Chapter CXII - Flight of the foreign foes

Argument: Account of the routed soldiers, and the names of their countries and places of retreat.

Vasishtha continued:—

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The Chedis of Deccan, who were as thickly crowded as the sandal wood of their country, and girt with girdles resembling the snakes about those trees, were felled by the battle axes, and driven afar to the southern main—the Indian Ocean.

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The Persians flew as the flying leaves of trees, and striking against one another in their madness, fell like the vanjula leaves in the forest.

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Then the demon-like Darads, who dwell in the caverns of the distant Dardura mountains, were pierced in their breasts, and fled from the field with their heart rending sorrow. (The Dardui is a people of Afghanistan).

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The winds blew away the clouds of weapons, which poured down torrents of missile arms, that shattered the armours of the warriors, and glittered like curling lightnings.

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The elephants falling upon one another, pierced their bodies and gored each other to death with their tusks; and became heaps of flesh, similar to the lumps of food with which they filled their bellies.

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Another people of the same country, and of the Raivata mountains, who were flying from the field by night; were waylaid by the horrid Pisachas, that tore their bodies and devoured them with voracity.

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Those that fled to the tala and tamala forests, and to the old woods on the bank of the dasarna river; were caught by lions and tigers crouching in them; and were throttled to death under their feet.

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The yovanas living on the coasts of the western ocean, and those in the land of cocoanut trees; were caught and devoured by sharks, in the course of their flight.

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The sakas or Scythians being unable to endure the impulse, of the black iron arrows for a moment fled to all directions; and the Rumatha people were blown away and broken down, like the lotus bed by the blowing winds.

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The routed enemy flying to the Mahendra mountain, covered its three peaks with their armours of black mail, and made them appear as mantled by the sable clouds of the rainy weather.

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The legions of these hostile forces, being broken down by the arms of the king, like the large mines of god, were first plundered of their raiments by the highway robbers, and then killed and devoured by the nocturnal cannibals and hobgoblins of the desert.

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The surface of the land was converted to the face of the sky; by the broken fragments of weapons glistering on like the stars of heaven twinkling in myriads above.

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The caverns of the earth, resounding to the noise of the clouds above, appeared as a grand orchestra, sounding the victory of the king both in earth and heaven.

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The peoples inhabiting the islands, lost their lives under the whirling disks; as those dwelling in the watery marshes perish on dried lands for want of rain.

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The vanquished islanders fled to the Sahya mountains, and having halted there for a week, departed slowly to the respective places.

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Many took shelter in the Gandhamadana mountains, while multitudes of them resorted to the Punnaga forests; and the retreating Gandharvas became refugees in the sanctuaries of the Vidyadhara maidens.

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The Huns, Chins and Kiratas, had their heads struck off by the flying discuses of the king; and these were blown away by the opposite winds, like lotus flowers by the blast.

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The Nilipa people, remained as firm as trees in a forest, and as fixed in their places as thorns on stalks and brambles.

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The beautiful pastures of antelopes, the woodlands and hilly tracts on all sides; were desolated by showers of weapons, and the rush and crush of the forces.

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The thorny deserts became the asylum of robbers, after they deserted their habitations to be over grown by thorns and thistles.

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The Persians who were abundant in number, got over to the other side of the sea (the Persian Gulph); and were blown away by the hurricane, like stars blasted by the storm of final desolation.

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The winds blew as on the last day of destruction, and broke down the woods and forests all about; and disturbed the sea by shaking its hidden rocks below.

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The dirty waters of the deep, rose on high with a gurgling noise; and the sky was invisible owing to the clouds of weapons, which obscured its face on all sides.

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The howling winds, raised a clapping and flapping sound all about; and there fell showers of snow also, which flowed on earth, like the waters of the sea.

25. The charioteers of Vidura country, fell down from their cars, with the loud noise of waves; and were driven to fall into the waters of the lake, like bees from lotuses.

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The routed foot soldiers who were as numerous as the dust of the earth, and well armed from head to foot; were yet so overpowered under the showers of darts and discs, that they were blinded by the tears of their eyes, and disabled to beat their retreat. (i.e. They were as dust, set down by the showers of darts from above, and tears of their eyes below).

27. [Sanskrit available]
The Huns were buried with their heads and heels, in their flight over the sandy deserts of the north; and others were as muddied as the dirty iron, by their being fastened in the miry shores of northern seas. (The Huns had been the progenitors of the present Hungarians, residing beyond the Baltic. They are said to have been as dark complexioned as their cognate Dravidians of Deccan in Southern India).

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The Saks (Saccae or Scythians), were driven to cassia forests on the bank of the eastern main; there they were confined for some time, and then released without being despatched to the regions of death.

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The Madrasees were repulsed to the Mahendra mountains, whence they lightly alighted on the ground as if fallen from heaven; and there they were protected by the great sages, who preserved them there with tender care as they bear for the stags of their hermitage.

30. [Sanskrit available]
The fugitives flying to the refuge of the Sahya mountains, found in lieu of their imminent destruction, in the subterranean cell, the two fold gain of their present and future good therein. Thus it comes to pass that, many times good issues out of evil, where it was least expected. (We know not what were the two great gains made at this place, except it be made to mean, that the hidden cell of sahya or patience is the door to prosperity and success).

31. [Sanskrit available]
The soldiers flying to Dasarna at the confluence of the ten rivers, fell into the Dardura forest like the fallen leaves of trees; and there they lay dead all about by eating the poisonous fruits thereof.

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The Haihayas that fled to Himalayas, drank the juice of Visalya-karani or pain killing plants by mistake; and became thereby as volant as Vidyadharas, and flew to their country.

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And then the people of Bengal, who are as weak as faded flowers, showed their backs to the field, and fled to their homes; from which they dare not stir even to this day, but remain as Pisachas all along.

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But the people of Anga or Bihar, that live upon the fruits of their country; are as strong as Vidyadharas, and sport with their mates, as if it were in heavenly bliss.

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The Persians being worsted in their bodies, fell into the tala and tamala forests; whereby drinking their intoxicating extracts, they became as giddy as drunken men. (The addictedness of Persians to their delicious drinks, is well known in their Ana Cronatics).

36. [Sanskrit available]
The light and swift mettled elephants of the swarthy Kalingas, pushed against their four fold armies in the field of battle, where all lay slain in promiscuous heaps.

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The salwas passing under the arrows and stones of the enemy, fell into the waters which girt their city, wherein they perished with the whole of their hosts, that are still lying therein the form of heap of rocks.

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There were numbers of hosts, that fled to different countries in all directions; and many that were driven to the distant seas, where they were all drowned and dead, and borne away by the waves.

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But who can count the countless hosts, that fled to and lay dead and unnoticed in every part of the wide earth and sea, on the fields and plains, in forests and woods, on land and water, on mountains and dales, on shores and coasts and on the hills and cliffs. So there is nobody who can tell what numbers of living beings are dying every moment, in their homes and abodes in cities and villages, in caves and dens, and every where in the world.