वनराज्यो जवाज् जीर्णाः कटकस्थलजन्तवः । अत्रुटन् परमाकृष्टाः पेलवा इव तन्तवः
The ancient forests, with their creatures, were shattered by the force, breaking apart like delicate threads stretched to their limit.
रथेषूर्ध्वस्थचक्रेषु निखातोन्मग्नमूर्धसु । निपेतुर् जनसङ्घाता मेघा इव वनाद्रिषु
Crowds of people fell upon the chariots, whose wheels stood upright and whose warriors' heads were buried or raised, like clouds falling upon forested mountains.
सालतालवनं प्राप्य जनतालवनं घनम् । भुजावकर्तनं चासीद् उत्तालस्थाणुकाननम्
Having reached the dense forest of sal and palmyra trees, it became a thicket of people, a place where arms were severed, a wild grove of upraised trunks.
ननन्दुर् नन्दनोद्यानसुन्दर्यो मत्तयौवनाः । वनोपवनदेशेषु मेरोर् वीरवराश्रिताः
The beautiful women, intoxicated by youth, rejoiced in the gardens and groves on Mount Meru, sheltered by the foremost of heroes.
तावत् तारारवं रेजे सैन्यकाननम् उन्नतम् । यावन् न परपक्षेण क्रान्तं कल्पानलौजसा
That lofty forest of warriors shone with the tumult of battle-cries, until it was overrun by the enemy, blazing with the force of a world-ending fire.
छिन्नान् पिशाचसंयुक्ता हूनापहृतहेतयः । पातयित्वा ययुः कर्णान् दशार्णास् तर्णका इव
Some, their weapons seized by Huns and joined by demons, having struck down their foes, fled to the Karnas and Dasharnas like birds to water.
जहुर् भग्नस्वराः कान्तिं ताजिकाजिजनौजसा । काशयः कमलानीव शुष्कस्रोतस्स्विनोजसा
The Kashi warriors, their voices broken and their splendor lost by the might of the Tajika troops, withered like lotuses in a dried-up stream.
भुखारा मेखलैः कीर्णाश् शरशक्त्यृष्टिमुद्गरैः । विद्रुता नरके क्षिप्ताः कार्कोटस्थलनामनि
Encircled by belts of arrows, spears, lances, and maces, they fled, cast into a hell named Karkota's domain.
कौरुक्षेत्रास्थस् तवसैश् छद्मयोधिभिर् आवृताः । गुणा इव खलाक्रान्ता गता व्यक्तम् अशक्तताम्
The Kurukshetra warriors, surrounded by ascetics disguised as fighters, became clearly powerless, like virtues overcome by the wicked.
द्रिमयो वटधानानां क्षणेनादाय मस्तकम् । भल्लैः पलाय्याशु गता विलूनकमला इव
The Dravidians, in an instant, took the heads of the banyan-tree dwellers with arrows and swiftly fled, like plucked lotuses.
मिथस् सारस्वतादित्या आदिनान्तं कृताजयः । पण्डिता इव वादेषु नोद्विग्ना न पराजिताः
Just as Sarasvati and Aditya, from beginning to end, achieved victory, so too, like learned scholars in debates, they were neither distressed nor defeated.
कवाटाः खर्वितक्षुद्रावाटधानैः परावृताः । तेजः परमम् आजग्मुश् शान्ताग्नय इवेन्धनैः
The gates were closed off by heaps of broken debris and small mounds; the supreme brilliance appeared, like extinguished fires without fuel.
कियदाख्यायत एतज् जिह्वानिचयैः किलालम् आकुलितम् । वासुकिर् अपि वर्णयितुं न समर्थो रणवरं नाम
How much can be described of this, when the mass of tongues is agitated with thick saliva? Even Vasuki is not able to recount the glory of the battlefield.
एवम् अत्याकुले युद्धे सास्फोटभटसङ्कटे । आदिनान्तम् असंरुद्धे रटत्कठिनकङ्कटे
Thus, in the exceedingly tumultuous battle, with fierce warriors and chaos, from beginning to end, unrestrained, with loud, harsh clamor.
वहन्तीषूत्पतन्तीषु पतन्तीष्व् अश्मवृष्टिषु । नदीषु क्षेपणोत्थासु चटत्केत्वब्जपङ्क्तिषु
Among those carrying, rising, and falling in showers of stones; in rivers stirred by missiles, and in rows of lotuses scattered by the clamor.
