Parva 8

8.1.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then, O king, when Droṇa had been slain, the kings led by Duryodhana, their minds sorely troubled, came to Droṇa's son.

8.1.2 Grieving for Droṇa, their vigour struck down by despair, stricken with sorrow they gathered round the son of Śāradvatī's daughter.

8.1.3 Having for a while consoled one another with reasons drawn from the scriptures, when night came on those guardians of the earth withdrew to their own quarters.

8.1.4 Above all the son of the charioteer, and King Suyodhana, and Duḥśāsana, and Śakuni could find no sleep.

8.1.5 Even within their dwellings, O Kaurava, those lords of the earth found no ease; brooding on the dire ruin, they could not sleep at all.

8.1.6 Gathered together that night in Duryodhana's abode, out of their fierce and burning hatred for the high-souled Pāṇḍavas,

8.1.7 recalling how they had dragged Kṛṣṇā, tormented by the dice-game, into the assembly hall, they were filled with remorse, their minds sorely distressed.

8.1.8 And brooding on those afflictions of the sons of Pṛthā that the dice-game had wrought, O king, they passed the night in misery, and it seemed to them as long as a hundred years.

8.1.9 Then in the clear dawn, abiding under the rule of fate, they all performed their necessary rites with the observances ordained by scripture.

8.1.10 Having done their needful tasks and taken heart again, O Bhārata, they gave the order to array the troops and marched out for battle.

8.1.11 Having made Karṇa their commander, performing the auspicious rites of consecration, having the foremost of the twice-born pronounce blessings over them with bowls of curds, clarified butter, and unbroken grains,

8.1.12 honoured with gold coins, with cattle, with gold, and with garments of great worth, and exalted with benedictions of victory by bards, minstrels, and panegyrists,

8.1.13 likewise the Pāṇḍavas, O king, having completed all their daily observances, marched out from their camp, O king, resolved upon battle.

8.1.14 Then there broke out a tumultuous, hair-raising battle between the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, each side seeking the slaughter of the other.

8.1.15 For two days the battle of those two armies, the Kuru and the Pāṇḍava hosts, raged on while Karṇa was commander, O king, a wondrous sight to behold.

8.1.16 Then, when the Bull among men had wrought a very great destruction of the foe in battle, he was struck down by Phalguna before the very eyes of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons.

8.1.17 Then Saṃjaya, going to the city named after the elephant, related the whole of it to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, all that had come to pass in the land of the Kurus.

8.1.18 Janamejaya said: When the aged king, the son of Ambikā, heard that the son of the river-goddess and Droṇa had been slain in battle by their foes, and was plunged into the deepest anguish—

8.1.19 when he heard that Karṇa too, who sought Duryodhana's welfare, was slain, how, O best of the twice-born, did he in his grief sustain his life?

8.1.20 That king reposed his sons' hope of victory in Karṇa; when he was slain, how did the Kaurava keep his life within him?

8.1.21 Hard to die indeed, I think, is it for men, even those who dwell in misery, since on hearing that Karṇa was slain the king did not yet give up his life.

8.1.22 So too the aged son of Śaṃtanu, O brahmin, and Bāhlika as well, and Droṇa, and Somadatta, and Bhūriśravas—

8.1.23 and likewise his other friends, and his sons and grandsons struck down—that on hearing of these he did not let his life go, that, O twice-born one, I deem a thing hard to do.

8.1.24 Tell me all this in full, O you whose wealth is austerity; for I am not sated, hearing the great deeds of the men of old.

8.1.25 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When Karṇa was slain, O great king, the son of Gavalgaṇa, downcast, set out that night for the city of the elephant with horses swift as the wind.

8.1.26 Reaching Hāstinapura, his mind sorely troubled, he went to the dwelling of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, now bereft of its kinsmen.

8.1.27 Beholding the king, his vigour struck down by despair, with joined palms he made his obeisance, and touched the king's feet with his head.

8.1.28 And having honoured Dhṛtarāṣṭra, lord of the earth, as was due, and crying, "Alas, what calamity!", he then took up his speech.

8.1.29 "I am Saṃjaya, O lord of the earth. I trust your Majesty fares well. Having come to this disaster through your own fault, are you not today utterly bewildered?

8.1.30 Recalling the wholesome counsels spoken by Vidura, Droṇa, the son of Gaṅgā, and Keśava, counsels you did not heed—do you not now feel anguish?

8.1.31 Recalling the wholesome words spoken by Rāma, Nārada, and Kaṇva in the assembly hall, words you did not heed—do you not now feel anguish?

8.1.32 Recalling your friends, devoted to your good and led by Bhīṣma and Droṇa, slain in battle by the foe—do you not now feel anguish?"

8.1.33 To the charioteer's son who spoke thus with joined palms, the king, drawing a long, deep sigh, stricken with grief, said this:

8.1.34 "Now that the heroic son of Gaṅgā, who wielded divine weapons, has been slain, O Saṃjaya, and Droṇa too, that supreme bowman, my mind is sorely afflicted.

8.1.35 He who, born of the Vasus and full of splendour, day after day slew ten thousand mailed warriors on their chariots—

8.1.36 that he was slain by Yajñasena's son Śikhaṇḍin, shielded by the Pāṇḍavas—at this my mind is sorely afflicted.

8.1.37 He to whom, the high-souled one, the descendant of Bhṛgu gave the supreme weapon, he who in boyhood was instructed in the science of the bow by Rāma himself—

8.1.38 by whose grace the sons of Kuntī, those mighty princes, and other lords of the earth as well, attained the rank of great chariot-warriors—

8.1.39 hearing that this Droṇa, true to his word, that great bowman, was slain in battle by Dhṛṣṭadyumna, my mind is sorely afflicted.

8.1.40 He whose equal in the science of arms was not to be found among men in all the three worlds—when they heard that this Droṇa was slain, what did my men do?

8.1.41 When the host of the saṃśaptakas was sent, by the valour of the high-souled Pāṇḍava Dhanaṃjaya, to the abode of Yama,

8.1.42 and when the Nārāyaṇa weapon of the wise son of Droṇa had been undone, and the surviving ranks of the army stood, what did my men do?

8.1.43 I think them put to flight, sunk in an ocean of grief when Droṇa was slain, drifting like men whose ship has foundered upon the sea.

8.1.44 Of Duryodhana, of Karṇa, of the Bhoja Kṛtavarman, of Śalya the king of the Madras, and of Droṇa's son, and of Kṛpa—

8.1.45 and of my surviving sons, and likewise of the others, O Saṃjaya—when their ranks were scattered, what hue was upon their faces?

8.1.46 Tell me, O son of Gavalgaṇa, all this just as it came to pass in battle, truly and in full, of both the Pāṇḍavas and my own men."

8.1.47 Saṃjaya said: What the Pāṇḍavas did to the Kauravas, O honoured one—hearing it, do not give way to anguish; over what is destined the mind is not afflicted.

8.1.48 Since whatever outcome is to befall a man, whether it shall come to pass or not, no wise man is troubled by its coming or its failing to come.

8.1.49 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: No anguish whatever is in me as I listen, Saṃjaya; this, I think, was ordained long ago. Tell it as you will.

8.2.1 Saṃjaya said: When Droṇa the great bowman was slain, your sons, those mighty chariot-warriors, grew downcast of face, dejected, and bereft of spirit.

8.2.2 With faces bowed down, those bearers of weapons, every one of them, O lord of peoples, not even looking at one another, stricken with grief, spoke not among themselves.

8.2.3 Seeing them in their stricken aspect, your troops, O Bhārata, gazed only upward, oftentimes panicked with grief.

8.2.4 And their weapons, O lord of kings, all of them stained with blood, slipped from their fingertips at the sight of Droṇa struck down.

8.2.5 Those weapons, still bound to them yet unwelcome, hanging loose, O Bhārata, appeared, O great king, like the stars in the sky.

8.2.6 Seeing his own army thus stricken and motionless, standing as though its very life had gone out of it, O great king, King Duryodhana spoke:

8.2.7 "Relying upon the strength of your arms, I challenged the Pāṇḍavas to battle, and this war was set in motion.

8.2.8 Now that Droṇa is slain, this host seems sunk in dejection; yet warriors who fight in battle are struck down on every side.

8.2.9 Whether victory or death befall the man who fights in battle—what marvel is there in that? Fight on, then, facing every quarter!

8.2.10 And behold the high-souled Karṇa, son of the Sun, that great bowman of mighty strength, ranging through the battle with his divine weapons!

8.2.11 He, from dread of whom in battle Kuntī's son Dhanaṃjaya ever turns back in vexation, as a small beast from a lion—

8.2.12 he by whom Bhīmasena, mighty in strength, with the vigour of ten thousand elephants, was brought to such a plight by mere human combat—

8.2.13 he by whom that hero Ghaṭotkaca, knower of divine weapons and master of illusions, was slain in battle with the unfailing spear, even as he roared a fearsome roar—

8.2.14 the inexhaustible might of the arms of that wise hero, true to his word and unconquerable in valour, you shall behold this day in battle.

