भीष्म-वध पर्व — महासंहार

Sanjaya said O king, O descendant of Bharata, I shall now describe to you the fight of hundreds and thousands of foot-soldiers, who were in utter forgetfulness of all considerations for others.

The son did not recognise the father and the father the son. The brother did not recognise his own brother and the sister's son did not recognise his maternal uncle.

The maternal uncle did not recognise his sister's son, and the friend did not recognise the friend. the Pandava and the Kuru forces fought as if they had been possessed by demons.

O foremost of men, some warriors attacked with their cars the cars of the enemies, and crushed the yokes of those cars to pieces.

The shafts of cars broke dashing against shafts of other cars, the spikes of car-yokes broke against spikes of car-yokes. Some untidily attacked others that were united but all were eager to take one another's life.

Some cars were obstructed by other cars and they were unable to move. Huge elephants with rent temples fell upon other huge elephants. They angrily tore one another's body with their tusks. O king, others, again, attacking other impetuous and huge ones with huge standards on their backs, being wounded by tusks, roared in great agony.

Disciplined by training and urged on by pikes and hooks, elephants not in rut attacked those that were in rut.

Huge elephants, attacked by those that were in rut, ran away in all directions, uttering cries like those of cranes.

Many huge elephants, well trained and with juice trickling down from their rent temples and moth, having been wounded by swords, lances and arrows, shrieked aloud. Pierced in their vital parts they fell down and expired. Uttering fearful cries, some ran away in all directions.

O king, the foot-soldiers, that protected the elephants, that possessed broad chests, that were capable of effectually striking the foe, armed with pikes, bows, bright battle-axes, maces, clubs, arrows, lances, shafts and heavy iron-mounted bludgeons and swords of the brightest polish, ran in every direction with the firm resolve of taking one another's life.

The swords of brave combatants who rushed against one another having been steeped in blood shone with great brilliancy.

The whiling noise of the swords made by their whirling and falling by heroic arms became very loud.

O descendant of Bharata, crushed with maces and clubs, cut off with tempered swords pierced and grinned by the tusks of elephants, the combatants sent forth heart-rending wails as those of men doomed to hell.

Horsemen on fleet horses with tails like the plumes of swans, rushed upon me another.

Hurled by them, long fleet and polished and sharp-pointed darts, decked with gold, fell (on all sides) like so many snakes.

Some heroic horsemen on fleet steeds leaped up and cut off the heads of car-warriors who were seated on their cars.

A car-warrior, getting a body cavalry within shooting distance, killed many with straight arrows furnished with broad heads.

Many infuriated elephants adorned with gold trappings and loO king like newly-risen clouds threw down the horses and crushed them with their legs.

Being struck on their frontal globes and flanks, and mangled by lances, many elephants roared aloud in great agony.

In the bewildering confusion of the melee, many elephants threw steeds with their riders and crushed them down.

Overthrowing with their tusks steeds and their riders, some elephants roved about and crushed cars with their standards.

Some huge male elephants, from excess of energy and with the temporal juice gushing down from their temples in large quantities, killed horses with their riders by their trunks and legs.

Polished, sharp-pointed and fleet arrows resembling snakes fell upon the heads, the temples and the flanks and the limbs of elephants.

king, icarful, polished javelins resembling large meteoric lashes being hurled by heroic arms fell everywhere piercing through bodies of men and horses and cutting through coats of mail. Taking out their sharp swords from sheathes made of leopard's and tiger's skins, many killed their adversaries in battle.

Many warriors, though attacked and their bodies cut open, fell upon their antagonists with swords, shields and battle-axes.

Dragging down and overthrowing cars with their horses by their trunks, some elephants roved about in all directions, guided by the cries of those behind them.

Some pierced by javelins, some cut down by battle-axes, some crushed by elephants, some trodden down by horses, some cut by the car-wheels and some by axes, O king, loudly called for their kinsmen. Some called upon their sons, some upon their fathers, some upon their brothers some upon their relatives, some upon their maternal uncles, some upon their sister's sons, and some upon their friends and others.

O descendant of Bharata, a large number of combatants lost their weapons, many had their thighs broken. Some were seen to cry piteously for their desire for life, with arms torn off or sides pierced or cut open.

O king, some having but little strength, and lying on the field of battle asked for water from excessive thirst.

O descendant of Bharata, some, sweltering in blood and becoming greatly weakened, ensured themselves and your son assembled (in that battle).

O exalted one, but there were others, the brave Kshatriyas, who having wounded one another, did not abandon their weapons nor did they set up any wails,

There were some, who, lying on those places where they lay, roared in joy and bitting from wrath their own lips with their teeth, looked at one another with faces rendered fearful by the contraction of their eye-brows. Others, possessing great strength and tenacity, wounded with arrow, remained perfectly silent smarting under their pains. Other brave carwarriors, deprived of their own cars in battle and thrown down and wounded by huge elephants, asked to be taken up on the cars of others. O king, many looked beautiful like blossoming Kinshukas.

In that fearful battle, destructive of heroes, the father killed the son and the son killed the father, the sister's son killed the maternal uncle, the maternal uncle killed the sister's son Friends killed friends and kinsmen killed kinsmen.

Thus took place the great slaughter in that great battle between the Kurus and the Pandavas.

In that fearful and terrible battle in which no consideration was shown, the Pandavas (at last) began to waver before Bhishma.

0 best of the Bharata race, O king, the mighty-armed Bhishma, with his great standard made of silver and adorned with the device of a palmyra with five stars sitting upon his excellent car, shone like the moon on the Meru mountain.