‘“The immensely strong Bhimasena saw Duryodhana. Pandava grasped a club, thinking that he would bring an end to the strife. On seeing the mighty-armed Bhimasena with his upraised club, like the peak of Kailasa, your sons were terrified and fled. However, Duryodhana was angered. With ten thousand swift elephants, he engaged the army of Magadhas against him.169 With that army of elephants, and placing the Magadhas in front of him, King Suyodhana advanced against Bhimasena. Vrikodara saw that army of elephants descending on him. Roaring like a lion, he leapt down from the chariot, with a club in his hand. He grasped the heavy and great club, with a heart like that of a mountain. He attacked that army of elephants, like death with a gaping mouth. Killing the elephants with the club, the powerful one wandered around in battle. The mighty-armed Bhimasena was like Vasava with the vajra. He let out a loud roar and this made the mind and the heart tremble. At Bhima’s mighty roar, the elephants gathered together and lost all power of motion. The sons of Droupadi, Subhadra’s maharatha son, Nakula, Sahadeva and Parshata Dhrishtadyumna were guarding Bhima’s rear. They attacked the elephants with a shower of arrows, like clouds pouring down on mountains. With razor-sharp and broad-headed arrows and yellow anjalikas, the Pandavas severed the heads of those who were fighting on elephants.170 The heads fell down and so did adorned arms and hands with goads held in them. It seemed like a shower of stones. Seated on the backs of elephants, those who were fighting on elephants lost their heads. They looked like broken trees on the summits of mountains. We saw other large elephants slain and brought down by Dhrishtadyumna, the great-souled Parshata. In that battle, the king of Magadha advanced on an elephant that looked like Airavata,171 towards the chariot of Subhadra’s son. On seeing Magadha’s mighty elephant advance towards him, Subhadra’s son, the destroyer of enemy heroes, killed it with an arrow. After depriving him of his elephant, Karshni, the destroyer of enemy cities, used a broad-headed and silver-shafted arrow to slice off the king’s head.
‘“Pandava Bhimasena penetrated that army of elephants. He roamed around the field of battle, crushing elephants, like Indra against mountains. In that battle, we saw Bhimasena kill elephants with a single stroke, like mountains shattered by the vajra. Elephants had broken tusks, broken temples, broken bones, broken backs and broken heads. They were slain like mountains. They trumpeted and lay down on the ground. Other elephants refused to fight in the battle. Some issued urine. In pain, others issued excrement. We saw dead elephants strewn along whichever path Bhimasena took, like mountains. Others vomited blood. Other giant elephants had their frontal globes smashed. Some lost their senses and fell down on the ground, like mountains on the face of the earth. Bhima wandered around on the field of battle, like death with a staff in his hand. His body was smeared with fat, blood, lard and marrow. Vrikodara whirled his club, drenched with the blood of elephants. He seemed to be as terrible as Pinaki, the wielder of Pinaka.172 Crushed by the angry Bhimasena, the remaining army of your elephants suddenly fled. The charioteers and great archers, with Subdhadra’s son at the forefront, protected the brave one as he fought, like the wielder of the vajra is by the immortals. He held the club that was drenched in blood and was himself drenched in the blood of elephants. Bhimasena, terrible in his soul, then seemed to be like death himself. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! We saw him whirl his club in every direction. In that battle, we saw him dancing around like Shankara. O great king! We saw his terrible, heavy and devastating club, like Yama’s staff and with a sound like that of Indra’s vajra. It was covered in hair and marrow and was smeared with blood. It was like Rudra’s Pinaka, when he angrily kills animals. Just as a herdsman uses a stick to drive a herd of animals, your army of elephants was driven back by Bhima’s club. They were killed by that club and by arrows from all directions. Your elephants were scattered and ran away, crushing their own soldiers. Like a great storm that scatters the clouds, the elephants were driven away in that tumult by Bhima. He stood, like the wielder of the trident173 in a cremation ground.”’
