08.058
Pancharatra and Core: Arjuna's valour and destruction of the Kaurava forces. Arjuna takes permission from Bhima and Yudhisthira.
Sanjaya said:
O king, Bhima was being overwhelmed by the chiefs and forces of the Kurus, and Arjuna, wishing to rescue him, acted to uplift the son of Kunti.
Dhananjaya, with his arrows, crushed the army of the son of a charioteer and sent the enemy heroes to the world of death, O descendant of Bharata.
Then, the sky was covered in parts with arrow-nets, and others were seen striking your army.
Dhananjaya, by filling the sky with arrows, became the end of the Kurus, O great king, as if the sky was filled with flocks of birds.
Then Arjuna, with his arrows, both razor-sharp and iron, pierced the bodies and indeed cut off the heads.
The battlefield was completely covered with warriors who had severed limbs, shattered armors, and were beheaded, fallen, or still falling all around.
The battlefield, with its chariots, horses, men, and elephants struck by Arjuna's arrows, turned into a great river Vaitarani, O King.
The battlefield was strewn with chariots having broken axles and wheels, some with horses and some without, along with charioteers and slain charioteers, belonging to the warriors.
The warriors, adorned with golden armor and ornaments, mounted on Kritavarma's noble and perpetually intoxicated elephants, were sent by the angry ministers to confront Arjuna.
Four hundred warriors were slain by the crowned one with showers of arrows, and they fell like the peaks of a great mountain along with its creatures.
The earth was covered with excellent elephants, practiced by Arjuna's arrows. Arjuna's chariot moved forward, piercing the clouds as if it were the sun.
The path was littered with the bodies of slain elephants, men, and horses, and broken chariots in many ways. It was covered with weapons, armor, and shields, and the bodies of battle heroes who had lost their lives, all discarded by Arjuna.
He twanged the Gandiva bow, creating a sound so terrifying and immense, it was like the crushing thunder of a storm in the sky.
Then the army, struck by Arjuna's arrows, was shattered and tossed about like a great ship caught in a stormy ocean.
Various forms of weapons and arrows, prompted by the Gandiva, like firebrands, meteors, and lightning, are burning your army.
Just as the bamboo forest on the great mountain burns at night, so did your great army tremble when struck by arrows.
Arjuna's assault left your army crushed, burnt, and destroyed. It was decimated by his arrows, causing it to scatter in all directions.
In the great forest, just as herds of deer are consumed by a forest fire, the Kauravas turned back, having been burned by Arjuna.
Having left mighty-armed Bhimasena in the battle, the entire force of the Kurus was distressed and turned away.
Then, amidst the defeated Kauravas, the undefeated Arjuna approached Bhimasena for a moment and advanced.
Arjuna, after meeting and consulting with Bhima, narrated to Yudhishthira how he was now free from arrows and pain.
After receiving permission from Bhimasena, Dhananjaya set forth, causing the earth and sky to echo with the sound of his chariot, O Bharata.
Then Dhananjaya was surrounded by Bhima and ten enemy leaders, including Duhshasana and your younger sons.
They attacked him with arrows that resembled firebrands, as if he were an elephant. Fierce and with their bows drawn, they moved as if dancing, O Bharata.
Madhusudana turned the chariot to the left, causing the heroes to flee, turning their backs to Arjuna's chariot.
Arjuna quickly knocked down their approaching banners, chariots, bows, and arrows using iron and crescent-shaped arrows.
Then, with ten other arrows, he struck down their heads, which fell to the ground with eyes bloodshot in anger and lips bitten. Those faces appeared in the sky like a cluster of stars.
The enemy-slayer, with great speed, pierced the ten Kauravas using ten golden-bodied and golden-shafted arrows, and then proceeded.
