car-warriors and steeds and kings, flying away in fear,
made, as they fled, a loud and awful din that, O monarch,
filled the earth and sky and heaven and the cardinal
and subsidiary directions in that battle. Mounted
on that foremost of elephants, king Bhagadatta penetrated
the hostile army like the Asura Virochana in days
of old into the celestial host in battle well-protected
by the gods. A violent wind began to blow; a dusty
cloud covered the sky and the troops; and people regarded
that single elephant as multiplied into many, coursing
all over the field.’”
“Sanjaya said, ’Thou askest me about the
feats of Arjuna in battle. Listen, O thou of
mighty arms, to what Partha achieved in the fight.
Beholding the risen dust and hearing the wail of the
troops when Bhagadatta was performing great feats
on the field, the son of Kunti addressed Krishna and
said ’O slayer of Madhu, it seems that the ruler
of the Pragjyotishas hath, on his elephant, with great
impetuosity, advanced to battle. This loud din
that we hear must be due to him. Well-versed in
the art of grinding and battling from the back of an
elephant, and not inferior to Indra himself in battle,
he, I think, is the formost of all elephant-warriors
in the world.[54] His elephant, again, is the foremost
of elephants, without a rival to encounter it in battle.
Possessed of great dexterity and above all fatigue,
it is, again, impervious to all weapons. Capable
of bearing every weapon and even the touch of fire,
it will, O sinless one, alone destroy the Pandava
force today. Except us two, there is none else
capable of checking that creature. Go quickly,
therefore, to that spot where the ruler of the Pragjyotishas
is. Proud in battle, in consequence of the strength
of his elephant, and arrogant in consequence of his
age, I will this very day send him as a guest to the
slayer of Vala.’ At these words of Arjuna,
Krishna began to proceed to the place where Bhagadatta
was breaking the Pandava ranks. While Arjuna
was proceeding towards Bhagadatta, the mighty Samsaptaka
car-warriors, numbering fourteen thousand, made up
of ten thousand Gopalas or Narayanas who used to follow
Vasudeva, returning to the field, summoned him to
battle. Beholding the Pandava host broken by Bhagadatta,
and summoned on the other hand by the Samsaptakas,
Arjuna’s heart was divided in twain. And
he began to think, ’Which of these two act will
be better for me to do today, to return from this
spot for battling with Samsaptakas or to repair to
Yudhishthira?’ Reflecting with the aid of his
understanding, O perpetuator of Kuru’s race,
Arjuna’s heart, at last, was firmly fixed on
the slaughter of the Samsaptakas. Desirous of
alone slaughtering in battle thousands of car-warriors,
Indra’s son (Arjuna) having the foremost of
apes on banner, suddenly turned back. Even this
was what both Duryodhana and Karna had thought of
for achieving the slaughter of Arjuna. And it
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