Chapter 31

“Vaisampayana said, ‘O mighty king, entering into king Virata’s service,and dwelling in disguise in his excellent city, the high-souled Pandavasof immeasurable prowess, completed the promised period of non-discovery.And after Kichaka had been slain, that slayer of hostile heroes, themighty king Virata began to rest his hopes on the sons of Kunti. And itwas on the expiry of the thirteenth year of their exile, O Bharata, thatSusarman seized Virata’s cattle by thousands. And when the cattle hadbeen seized, the herdsman of Virata came with great speed to the city,and saw his sovereign, the king of Matsyas, seated on the throne in themidst of wise councillors, and those bulls among men, the sons of Pandu,and surrounded by brave warriors decked with ear-rings and bracelets. Andappearing before that enhancer of his dominion–King Virata seated incourt–the herdsman bowed down unto him, and addressed him, saying, ‘Oforemost of kings, defeating and humiliating us in battle along with ourfriends the Trigartas are seizing thy cattle by hundreds and bythousands. Do thou, therefore, speedily rescue them. Oh, see that theyare not lost to thee.’ Hearing these words, the king arrayed for battlethe Matsya force abounding in cars and elephants and horses and infantryand standards. And kings and princes speedily put on, each in its properplace,[26] their shining and beautiful armour worthy of being worn byheroes. And Virata’s beloved brother, Satanika, put on a coat of mailmade of adamantine steel, adorned with burnished gold. And Madirakshya,next in birth to Satanika, put on a strong coat of mail plated withgold[27] and capable of resisting every weapon. And the coat of mail thatthe king himself of the Matsyas put on was invulnerable and decked with ahundred suns, a hundred circles, a hundred spots, and a hundred eyes. Andthe coat of mail that Suryadatta[28] put on was bright as the sun, platedwith gold, and broad as a hundred lotuses of the fragrant (Kahlara)species. And the coat of mail that Virata’s eldest son, the heroicSanksha, put on was impenetrable and made of burnished steel, and deckedwith a hundred eyes of gold. And it was thus that those god-like andmighty warriors by hundreds, furnished with weapons, and eager forbattle, each donned his corselet. And then they yoked unto theirexcellent cars of white-hue steeds equipped in mail. And then washoisted–Matsya’s glorious standard on his excellent car decked with goldand resembling the sun or the moon in its effulgence. And other Kshatriyawarriors also raised on their respective cars gold-decked standards ofvarious shapes and devices. And king Matsya then addressed his brotherSatanika born immediately after him, saying, ‘Kanka and Vallava andTantripala and Damagranthi of great energy will, as it appears to mefight, without doubt. Give thou unto them cars furnished with banners andlet them case their persons in beautiful coats of mail that should beboth invulnerable and easy to wear. And let them also have weapons.Bearing such martial forms and possessed of arms resembling the trunk ofmighty elephants, I can never persuade myself that they cannot fight.’Hearing these words of the king, Satanika, O monarch, immediately orderedcars for those sons of Pritha, viz., the royal Yudhishthira, and Bhima,and Nakula, and Sahadeva, and commanded by the king, the charioteers,with cheerful hearts and keeping loyalty in view, very soon got carsready (for the Pandavas). And those repressers of foes then donned thosebeautiful coats of mail, invulnerable and easy to wear, that Virata hadordered for those heroes of spotless fame. And mounted on cars yoked withgood steeds, those smiters of hostile ranks, those foremost of men, thesons of Pritha, set out with cheerful hearts. Indeed, those mightywarriors skilled in fight, those bulls of the Kuru race and sons ofPandu, those four heroic brothers possessed of prowess incapable of beingbaffled, mounting on cars decked with gold, together set out, followingVirata’s wake. And infuriate elephants of terrible mien, full sixty yearsof age, with shapely tusks and rent temples and juice trickling down andlooking (on that account) like cloud pouring rain and mounted by trainedwarriors skilled in fight, followed the king like unto moving hills. Andthe principal warriors of Matsya who cheerfully followed the king hadeight thousand cars, a thousand elephants and sixty thousand horses. And,O bull among the Bharatas, that force of Virata, O king, as it marchedforth marking the footprints of the cattle looked exceedingly beautiful.And on its march that foremost of armies owned by Virata, crowded withsoldiers armed with strong weapons, and abounding in elephants, horsesand cars, looked really splendid.'”