8.2.15 The prowess of both these high-souled ones, of Droṇa's son and of the son of Rādhā, you shall also behold amid the hosts of the Pāṇḍavas and the Pāñcālas.

8.2.16 And you yourselves, all of you—heroes, wise, nobly born, of good conduct, and skilled in arms—shall this day behold one another's deeds."

8.2.17 When this had been said, O great king, Karṇa, son of the Sun, the mighty prince, raising aloud a lion's roar, gave battle with all his great strength.

8.2.18 Before the eyes of all the Sṛñjayas, the Pāñcālas, the Kekayas, and the Videhas, he wrought a great slaughter.

8.2.19 From his bow there poured forth showers of arrows by the hundred, joined point to feathered shaft like ranks of bees.

8.2.20 Having harried the Pāñcālas and the swift Pāṇḍavas, and having slain warriors by the thousand, he was at last struck down by Arjuna.

8.3.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When he had heard this, O great king, Dhṛtarāṣṭra the son of Ambikā, seeing no end to his grief and believing Suyodhana slain, fell distraught upon the ground like an elephant bereft of consciousness.

8.3.2 When that best of kings, distraught, had fallen upon the ground, there arose a great cry of anguish from the women, O best of the Bhāratas.

8.3.3 That sound filled the whole earth on every side; the women of the Bharatas were plunged in a vast and terrible ocean of sorrow.

8.3.4 And drawing near to the king, O bull of the Bhāratas, Gāndhārī fell senseless to the ground, and so did all the women of the inner apartments.

8.3.5 Then Saṃjaya, O king, comforted those stricken women, who were swooning again and again and shedding the water born of their eyes.

8.3.6 Though comforted, those women trembled again and again, shaken on every side like plantain trees buffeted by the wind.

8.3.7 And Vidura too then comforted the king, that lord whose only sight was wisdom, sprinkling the Kaurava with water.

8.3.8 Slowly regaining his senses, and beholding those women, O king, the king stood silent like one out of his mind, O lord of peoples.

8.3.9 Then, having brooded a long while and sighing again and again, he reproached his own sons and held the Pāṇḍavas in high regard.

8.3.10 Having condemned his own judgement and that of Śakuni the son of Subala, and having pondered for a very long while, trembling again and again,

8.3.11 and having steadied his mind once more, the king, now possessed of fortitude, questioned again the charioteer Saṃjaya, the son of Gavalgaṇa.

8.3.12 The words you have spoken, Saṃjaya, I have heard; but tell me, charioteer—surely Duryodhana has not gone to the abode of Yama? Speak truly, Saṃjaya, and tell over again this same account.

8.3.13 Thus addressed, Janamejaya, the charioteer answered the king: Slain is Vaikartana, O king, together with his sons, the mighty warriors, and with his brothers, the great archers, the sons of charioteers who gave up their bodies in battle.

8.3.14 And Duḥśāsana was slain by the glorious son of Pāṇḍu, and in his wrath Bhīmasena drank his blood upon the field of battle.

8.4.1 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Hearing this, O great king, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Ambikā, his mind distracted with grief, spoke to Saṃjaya the charioteer.

8.4.2 My son, my soul is overwhelmed by my own ill counsel; hearing that Vaikartana is slain, grief cuts me to the quick.

8.4.3 Among the Kurus and the Sṛñjayas, supreme masters of weapons longing to cross to the further shore of sorrow—who now live, and who are dead?

8.4.4 Saṃjaya said: Slain, O king, is the son of Śaṃtanu, the unassailable and majestic one, after he had slain a host of the Pāṇḍava warriors in the space of ten days.

8.4.5 Then Droṇa, the great archer, hard to overcome in battle, having slain the chariot-ranks of the Pāñcālas, was afterward struck down—he of the golden car.

8.4.6 And Karṇa, son of Vikartana, having slain half of the army that remained after the slaughter wrought by Bhīṣma and the great-souled Droṇa, was himself slain.

8.4.7 Viviṃśati, O great king, the mighty prince, having slain the Ānarta warriors by hundreds, was himself slain in battle.

8.4.8 Then your son Vikarṇa, mindful of the kṣatriya's vow, the hero whose mount and weapons were spent, stood facing the foe.

8.4.9 He was struck down by Bhīmasena, who remembered the many dreadful torments wrought by Duryodhana, and his own oath as well.

8.4.10 Vinda and Anuvinda, the two princes of Avanti, mighty in strength, having performed a deed no easy thing to do, went to the abode of the son of Vivasvat.

8.4.11 That hero under whose sway ten realms, the kingdom of Sindhu chief among them, abode, and who stood firm in your command—

8.4.12 that Jayadratha of great valor, having vanquished eleven divisions of troops with his sharpened arrows, was slain by Arjuna, O king.

8.4.13 So too the swift son of Duryodhana, frenzied for battle, abiding by his father's command, was struck down by the son of Subhadrā.

8.4.14 So too the heroic son of Duḥśāsana, strong of arm and fierce in battle, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by the son of Draupadī.

8.4.15 The lord of the Kirātas who dwell along the sea-marshes, righteous of soul, the dear and highly esteemed friend of the king of the gods—

8.4.16 that king Bhagadatta, ever devoted to the kṣatriya's law, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by Dhanaṃjaya.

8.4.17 So too the heir of the Kurus, the son of Somadatta, of great renown, the hero Bhūriśravas, was slain in battle by Sātyaki, O king.

8.4.18 And Śrutāyu of the Ambaṣṭhas, a bowman among kṣatriyas, ranging fearlessly through the fray, was slain by Savyasācin.

8.4.19 Your son Duḥśāsana, ever skilled in arms in battle and frenzied for the fight, was struck down by Bhīmasena, O great king.

8.4.20 That Sudakṣiṇa, O king, whose elephant host was many thousands strong and wondrous, was slain in the encounter by Savyasācin.

8.4.21 The lord of the Kosalas, having slain his foes by the hundreds, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by the son of Subhadrā.

8.4.22 Your son Citrasena, a great chariot-warrior, having fought many a bout with Bhīmasena, was struck down by Bhīmasena himself.

8.4.23 The heroic son of the king of the Madras, who heightened the terror of his foes, the resplendent bearer of sword and shield, was struck down by the son of Subhadrā.

8.4.24 Vṛṣasena, of great splendor, swift with his weapons and firm of resolve, the equal of Karṇa in battle, before the very eyes of Karṇa—

8.4.25 recalling the slaying of Abhimanyu and his own vow as well, Dhanaṃjaya sent him valorously to the seat of Yama.

8.4.26 That lord of earth Śrutāyu, ever bound in unceasing enmity with the Pāṇḍavas, having proclaimed his feud, was struck down by Pārtha.

8.4.27 And the valiant son of Śalya, Rukmaratha, your nephew on the mother's side, O honored one, was slain in battle by Sahadeva, O king.

8.4.28 The aged king Bhagīratha and Bṛhatkṣatra of the Kekayas, two valiant ones of surpassing might, striving in their prowess, were slain.

8.4.29 The son of Bhagadatta, O king, sagacious and mighty in strength, was struck down by Nakula, who ranged through the battle like a hawk.

8.4.30 Your grandsire too, Bāhlika, together with the Bāhlīkas, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by Bhīmasena.

8.4.31 So too Jayatsena, son of Jarāsaṃdha, of great strength, the Māgadha, was slain in battle by the great-souled son of Subhadrā.

8.4.32 Your sons Durmukha and Duḥsaha, the great chariot-warrior, O king, who held themselves heroes, were both slain by Bhīmasena with his mace.

8.4.33 Durmarṣaṇa, Durviṣaha, and Durjaya the great chariot-warrior, having performed a deed no easy thing to do, went to the abode of the son of Vivasvat.

8.4.34 Your counselor Vṛṣavarman, the charioteer of supreme valor, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by Bhīmasena.

8.4.35 The king Nāgāyutabala, mighty with the strength of ten thousand elephants, together with his troop, was slain by the son of Pāṇḍu, Savyasācin.

8.4.36 The Vasātis, O great king, two thousand fighting men, and the valiant Śūrasenas, were all struck down in battle.

8.4.37 The mailed Abhīṣāhas, smiting and frenzied with battle-fury, and the noble car-warriors among the Śibis, together with the Kaliṅgas, were slain.

8.4.38 The bands reared ever among the cow-herds, supremely skilled in war, the troops many thousands strong, and the hosts of the saṃśaptakas—all these, having come against Pārtha, went to the abode of the son of Vivasvat.

8.4.39 Your two brothers-in-law, O great king, the kings Vṛṣaka and Acala, who strove valiantly for your sake, were slain by Savyasācin.

8.4.40 The king of the Śālvas, a great archer fierce in deed both in name and in act, O great king, was struck down by Bhīmasena.

8.4.41 Oghavat and Bṛhanta together, O great king, striving in battle for their ally's sake, went to the abode of the son of Vivasvat.

8.4.42 So too the foremost of car-warriors, Kṣemadhūrti, O lord of peoples, was slain with the mace by Bhīmasena in the fray, O king.