मिथः फलाग्रटङ्कोत्थवह्निशीकरिणीसु खे । आयान्तीषु पतन्तीषु दूरं शरनदीषु च
Among each other, in the sky, with fruits, tips, and sparks of fire; coming and falling far away in rivers of arrows.
वहल्लूनशिरःपद्मचक्रावर्तैस् तरङ्गितैः । खार्णवे पूरिते हेतिवृन्दमन्दाकिनीगणैः
With waves swirling with severed heads, feet, and lotus wheels; the ocean was filled with streams of weapons and groups of Mandakini rivers.
समीरणरणद्वारिशस्त्रचूर्णघनैर् घनैः । सदाहाङ्गेषु सिद्धेषु कपिकच्छव्यथाप्रदैः
At the gates of battle, with dense clouds of powdered weapons stirred by wind; always afflicting the bodies of the accomplished, causing pain to monkeys and tortoises.
अष्टभागदशाशेषं प्रतापमधुराकृतिः । शस्त्रघातौजसा वीर इवाहस् तनुतां ययौ
With a form sweetened by valor, possessing a fraction of its former brilliance, the hero, like one wearied by the blows of weapons, became diminished.
श्रान्ताश्वेन प्रभग्नाग्रहेतिसङ्घातदीप्तयः । दिनेशेन समं सेना ययुर् मन्दप्रतापताम्
With their horses exhausted, their foremost weapons shattered, and their radiance faded, the armies, along with the sun, grew faint in their splendor.
अथ सेनाधिनाथाभ्यां विचार्य सह मन्त्रिभिः । दूताः परस्परं दत्ता युद्धं संह्रियताम् इति
Then, after deliberation with their ministers, the commanders of the armies sent messengers to each other, saying, 'Let the battle be ended.'
ततश् श्रमवशान् मन्दपत्त्रशस्त्रपराक्रमैः । रणसंहरणं काले सर्वैर् एवोररीकृतम्
Thereafter, due to fatigue, with their arrows and weapons wielded feebly, all agreed to cease the battle at that time.
ततो महारथोत्तुङ्गकेतुप्रान्ते कृतास्पदम् । बलयोर् आरुरोहैक एको योधो ध्रुवो यथा
Then, at the edge of the armies, beneath lofty banners and great chariots, one steadfast warrior ascended, as if alone and immovable.
अंशुकं भ्रामयाम् आस सर्वदिङ्मण्डलेक्षितम् । द्याम् एव दीर्घम् इन्द्वंशुं युद्धं संह्रियताम् इति
He began to wave a cloth, visible in all directions like a circle, resembling a long moonbeam in the sky, signaling, 'Let the battle cease.'
ततो दुन्दुभयश् शेमुः प्रतिध्वनितदिङ्मुखाः । महाप्रलयसंशान्तौ पुष्करावर्तका इव
Then the drums fell silent, their echoes fading in all directions, like whirlpools in a lotus pond stilled at the end of a great dissolution.
शरादिहेतिसरितो विस्तीर्णे गगनस्थले । प्रवृत्ताश् शोषम् आगन्तुं शारद्यस् सरितो यथा
The streams of arrows and weapons, spread wide across the sky, began to dry up, just as autumnal rivers do.
योधदोर्द्रुमसञ्चारस् तनुताम् आययौ शनैः । भूकम्पान्ते वनस्पन्द इवावात इवार्णवः
The movement of the warriors' arms gradually diminished, like the trembling of trees at the end of an earthquake, or the waves of the ocean when the wind has ceased.
विनिर्गन्तुं प्रववृते रणारण्याद् बलद्वयम् । वारिपूरश् चतुर्दिक्कं प्रलयैकार्णवाद् इव
Both armies began to withdraw from the battlefield, like floodwaters receding in all directions from the single ocean of dissolution.
उत्क्षिप्तमन्दरक्षीरसमुद्रवलनाकुलम् । सैन्यं प्रशमदावर्तं शनैस् साम्यम् उपाययौ
The army, agitated like the churning of the ocean of milk by the uplifted Mandara mountain, slowly came to rest in the stillness of peace.
क्रमेणासीन् मुहूर्तेन विकटोदरभीषणम् । अगस्त्यपीतार्णववच् छून्यम् एव रणाङ्गनम्
In a short while, the battlefield became utterly desolate and dreadful as the gaping belly of death, empty like the ocean drunk dry by Agastya.