Chapter 183

“Bhishma said, ‘After the battle had ceased, my charioteer, well-skilledin such operations, drew out from his own body, from the bodies of mysteeds, and from my body as well, the arrows that struck there. Nextmorning, when the sun rose, the battle commenced again, my horses having(a little while before) been bathed and allowed to roll on the ground andhaving had their thirst slaked and thereby re-invigorated. And beholdingme coming quickly to the encounter attired in a coat of mail andstationed on my car, the mighty Rama equipped his car with great care.And I myself also, beholding Rama coming towards me from desire ofbattle, placed aside my bow and quickly descended from my car. SalutingRama I re-ascended it, O Bharata, and desirous of giving battle, stoodfearlessly before that son of Jamadagni. I then overwhelmed him with athick shower of arrows, and he too covered me with an arrowy shower inreturn. And filled with wrath. Jamadagni’s son once more shot at me anumber of fierce shafts of great force and blazing mouths looking likeveritable snakes! And I too, O king, shooting sharp shafts by hundredsand thousands, repeatedly cut: off Rama’s arrows in mid-air before theycould come at me. Then the mighty son of Jamadagni began to hurlcelestial weapons at me, all of which I repelled, desirous of achievingmightier feats, O thou of strong arms, with-my weapons. And loud was thedin that then arose in the welkin all around. At that time, I hurled atRama the weapon named Vayavya which Rama neutralised, O Bharata, by theweapon called Guhyaka. Then I applied, with proper mantras, the weaponcalled Agneya but the lord Rama neutralised that weapon of mine by one(of his) called Varuna. And it was in this way that I neutralised thecelestial weapons of Rama, and that chastiser of foes, Rama also, enduedwith great energy and acquainted with celestial weapons, neutralised theweapons shot by me. Then, O monarch, that best of Brahmanas, the mightyson of Jamadagni, filled with wrath, suddenly wheeling to my right,pierced me in the breast. At this, O best of the Bharatas, I swooned onmy best of cars. And beholding me, reft of consciousness, my charioteerquickly bore me away from the field. And seeing me afflicted and piercedwith Rama’s weapons and borne away drooping and in a swoon, all thefollowers of Rama, including Akritavrana and others and the princess ofKasi, filled with joy, O Bharata, began to shout aloud! Regainingconsciousness then, I addressed my charioteer, saying,–Go where Ramastayeth! My pains have left me, and I am ready for battle!–Thusinstructed, my charioteer soon took me where Rama was, with the aid ofthose exceedingly handsome steeds of mine that seemed to dance as theycoursed (through the plain) and that were endued with the speed of thewind. And approaching Rama then, O thou of Kuru’s race, and filled withwrath, from desire of vanquishing his angry self, I overwhelmed him withan arrowy shower! But Rama, shooting three for every single of mine, cutinto fragments every one of my straight-going arrows in mid air beforeany of them could reach him! And beholding those well-furnished arrows ofmine by hundreds and thousands, each cut off in twain by Rama’s arrows,all the followers of Rama were filled with joy. Impelled then by thedesire of slaying him, I shot at Rama, the son of Jamadagni, agood-looking arrow of blazing effulgence with Death’s self sitting at itshead. Struck very forcibly therewith and succumbing to its impetus, Ramafell into a swoon and dropped down on the ground. And when Rama thusdropped on the ground, exclamations of Oh and Alas arose on all sides,and the whole universe, O Bharata, was filled with confusion and alarm,such as may be witnessed if the sun himself were ever to fall down fromthe firmament! Then all those ascetics together with the princess ofKasi, quietly proceeded, O son of Kuru’s race, with great anxiety towardsRama. And embracing him, O Kaurava, they began to comfort him softly withthe touch of their hands, rendered cold by contact with water, and withassurances of victory. Thus comforted, Rama rose up and fixing an arrowto his bow he addressed me in an agitated voice, saying, ‘Stay, OBhishma! Thou art already slain! And let off by him, that arrow quicklypierced my left side in that fierce encounter. And struck therewith, Ibegan to tremble like a tree shaken by the tempest. Slaying my horsesthen in terrific combat, Rama, fighting with great coolness, covered mewith swarms of winged arrows, shot with remarkable lightness of hand. Atthis, O mighty-armed one, I also began to shoot arrows with greatlightness of hand for obstructing Rama’s arrowy shower. Then those arrowsshot by myself and Rama covering the welkin all around, stayed even there(without failing down). And, thereupon, enveloped by clouds of arrows thevery sun could not shed its rays through them. And the very wind,obstructed by those clouds, seemed to be unable to pass through them.Then, in consequence of the obstructed motion of the wind, the rays ofthe sun, and the clash of the arrows against one another, a conflagrationwas caused in the welkin. And then those arrows blazed forth inconsequence of the fire generated by themselves, and fell on the earth,consumed into ashes! Then Rama, O Kaurava, filled with rage, covered mewith hundreds and thousands and hundreds of thousands and hundreds ofmillions arrows! And I also, O king, with my arrows resembling snakes ofvirulent poison, cut into fragments all those arrows of Rama and causedthem to fall down on the earth like snakes cut into pieces. And it wasthus, O best of the Bharatas, that combat took place. When, however, theshades of evening approached, my preceptor withdrew from the fight.'”