Vasudeva andDhananjaya also blew their conchs. And hearing the blare of the conchcalled Panchajanya, which resembled the roll of the thunder, all thewarriors (of the Pandava army) were filled with joy. And the leonineroars of those warriors, endued with lightness of hand and speed ofmotion, mingling with the blare of conchs and beat of Drums, made thewhole earth, the welkin, and the oceans resound therewith.'”