Chapter 919(59)
‘Sanjaya said, “When that army of elephants was destroyed, your son, Duryodhana, instructed all the soldiers to kill Bhimasena. On your son’s instructions, all the soldiers uttered terrible roars and rushed against Bhimasena. That large army was incapable of being assailed, even by the gods. It was as difficult to cross as the turbulent ocean, on the night of the new or full moon. It was full of chariots, horses and elephants. There was the sound of conch shells. There were a large number of kings in it and it was incapable of being agitated. As it advanced, Bhimasena stationed himself in the battle, against a large ocean. He was like the shore, withstanding that ocean of soldiers. O king! In that battle, we faithfully witnessed Bhimasena’s wonderful, extraordinary and superhuman deed. Without any hesitation, Bhimasena countered all those kings, horses, chariots and elephants with his club. That supreme of charioteers used his club to check that large army. Bhima stood immobile in that melee, like Mount Meru. At that extremely tumultuous and supremely dreadful time, his brothers, his sons, Parshata Dhrishtadyumna, Droupadi’s sons, Abhimanyu and maharatha Shikhandi did not abandon Bhimasena, because of the fear that was engendered from that great force.
‘“He174 grasped a heavy and great club that was made of steel175 and rushed against your soldiers, like Death with a staff in his hand. The lord smashed large numbers of chariots and large numbers of horses. Bhima wandered around in that battle, like the fire of destruction at the end of a yuga. He killed everyone in that encounter, like the lord of death at the end of a yuga. Pandava crushed large numbers of chariots with the force of his thighs. He was like a crazy elephant and all of them were like reeds before an elephant. He brought down charioteers from chariots and elephant-riders from elephants. He brought down horse-riders from the backs of horses and crushed infantry on the ground. With the dead bodies of men, elephants and horses, the field of battle looked like the abode of the dead. He was like Rudra with the Pinaka, destroying animals in his anger. With the terrible and destructive club, which made a sound like Indra’s vajra, Bhimasena looked like Yama, with a staff in his hand. The great-souled Kounteya whirled his club and assumed an extremely terrible form, like death at the time of the destruction of a yuga. He repeatedly shattered that large army. He was seen to be like death himself and all of them became dispirited. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Wherever Pandava cast his eye, with his club upraised, all the soldiers there seemed to vanish. He shattered the soldiers and was unvanquished by the army. He devoured the soldiers, like the destroyer with a gaping mouth. He grasped the great club and performed terrible deeds there.
‘“On seeing Vrikodara thus, Bhishma swiftly advanced towards him. He was on a giant chariot with the radiance of the sun and it roared like the clouds. He enveloped everything with a shower of arrows, like clouds showering down rain. On seeing Bhishma advance, like the destroyer with a gaping mouth, the mighty-armed and intolerant Bhima rushed towards him. At that instant, Satyaki, the brave descendant of the Shini lineage, devoted to the truth, attacked the grandfather. He began to kill the enemy with his firm bow and made the soldiers of your son tremble. He was borne on silver steeds and unleashed arrows from his firm bow. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Among all those on your side, there was no second one capable of withstanding him.176 Alambusa, seated on a supreme king of elephants, pierced him with sharp and terrible arrows. But Shini’s brave grandson pierced him with four arrows and advanced on his chariot. On seeing the foremost of the Vrishni lineage thus advancing, circling in the midst of the enemy, repeatedly repulsing the bulls among the Kuru lineage and roaring, no one, not even the best, was capable of withstanding him. He tormented like the midday sun. O king! With the exception of Somadatta’s son, there was no one there who was not cheerless. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing that all the charioteers on his side had been routed, Bhurishrava, Somadatta’s son, grasped a terrible and powerful bow and advanced, desiring to fight with Satyaki.”’
