Beholding Duryodhana
stationed in the midst of that car-force, Shakuni, gladdening all those
car-warriors of thine, O king cheerfully said these words unto
Duryodhana. Indeed, he said the following words in a manner which showed
that he regarded all his purposes to have been already achieved. "Slay, O
king, the car-divisions (of the Pandavas)! All their horses have been
vanquished by me! Yudhishthira is incapable of being conquered in battle
unless one is prepared to lay down his life! When that car-force,
protected by the son of Pandu, will have been destroyed, we shall then
slay all those elephants and foot-soldiers and others!" Hearing these
words of his, thy warriors, inspired with desire of victory, cheerfully
rushed towards the Pandava army. With quivers on their backs and bows in
their hands, all of them shook their bows and uttered leonine roars. Once
more, O king, the fierce twang of bows and the slapping of palms and the
whiz of arrows shot with force was heard. Beholding those Kuru combatants
approach the Pandava army with uplifted bows, Kunti's son Dhananjaya said
unto the son of Devaki these words, "Urge the steeds fearlessly and
penetrate this sea of troops! With my keen shafts I shall today reach the
end of these hostilities! Today is the eighteenth day, O Janardana, of
this great battle that is raging between the two sides! The army of those
high-souled heroes, which was literally numberless, hath been nearly
destroyed! Behold the course of Destiny! The army of Dhritarashtra's son,
O Madhava, which was vast as the ocean, hath, O Achyuta, become, after
encountering ourselves, even like the indent caused by a cow's hoof! If
peace had been made after Bhishma's fall, O Madhava, everything would
have been well! The foolish Duryodhana of weak understanding, however,
did not make peace! The words that were uttered by Bhishma, O Madhava,
were beneficial and worthy of adoption.
Pages:
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649