The description of the second battle is as frightening as that of the first: "Gurkha, flying in his swift and powerful Vimana, hurled against the three cities of the Vrishnis and Andhakas a single projectile charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and fire, as brilliant as ten thousand suns, rose in all its splendor. It was the unknown weapon, the iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashes the entire race of the Vrishnis and Andhakas.
"The corpses were so burnt that they were no longer recognizable. Hair and nails fell out. Pottery broke without cause. Birds, disturbed, circled in the air and were turned white. Foodstuffs were poisoned. To escape, the warriors threw themselves in streams to wash themselves and their equipment. With the destruction ended, the Kuru king,Yudistthira, was informed of the power of the iron thunderbolt and the slaughter of the Vrishnis."
Noorbergen, Rene, Secrets of the Lost Races, New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1977, p. 138.
Vaishampayana said,--"When the thirty-sixth year (after the battle) was
reached, the delighter of the Kurus, viz., Yudhishthira, beheld many unusual
portents. Winds, dry and strong, and showering gravels, blew from every
side. Birds began to wheel, making circles from right to left. The great
rivers ran in opposite directions. The horizon on every side seemed to
be always covered with fog. Meteors, showering (blazing) coals, fell on
the Earth from the sky. The Sun’s disc, O king, seemed to be always
covered with dust. At its rise, the great luminary of day was shorn of
splendour and seemed to be crossed by headless trunks (of human beings).
Fierce circles of light were seen every day around both the Sun and the
Moon. These circles showed three hues. Their edges seemed to be black
and rough and ashy-red in colour. [...] A little while after, the Kuru king Yudhishthira
heard of the wholesale carnage of the Vrishnis in consequence of the
iron bolt. [...]"
The Mahabharata, Mausala Parva, sec. 1.
(Ganguli, Kisari Mohan, The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, 12 vols., Calcutta, India: Oriental Publishing Co., 19??, vol. 12, Aswamedha, Asramavasika, Mahaprasthanika and Swargarohanika Parvas, p. 255.)
When the next day came, Samva actually brought forth an iron bolt through which all the individuals in the race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas became consumed into ashes. Indeed, for the destruction of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas, Samva brought forth, through that curse, a fierce iron bolt that looked like a gigantic messenger of death. The fact was duly reported to the king. In great distress of mind, the king (Ugrasena) caused that iron bolt to be reduced into fine powder. Men were employed, O king, to cast that powder into the sea.
The Mahabharata, Mausala Parva, sec. 1.
(Ganguli, Kisari Mohan, The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, 12 vols., Calcutta, India: Oriental Publishing Co., 19??, vol. 12, Aswamedha, Asramavasika, Mahaprasthanika and Swargarohanika Parvas, p. 256.)
Day by day strong winds blew, and many were the evil omens that arose, awful and foreboding the destruction of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas. The streets swarmed with rats and mice. Earthen pots showed cracks or broke from no apparent cause. At night, the rats and mice ate away the hair and nails of slumbering men. [...] Many birds appeared, impelled by Death, that were pale of complexion but that had legs red of hue. [...] The Sun, whether when rising or setting over the city, seemed to be surrounded by headless trunks of human form. In cook rooms, upon food that was clean and well-boiled, were seen, when it was served out for eating, innumerable worms of diverse kinds."
The Mahabharata, Mausala Parva, sec. 1.
(Ganguli, Kisari Mohan, The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, 12 vols., Calcutta, India: Oriental Publishing Co., 19??, vol. 12, Aswamedha, Asramavasika, Mahaprasthanika and Swargarohanika Parvas, p. 255.)
