Thus slain by the illustrious Nakula, Karna’s
son fell down like a lofty tree on the bank of a river
thrown down by the current of the stream. Beholding
the slaughter of Karna’s sons and the prowess
of Nakula, thy army, O bull of Bharata’s race,
fled away in fear. Their commander, however,
the brave and valiant ruler of the Madras, that chastiser
of foes, then protected, O monarch, those troops in
that battle. Rallying his host, O king, Shalya
stood fearlessly in battle, uttering loud leonine
roars and causing his bow to twang fiercely. Then
thy troops, O king, protected in battle by that firm
bowman, cheerfully proceeded against the foe once
more from every side. Those high-souled warriors,
surrounding that great bowman, the ruler of the Madras,
stood, O king, desirous of battling on every side.
Then Satyaki, and Bhimasena, and those two Pandavas,
the twin sons of Madri, placing that chastiser of
foes and abode of modesty, Yudhishthira, at their head,
and surrounding him on all sides in that battle, uttered
leonine roars. And those heroes also caused a
loud whizz with the arrows they shot and frequently
indulged in diverse kinds of shouts. Smilingly,
all thy warriors, filled with rage, speedily encompassed
the ruler of the Madras and stood from desire of battle.
Then commenced a battle, inspiring the timid with fear,
between thy soldiers and the enemy, both of whom made
death their goal. That battle between fearless
combatants, enhancing the population of Yama’s
kingdom, resembled, O monarch, that between the gods
and the Asuras in days of yore. Then the ape-bannered
son of Pandu, O king, having slaughtered the Samsaptakas
in battle, rushed against that portion of the Kaurava
army. Smiling, all the Pandavas, headed by Dhrishtadyumna,
rushed against the same division, shooting showers
of keen arrows. Overwhelmed by the Pandavas,
the Kaurava host became stupefied. Indeed, those
divisions then could not discern the cardinal point
from the subsidiary points of the compass. Covered
with keen arrows sped by the Pandavas, the Kaurava
army, deprived of its foremost warriors, wavered and
broke on all sides. Indeed, O Kaurava, that host
of thine began to be slaughtered by the mighty car-warriors
of the Pandavas. Similarly, the Pandava host,
O king, began to be slaughtered in hundreds and thousands
in that battle by thy sons on every side with their
arrows. While the two armies, exceedingly excited,
were thus slaughtering each other, they became much
agitated like two streams in the season of rains.
During the progress of that dreadful battle, O monarch,
a great fear entered the hearts of thy warriors as
also those of the Pandavas.’”
11


