Chapter 185

“Sanjaya continued, ‘The warrior, O king, thus clad in mail on the fieldof battle, adored the thousand-rayed Aditya as he rose at morn. When thethousand-rayed luminary, of splendour bright, as burning gold, arose, andthe world became illumined, the battle once more commenced. The samesoldiers that were engaged with each other before the sunrise, once morefought with each other, O Bharata, after, the rise of the sun. Horsemenengaged with car-warriors, and elephants with horsemen, and foot-soldierswith elephants and horsemen with horsemen, O bull of Bharata’s race.Sometimes, unitedly and sometimes separately, the warriors, fell upon oneanother in battle. Having fought vigorously in the night, many, tiredwith exertion, and weak with hunger and thirst became deprived of theirsenses. The uproar made of the blare of conchs, the beat of drums, theroar of elephants, and the twang of out-stretched bows drawn with forcetouched the very heavens, O king! The noise made also by rushing infantryand falling weapons, and neighing steeds and rolling cars, and shoutingand roaring of warriors, became tremendous. That loud noise increasingevery minute, reached the heavens. The groans and wails of pain, onfalling and fallen foot-soldiers and car-warriors and elephants, becameexceedingly loud and pitiable as these were heard on the field. When theengagement became general, both side slew each other’s own men andanimals. Hurled from the hands of heroes upon warriors and elephants,heaps of swords were seen on the field, resembling heaps of cloths on thewashing ground. The sound, again, of uplifted and descending swords inheroic arms resembled that of cloths thrashed for wash. That generalengagement then, in which the warriors encountered one another withswords and scimitars and lances and battle-axes, became exceedinglydreadful. The heroic combatants caused a river there, that ran its coursetowards the regions of the dead. The blood of elephants and steeds andhuman beings formed its current. Weapons formed its fish in profusion. Itwas miry with blood and flesh. Wails of grief and pain formed its roar.Banners and cloth formed its froth. Afflicted with shafts and darts, wornwith exertion, spent with toil on the (previous) night, and exceedinglyweakened, elephants and steeds, with limbs perfectly motionless, stood onthe field. With their arms (in beautiful attitudes) and with theirbeautiful coats of mail, and heads decked with beautiful ear-rings, thewarriors, adorned with implements of battle, looked exceedinglyresplendent.[250] At that time, in consequence of the carnivorous animalsand the dead and the dying, there was no path for the cars all over thefield. Afflicted with shafts steeds of the noblest breed and high mettle,resembling elephants (in size and strength), worn out with toil, wereseen to tremble with great effort, as they drew vehicles whose wheels hadsunk in the earth. The whole of that host, O Bharata, resembling theocean for vastness, then became agitated, and afflicted, inspired withterror, with the exception only of Drona and Arjuna. Those two became therefuge, these two became the saviours, of the warriors of theirrespective sides. Others, encountering these two proceeded to the abodeof Yama. Then the vast host of the Kurus became greatly agitated, and thePanchalas, huddled together, became no longer distinguishable. Duringthat great carnage of the Kshatriyas on earth, on that field of battle,enhancing the terrors of the timid and looking like a crematorium neitherKarna, nor Drona, nor Arjuna, nor Yudhishthira, nor Bhimasena, nor thetwins, nor the Panchala prince, nor Satyaki, nor Duhsasana, nor Drona’sson, nor Duryodhana nor Suvala’s son, nor Kripa, nor the ruler of theMadras, nor Kritavarman, nor others, nor my own self, nor the earth, norpoints of the compass, could be seen, O king, for all of them, mingledwith the troops, were shrouded by clouds of dust. During the progress ofthat fierce and terrible battle, when that dusty cloud arose, all thoughtthat night had once more come over the scene. Neither the Kauravas, northe Panchalas, nor the Pandavas, could be distinguished, nor the pointsof the compass, nor the welkin, nor the earth, nor even land nor unevenland. The warriors, desirous of victory, slew foes and friends, in fact,all whom they could perceive by the touch of their hands. The earthlydust that had arisen was soon dispelled by the winds that blew, anddrenched by the blood that was shed. Elephants and steeds andcar-warriors and foot-soldiers, bathed in blood, looked beautiful likethe (celestial) forest of Parijata. Then Duryodhana, Karna, Drona andDuhsasana, these four (Kauravas) warriors engaged in battle with four ofthe Pandava warriors, Duryodhana and his brothers, encountered the twins(Nakula and Sahadeva). And Radha’s son engaged himself with Vrikodara,and Arjuna with the son of Bharadwaja, all the troops, from every side,looked on that terrible encounter. The car-warriors (of both armiesquietly) beheld that beautiful, that superhuman engagement between thosefierce and foremost of car-warriors conversant with every mode ofwarfare, riding on their own beautiful cars that performed diversedelightful evolutions. Endued with great prowess, struggling vigorously,and each solicitous of vanquishing the other, they covered each otherwith showers of shafts, like the clouds at the close of summer (pouringtorrents of rain). Those bulls among men, riding on their cars of solareffulgence, looked beautiful like congregated masses of clouds in theautumnal sky. Then those warriors, O monarch, filled with wrath anddesire of revenge, mighty bowmen all, challenging, rushed at one anotherwith great vigour like infuriated leaders of elephantine herds. Verily, Oking, death does not take place till its hour comes, since all thosewarriors did not simultaneously perish in that battle. Strewn with loppedoff arms and legs, and heads decked with beautiful ear-rings, and bowsand arrows and lances and scimitars and battle-axes and (other kinds of)axes, and Nalihas and razor-headed arrows and cloth-yard shafts and dartsand diverse kinds of beautiful armour, and beautiful cars broken intopieces, and slain elephants and standardless cars broken like cities, andvehicles dragged hither and thither with the speed of the wind bydriverless steeds in great fright, and a large number of well-deckedwarriors of great courage, and fallen fans and coats of mail andstandards, and ornaments and robes and fragrant garlands, and chains ofgold and diadems and crowns and head-gears and rows of bells, and jewelsworn on breasts, and cuirasses and collars and gems that adornhead-gears, the field of battle looked beautiful like the firmamentbespangled with stars.’

‘Then there occured an encounter between Duryodhana, filled with wrathand desire of revenge, and Nakula filled with the same feelings. Madri’sson cheerfully shooting hundreds of shafts, placed thy son on his right.At this loud cheers were bestowed upon him. Placed on the right by hiscousin-brother in wrath, thy son king Duryodhana, filled with rage,began, in battle, to wonderfully counteract Nakula from that very side.Thereupon, Nakula, endued with great energy and acquainted with thediverse course (in which a car may be conducted), began to resist thy sonwho was engaged in counteracting him from his right. Duryodhana, however,afflicting Nakula with showers of shafts and resisting him on every side,caused him to turn back. All the troops applauded that feat (of thy son).Then Nakula, addressing thy son, said, ‘Wait, Wait, recollecting all hiswoes caused by thy evil counsels.'”