SECTION –XX
(Arjunabhigamana Parva Continued)
"Vasudeva said, 'When Salwa had left the
city of the Anarttas, I returned to it, O king, on the completion of thy great
Rajasuya sacrifice! On my arrival I found Dwaraka shorn of its splendour, and,
O great monarch, there were not sounds of Vedic recitation or sacrificial
offering, And the excellent damsels were all destitute of ornaments, and the
gardens were devoid of beauty. And alarmed by the aspect, I asked the son of
Hridika saying, 'Why is it that the men and women of the city of the Vrishnis
are so woe-begone, O tiger among men?' O thou best of kings thus asked the son
of Hridika (Kritavarman) relate to me in detail the invasion of the city by
Salwa, and his subsequent departure from it. And, O thou foremost of Bharatas,
hearing all, even then I made up my mind to slay Salwa. And encouraging the
citizens, O best of Bharatas, I cheerfully addressed king Ahuka, and
Anakdundhuvi, and the chief heroes of the Vrishni race, saying, 'Do ye, O bulls
among the Yadavas, stay in the city, taking every care, and know that I go to
slay Salwa! I return not to the city of Dwaravati without slaying him. I will
again come to ye having compassed the destruction of Salwa together with his
car of precious metals. Do ye strike up the sharp and middle and flat notes of
the Dundhuvi so dreadful to foes!' And O thou bull of the Bharata race, thus
adequately encouraged by me, those heroes cheerfully said unto me, 'Go and slay
the enemies!' And thus receiving the benedictions of those warriors with glad
hearts, and causing the Brahmanas to utter auspicious words and bowing down to
the best of the regenerate ones, and to Siva also, I set out on my car unto
which were yoked the horses Saivya, and Sugriva, filling all sides with the
clatter (of my wheels) and blowing that best of conchs, the Panchajanya! And, O
king, O tiger among men, accompanied by my redoubted and victorious army
consisting of the four kinds of the forces so persevering in battle, I set out.
And leaving many countries, and mountains, crowned with trees, and pieces of
water, and streams, I at last arrived at the country of Matrikavarta. It is
there, O thou tiger among men, that I heard that Salwa was coursing on his car
of precious metals near the ocean, and I followed in his pursuit. And, O thou
slayer of thy foes, having reached the main, Salwa on his car of costly metals
was in the midst of the deep heaving with billows! And on seeing me from a distance,
O Yudhishthira, that one of wicked soul himself challenged me repeatedly to the
fight. And many arrows capable of piercing to the quick, discharged from my bow
reached not his car. And at this I was wroth! And, O king, that essentially
sinful wretch of a Daitya's son of irrepressible energy, on his part began to
shoot thousands upon thousands of arrows in torrents! And, O Bharata, he rained
shafts upon my soldiers and upon my charioteer and upon my steeds! But without
thinking of the shafts, we continued the conflict. Then the warriors following
Salwa poured on me straight arrows by thousands. And the Asuras covered my
horses and my car and Daruka with arrows capable of piercing the very vitals.
And, O hero, I could not at that time see either my horses, or my car, or my
charioteer Daruka! And I with my army was covered with weapons. And, O son of
Kunti, superhumanly skilled in weapons, I also let fly from my bow arrows by
tens of thousands, inspiring them with mantras! But as that car of costly metals
was in the sky, full two miles off, it could not, O Bharata, be seen by my
troops. They could therefore only remaining on the field of battle look on like
spectators in a place of amusement, cheering me on by shouts loud as the roar
of the lion, and also by the sound of their clapping. And the tinted arrows
shot by the fore-part of hand penetrated into the bodies of the Danavas like
biting insects. And then arose cries in the car of precious metals from those
that were dying of wounds by those sharp arrows and falling into the waters of
the mighty ocean. And the Danavas deprived of their arms, necks, and wearing
the form of Kavandhas,--fell, sending up tremendous roars. And as they fell
they were devoured by animals living in the waters of the ocean. And then I
powerfully blew the Panchajanya obtained from the waters and graceful as the
lotus-stalk and white as milk or the Kunda flower or the moon or silver. And
seeing his soldiers fall, Salwa the possessor of the car of precious metals,
began to fight with the help of illusion. And then he began to ceaselessly hurl
at me maces, and ploughshares, and winged darts and lances, and javelins, and
battle-axes, and swords and arrows blazing like javelins and thunderbolts, and
nooses, and broad swords, and bullets from barrels, and shafts, and axes, and
rockets. And permitting them to come towards me, I soon destroyed them all by
counter-illusion. And on this illusion being rendered ineffectual, he began the
contest with mountain peaks. And, O Bharata, then there was darkness and light
alternately, and the day was now fair, and now gloomy, and now hot, and now
cold. And there was a perfect shower of coals, and ashes, and weapons. And
creating such illusion the enemy fought with me. And ascertaining it I
destroyed his illusion by counter-illusion. And in the due time I showered
arrows all round. And then, O mighty king, the dome of heaven blazed as with a
hundred suns, and, O son of Kunti with one hundred moons, and thousands and ten
thousands of stars! And then none could ascertain whether it was day or night,
or distinguish the points of the horizon. And, becoming bewildered, I fixed on
my bowstring the weapon called Pragnastra. And, O son of Kunti, the weapon went
like unto flakes of pure cotton blown away by the winds! And a great fight took
place, calculated to make the down on one's body stand on end. And O best of
monarchs, having regained, light, I again fought with the enemy!'"
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