07.007
Core and Pancharatra: Dron's banner was seen moving among the foot soldiers, chariots, horses, and elephants everywhere, resembling lightning among clouds. Rukmaratha or Drona was slain by Parshata.
Sanjaya said:
The Pandavas, distressed upon seeing Drona attacking with his forces of horses, charioteers, chariots, and elephants, refrained from surrounding him.
Then King Yudhishthira instructed Dhrishtadyumna and Dhananjaya to ensure that Agastya is obstructed from all directions.
At that place, Arjuna and the son of Prishata, along with their followers, encircled him. Subsequently, all the great charioteers came forward.
Kekaya, Bhimasena, Saubhadra, Ghatotkacha, Yudhishthira, the twins, the Matsyas, and the sons of Drupada were all present.
The sons of Draupadi were elated, along with Dhrishtaketu and Satyaki. Chekitana was enraged, and Yuyutsu was a great warrior.
The other kings, who were followers of the Pandavas, performed numerous deeds that were befitting their family strength, O king.
Bharadvaja, upon seeing the army being assembled by the Pandavas in the battlefield, turned his eyes away in anger and looked at it.
With intense anger, he mounted the chariot, and the arrogant warrior scattered the Pandava army like clouds driven by the wind.
Droṇa, despite his old age, moved frantically among the chariots, horses, men, and elephants, as if he were a young man, behaving like a madman.
O king, his noble breed horses, with their bodies smeared in blood, red and swift as the wind, carried an unperturbed splendor.
The warriors of the Pandava, seeing the angry and steadfast one approaching like death, fled in all directions.
As they fled, Bhima returned again. The sound was extremely terrifying for those who were watching and standing.
The event brought joy to the brave and increased fear among the fearful, completely filling the gap between heaven and earth.
Then, once more, Droṇa, known by name, declared himself in battle and became fierce, showering his enemies with hundreds of arrows.
Drona, though old, was strong and destroyed the armies of the wise son of Pandu as if he were young, like time itself.
The fierce great warrior, having severed the heads and arms adorned with ornaments, left the chariots empty and cried out.
The warriors trembled in the battlefield due to his joyful sound and the swift arrows, just like cows shivering from the cold.
The great sound arose in the sky from the chariot of Drona, the twanging of the bowstring, and the sound of the bow.
Then his arrows, emerging in thousands, spread across all directions, striking elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.
The Panchalas, along with the Pandavas, launched a fierce attack on Drona with their blazing weapons and swift bows.
Droṇa quickly sent them with chariots, elephants, and horses to the realm of Yama, and soon made the earth a mire of blood.
Drona, by stretching his supreme weapons and continuously releasing arrows, created a net of arrows that was seen in all directions.
His banner was seen moving like lightning among the foot soldiers, chariots, horses, and elephants everywhere, resembling lightning among clouds.
Drona, the fearless warrior, after defeating the five chiefs of the Kekayas and the king of the Panchalas with his arrows, advanced towards Yudhishthira's army with his bow and arrow ready.
Bhimasena, Dhananjaya, the grandson of Sini, the son of Drupada, the son of Saibya, the king of Kasi, and Sibi, all joyful and roaring, showered him with arrows.
Then the arrows released from Drona's bow, adorned with golden and brightly colored feathers, pierced through the bodies of elephants, horses, and warriors, and fell to the ground, stained with blood.
The earth, filled with armies and chariots, pierced by arrows and covered with fallen elephants and horses, appeared all around like the sky filled with dark clouds.
Droṇa, desiring the welfare of your sons, crushed the protector of the armies of Śini, Bhīma, and Arjuna, along with Śaibya, Abhimanyu, the king of Kāśi, and other heroes in battle.
O King of the Kauravas, having performed these and other deeds in battle, the great soul Drona, like the sun at the time of destruction, has departed from this world to heaven.
Rukmaratha, a valiant hero, after slaying countless warriors of the Pandavas in battle, was ultimately slain by Parshata.
After defeating the vast army of brave warriors who never retreat, the steadfast one attained the highest state.
O king, Rukmaratha was slain by the Pandavas and the Panchalas through cruel and inauspicious acts, having accomplished a very challenging task.
Then there was a sound from all beings in the sky, and from the armies, O king, when the teacher was slain in battle.
The sky, earth, space, directions, water, and sub-directions echoed with a great sound as if the beings were lamenting, 'Alas, shame!'
The gods, ancestors, and his former relatives saw Bhāradvāja, the great chariot-warrior, lying slain there.
The Pandavas, upon achieving victory, roared like lions, causing the earth to tremble with the great sound.