8.4.43 So too the king Jalasaṃdha, a great archer of mighty strength, having wrought a vast slaughter, was slain by Sātyaki in battle.

8.4.44 Alāyudha, lord of the rākṣasas, who rode a car drawn by asses, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by Ghaṭotkaca.

8.4.45 The sons of Rādhā and the charioteers' sons, and his brothers the great car-warriors, and the Kekayas as well, were all slain by Savyasācin.

8.4.46 The Mālavas and the Madrakas, the Draviḍas of fierce prowess, the Yaudheyas and the Lalitthas, the Kṣudrakas and the Uśīnaras—

8.4.47 the Māvellakas, the Tuṇḍikeras, the Sāvitrīputras and the Kāñcalas, the men of the East and the North, of the West and of the South, O honored one—

8.4.48 the throngs of footmen were slain, and tens of thousands of horses, and the ranks of chariots were destroyed, and the noble elephants slain.

8.4.49 Heroes with their banners, their weapons, their armor, raiment, and ornaments, prepared over a long span of time and reared each in his own line—

8.4.50 these were slain in battle, O king, by Pārtha of untiring deeds, and others of measureless strength who sought one another's destruction.

8.4.51 These and many other kings with their hosts were slain by the thousands in battle, O king, as you ask of me; thus came about this destruction at the meeting of Karṇa and Arjuna.

8.4.52 As Vṛtra was slain by great Indra, as Rāvaṇa by Rāma, as Muru was cast down and slain in battle by Kṛṣṇa, and as Kārtavīrya was slain by Rāma of the Bhṛgu line—

8.4.53 so the hero with his kinsmen and friends, frenzied for the fight in battle, having waged a great and terrible war renowned through the three worlds—

8.4.54 even so Karṇa, the best of smiters, frenzied for the fight, was slain in single chariot-combat by Arjuna, together with his counselors and kinsmen, O king.

8.4.55 The hope of victory of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and the very source of the feud, that have the Pāṇḍavas now passed beyond, O king—that which long ago you would not perceive.

8.4.56 Though told of it, O great king, by kinsmen who wished you well, this calamity of great ruin has now overtaken you.

8.4.57 Wishing well to your sons who craved a kingdom, O king, you wrought what was as if to their harm; the fruit of those deeds has now come upon you.

8.4.58 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: You have told me, my son, of my own men slain in battle by the Pāṇḍavas; now tell me, Saṃjaya, of the Pāṇḍavas' men slain by mine.

8.4.59 Saṃjaya said: The Kuntīs, valiant in battle, of great courage and great strength, with their followers and counselors, were struck down in battle by Bhīṣma.

8.4.60 Satyajit, the equal in battle of the diademed one in valor and in strength, was slain in the fray by the true-vowed Droṇa.

8.4.61 So too the aged kings Virāṭa and Drupada, together with their sons, striving for their ally's sake, were slain in battle by Droṇa.

8.4.62 He who, though but a boy in battle, was reckoned the equal of Savyasācin, of Keśava, and of Baladeva, unassailable and overpowering—

8.4.63 that very Abhimanyu, skilled in war, having wrought a great slaughter, was surrounded by six foremost mighty chariot-warriors who could not withstand Bībhatsu, and was struck down.

8.4.64 That hero, made carless yet steadfast in the kṣatriya's law, the son of Subhadrā, was slain in battle by the son of Duḥśāsana, O great king.

8.4.65 Bṛhanta, the great archer skilled in arms and frenzied for the fight, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by Duḥśāsana.

8.4.66 Maṇimat and Daṇḍadhāra, two kings frenzied for the fight, striving for their ally's sake, were struck down by Droṇa.

8.4.67 Aṃśumat, the Bhoja king, a great chariot-warrior, together with his army, was sent valorously to the seat of Yama by the son of Bharadvāja.

8.4.68 Citrāyudha and Citrayodhin, having both wrought a great slaughter, were slain in battle by Karṇa, who struck them valorously by a wondrous course of arms.

8.4.69 The Kekaya prince, the equal of Vṛkodara in battle and steadfast in the fray, was struck down valorously by his own brother, a Kekaya—brother by brother.

8.4.70 Janamejaya, the mace-fighter of the mountain-folk, full of majesty, was struck down by your son Durmukha, O great king.

8.4.71 The two Rocamānas, tigers among men, shining like two planets, were sent at once to heaven by Droṇa's arrows, O king.

8.4.72 And kings who fought back valiantly, O lord of peoples, having performed a deed no easy thing to do, went to the abode of the son of Vivasvat.

8.4.73 Purujit Kuntibhoja, the maternal uncle of Savyasācin, was sent by Droṇa's shafts to the worlds won by battle.

8.4.74 Abhibhū, the king of Kāśi, surrounded by many men of Kāśi, was made to lay down his body in the fight by the son of Vasudāna.

8.4.75 Yudhāmanyu of measureless might and the valiant Uttamaujas, having slain heroes by the hundreds, were slain by the foe in battle.

8.4.76 Kṣatradharman the Pāñcāla and Kṣatravarman, O honored one, those two supreme archers, were sent to the seat of Yama by Droṇa.

8.4.77 The son of Śikhaṇḍin, Kṣatradeva, a lord of warriors, was slain in battle by Lakṣmaṇa, your grandson, O king, O descendant of Bharata.

8.4.78 Sucitra and Citradharman, father and son, both mighty chariot-warriors of great valor, while they ranged across the field were slain in battle by Droṇa.

8.4.79 Vārdhakṣemi, O great king, after wreaking havoc in the fray, was struck down, O great king, by the Kaurava Bāhlika.

8.4.80 Dhṛṣṭaketu, O great king, foremost chariot-warrior of the Cedis, having done a deed hard to accomplish, went to the abode of Vaivasvata.

8.4.81 So too Satyadhṛti, my son, having wrought slaughter in the fray and shown his prowess for the Pāṇḍavas' cause, was sent to the dwelling of Yama.

8.4.82 And the son of Śiśupāla, Suketu, O lord of the earth, having slain his foes in the clash, was himself slain in battle by Droṇa.

8.4.83 Likewise the hero Satyadhṛti, the valiant Madirāśva, and the bold Sūryadatta were laid low by the arrows of Droṇa.

8.4.84 And Śreṇimat, O great king, valorous as he fought, having performed a deed hard to do, went to the abode of Vaivasvata.

8.4.85 In the same way the Māgadha, bold in battle, slayer of enemy heroes, valorous as he fought, was slain, O king, by Bhīṣma.

8.4.86 And Vasudāna, wreaking great carnage in the conflict, was sent by the prowess of the son of Bharadvāja to the dwelling of Yama.

8.4.87 These and many other great chariot-warriors of the Pāṇḍavas were slain by Droṇa through his valor — this is what you ask of me.

8.4.88 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Now that the foremost heroes of this my army are slain, O best of speakers, tell me, O Sūta, of those unslain — whoever among them still lives.

8.4.89 Now that those you have named are slain, even those whom you reckon unslain — they too, I deem, are as good as won over by heaven.

8.4.90 Saṃjaya said: He in whom the great weapons were vested — wondrous, gleaming, of four kinds, and divine, O king — bestowed upon him by Droṇa, best of heroic brahmins;

8.4.91 that great chariot-warrior, skilled and swift of hand, firm in his weapons, firm in grip, firm in his arrows — the valiant, impetuous son of Droṇa stands ready, eager to fight for your sake.

8.4.92 That dweller of Ānarta, the son of Hṛdika, a great chariot-warrior, foremost among the Sātvatas — Kṛtavarman the Bhoja himself, master of weapons — stands ready, eager to fight for your sake.

8.4.93 The son of Śaradvat, the Gautama too, O king, mighty in strength, a fighter with many varied weapons, taking up his wondrous bow, great and able to bear the strain, stands ready and willing to fight.

8.4.94 The son of Ṛtāyana, unshakable in battle, leader of the host, first among your men — having spared those his nephews, the sons of Pāṇḍu, the impetuous one, wishing to make true his pledged word.

8.4.95 Having vowed before Ajātaśatru in the clash to quell the splendor of the Sūta's son, the unassailable Śalya, of valor equal to Śakra's, stands ready, eager to fight for your sake.

8.4.96 With horses of high breed, those of Sindhu and the mountains, and the river-born ones of Kāmboja, Vanāyu, and Bāhlika, the king of Gāndhāra, joined with his own host, stands ready, eager to fight for your sake.

8.4.97 And your son too, O foremost of the Kurus, mounting a chariot blazing like fire and sun, Kurumitra stands ready, O lord of men, like the sun shining in a cloudless sky.

8.4.98 Duryodhana, amid his host of elephants, of mighty valor, together with the foremost warriors of the army, on his chariot adorned with gold, stands ready in the battle, eager to fight.

8.4.99 That foremost of men, amid the kings, shone forth in his bright golden mail, lotus-hued, like a fire with little smoke, radiant as the sun gleaming between the clouds.

