Sanjaya continued, ’Yuvutsu then, abandoning the Kurus thy sons, went over to the army of the Pandavas, with beat of drums and cymbals.  Then king Yudhishthira of mighty arms, filled with joy, again put on his shining coat of mail of golden effulgence.  And those bulls among men then mounted their respective cars.  And they counter-arrayed their troops in battle-array as before.  And they caused drums and cymbals in many hundreds to be sounded.  And those bulls among men also set up diverse leonine roars.[316] And beholding those tigers among men, viz., the sons of Pandu, on their cars, the kings (on their side) with Dhrishtadyumna and others, once more set up shouts of joy.  And beholding the nobility of the sons of Pandu who had paid due honour to those that were deserving of honour, all the kings there present applauded them highly.  And the monarchs, talked with one another about the friendship, the compassion, and the kindness to kinsmen, displayed at the proper season by those high-souled personages.  Excellent,—­Excellent,—­were the delightful words everywhere bruited about, coupled with eulogistic hymns about those famous men.  And in consequence of this the minds and hearts of every one there were attracted towards them.  And the Mlechchhas and the Aryas there who witnessed or heard of that behaviour of the sons of Pandu, all wept with choked voices.  And those warriors then, endued with great energy, caused large drums and Pushkaras by hundreds upon hundreds to be sounded and also blew their conches all white as the milk of cows.’”

SECTION XLIV

Dhritarashtra said, ’When the divisions of both my side and the foe were thus arrayed, who struck first, the Kurus or the Pandavas?’

Sanjaya said, “Hearing those words of his (elder) brother, thy son Dussasana advanced with his troops, with Bhishma at their head, and the Pandavas also advanced with cheerful hearts, desiring battle with Bhishma, having Bhimasena at their head.  Then leonine, shouts, and clamorous uproars and the noise of Krakachas, the blare of cow-horns, and the sound of drums and cymbals and tabors, arose in both armies.  And the warriors of the foe rushed against us, and we also (rushed) against them with loud shouts.  And the uproar (caused by this rush) was deafening.[317] The vast hosts of the Pandavas and the Dhartarashtras, in that awfully murderous encounter shook in consequence of that uproar of conches and cymbals, like forests shaken by the wind.[318] And the din made by those hosts teeming with kings, elephants, and steeds, rushing against one another in that evil hour, was as loud as that of oceans agitated by the tempest.  And when that din, loud and causing the hair to stand on end, arose, the mighty-armed Bhimasena began to roar like a bull.  And those roars of Bhimasena rose above the clamour of conches and drums, the grunts of elephants, and the leonine shouts of the combatants.