in the three worlds
a person equal to him in knowledge of weapons, alas, hearing of the
slaughter of that hero, Drona, what did the people of my side do? After
the high-souled son of Pandu, Dhananjaya, exerting himself with prowess,
had despatched unto Yama's abode the strong force of the samsaptakas,
after the Narayana weapon of the intelligent son of Drona had been
baffled, and after the (Kaurava) divisions had begun to fly away, what,
indeed, did the people of my side do? I think that, after Drona's death
my troops, flying away and sinking in an ocean of grief, resembled
shipwrecked mariners struggling on the bosom of the vast deep. What also,
O Sanjaya, became the colour of the faces of Duryodhana, and Karna, and
Kritavarma the chief of the Bhojas and Shalya, the ruler of the Madras,
and of my remaining sons, and of the others, when the Kuru divisions fled
away from the field? Tell me all this as it truly happened in battle, O
son of Gavalgana, and describe to me the prowess put forth by the
Pandavas and the warriors of my side!'"

"Sanjaya said, 'O sire, hearing all that has happened unto the Kauravas
through thy fault, thou shouldst not feel any anguish! He that is wise
never feeleth any pain at what Destiny bringeth! And since Destiny is
unconquerable, human purposes may or may not become attainable. Hence, he
that is wise never feeleth pain on the acquisition or the reverse of the
objects cherished by him.'"

"Dhritarashtra said, 'I do not feel great pain, O Sanjaya! I regard all
this to be the result of Destiny! Tell me all that thou wishest!'"

3

"Sanjaya said, 'Upon the fall of the great bowman Drona, thy sons, those
mighty car-warriors, became pale and deprived of their senses. Armed with
weapons, all of them, O monarch, hung down their heads. Afflicted with
grief and without looking at one another, they stood perfectly silent.
Beholding them with such afflicted countenances, thy troops, O Bharata,
themselves perturbed by grief, vacantly gazed upwards. Seeing Drona slain
in battle, the weapons of many of them, O king, dyed with blood, dropped
from their hands. Innumerable weapons, again, O Bharata, still retained
in the grasp of the soldiers, seemed in their pendent attitude, to
resemble falling meteors in the sky. Then king Duryodhana, O monarch,
beholding that army of thine thus standing as if paralysed and lifeless,
said, "Relying upon the might of your army I have summoned the Pandavas
to battl