8.4.100 So too Suṣeṇa, sword and shield in hand, your son, and the hero Satyasena, both stand together with Citrasena, glad of heart, eager to fight in the battle.

8.4.101 The Bharata princes who shun all that is shameful — Citrāyudha, Śrutakarman, and Jaya, and Śala, and Satyavrata and Duḥśalā — stand ready, mighty and eager to fight.

8.4.102 The lord of the Kaitavyas, proud in his valor, a slayer of foes in battle after battle, that prince, with foot and horse, marching with his elephants and chariots, stands ready, eager to fight for your sake.

8.4.103 The hero Śrutāyus and Śrutāyudha, Citrāṅgada and that hero Citravarman — those foremost of men in the army stand ready, smiters all, proud and true to their pledges.

8.4.104 The son of Karṇa, the high-souled Satyasena, stands ready in battle, eager to fight; and two other worthy sons of Karṇa, deft of hand, O lord of men, stand ready, leaning upon a mighty host hard for the faint-hearted to break, willing to fight for your sake.

8.4.105 With these and other chief warriors, foremost in arms, of boundless might, the king of the Kurus stands amid his host of elephants, like great Indra, bent on victory.

8.4.106 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: You have told me truly of those who yet live and of the others as well; thus I clearly perceive how things will come to pass, by reckoning the course of events.

8.4.107 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Even as he spoke thus, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Ambikā, hearing that his own army was shattered, its heroes slain, with but a remnant left, fell into a swoon, his senses overwhelmed by grief.

8.4.108 Swooning, he said: Hold a moment, Saṃjaya; my mind is distraught, my son, hearing of so great a sorrow. And then the lord of the earth lost his senses.

8.5.1 Janamejaya said: Hearing that Karṇa was slain in the battle and that his sons did not flee, what did the king, somewhat recovered, then say, O best of the twice-born?

8.5.2 He who had won the utmost grief, the great sorrow born of his sons' ruin — what he said at that hour, tell me that, for I ask of you.

8.5.3 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Hearing of Karṇa's death — incredible, marvelous, bewildering to all beings, and terrible as the overturning of Meru;

8.5.4 like an unaccountable bewilderment of mind in the wise descendant of Bhṛgu, like a defeat of Indra of fearsome deeds at the hands of his foes;

8.5.5 like the fall of the radiant sun from heaven to the earth, like the unthinkable drying up of the ocean of inexhaustible waters;

8.5.6 like the marvelous total destruction of earth, sky, and the guardians of the quarters, like the fruitlessness of both deeds, the meritorious and the sinful alike.

8.5.7 Pondering it shrewdly in his mind, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, lord of the people, reflecting upon Karṇa's death, thought: "This cannot be."

8.5.8 "Yet, since this is the very nature of living things, such destruction may indeed be" — and his heart was consumed by the fire of grief, as though fanned into flame.

8.5.9 His spirit broken, sighing, wretched, crying "Alas, alas!" in deep anguish, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Ambikā, lamented, O great king.

8.5.10 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Saṃjaya, the heroic son of Adhiratha, of the prowess of a lion and an elephant, the bull among men of matchless shoulders, with the eyes, the gait, and the voice of a bull;

8.5.11 a bull who, like a bull, would not turn back in battle even from great Indra his foe — young, his frame hard as the thunderbolt;

8.5.12 he at the twang of whose bowstring and palm-guard and the roar of whose shower of arrows, chariots, horses, men, and elephants could not stand their ground in the fray;

8.5.13 relying upon whom — the mighty-armed, unfaltering destroyer of enemy hosts — Duryodhana waged his feud against the sons of Pāṇḍu of great strength:

8.5.14 how was that best of chariot-warriors, Karṇa, the tiger among men of irresistible prowess, slain by force in battle by Pārtha?

8.5.15 He who, ever relying on the might of his own arm, esteemed neither the unfaltering Kṛṣṇa nor Dhanaṃjaya, nor those other Vṛṣṇis;

8.5.16 who said, "The wielders of the Śārṅga and the Gāṇḍīva, united and unvanquished — I alone shall bring them down from their divine chariot in battle";

8.5.17 thus spoke he ever to that dullard, Duryodhana, deluded by greed, base, craving the kingdom, and distressed.

8.5.18 He who conquered foes most mighty and hard to subdue — the Gāndhāras, the Madrakas, the Matsyas, the Trigartas, the Taṅgaṇas, the Śakas;

8.5.19 the Pāñcālas and the Videhas, the Kuṇindas, the Kāśis and Kosalas, the Suhmas and the Aṅgas, the Puṇḍras, the Niṣādas, the Vaṅgas, and the Kīcakas;

8.5.20 the Vatsas, the Kaliṅgas, the Taralas, the Aśmakas, and the Ṛṣikas as well — that hero, having conquered them in battle, made them tribute-bearers of old.

8.5.21 As Uccaiḥśravas is the best of horses, as Vaiśravaṇa is the best of kings, as great Indra is the best of the gods, so Karṇa was the best of smiters.

8.5.22 He whom the king of Magadha, having won, by conciliation, honor, gifts, and esteem, hemmed in all the warrior princes of the earth, save the Kauravas and the Yādavas.

8.5.23 Hearing that Karṇa was slain in single combat by Savyasācin, I am plunged in an ocean of grief, like one without a raft upon the sea.

8.5.24 If I am not destroyed by such sorrows, Saṃjaya, I deem my heart harder than the thunderbolt and impossible to break.

8.5.25 Hearing of this defeat of kinsmen, relations, and friends, what other man in the world but me, O Sūta, would not give up his life?

8.5.26 I would choose poison, or fire, or a plunge from a mountain's peak; for I shall not be able to bear these grievous sorrows, Saṃjaya.

8.5.27 Saṃjaya said: For your splendor, your lineage, your fame, your austerity, and your learning, the good this day reckon you the equal of Yayāti, son of Nahuṣa.

8.5.28 In learning you are the peer of a great sage; you have fulfilled your purpose, O king. Compose yourself; do not set your mind upon despair.

8.5.29 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: I deem fate supreme; a curse upon manly effort, which is in vain — for there Karṇa, the equal of Rāma, was slain in battle.

8.5.30 That great chariot-warrior, having slain Yudhiṣṭhira's host and the chariot-squadrons of the Pāñcālas, scorching all the quarters with his rain of arrows —

8.5.31 having bewildered the Pārthas in battle as the thunderbolt-handed one bewilders the Asuras — how is it that he, slain, lies low like a tree shattered by the wind?

8.5.32 I see no end to my grief, as a drowning man sees none to the ocean. My sharp anguish grows, and a longing to die is born in me.

8.5.33 Hearing of Karṇa's death and of Phalguna's victory, I hold the slaying of Karṇa beyond belief, Saṃjaya.

8.5.34 Surely my heart is made of the essence of adamant, and most firm, since, hearing that Karṇa, the tiger among men, is slain, it does not burst asunder.

8.5.35 Surely a very long life was ordained for me by the gods of old, since, hearing that Karṇa is slain, I yet live on here in deep sorrow.

8.5.36 A curse upon this life of mine today, bereft of friends, Saṃjaya. This day, Saṃjaya, fallen into this contemptible state, I shall pass my days in misery, pitiable to all, dull of wit.

8.5.37 I who once was honored by all the world — how, O Sūta, despised, shall I be able to live on again? From sorrow to deeper sorrow I have come, into calamity, Saṃjaya.

8.5.38 Therefore, after the slaying of Bhīṣma and of the high-souled Droṇa, now that the Sūta's son too is slain in battle, I see no remnant left.

8.5.39 For he was the great further shore for my sons, Saṃjaya — that hero, slain in battle while loosing many arrows.

8.5.40 What use is life to me without that bull among men? That surpassing chariot-warrior must have fallen from his car, tormented by arrows,

8.5.41 like a mountain's peak riven by the fall of the thunderbolt; surely he lies upon the earth, adorning it, drenched in blood, like an elephant struck down by a rutting elephant.

8.5.42 He who was the strength of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and from whom came the Pāṇḍavas' fear — that Karṇa, the standard by which bowmen are measured, was slain by Arjuna.

8.5.43 For that hero, the great archer, who gave my sons their freedom from fear — that hero now lies slain, as Bala was slain by Śakra.

8.5.44 Duryodhana's design has proved like the journeying of a cripple, like the desire of a pauper, like the water-droplets craved by one athirst.

8.5.45 The deed is purposed one way, yet it comes to pass in another. Ah, how mighty is fate, and how impossible to overstep is time!

8.5.46 Fleeing piteously, his spirit broken, his manhood failing — has my son Duḥśāsana not been slain, O Sūta?

8.5.47 Did he not act basely in the fray, my son? Was that hero not slain — slain not as warriors are slain in honor?

8.5.48 Yudhiṣṭhira's word, ever "Let there be no war" — that the deluded Duryodhana would not accept, as a fool will not take wholesome medicine.

8.5.49 When Bhīṣma, that most high-souled one, lying upon his bed of arrows, asked for water, Pārtha pierced the surface of the earth.

