SECTION –CCXLIII
(Ghosha-yatra Parva Continud)
Vaisampayana said, "Then those Gandharvas
decked in golden garlands and accomplished in celestial weapons, showing their
blazing shafts, encountered the Pandavas from every side. And as the sons of
Pandu were only four in number and the Gandharvas counted by thousands, the
battle that ensued appeared to be extraordinary. And as the cars of Karna and
Duryodhana had formerly been broken into a hundred fragments by the Gandharvas,
so were the cars of the four heroes attempted to be broken. But those tigers
among men began to encounter with their showers of arrows thousands upon thousands
of Gandharvas rushing towards them. Those rangers of skies endued with great
energy, thus checked on all sides by that arrowy down-pour, succeeded not in
even coming near to the sons of Pandu. Then Arjuna whose ire had been provoked,
aiming at the angry Gandharvas, prepared to hurl against them his celestial
weapons. And in that encounter, the mighty Arjuna, by means of his Agneya
weapon, sent ten hundreds of thousands of Gandharvas to the abode of Yama. And
that mighty bowman, Bhima, also, that foremost of all warriors in battle, slew,
by means of his sharp arrows, Gandharvas by hundreds. And the mighty sons of
Madri also, battling with vigour, encountered hundreds of Gandharvas, O king,
and slaughtered them all. And as Gandharvas were being thus slaughtered by the
mighty warriors with their celestial weapons, they rose up to the skies, taking
with them the sons of Dhritarashtra. But Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti,
beholding them rise up to the skies, surrounded them on every side by a wide
net of arrows. And confined within that arrowy net like birds within a cage,
they showered in wrath upon Arjuna maces and darts and broad-swords. But Arjuna
who was conversant with the most efficacious weapons, soon checked that shower
of maces and darts and broad-swords, and in return began to mangle the limbs of
the Gandharvas with his crescent-shaped arrows. And heads and legs and arms
began to drop down from above resembling a shower of stones. And at that sight,
the foe was struck with panic. And as the Gandharvas were being slaughtered by
the illustrious son of Pandu, they began to shower from the skies a heavy
downpour of shafts upon Arjuna, who was on the surface of the earth. But that
chastiser of foes, Arjuna, endued with mighty energy checked that shower of
arrows by means of his own weapons and began, in return, to wound them. Then
Arjuna of the Kuru race shot his well-known weapons called Sthunakarna,
Indrajala, Saura, Agneya and Saumya. And the Gandharvas consumed by the fiery
weapons of Kunti's son, began to suffer heavily, like the sons of Diti, while
being scorched by Sakra's thunder-bolt. And when they attacked Arjuna from
above, they were checked by his net of arrows. And while they attacked him from
all sides on the surface of the earth, they were checked by his crescent-shaped
arrows. And beholding the Gandharvas put in fear by Kunti's son, Chitrasena
rushed, O Bharata, at Dhananjaya, armed with a mace. And as the king of the
Gandharvas was rushing at Arjuna from above with that mace in hand, the latter
cut with his arrows that mace wholly made of iron into seven pieces. And
beholding that mace of his cut into many pieces by Arjuna of great activity,
with his arrows, Chitrasena, by means of his science, concealed himself from
the view of the Pandava and began to fight with him. The heroic Arjuna,
however, by means of his own celestial weapons checked all the celestial
weapons that were aimed at him by the Gandharvas. And when the chief of the
Gandharvas saw that he was checked by the illustrious Arjuna with those weapons
of his he entirely disappeared from sight by help of his powers of illusion.
And Arjuna, observing that the chief of the Gandharvas was striking at him
concealed from sight, attacked his assailant with celestial weapon inspired with
proper Mantras. And the multiform Dhananjaya filled with wrath, prevented the
disappearance of his foe by means of his weapon known by the name of
Sabda-veda. And assailed with those weapons by the illustrious Arjuna, his dear
friend, the king of the Gandharvas, showed himself unto him. And Chitrasena
said, 'Behold in me thy friend battling with thee!' And beholding his friend
Chitrasena exhausted in the battle, that bull among the sons of Pandu withdrew
the weapons he had shot. And the other sons of Pandu beholding Arjuna withdraw
his weapons, checked their flying steeds and the impetus of their weapons and
withdrew their bows. And Chitrasena and Bhima and Arjuna and the twins
enquiring about one another's welfare, sat awhile on their respective cars."
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