had proceeded far on foot, the king recalled the words
of the intelligent and virtuous Vidura. Without
doubt, this had been foreseen by Vidura of great wisdom,
this great carnage of Kshatriyas and of ourselves
in battle. Reflecting on this, the king, with
heart burning in grief at having witnessed the extermination
of his army, desired to penetrate into the depths
of that lake. The Pandavas, O monarch, with Dhrishtadyumna
at their head, filled with rage, rushed against (the
small remnant of) thy army. With his Gandiva,
Dhananjaya baffled the purpose of the (Kaurava) troops,
who, armed with darts and swords and lances, were
uttering loud roars. Having with his sharp shafts
slain those troops with their allies and kinsmen,
Arjuna, as he stood on his car having white steeds
yoked unto it, looked exceedingly beautiful. Upon
the fall of Subala’s son along with horse, cars
and elephants, thy army looked like a large forest
laid low (by the wind). In Duryodhana’s
army then, O monarch, which had numbered many hundred
thousands of warriors, not another great car-warrior
was seen to be alive, save the heroic son of Drona,
and Kritavarma, and Kripa the son of Gotama, O monarch,
and that lord of the earth, thy son! Dhrishtadyumna,
seeing me, laughingly addressed Satyaki, saying, ’What
is the use of seizing this one? Nothing will
be gained by keeping him alive.’ Hearing
these words of Dhrishtadyumna, the grandson of Sini,
that great car-warrior, uplifting his sharp sword,
prepared to slay me. Just at that juncture, the
Island-born Krishna of great wisdom (Vyasa), coming
there, said, “Let Sanjaya be dismissed alive!
By no means should he be slain!” Hearing these
words of the Island-born, the grandson of Sini, joined
his hands, and then, setting me free said unto me,
“Peace to thee, O Sanjaya, thou mayest go hence!”
Permitted by him, I myself then, putting off my armour
and making over my weapons, set out on the evening
on the road leading to the city, my limbs bathed in
blood. After I had come about two miles, O monarch,
I beheld Duryodhana, standing alone, mace in hand,
and exceedingly mangled. His eyes were full of
tears and therefore he could not see me. I stood
cheerlessly before him. He looked accordingly
at me without recognising me. Beholding him standing
alone on the field and indulging in grief, I also,
overwhelmed with sorrow, succeeded not for a little
while to speak a single word. Then I said unto
him everything about my own capture and my release
through the grace of the Island-born. Having
reflected for a moment, and regained his senses, he
enquired of me about his brothers and his troops.
I had seen everything with my eyes and therefore told
him everything, that his brothers had all been slain
and that all his troops had been exterminated.
I told the king that we had at that time only three
car-warriors left alive, for the Island-born had said
so unto me when I set out (from the place where the
Pandavas were). Drawing deep breaths and looking