8.5.50 Seeing that stream of water sent forth by the Pāṇḍava, the mighty-armed one said, my child: "Make peace with the Pāṇḍavas."

8.5.51 "For from reconciliation peace would come; let this raging war be ended. In brotherhood enjoy the earth together with the sons of Pāṇḍu."

8.5.52 Surely my son now grieves, having not heeded his words; for now there has come to pass this very utterance of that far-sighted one.

8.5.53 But I, my counsellors slain and my sons slain, O Saṃjaya, have through the dice-game fallen into misery, like a bird with its wings clipped.

8.5.54 For just as little boys, O Saṃjaya, seizing a bird and clipping its two wings, set it loose in their delight, sporting at play—

8.5.55 and with its wings cut off no flight is possible for it—so too am I now reduced, like a bird with its wings clipped.

8.5.56 Wasted away, stripped of every aim, without kinsmen, bereft of my relations—to what quarter shall I turn, wretched and fallen into the power of my foes?

8.5.57 He, the lord who for Duryodhana's increase had conquered the earth, has been vanquished by the Pāṇḍavas—heroes, mighty, abounding in valour.

8.5.58 When that great archer Karṇa was slain in battle by the Diademed one, which heroes still stood their ground? Tell me that, O Saṃjaya.

8.5.59 Was he not abandoned and alone when the Pāṇḍavas struck him down in battle? You told me before, brave one, how the heroes were laid low.

8.5.60 Bhīṣma, who would not fight back, Śikhaṇḍin felled in battle with his finest shafts—him, the best of all who bear weapons.

8.5.61 So too Droṇa—that great archer who had laid down all his weapons in the fight and was rapt in yoga, pierced with many arrows—was slain by Draupadī's son, by Dhṛṣṭadyumna with upraised sword, O Saṃjaya.

8.5.62 By stealth were these two slain, and above all by trickery—so I have heard, that Bhīṣma and Droṇa were brought down.

8.5.63 For Bhīṣma and Droṇa, were they fighting by fair means, not even the Wielder of the Thunderbolt himself could slay them in battle—this truth I declare to you.

8.5.64 But Karṇa, hurling his many celestial weapons—how did death touch in battle that hero who was the equal of Indra?

8.5.65 He to whom, in exchange for his earrings, Purandara gave that celestial spear, gleaming like lightning and adorned with gold, the slayer of foes—

8.5.66 he whose celestial serpent-mouthed shaft, gold-adorned and feathered, the destroyer of foes, lay resting amid the sandalwood—

8.5.67 he who, scorning such heroes and great chariot-warriors as Bhīṣma and Droṇa, learned from the son of Jamadagni the most terrible Brāhma weapon—

8.5.68 he, the mighty-armed, who when he saw Droṇa and the rest turned away and tormented by arrows, shattered with his shafts the bow of Subhadrā's son—

8.5.69 he who, having made my brother's foe Bhīmasena chariotless—him whose strength was that of ten thousand elephants, swift as the wind and unfaltering—laughed at him in mockery—

8.5.70 he who, having vanquished Sahadeva with his straight-jointed arrows and left him chariotless, out of compassion and his knowledge of the right did not slay him—

8.5.71 he who, having scattered a thousand illusions, struck down with Śakra's spear that lord of the Rākṣasas, the battle-frenzied Ghaṭotkaca—

8.5.72 all these days Dhanaṃjaya, afraid of him in battle, that hero, never came to single combat—how then was he slain in the fight?

8.5.73 If his chariot was not stuck fast, if his bow did not shatter, if his weapons did not fail him—how then was he slain by the foe?

8.5.74 Who indeed was able in battle to conquer Karṇa, that tiger among men—shaking his great bow, loosing his dreadful shafts and celestial weapons in the fray, swift as a tiger in its rush?

8.5.75 Surely his bow was cut through, or his chariot sank into the earth, or his weapons failed—since you tell me he is slain; for I can see no other cause of his destruction.

8.5.76 "I will not wash my feet until I have slain Arjuna"—such was the most terrible vow of that great-souled one.

8.5.77 He of whom Yudhiṣṭhira, the King of Righteousness, that bull among men, was ever afraid in the forest, and for thirteen years could find no sleep—

8.5.78 he upon whose valour—the valour of that mighty, great-souled one—my son relied when he dragged by force into the assembly the wife of the Pāṇḍavas—

8.5.79 and there too, in the midst of the assembly, before the very eyes of the Pāṇḍavas, called Pāñcālī "a slave's wife" in the gathering of the Kurus—

8.5.80 he who, reckoning nothing of the fierce touch of shafts loosed from the Gāṇḍīva, said "Kṛṣṇā, you have now no husband," and gazed upon the sons of Pṛthā—

8.5.81 he who, relying on the strength of his own arms, had no fear of the sons of Pṛthā, even for a moment, O Saṃjaya—not though their sons and Janārdana stood with them—

8.5.82 his slaying I cannot believe possible even by the gods with Vāsava himself rushing against him—how much less, my child, by the Pāṇḍavas.

8.5.83 For when the son of Adhiratha touched his bowstring and took up his leather guard, no man living was fit to stand before him.

8.5.84 Sooner might the earth be bereft of the radiant beams of moon and sun than that lord of men, who never fled the field, should be slain in battle.

8.5.85 If that dull-witted fool, with his brother Duḥśāsana for ally, took pleasure in rejecting the counsel of Vāsudeva—

8.5.86 surely now, beholding bull-shouldered Karṇa struck down and Duḥśāsana slain, my poor son must grieve—so I think.

8.5.87 Hearing that Vaikartana was slain in single combat by the Ambidextrous one, and seeing the Pāṇḍavas victorious, what then did Duryodhana say?

8.5.88 Hearing that Durmarṣaṇa was slain, and Vṛṣasena too in the fight, and seeing his host broken and cut down by the great chariot-warriors—

8.5.89 and seeing his kings turned away, bent only on flight, his chariot-warriors scattered in rout—my poor son, I think, must grieve.

8.5.90 Unteachable through pride, childish of mind, unforgiving—seeing his host's spirit broken, what then did Duryodhana say?

8.5.91 Seeing his brother slain in the fight by Bhīmasena, who drank his blood—what then did Duryodhana say?

8.5.92 "Karṇa shall slay Arjuna in battle"—so he declared in the assembly together with the king of Gāndhāra; now that Karṇa is slain, what did he say?

8.5.93 Śakuni, the son of Subala, who once played the dice in glee and cheated the Pāṇḍavas—what, my child, did he say when Karṇa was slain?

8.5.94 Kṛtavarman, that great archer, the mighty chariot-warrior of the Sātvatas, the son of Hṛdika—seeing Karṇa utterly slain, what did he say?

8.5.95 He at whose instruction Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, and Vaiśyas wait, longing to master the science of the bow—the wise son of Droṇa—

8.5.96 that youthful one, endowed with beauty, fair to look upon, of great renown—Aśvatthāman, when Karṇa was slain, what did he say, O Saṃjaya?

8.5.97 Kṛpa, the son of Śaradvat, who had attained mastery in the science of the bow and knew the highest truths—what, my child, did he say when Karṇa was slain?

8.5.98 Śalya, the king of the Madras, that great archer, the ornament of assemblies—surely all that was ordained by him, the manner in which Karṇa was brought down.

8.5.99 And whatever kings of the earth had come to do battle—seeing Vaikartana slain, what did they say, O Saṃjaya?

8.5.100 When the hero Karṇa was slain—that tiger among chariot-warriors, that bull among men—what, O Saṃjaya, became of the front ranks of your several armies?

8.5.101 How came Śalya, the king of the Madras, the best of chariot-warriors, to be appointed to the charioteering of Vaikartana? Tell me that, O Saṃjaya.

8.5.102 Who guarded the right wheel of the Sūta's son in the fight, who the left wheel, and who guarded the hero from behind?

8.5.103 Which heroes stood by Karṇa, and which base ones fled in fear? And how, while you were all assembled together, was the great chariot-warrior Karṇa slain?

8.5.104 And how did the heroic Pāṇḍavas come on against that great chariot-warrior as he poured forth showers of arrows, like a cloud loosing streams of rain?

8.5.105 And how did that celestial serpent-mouthed shaft, the choicest of great arrows, then come to naught? Tell me that, O Saṃjaya.

8.5.106 Of this my host, its eminence now plucked away, O Saṃjaya, I can see no remnant left, its very crest crushed.

8.5.107 Those two heroes, those great archers, those best of the Kurus—Bhīṣma and Droṇa—slain in my cause: hearing it, what worth has life for me?

8.5.108 And I cannot bear that Rādheya is slain, the ornament of battle, the strength of whose two arms was equal to a hundred hundred elephants.

8.5.109 And what befell the Kauravas, the heroes among men, in their battle with the foe after Droṇa was slain—tell me that, O Saṃjaya.

8.5.110 And how Karṇa joined battle with the sons of Kuntī, and how that slayer of foes was stilled in the fight—let that be told.

