Mahabharata Shalya Parva Chapter 27

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Mahabharata Shalya Parva Chapter 27

"Sanjaya said, 'Duryodhana, O king, and thy son Sudarsa, the only two of thy children yet unslain, were at that time in the midst of the (Kaurava) cavalry. Beholding Duryodhana staying in the midst of the cavalry, Devaki's son (Krishna) said unto Dhananjaya, the son of Kunti, "A large number of our foes, kinsmen that had received our protection, have been slain.
There, that bull of Sini's race is returning, having taken Sanjaya captive! Both Nakula and Sahadeva, O Bharata, are fatigued, having fought with the wretched Dhartarashtras and their followers! Those three, Kripa and Kritavarma and the mighty car-warrior Ashvatthama, have left Duryodhana's side and taken up their position elsewhere! Having slain Duryodhana's troops, the Pancala prince stayeth yonder, endued with great beauty, in the midst of the Prabhadrakas.
There, O Partha, Duryodhana stayeth in the midst of his cavalry, with the umbrella held over his head and himself flinging his glances all around! Having rearrayed the (remnant of his) army, he stayeth in the midst of his forces. Slaying this one with thy keen shafts, thou mayst achieve all thy objects! As long as these troops do not fly away beholding thee, in their midst and witnessing also the destruction of their elephant-force, do thou, O chastiser of foes, endeavour to slay Duryodhana! Let somebody go to the Pancala prince and ask him to come hither.
The (Kaurava) troops are all tired, O sire! The sinful Duryodhana will never succeed in escaping! Having slain a large number of thy troops in battle, the son of Dhritarashtra wears a proud aspect as if he believes that the Pandavas have been vanquished! Beholding his own troops afflicted and slain by the Pandavas, the Kuru king will certainly come to battle for his own destruction!" Thus addressed by Krishna, Phalguna replied unto him, saying.
"Almost all the sons of Dhritarashtra, O giver of honours, have been slain by Bhima! Only these two are yet alive! They, however, O Krishna, shall also meet with destruction today! Bhishma hath been slain, Drona hath been slain, Karna, otherwise called Vaikartana, hath been slain! Shalya, the king of the Madras, hath been slain, and Jayadratha also, O Krishna, hath been slain! Only five hundred horses from the remnant of the troops of Shakuni, the son of Subala, and of cars, only two hundred still remain, O Janardana! Of elephants there remain only a hundred that are formidable, and of foot only 3,000! There remain also Ashvatthama and Kripa and the ruler of the Trigartas and Uluka and Kritavarma of the Satwata race. These, O Madhava, form the remnant of Duryodhana's force! Truly, there is no escape from death for anybody on Earth! Although such a tremendous carnage hast taken place, behold, Duryodhana is still alive! Today king Yudhishthira, however, will be freed from all his foes! None amongst the enemy will escape me, I ween! Even if they be more than men, O Krishna, I shall yet slay all those warriors today, however furious in battle, if only they do not fly away from the field! Filled with wrath in today's battle, I shall, by slaying the prince of Gandhara with my keen shafts, dispel that sleeplessness which the king has suffered from for a long time! I shall win back all those valuable possessions which Subala's son, of wicked conduct, won from us at the gambling match in the assembly! Hearing of the slaughter of their husbands and sons at the hands of the Pandavas in battle, all the ladies of the city called after the elephant will utter loud wails!

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