ght altogether. Then those foremost of heroes of the Vrishni race
who were of my army were struck with panic, and all on a sudden began to
fly in all directions. And beholding me in that plight, O king, the
heaven, the firmament, and the earth were filled with exclamation of
_Oh!_ and _Alas!_ And then, O monarch, my friends filled with sorrow and
grief began to weep and wail with heavy hearts! And delight filled the
hearts of the enemies. And O thou who never waverest, I heard of this
after I had defeated the foe! And then wielding the thunderbolt, that
favourite (weapon) of Indra, capable of riving stones, I destroyed that
entire mass of crags! But my steeds, afflicted with the weight of the
stones and almost on the point of death began to tremble. And beholding
me, all my friends rejoiced again even as men rejoice on seeing the sun
rise in the sky, dispersing the clouds. And seeing my horses almost in
their last gasp for breath, afflicted with that load of stones, my
charioteer said unto me in words suitable to the occasion, "O thou of
the Vrishni race, behold Salwa the owner of the car of precious metals
sitting (yonder). Do not disregard him! Do thou exert thyself! Do thou
abandon thy mildness and consideration for Salwa. Slay Salwa, O thou of
mighty arms! O Kesava, do not let him live! O hero, O thou destroyer of
those that are not thy friends (enemies), an enemy should be slain with
every exertion! Even a weak enemy who is under the feet of a man endued
with strength, should not be disregarded by the latter: that (shall I
say) of one that dareth us to the fight? Therefore, O thou tiger among
men, putting forth every exertion, slay him, O lord, O thou foremost of
the Vrishni race! Do thou not delay again! This one is not capable of
being vanquished by milder measures. And he cannot in my opinion be thy
friend who is fighting thee and who devastated Dwaraka!" O Kaunteya,
hearing such words of my charioteer, and knowing that what he said was
true, I directed my attention to the fight (afresh), with the view of
slaying Salwa and destroying the car of costly metals! And, O hero,
saying unto Daruka, "_Stay a moment_" I fixed on my bow-string my
favourite weapon of fire, blazing and of celestial origin, of
irresistible force, and incapable of being baffled, bursting with
energy, capable of penetrating into everything, and of great splendour!
And saying, "_Destroy the car of precious metals together with all those
enemies t