Ever vanquishing his foes with great speed, he was incapable of
being forcibly vanquished by foes. He knew, in all its details, the
science of weapons consisting of four padas and ten angas. He knew also
the four Vedas with all their branches, and the Akhyanas as the fifth.
Possessed of great ascetic merit, Drona, himself not born of woman,
having worshipped the Three-eyed deity with great attention and austere
vows, begat him upon a wife not born of woman. Approaching that personage
of unrivalled feats, that one who is unrivalled in beauty on Earth, that
one who has mastered all branches of learning, that ocean of
accomplishments, that faultless Ashvatthama, thy son told him these
words, "Thou, O preceptor's son, art today our highest refuge. Tell us,
therefore, who is to be the generalissimo of my forces now, placing whom
at our head, all of us, united together, may vanquish the Pandavas?"
"'(Thus addressed), the son of Drona answered, "Let Shalya become the
leader of our army. In descent, in prowess, in energy, in fame, in beauty
of person, and in every other accomplishment, he is superior. Mindful of
the services rendered to him, he has taken up our side, having abandoned
the sons of his own sister. Owning a large force of his own, that
mighty-armed one is like a second (Kartikeya, the) celestial
generalissimo. Making that king the commander of our forces, O best of
monarchs, we will be able to gain victory, like the gods, after making
the unvanquished Skanda their commander.
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