Chapter 199

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Like Duryodhana, king Yudhishthira also, the son ofKunti and Dharma, ordered out, O Bharata, his heroic warriors headed byDhrishtadyumna. Indeed, he ordered that slayer of foes and commander offorce, that leader, steady in prowess, of the Chedis, the Kasis, and theKarushas, viz., Dhrishtaketu, as also Virata, and Drupada, and Yuyudhana,and Sikhandin, and those two mighty bowmen, those two princes ofPanchala, viz., Yudhamanyu and Uttamaujas, to set out. Those bravewarriors, cased in handsome coats of mail and decked with goldenear-rings, blazed forth like fires on the sacrificial altar when fed withclarified butter. Indeed, those mighty bowmen looked resplendent like theplanets in the firmament. Then that bull among men king Yudhishthira,having duly honoured all his combatants, ordered them to march. And kingYudhishthira ordered excellent provisions of food for those high-souledkings with their troops consisting of infantry, and elephants and horses,and with all their followers, as also for all those that subsisted onmechanical arts. And the son of Pandu first ordered Abhimanyu, andVrihanta, and the five sons of Draupadi, to march with Dhrishtadyumna attheir head. And he then despatched Bhima, and Dhananjaya the son ofPandu, in the second division of his forces. And the din made by the menmoving and running about for harnessing their steeds and elephants andloading the cars with implements of battle, and the shouts of thecheerful combatants, seemed to touch the very heavens. And last of all,the king marched himself, accompanied by Virata and Drupada and the othermonarchs (on his side). And that army of fierce bowmen commanded byDhrishtadyumna, hitherto stationed in one place, but now extended intocolumns for marching, looked like the (impetuous) current of Ganga. Thethen intelligent Yudhishthira depending on his wisdom, disposed hisdivisions in a different order, confounding the sons of Dhritarashtra.And the son of Pandu ordered that those mighty bowmen, the (five) sons ofDraupadi and Abhimanyu, and Nakula, and Sahadeva, and all thePrabhadrakas, and ten thousand horses, and two thousand elephants, andten thousand foot-soldiers, and five hundred cars, constituting the firstirresistible division of his army, should be placed under the command ofBhimasena. And he placed in the middle division of his army Virata andJayatsena, and those two mighty car-warriors, viz., Yudhamanyu andUttamauja, the two high-souled princes of Panchala, both endued withgreat prowess and both armed with mace and bow. And in this middledivision marched Vasudeva and Dhananjaya. There were (placed) combatantshighly accomplished in arms and burning with anger. Amongst them weresteeds ridden by brave warriors, and five thousand elephants, and crowdsof cars all around. And foot-soldiers in thousands, that were all braveand armed with bows, swords, and maces, marched behind them, as thousandmarched before them. And in that part of that sea of troops, whereYudhishthira himself was, there were stationed numerous lords of earth.And there also were thousands of elephants, and steeds by ten thousands,and cars and foot-soldiers also by thousands. And there also marched, Obull among kings, Chekitana with his own large force, and kingDhrishtaketu, the leader of the Chedis. And there also was that mightybowman, Satyaki, the foremost car-warrior of the Vrishnis, that mightycombatant, surrounded by hundreds and thousands of cars and leading (themto battle)! And those bulls among men, Kshatrahan and Kshatradeva,mounted on their cars, marched behind, protecting the rear. And there (inthe rear) were the waggons, stalls, uniforms, vehicles and draft animals.There also were thousands of elephants and horses by tens of thousands.And taking all the invalids and women, and all that were emaciated andweak, and all the animals carrying his treasures, and all his granaries,with the aid of his elephant-divisions, Yudhishthira marched slowly. Andhe was followed by Sauchitti, who steadily adhered to truth and wasinvincible in battle, and Srenimat, and Vasudeva and Vibhu, the son ofthe ruler of Kasi, with twenty thousand cars, and hundred million steedsof high mettle, each bearing scores of bells on its limbs, and twentythousand smiting elephants with tusks as long as plough-shares, all ofgood breed and divided temples and all resembling moving masses ofclouds. Indeed, these usually walked behind those monarchs. Besidesthese, O Bharata, the elephants that Yudhishthira had in his sevenAkshauhinis, numbering seventy thousand with humour trickling down theirtrunks and from their mouths, and resembling (on that account) showeringclouds, also followed the king, like moving hills.

‘Thus was arrayed that terrible force of the intelligent son of Kunti.And relying upon that force he battled with Suyodhana, the son ofDhritarashtra. Besides those already named, other men by hundreds andthousands and tens of thousands, in divisions numbering by thousands,followed (the Pandava army), roaring loudly. And the warriors bythousands and ten thousands, filled with joy, beat their drums bythousands and blew conchs by tens of thousands!'”