8.6.1 Saṃjaya said: When the great archer Droṇa had been slain on that day, O descendant of Bharata, and when the great chariot-warrior, Droṇa's son, had been made vain in his resolve—

8.6.2 as the host of the Kauravas streamed away in flight, O great king, the son of Pṛthā drew up his own army in array and stood firm together with his brothers.

8.6.3 Knowing him to stand his ground, O bull of the Bhāratas, and seeing his own force in flight, your son by his manly might held it back.

8.6.4 Having steadied his own ranks and taken his stand upon the strength of his arms, he fought for a long while with the Pāṇḍavas, O descendant of Bharata—

8.6.5 with foes who had found their mark, exultant, long striving against him; and then, as the hour of twilight came on, he ordered the withdrawal.

8.6.6 Having drawn back their forces and entered their own camp, the Kurus then took counsel together for their own welfare.

8.6.7 Seated upon priceless couches spread with coverings beyond compare, upon excellent seats, they were like the immortals upon their pleasant beds.

8.6.8 Then King Duryodhana, addressing those great archers with words most winning and gentle, spoke what the moment called for:

8.6.9 "You best of the wise, declare your counsel, all of you, without delay—what task, things being thus, would best serve our purpose, O kings."

8.6.10 When the lord of men had thus spoken, those lions among men, eager for the fight, then made gestures of many kinds, seated upon their lion-thrones.

8.6.11 Marking the bearing of those who longed to offer up their lives in battle, and gazing upon the face of the king, whose splendour was like the rising sun, the Preceptor's son, wise and skilled in speech, took up the word:

8.6.12 "Zeal, application, skill, and good policy—these means of achieving an end have been named by the learned; yet all of them rest upon fate."

8.6.13 "Those foremost heroes of the world among us, the godlike great chariot-warriors, prudent, disciplined, skilled, and devoted—they have been slain."

8.6.14 "Yet we must not despair of victory; by sound policy in all our undertakings even fate may be turned to favour."

8.6.15 "So let us make Karṇa, the foremost of men, endowed with every host of virtues, our commander, and crush the foe."

8.6.16 Then Duryodhana, delighted to hear that pleasing speech—charged with the grace of affection, true, salutary, and auspicious to himself—

8.6.17 having steadied his mind and leaning upon the strength of his arms, Duryodhana, O great king, said this to Rādheya:

8.6.18 "Karṇa, I know your valour and your supreme love for me; yet even so, mighty-armed one, I shall speak to you a word for your good."

8.6.19 "Having heard it, do then as you will, brave one, whatever pleases you; for you are ever the wisest of all, and my supreme refuge."

8.6.20 Bhīṣma and Droṇa, those peerless warriors, my two commanders, are slain. Let your good self be my commander, richer in might than both of them.

8.6.21 Those two mighty archers were aged, and both bore tenderness toward Dhanaṃjaya; yet, O Rādheya, those heroes were honored by me at your word.

8.6.22 Mindful of his grandsire's bond, dear one, Bhīṣma spared the sons of Pāṇḍu in the great battle for ten whole days.

8.6.23 And when his weapons were laid down, the grandsire Bhīṣma was slain in the great battle by Phalguna, who put Śikhaṇḍin to the fore.

8.6.24 When that illustrious one fell and lay upon a bed of arrows, then, O tiger among men, at your word Droṇa became the foremost.

8.6.25 He too spared the sons of Pṛthā in this combat, for they had been his pupils; and that aged one was swiftly slain by Dhṛṣṭadyumna.

8.6.26 Now that those two chief warriors are slain, O man of measureless valor, however I ponder it, I see no other fighter in battle who is your equal.

8.6.27 You alone are able to win us the victory, of this there is no doubt; before, in the midst, and after, all of this has been known to you indeed.

8.6.28 You, then, like a yoke-bearing steed, are worthy to bear the burden in battle; consecrate yourself by your own hand to the office of commander.

8.6.29 As Skanda is the imperishable lord and commander of the gods, so let your good self sustain this army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son for me; strike down all the hosts of foes, as great Indra struck the Dānavas.

8.6.30 When they learn that you, the great car-warrior, stand firm in battle, the Pāṇḍavas with the Pāñcālas will flee as the Dānavas fled at the sight of Viṣṇu; therefore, O tiger among men, lead forth the mighty host.

8.6.31 When you stand fast, the Pāṇḍavas, together with their counselors and with the Pāñcālas and the Sṛñjayas, will be robbed of their senses.

8.6.32 For as the risen Sun, blazing with his own splendor, drives away the thick darkness, so do you drive away our foes.

8.6.33 Karṇa said: This was spoken by me before, O son of Gāndhārī, in your presence: I shall conquer the Pāṇḍavas, O king, with their sons and with Janārdana.

8.6.34 I shall be your commander, herein there is no doubt; be steadfast, O great king, and know the Pāṇḍavas already vanquished.

8.6.35 Saṃjaya said: Thus addressed, the mighty-spirited king Duryodhana then rose up together with the kings, like Indra of the hundred sacrifices amid the gods, to honor Karṇa with the command, as the immortals honored Skanda.

8.6.36 Then swiftly, with rite ordained by scripture, the kings led by Duryodhana, O king, desiring victory, consecrated him with golden jars and with earthen ones over which the sacred mantras had been pronounced,

8.6.37 and with water-filled horns of leopards and rhinoceroses and great bulls, and with others made of gems and pearls, and with fragrant herbs of holy scent.

8.6.38 He was seated upon a throne of fig-wood draped with linen, consecrated by the rite seen in the scriptures and with the requisites well assembled.

8.6.39 "Conquer the sons of Pṛthā, with Govinda and their followers, in the great battle!" Thus, O bull of the Bhāratas, the bards and the twice-born addressed him.

8.6.40 "Strike down the sons of Pṛthā with the Pāñcālas, O Rādheya, for our victory, as the ever-rising Sun strikes the darkness with his fierce rays!"

8.6.41 "For they, with Keśava, are no more a match for the arrows loosed by you than the ungrateful are for the gaze of the blazing rays of the Sun."

8.6.42 "For the sons of Pṛthā with the Pāñcālas can no more stand before you, weapon in hand in battle, than the Dānavas before great Indra."

8.6.43 Consecrated, Rādheya of boundless radiance overflowed in his splendor of form, like a second maker of the day.

8.6.44 Having consecrated Rādheya to the command, your son, driven on by fate, then deemed his purpose accomplished.

8.6.45 And Karṇa too, O king, that subduer of foes, having gained the command, ordered the army to make ready against the rising of the Sun.

8.6.46 Surrounded by your sons, Karṇa shone there, O Bhārata, as Skanda shone amid the gods in the war against Tāraka.

8.7.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: When Karṇa Vaikartana had gained the command and was thus addressed by the king himself with tender words, as to a brother,

8.7.2 having ordered the army to make ready when the Sun had risen, what did that man of great wisdom do? Tell me that, Saṃjaya.

8.7.3 Saṃjaya said: Learning Karṇa's purpose, O bull of the Bhāratas, your son ordered the array to be made ready, heralded by auspicious music.

8.7.4 In the great hours before dawn, O honored one, there arose all at once in your son's host a mighty din: "To arms! To arms!"

8.7.5 As the elephants were being harnessed and the guarded chariots made ready, as the foot-soldiers and the horses were being armed, O lord of peoples,

8.7.6 and as the warriors hurried, shouting to one another, there rose then a tumultuous uproar, vast and reaching the sky.

8.7.7 Then with a white banner, with horses of the hue of the morning sun, with a gold-backed bow, with the elephant-girth ensign,

8.7.8 with a quiver full of arrows, with an arm-band, guarded all round, bearing the hundred-slayer engines, bells, javelins, lances, and pikes,

8.7.9 furnished with a bow, with the radiance of the spotless sun, upon his tall-bannered chariot, the son of the charioteer appeared.

8.7.10 He was blowing his conch, dear one, adorned with a net of gold, and brandishing his great bow decked with gold.

8.7.11 Seeing Karṇa, the great archer, the foremost of car-warriors, standing on his chariot like the rising Sun dispelling the darkness a thousandfold—

8.7.12 none of the Kauravas there, O honored one, then took to heart the calamity of Bhīṣma, nor of Droṇa, nor of the others, O tiger among men.

8.7.13 Then, urging on the warriors with the blast of his conch, O honored one, Karṇa led forth the host of the Kauravas.

8.7.14 Having arrayed his troops in the crocodile-formation, the great archer Karṇa, scorcher of foes, then advanced against the Pāṇḍavas, longing for victory.

8.7.15 At the snout of the crocodile Karṇa took his stand, O king; at its two eyes were the brave Śakuni and Ulūka, the great car-warrior.

8.7.16 At the head was the son of Droṇa; at the neck were all your full brothers; in the center stood King Duryodhana, encircled by a mighty force.

8.7.17 At the left foot, O lord of kings, stood Kṛtavarman, joined with the Nārāyaṇa hosts, the cowherds, hard to vanquish in war.

8.7.18 At the right foot, O king, was Gautama of true valor, surrounded by the Trigartas, great archers, and by the men of the south.

