Chapter 32

“Vaisampayana said, ‘Marching out of the city, those heroic smiters theMatsyas, arrayed in order of battle, overtook the Trigartas when the sunhad passed the meridian. And both excited to fury and both desirous ofhaving the king, the mighty Trigartas and the Matsyas, irrepressible inbattle, sent up loud roars. And then the terrible and infuriate elephantsridden over by the skilful combatants of both sides were urged on withspiked clubs and hooks. And the encounter, O king, that took place whenthe sun was low in the horizon, between the infantry and cavalry andchariots and elephants of both parties, was like unto that of old betweenthe gods and the Asuras, terrible and fierce and sufficient for makingone’s hair stand on end and calculated to increase the population ofYama’s kingdom. And as the combatants rushed against one another, smitingand slashing, thick clouds of dust began to rise, so that nothing couldbe discovered. And covered with the dust raised by the contending armies,birds began to drop down on the earth. And the sun himself disappearedbehind the thick cloud of arrows shot, and the firmament looked bright asif with myriads of the fireflies. And shifting their bows, the staves ofwhich were decked with gold, from one hand to another, those heroes beganto strike each other down, discharging their arrows right and left. Andcars encountered cars, and foot-soldiers fought with foot-soldiers, andhorse-men with horsemen, and elephants with mighty elephants. And theyfuriously encountered one another with swords and axes, bearded darts andjavelins, and iron clubs. And although, O king, those mighty-armedwarriors furiously assailed one another in that conflict, yet neitherparty succeeded in prevailing over the other. And severed heads, somewith beautiful noses, some with upper lips deeply gashed, some deckedwith ear-rings, and some divided with wounds about the well-trimmed hairwere seen rolling on the ground covered with dust. And soon the field ofbattle was overspread with the limbs of Kshatriya warriors, cut off bymeans of arrows and lying like trunks of Sala trees. And scattered overwith heads decked in ear-rings, and sandal-besmeared arms looking likethe bodies of snakes, the field of battle became exceedingly beautiful.And as cars encountered cars, and horsemen encountered horsemen, andfoot-soldiers fought with foot-soldiers, and elephants met withelephants, the frightful dust soon became drenched with torrents ofblood. And some amongst the combatants began to swoon away, and thewarriors began to fight reckless of consideration of humanity, friendshipand relationship. And both their course and sight obstructed by thearrowy shower, vultures began to alight on the ground. But although thosestrong-armed combatants furiously fought with one another, yet the heroesof neither party succeeded in routing their antagonists. And Satanikahaving slain a full hundred of the enemy and Visalaksha full fourhundred, both those mighty warriors penetrated into the heart of thegreat Trigarta host. And having entered into the thick of the Trigartahost, those famous and mighty heroes began to deprive their antagonistsof their senses by causing a closer conflict to set in–a conflict, inwhich the combatants seized one another by the hair and tore one anotherwith their nails.[29] And eyeing the point where the cars of theTrigartas had been mustered in strong numbers, those heroes at lastdirected their attack towards it. And that foremost of car-warriors, kingVirata also, with Suryadatta in his van and Madiraksha in his rear,having destroyed in that conflict five hundred cars, eight hundredhorses, and five warriors on great cars, displayed various skilfulmanoeuvres on his car on that field of battle. And at last the king cameupon the ruler of the Trigartas mounted on a golden chariot. And thosehigh-souled and powerful warriors, desirous of fighting, rushed roaringagainst each like two bulls in a cow-pen. Then that bull among men,irrepressible in battle, Susarman, the king of the Trigartas, challengedMatsya to a single combat on car. Then those warriors excited to furyrushed against each other on their cars and began to shower their arrowsupon each other like clouds pouring torrents of rain.[30] And enragedwith each other, those fierce warriors, both skilled in weapons, bothwielding swords and darts and maces, then moved about (on the field ofbattle) assailing each other with whetted arrows. Then king Viratapierced Susarman with ten shafts and each of his four horses also withfive shafts. And Susarman also, irresistible in battle and conversantwith fatal weapons, pierced king of Matsya with fifty whetted shafts. Andthen, O mighty monarch, in consequence of the dust on the field ofbattle, the soldiers of both Susarman and Matsya’s king could notdistinguish one another.'”