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p; Chapter 920(60)
‘Sanjaya said, “O king! Extremely enraged, like a gigantic elephant, Bhurishrava pierced Satyaki with nine arrows. While all the worlds looked on, Satyaki, immeasurable in his soul, used straight-tufted arrows to repulse Kourava.177 At this, King Duryodhana, surrounded by his brothers, surrounded Somadatta’s son, who was striving in that battle. In the same fashion, the immensely energetic Pandavas swiftly surrounded Satyaki in that encounter and stationed themselves for battle. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Bhimasena was extremely angry. He raised his club and confronted all your sons, with Duryodhana at the forefront. Surrounded by several thousand chariots and inflamed with anger, your son, Nandaka, pierced the immensely strong Bhimasena with sharp arrows, tufted with the feathers of herons and sharpened on stone. In that battle, Duryodhana was also angry and struck the immensely strong Bhimasena in the chest with three sharp arrows. At this, the mighty-armed and immensely strong Bhima climbed onto his own chariot, supreme among chariots, and told Vishoka,178 ‘These brave maharathas, the sons of Dhritarashtra, are extremely strong. They are extremely angry and are trying to kill me in battle. While you look on, there is no doubt that I will kill them today in this encounter. O charioteer! Therefore, in this encounter, drive the horses carefully.’ Having said this, Partha pierced your son, Duryodhana, with nine sharp arrows that were decorated with gold. He pierced Nandaka in the chest with three arrows. Duryodhana pierced the immensely strong Bhima with six. With another three extremely sharp arrows, he pierced Vishoka. O king! In that encounter, as if he was smiling, the king179 sliced off Bhima’s radiant bow from his hand with three sharp arrows. On seeing that Vishoka was oppressed in that encounter by the sharp arrows discharged by your archer son, Bhima was unable to tolerate it. O great king! O descendant of the Bharata lineage! In great rage, he grasped a divine bow, with the desire of killing your son. In his anger, he grasped a kshurapra arrow, tufted with hair. With this, Bhima sliced off the king’s supreme bow. Discarding the bow that was sliced down, he180 was inflamed with wrath and swiftly grasped another bow that was stronger. He took up an extremely terrible arrow that was as radiant as destiny and death. In great rage, he struck Bhimasena in the chest with this. Having been thus deeply wounded in the chest, he was in pain and sunk down on the floor of the chariot, having lost his senses. On seeing that Bhima was thus wounded, all the Pandava maharathas and great archers, with Abhimanyu at the forefront, could not tolerate this. Those extremely energetic ones unleashed a tumultuous shower of terrible and sharp weapons on your son’s head. Meanwhile, the immensely strong Bhimasena regained consciousness. He again pierced Duryodhana with five arrows. Pandava, the great archer, then pierced Shalya with twenty-five arrows that had golden tufts and thus pierced, he fled from the field of battle.
‘“Fourteen of your sons then attacked Bhima—Senapati, Sushena, Jalasandha, Sulochana, Ugra, Bhimaratha, Bhima,181 Bhimabahu, Alolupa, Durmukha, Dushpradharsha, Vivitsu, Vikata and Soma. Their eyes were red with rage and they shot many arrows towards Bhimasena, piercing him simultaneously. The immensely strong Bhimsena saw your sons and the brave one licked the corners of his mouth, like a wolf amidst smaller animals. With a kshurapra arrow, Pandava sliced off Senapati’s head. He pierced Jalasandha and despatched him to Yama’s abode. He killed Sushena and sent him to the land of the dead. With a bhalla arrow, he brought down Ugra’s head, with the helmet and earrings and as handsome as the moon, to the ground. O venerable one! In that encounter, Bhima then used seven arrows to despatch Bhimabahu to the land of the dead, together with his horses, his standard and his charioteer. O king! Smilingly, Bhimasena swiftly despatched the brothers, Bhima and Bhimaratha, to Yama’s abode. In the sight of all the soldiers, in that great encounter, Bhima used a kshurapra arrow to convey Sulochana to Yama’s abode. On witnessing Bhimasena’s terrible valour, your remaining sons were struck with fear on account of Bhima.182
‘“Shantanu’s son then spoke to all the maharathas. ‘This Bhima, wielding a fierce bow, is angry in battle and is slaughtering the maharatha sons of Dhritarashtra, though they are wise, superior, brave and united and the kings are being scattered.’ Having been thus addressed, all the soldiers on the side of the sons of Dhritarashtra angrily rushed at the immensely strong Bhimasena. O lord of the earth! Bhagadatta mounted an elephant with rent temples and swiftly descended on the spot where Bhima was stationed. Descending in that battle, he used arrows sharpened on stone, so that in the encounter, Bhimasena became invisible, like clouds covering the sun. Depending on the strength of their own arms, the maharathas, with Abhimanyu at the forefront, could not tolerate that Bhima should be thus enveloped. They released a shower of arrows from all directions. The elephant was pierced by arrows from all directions. The elephant of the king of Pragjyotisha was pierced by a shower of extremely energetic and excellent weapons of many types. It was oppressed and covered with blood. In that battle, it looked like a giant cloud that was tinged with the rays of the sun. The elephant was exuding musth. Goaded by Bhagadatta, it rushed against them, like Death urged by the Destroyer. It doubled its speed and made the earth tremble. On beholding its gigantic and extremely terrible form, all the maharathas thought that it was intolerable and became dispirited. O tiger among men! The maharatha king, who was a great archer, used an arrow with drooping tufts to strike him on the chest. Thus struck, his limbs stiffened and losing his senses, he grasped the pole of the standard.183 On seeing that the others were terrified and that Bhimasena had lost his senses, the powerful and strong Bhagadatta began to roar.