8.7.19 At the left hindfoot stood Śalya, together with a great army raised from the land of the Madras.

8.7.20 At the right, O great king, was Suṣeṇa, true to his pledge, encircled by thousands of chariots and by hundreds of tusked elephants.

8.7.21 At the tail stood the two great heroes, the royal brothers, Citrasena and Citra, encircled by a mighty army.

8.7.22 Then, when Karṇa, the best of warriors, had set forth, O lord of kings, the King of Righteousness looked upon Dhanaṃjaya and said this:

8.7.23 "Behold, O Pārtha, the great army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son in the battle, arrayed by Karṇa, O hero, and guarded by heroic car-warriors."

8.7.24 "Robbed of its bravest, this great host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, with but its dregs remaining, O mighty-armed one, I deem no better than straw."

8.7.25 "One great archer alone stands firm here, the son of the charioteer, the best of car-warriors, who is unconquerable by the three worlds, moving and unmoving, with their gods, demons, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, and great serpents."

8.7.26 "Slaying him today, O mighty-armed Phalguna, victory shall be yours, and the thorn of twelve years' standing shall be plucked from me; knowing this, O mighty-armed one, array the troops as you wish."

8.7.27 Hearing his brother's words, the white-horsed son of Pāṇḍu countered that host with a half-moon formation.

8.7.28 On the left flank, O king, Bhīmasena took his stand, and on the right the great archer Dhṛṣṭadyumna of mighty strength.

8.7.29 In the very center of the array stood the son of Pāṇḍu with Kṛṣṇa for his charioteer; behind him were Nakula and Sahadeva and the King of Righteousness.

8.7.30 The two Pāñcālas, Yudhāmanyu and Uttamaujas, his wheel-guards, did not forsake Arjuna in battle, themselves protected by the Diademed One.

8.7.31 The remaining heroic kings, mailed, took their places in the array, each according to his rank, his ardor, and his strength, O Bhārata.

8.7.32 Having thus arrayed that great formation, O Bhārata, the Pāṇḍavas and your own great archers set their minds upon battle alone.

8.7.33 Seeing your host arrayed for battle by the son of the charioteer, your son, with his kinsmen, deemed the Pāṇḍavas already slain.

8.7.34 And likewise, seeing the Pāṇḍava army arrayed, Yudhiṣṭhira deemed the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, with Karṇa, already slain, O lord of men.

8.7.35 Then the conches and kettledrums, the tabors, drums, and cow-horns were all at once sounded together, resounding on every side.

8.7.36 In both armies, O king, the great-voiced instruments rang out, and the lion-roar of the heroes greedy for victory arose.

8.7.37 The neighing of horses, the trumpeting of elephants, and the fierce rumble of chariot-wheels arose, O lord of men.

8.7.38 No one took to heart the calamity of Droṇa, O bull of the Bhāratas, on seeing the great archer Karṇa, mailed, at the front of the array.

8.7.39 Both armies, of great might, with men and elephants exultant, eager to fight, stood ready, O king, to slay one another at once.

8.7.40 There, intent and inflamed with wrath, having beheld each other take their stand in the midst of the hosts, Karṇa and the son of Pāṇḍu shone forth, O lord of kings.

8.7.41 As the two armies seemed to dance, they came together against each other; and from their wings and from the wings beyond the wings the eager combatants sallied forth.

8.7.42 Then began the battle of men, elephants, and horses, and of car-warriors, O great king, smiting one another fiercely.

8.8.1 Saṃjaya said: Those two armies, vast, with horses, men, and elephants exultant, closing upon each other, fell to blows, like the hosts of gods and demons.

8.8.2 Then elephants, chariots, horses, and foot-soldiers in the great battle dealt one another a supreme onslaught that made an end of body and of sin.

8.8.3 With the severed heads of lions among men—heads matching in loveliness, luster, and fragrance the full moon, the sun, and the lotus—the lions among men strewed the earth.

8.8.4 With crescent-headed shafts, with broad arrows, with razor-tipped darts, with swords and spears, and with battle-axes, they cut off the heads of those who fought.

8.8.5 By the long, outstretched arms of warriors with long, outstretched arms, the long arms of others were made to fall, their fists, weapons, and arm-bands severed.

8.8.6 The earth then gleamed with those quivering arms, their fingers and palms blood-red, like fierce five-hooded serpents struck down by Garuḍa.

8.8.7 From horses, chariots, and elephants the heroes, slain by their foes, fell as the dwellers in heaven fall from their celestial cars when their merit is spent.

8.8.8 Crushed by heavy maces, by iron bludgeons and by pestles, the heroes fell by the hundreds, struck down by braver heroes in the battle.

8.8.9 Chariots were destroyed by chariots, frenzied elephants by frenzied elephants, and horsemen by horsemen, in that utmost tumult.

8.8.10 Chariots slain by noble chariots and by elephants, and horsemen by foot-soldiers, and foot-soldiers by horsemen, lay outstretched, slain in the fight.

8.8.11 Chariots, horses, and foot-soldiers were slain by elephants, and elephants and foot-soldiers by chariots; chariots, foot-soldiers, and elephants by horses, and horses, chariots, and elephants by men.

8.8.12 A great slaughter of chariots, horses, elephants, and men was wrought by men, horses, elephants, and chariots—by hands and feet, by weapons, and by chariots alike.

8.8.13 As that host was being cut down and slain by the brave, the sons of Pṛthā, with Vṛkodara at their head, advanced upon us.

8.8.14 Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, the sons of Draupadī, the Prabhadrakas, Sātyaki and Cekitāna, together with the Draviḍa soldiers—

8.8.15 and the Pāṇḍyas, the Auḍras, and the Keralas, paid with great wealth—broad-chested, long-armed, tall, and fair to look upon—

8.8.16 crowned with garlands, their teeth reddened, valorous as rutting elephants, clad in robes of many dyes and powdered with fragrant scents,

8.8.17 with swords girded on and nooses in hand, able to ward off charging elephants, sworn to a common death, O king, standing in the ranks shoulder to shoulder—

8.8.18 bearing quivers and bows in hand, long-haired and loving battle—the Āndhra footmen of Sātyaki, dreadful in form and prowess.

8.8.19 Then yet other warriors—the Cedis, the Pāñcālas, the Kekayas, the Karūṣas, the Kosalas, the Kāśis, and the Māgadhas—rushed forth.

8.8.20 Their chariots and elephants and choicest footmen, exultant with cries of every kind, danced and laughed for joy.

8.8.21 Surrounded by the foremost of mighty elephant-drivers, Vṛkodara, mounted at the head of his elephant, drove into the midst of that great host of thine.

8.8.22 That foremost of elephants, most terrible and duly caparisoned, shone like the lofty mansion of the eastern mount when the risen sun stands upon it.

8.8.23 Its splendid iron armor, adorned with the choicest gems, gleamed with a radiance equal to the autumn sky aglow with stars.

8.8.24 With lance and javelin in hand, fair-crowned and well-adorned, ranging like the noonday sun, he scorched his foes with his splendor.

8.8.25 Beholding that elephant from afar, Kṣemadhūrti, himself mounted on an elephant, charged exultantly upon the still more exultant one, calling him to combat.

8.8.26 A battle arose between those two elephants of dreadful aspect, like that between two great mountains, tree-clad, met by chance.

8.8.27 Their elephants locked together, those two heroes, piercing each other again and again with lances bright as the rays of the sun, roared mightily.

8.8.28 Drawing their elephants apart, they wheeled in circling courses, and taking up their bows, they smote each other.

8.8.29 With shouts and the slapping of arms and the twang of arrows on every side, gladdening the warriors, the two raised lion-roars.

8.8.30 Both skilled and mighty, they fought upon their two elephants—their trunks upraised, their banners tossed by the wind.

8.8.31 Having cut each other's bows, the two roared, raining spears and lances upon one another as the rain-clouds pour down water.

8.8.32 Then Kṣemadhūrti, roaring, pierced Bhīma forcefully between the breasts with a lance, and with six others besides.

8.8.33 Bhīmasena, his body blazing with wrath, the lances clinging to his limbs, shone like the sun, the seven-horsed, amid the clouds.

8.8.34 Then Bhīma, with effort, hurled at his foe a lance of straight flight, wrought wholly of iron and bright as the sun.

8.8.35 Then the lord of the Kulūtas, drawing his bow, cut down that lance with ten arrows and pierced the Pāṇḍava with a spear.

8.8.36 Then, taking up a bow that thundered like a great storm-cloud, the furious Pāṇḍava tormented the foe's elephant with his arrows.

8.8.37 That elephant, afflicted by the flood of arrows from Bhīmasena in the fight and held in check, could not stand its ground, like a cloud scattered by the wind.

8.8.38 The royal elephant rushed upon the elephant of Bhīmasena, as one wind-driven cloud rushes upon another stirred by a mighty gale.

8.8.39 Wheeling back his own elephant with effort, Kṣemadhūrti pierced with arrows the charging Bhīmasena together with his elephant.

8.8.40 Then that bull among men, with a well-aimed razor-headed shaft, cut his foe's bow and tormented the enemy's elephant.

