03.023
Core-Pancharatra: Krishna destroys Soubha and kills Shalva.
Vāsudeva said.
Then, O best of the Bharatas, I took up my beautiful bow and with arrows struck down from Saubha the heads of the enemies of the gods. (3-23-1)
I sent well-adorned arrows, having the form of serpents, rising upwards with sharp brilliance, released from the Śārṅga bow, to the king of Śālva. (3-23-2)
Then, O best of the Kuru lineage, the Saubha was not seen at that time; it disappeared by illusion. Then I became astonished. (3-23-3)
Then, O Bhārata, when I was stationed, the groups of Dānavas with distorted faces and hair cried out loudly, O great king. (3-23-4)
Then, in the great battle, I quickly discharged the missile powered by sound for its destruction; then the sound ceased. (3-23-5)
All those Dānavas were slain by whom that sound was uttered, by blazing, sun-like, sound-producing arrows. (3-23-6)
O great king, when that sound had ceased, again another sound arose from elsewhere; there too, another struck arrows. (3-23-7)
Thus, O Bhārata, the asuras, having been slain by me, caused all the ten directions, across and upwards, to resound. (3-23-8)
Then, after going to Prāgjyotiṣa, the Saubha, which could move at will, was again seen, O hero, bewildering my eyes. (3-23-9)
Then, the demon who was the destroyer of worlds and had the form of a monkey, suddenly covered me with a great shower of stones. (3-23-10)
O king, being struck on all sides by a shower of mountains, I became heaped up like an anthill of mountains. (3-23-11)
Then, O king, I, along with my horses, charioteer, and banner, was heaped with mountains and did not attain fame. (3-23-12)
Then, the Vṛṣṇi heroes who were my soldiers at that time, being overcome by fear, suddenly fled in all directions. (3-23-13)
Then, O lord of men, cries of distress arose everywhere; the sky, the earth, and space also seemed thus when I was not visible. (3-23-14)
Then, O king, my friends, afflicted with pain and grief, cried and wailed with dejected minds. (3-23-15)
Both the enemies felt great joy, and even the non-enemies experienced distress; thus, O hero, after the victory, I heard this, O Acyuta. (3-23-16)
Then, having raised my beloved weapon that breaks all stones—the thunderbolt—I shattered all those mountains. (3-23-17)
Then, O great king, my horses, afflicted by the weight of the mountain and moving with slow breath, appeared as if they were trembling. (3-23-18)
Just as the sun rises after tearing apart a mass of clouds in the sky, seeing me, all my relatives once again became joyful. (3-23-19)
Then the charioteer, with joined palms and bowed, said to me, O king: "Well, O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, behold Śālva, the lord of Saubha, standing there." (3-23-20)
Stop, Kṛṣṇa, do not disregard him; act properly and make an effort. Remove gentleness and friendship towards Śālva today. (3-23-21)
O mighty-armed Keśava, destroy Śālva; do not let him live. Use all your powers, O hero, for the enemy must be slain, O destroyer of foes. (3-23-22)
An enemy, even if weak, should not be despised by the stronger; if even someone at the rear is not to be disregarded, then how much more so one who stands firm in battle. (3-23-23)
Therefore, you, O tiger among men, with all your efforts, O lord, destroy this (enemy), O best of the Vṛṣṇi clan. Do not let time pass you by again. (3-23-24)
This is not considered attainable by gentleness, nor is he your friend, by whom you, O hero, were fought against and Dvaraka was oppressed. (3-23-25)
O son of Kunti, having heard these words of the charioteer beginning thus, and having known this to be the truth, I fixed my mind in the battle. (3-23-26)
For the destruction of the king of Śālva and the Saubha, I told Dāruka, "O hero, halt for a moment." (3-23-27)
Then he took up the unobstructed, divine, impenetrable, supremely powerful Agneya missile, his beloved weapon, all-conquering and greatly radiant. (3-23-28)
In battle, it was a great destruction, reducing to ashes the Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Dānavas, and the adversarial kings. (3-23-29)
I consecrated the spotless, razor-edged disc, comparable to Yama, the ender of time, and took up the incomparable weapon that destroys enemies. (3-23-30)
Destroy Saubha with your own strength, as well as those here who are my enemies. Having said this, I sent him forth with anger, using the strength of my arm. (3-23-31)
At that time, as Sudarśana fell through the sky, its form appeared like a second sun blazing all around at the end of an age. (3-23-32)
Having approached that city of Saubha, which had lost its brilliance, he split it in the middle like a saw splits raised wood. (3-23-33)
Then Saubha, struck by the power of Sudarshana, was split in two; blown away by the arrow of Maheśvara, it fell just as Tripura did. (3-23-34)
When the discus had fallen on Saubha, it returned to my hand. Then, having quickly lifted it again, I said to Śālva as follows. (3-23-35)
Then, Śālva, who was wielding a heavy mace in the great battle, was suddenly split in two and blazed with brilliance. (3-23-36)
When that hero fell, the dānavas, their minds terrified, became distressed and fled in all directions, tormented by my arrows. (3-23-37)
Then, after properly positioning the chariot near Saubha, I joyfully blew the conch and delighted my friends. (3-23-38)
Seeing that city, shaped like the peak of Meru, with its turrets and gate-tower destroyed and burning, those women all fled together. (3-23-39)
Thus, after slaying Śālva in battle and destroying Saubha, I returned again to the Ānartas, bringing joy to my friends. (3-23-40)
For this reason, O king, to the assembly called Nāgasāhvaya; if I had gone there, Suyodhana, the destroyer of enemy heroes, would certainly not have survived. (3-23-41)
Vaiśampāyana said.
Having thus spoken to Kaurava, the great-armed and wise Madhusūdana, the best among men, took leave and went to the Pāṇḍavas. (3-23-42)
After saluting the mighty-armed king Yudhishthira, the mighty-armed one was embraced and his head was smelled by the king and by Bhima. (3-23-43)
Kṛṣṇa, honored by the Pāṇḍavas, placed Subhadrā and Abhimanyu on the golden chariot and then ascended it himself. (3-23-44)
Kṛṣṇa, after consoling Yudhiṣṭhira, departed for Dvārakā in a chariot equipped with a fine neck-yoke and accompanied by his army, shining with the brilliance of the sun. (3-23-45)
Then, after Krishna had left, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the son of Pṛṣata, also took the sons of Draupadī and went to his own city at that time. (3-23-46)
Dhṛṣṭaketu, having taken his sister, then the king of the Cedis, went to the Pāṇḍavas after seeing the beautiful city of Śuktimatī. (3-23-47)
O Bhārata, the Kekayas also, having received permission from the mighty son of Kunti, took leave of all the Pandavas and departed. (3-23-48)
The Brāhmaṇas, the common people, and also the inhabitants of the region, even when being dismissed, did not at all abandon the Pāṇḍavas. (3-23-49)
O king, that assembly of exceedingly wonderful appearance of those great-souled ones was in Kāmyaka, O bull among the Bharatas. (3-23-50)
But Yudhiṣṭhira, having honored those Brāhmaṇas, the great-minded one, ordered the men to yoke the chariots at the proper time, thus indeed. (3-23-51)