‘“O king! On seeing Bhima in this state, the rakshasa Ghatotkacha became angry. Assuming a terrible form, he created fearful maya, capable of creating terror among cowards. He disappeared in an instant and then again assumed a terrible form. He rode on Airavata, created through the use of his own maya. Other elephants that were the guardians of the directions followed it—Anjana, Vamana and Mahapadma.184 Rakshasas were seated on these extremely radiant and giant elephants. O king! These three were gigantic in form and exuded a lot of musth. They were energetic, courageous and powerful and extremely strong and valiant. Ghatotkacha goaded his own elephant. The scorcher of enemies wished to kill Bhagadatta and his elephant. The other rakshasas, immensely strong, goaded the other elephants, each of which possessed four tusks. They descended on Bhagadatta’s elephant and simultaneously pierced it with their tusks. Oppressed and pained by those elephants and wounded by the arrows, it uttered a giant roar, like the sound of thunder. On hearing the roar and the extremely terrible and fearful sound, Bhishma spoke to Drona and King Suyodhana. ‘In fighting in this battle with Hidimba’s evil-souled son, the great archer Bhagadatta confronts a mighty danger. This rakshasa resorts to great illusion and the king is also extremely wrathful. These extremely valorous ones will confront each other, like Death and the Destroyer facing each other. We can hear the great roars of the delighted Pandavas. We can hear the great lamentations of the frightened elephant.185 O fortunate ones! Let us go and protect the king. If he is not swiftly protected in this encounter, he will lose his life. O extremely valiant ones! Therefore, let us proceed without delay. This great and terrible encounter has commenced and it is making the body hair stand up. This brave leader of an army186 is devoted to us and has been born in a noble lineage. O ones without decay! It is appropriate that we should save him together.’ On hearing these words of Bhishma, with Bharadvaja’s son at the forefront, and accompanied by all the kings, they advanced to protect Bhagadatta.
‘“With great speed, they advanced to the spot where he was stationed. On seeing that they were advancing, with Yudhishthira at the forefront, the Panchalas, together with the Pandavas, followed the enemy from behind. On seeing that large army, the powerful Indra among the rakshasas let out an extremely loud roar, which was like the sound of thunder. On hearing this roar and on seeing the fighting elephants, Shantanu’s son, Bhishma, spoke to Bharadvaja’s son. ‘I do not wish to fight with Hidimba’s evil-souled son. He is full of strength and
valour now and has support. The wielder of the vajra himself is incapable of vanquishing him in battle now. He is certain in his aims and can strike. Our mounts are exhausted and at the end of the day, are wounded and lacerated on account of the Panchalas and the Pandaveyas. Therefore, I do not think that we should fight any more with the victorious Pandavas. Let it be announced that we will withdraw for the day. Tomorrow, we will fight with the enemy again.’ On hearing the grandfather’s words, the Kouravas, who were oppressed by the fear of Ghatotkacha, were happy and resorted to the advent of night. The Kouravas retreated. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! The Pandavas were victorious and roared like lions, sounding conch shells and flutes. O bull among the Bharata lineage! Thus did the battle rage on that day, between the Kurus and the Pandavas, with Ghatotkacha at the front. O king! The Kouravas returned to their own camps. When night arrived, they were ashamed at having been defeated by the Pandaveyas. The bodies of the maharatha sons of Pandu were wounded by arrows. But they were delighted at the outcome of the battle and returned to their camps. O great king! They placed Bhimasena and Ghatotkacha in the front and in great delight, honoured them. They roared in many different kinds of ways and this mixed with the sounds of the trumpets. They roared like lions and this mingled with the sounds of conch shells. The great-souled ones roared and made the earth tremble. O venerable one! This agitated the hearts of your sons. When night fell, those scorchers of enemies retired to their camps. King Duryodhana was miserable at his brothers having been killed. He reflected on this for some time, overcome by sorrow and tears. He then made arrangements in all the camps, according to what is decreed. He was tormented by sorrow and pained, on account of his brothers.”’
Mahabharata: Vol. 5 Page 28