Chapter 101 - The slaying of the Gandharvas and the conquest of their Country

Hearing of the arrival of Bharata at the head of a vast army accompanied by Gargya, the King of the Kaikeyas, Yudhajita, experienced supreme joy and set out in all haste with a great company against the Gandharvas.

Bharata and Yudhajita, having joined forces, approached the City of the Gandharvas with their swift troops and followers, whereupon, learning of the invasion, the Gandharvas assembled, eager for combat, full of vigour and shouting on every side.

Then a terrible battle of appalling violence ensued, lasting seven days, without victory being decisive for either army. Rivers of blood, floating with corpses, streamed on every side, scimitars and spears being the crocodiles. Thereafter Bharata, the younger brother of Rama, enraged, loosed a terrible shaft propelled by mantras, named Samvarta [i.e., A weapon with which Kala or Time destroys the worlds], on the Gandharvas. Caught in the noose of destruction, three hundred thousand Gandharvas were slain in an instant, cut to pieces by that hero. The inhabitants of the Celestial Region were unable to remember such a fearful conflict in which, in the twinkling of an eye, so vast a number of warriors perished.

The Gandharvas all being slain, Bharata, the son of Kaikeyi entered those two opulent and magnificent cities, and there, Bharata established Taksha in Takshashila and Pushkala in Pushkalavata, in the country of the Gandharvas, in the ravishing region of Gandhara. Overflowing with treasure and precious gems, adorned with groves, they seemed to vie with each other in magnificence.

For five years the long-armed Bharata, son of Kaikeyi, occupied those capitals of supreme beauty, whose inhabitants were of irreproachable conduct, and thereafter he returned to Ayodhya. Those cities with their innumerable parks, filled with vehicles and well-stocked markets, enchanting beyond imagining, were embellished by fabulous buildings and countless palaces, resplendent with a multitude of magnificent temples and adorned with Tala, Tamala, Tilaka, and Bakula Trees.

Then the fortunate Bharata paid obeisance to the magnanimous Raghava, who was Dharma personified, as Vasava offers salutations to Brahma, and Raghava listened with satisfaction when Bharata told him of the total extermination of the Gandharvas which had taken place and of the occupation of their territory.