द्वितीय राजतरङ्गिणी (जोनराज - कल्हणोत्तर मध्यकालीन कश्मीर का प्रामाणिक इतिहास)

KINGS OF KASHMÍRA. 329
and beauty ; and in the engagement which ensued he
graced the field like the fiery Shiva. In that battle, some
of the Saida warriors fought against the powerful
soldiers ; they did not retreat, but died on the field, and
obtained the pleasure of the company of celestial females.
Many fell into chasms, many died of wounds, and heaps
of dead bodies lay on the field. Neither in the strug-
gles with the Saidas, nor in the first engagement with
the Khāna, did so many soldiers perish as in this battle
of Gusikoḍḍāra. The proprietors of lands, although
high in their position, remained passive witnesses to the
battle, and did not display the heroism befitting
their rank. The dead bodies of persons killed
in the battle or when fleeing, or of those who died of
wounds, lay here and there, like the young ones of
birds scattered by the fall of a tree. Those who had
injured others before in village or in town, were now
harassed by stronger men. Masodanāyaka was killed by
a discharge of arrows and the career of his horse was
arrested at the same time. Who can escape what must
happen ? The Mārgesha sent his people to fight, but he
himself retired to a distant place for safety. Shrī Saipha-
ḍāmara however was there attended by powerful war-
riors. Shrī Saiphaḍāmara, who was attended by his
soldiers, was rejoiced that the very man who should be
sought for had come there of himself, and he struck the
Mārgapati on the head. Ala, Shira, and Haidhara, like
cruel planets, struck him on the face, arm, and forehead,