8.8.41 Then Kṣemadhūrti struck Bhīma hard with a barbed shaft and smote his elephant with iron arrows in all its vital parts.

8.8.42 Before his elephant could fall, Bhīmasena leaped down and, standing upon the ground, crushed the foe's elephant with his mace.

8.8.43 As Kṣemadhūrti leaped down from that shattered elephant and came on with uplifted sword, Vṛkodara struck him with his mace.

8.8.44 Slain, his sword still in hand and his life gone, he fell beside his own elephant, like a lion struck by the thunderbolt beside a mountain riven by the same.

8.8.45 Beholding slain the glorious king of the Kulūtas, thy army, O bull of the Bhāratas, fled away in distress.

8.9.1 Saṃjaya said: Then Karṇa, the great archer, that hero, smote the host of the Pāṇḍavas in battle with his straight-jointed shafts.

8.9.2 Even so, O king, the Pāṇḍavas, those great car-warriors, enraged, slaughtered the army of thy son before the very face of Karṇa.

8.9.3 Karṇa, O king, the mighty-armed, slew the Pāṇḍava host with iron shafts bright as the sun's rays, polished smooth by the smith.

8.9.4 There, O Bhārata, the elephants struck by Karṇa's iron shafts trumpeted and sank down and grew faint and reeled through the ten directions.

8.9.5 As that host was being slain by the son of the charioteer, O venerable one, Nakula swiftly charged upon the Sūtaputra in the great battle.

8.9.6 Bhīmasena withstood the son of Droṇa, who was performing deeds hard to achieve, and Sātyaki withstood the Kaikeya brothers Vinda and Anuvinda.

8.9.7 King Citrasena met the advancing Śrutakarman, and Citra, with his bow of brilliant device and standard, met Prativindhya.

8.9.8 Duryodhana met King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma, while Dhanaṃjaya, enraged, rushed upon the bands of the saṃśaptakas.

8.9.9 Dhṛṣṭadyumna met Kṛpa, and in that destruction of the foremost of heroes Śikhaṇḍin closed with the steadfast Kṛtavarman.

8.9.10 Śrutakīrti met Śalya, and the valiant Sahadeva, son of Mādrī, met thy son Duḥśāsana, O great king.

8.9.11 The two Kekaya brothers covered Sātyaki in battle with a gleaming shower of arrows, and Sātyaki in turn covered the two Kekayas, O Bhārata.

8.9.12 Those two brothers struck that hero hard in the breast, as two elephants strike a rival elephant with their tusks in a great battle.

8.9.13 Their armor riven by arrows, those two brothers in the fight pierced Sātyaki, true in deed, with their shafts, O king.

8.9.14 But Sātyaki, O great king, laughing, covered those two on every side with a shower of arrows and held them in check, O Bhārata.

8.9.15 Held back then by the showers of arrows from the grandson of Śini, the two swiftly covered the chariot of the Śaineya with their shafts.

8.9.16 But the grandson of Śūra, having cut their two bright bows in that great battle, then covered them both with sharp and unbearable arrows.

8.9.17 Then, taking up two other polished bows and great arrows, the two ranged lightly and skillfully, raining their shafts upon Sātyaki.

8.9.18 The great arrows loosed by the two, feathered with heron and peacock plumes and adorned with gold, flew on, lighting up all the quarters.

8.9.19 A darkness of arrows arose between them in that great battle, O king, and those great car-warriors cut one another's bows.

8.9.20 Then the Sātvata, O great king, enraged and frenzied for battle, took up another bow and strung it, and in the fight, with a keen razor-headed shaft, struck off the head of Anuvinda.

8.9.21 That great head, weighed down by its ear-rings, fell to the earth like the head of Śambara slain in a great battle, and, withering all the Kekayas, it swiftly passed to the ground.

8.9.22 Beholding that hero slain, his brother, the great car-warrior, strung another bow and withstood the grandson of Śini.

8.9.23 Piercing Sātyaki with a spear and with gold-feathered, stone-whetted shafts, he roared a mighty roar and cried, "Stand, stand!"

8.9.24 That great car-warrior of the Kekayas, enraged again, tormented Sātyaki in the arms and breast with arrows shaped like tongues of fire.

8.9.25 His every limb wounded by the arrows, the Sātvata, skilled in courage, shone in the battle, O king, like a kiṃśuka tree in full leaf.

8.9.26 Sātyaki, pierced in battle by the high-souled Kekaya, pierced the Kekaya in turn with twenty-five shafts, as though laughing.

8.9.27 Taking up their shields decked with a hundred moons, those two strong-armed warriors, bearing excellent swords, shone in the great arena like the mighty Jambha and Śakra in the war of gods and demons.

8.9.28 Then those two, wheeling in circling courses in the great battle, swiftly smote each other with their swords in the fray.

8.9.29 Then the Sātvata cleft the Kekaya's shield in two, and the prince likewise cleft the shield of Sātyaki.

8.9.30 Having cleft the shield set about with hundreds of stars, the Kaikeya ranged in circling courses, advancing and retreating.

8.9.31 As he ranged in the great arena bearing his excellent sword, the grandson of Śini, in haste, cut him down with a back-handed stroke.

8.9.32 The Kekaya, with his armor, O king, cleft in two in that great battle—that mighty archer fell like a mountain smitten by the thunderbolt.

8.9.33 Having slain him in battle, the heroic Śaineya, that best of car-warriors, that scorcher of foes, swiftly mounted the chariot of Yudhāmanyu.

8.9.34 Then, mounting another chariot duly equipped, Sātyaki once more scattered the great host of the Kekayas with his arrows.

8.9.35 That great host of the Kekayas, being slain in the battle, abandoned that hostile chariot and fled through the ten directions.

8.10.1 Saṃjaya said: Śrutakarman, O great king, enraged, struck King Citrasena in battle with fifty arrows.

8.10.2 But King Abhisāra, striking Śrutakarman with nine sharp arrows, pierced his charioteer with five.

8.10.3 Then Śrutakarman, enraged, tormented Citrasena at the head of the army, striking him in a vital spot with a keen iron shaft.

8.10.4 Meanwhile the illustrious Śrutakīrti covered that guardian of the earth with ninety feathered shafts.

8.10.5 Then, regaining his senses, Citrasena, the great car-warrior, cut his bow with a broad-headed shaft and pierced him with seven arrows.

8.10.6 Taking up another bow, swift and gold-adorned, he made Citrasena yet more many-hued with his waves of arrows.

8.10.7 Decked with arrows, O king, that youth, wearing a bright garland, shone like a youth well-adorned in the midst of an assembly.

8.10.8 Then, enraged, he pierced Śrutakarman between the breasts with an iron shaft in the battle and cried, "Stand, stand!"

8.10.9 Śrutakarman too, tormented in the battle by the iron shaft, poured forth abundant blood like a mountain streaming with red ochre.

8.10.10 Then, his limbs smeared with blood and his hue made ruddy by it, he shone in the battle, O king, like a kiṃśuka tree in full flower.

8.10.11 Then Śrutakarman, O king, charged upon by his foes, warded off the enemy and cut his bow in two.

8.10.12 Then, O best of the Bhāratas, when his bow had been cut away, the illustrious Śrutakarman pierced him with three hundred iron-shafted arrows.

8.10.13 Then with another broad-headed shaft, exceedingly sharp, the swift warrior swept off the head of that great-souled one, helmet and all.

8.10.14 That mighty head of Citravarman fell upon the earth, as the moon, fallen by some chance from heaven, might drop to the ground.

8.10.15 Seeing their king slain and Abhisāra fallen too, O honored one, the soldiers of Citrasena rushed forward with fury.

8.10.16 Then that wrathful mighty bowman scattered the host with his arrows; as the lord of the dead in his fury drives all creatures before him at the hour of doom, so Śrutakarman, swiftly routing them with his shafts, shone resplendent.

8.10.17 Then Prativindhya, having pierced Citra with five swift arrows, struck his charioteer with three, and his banner thereafter with a single shaft.

8.10.18 Citra in turn tormented him in the arms and breast with nine broad-headed shafts, gold-feathered, whetted on stone, and winged with the plumes of heron and peacock.

8.10.19 Prativindhya, O Bhārata, cut his bow asunder with arrows, and then smote him fiercely with five sharpened shafts.

8.10.20 Then, O great king, he hurled at your son a lance with a golden shaft, hard to withstand, terrible as a tongue of flame.

8.10.21 As that lance came rushing down like a meteor from the sky, Prativindhya, as if smiling, cut it in twain upon the field.

8.10.22 Cleft by Prativindhya's keen arrows, it fell to earth, like a thunderbolt at the end of an age that strikes terror into all beings.

8.10.23 Seeing his lance struck down, Citra seized a great mace, adorned with a network of gold, and flung it at Prativindhya.

8.10.24 In that great battle it slew his horses and his charioteer, and crushing the chariot with its force, sank into the earth.

8.10.25 At that very moment, O Bhārata, leaping down from his chariot, he hurled at Citra a lance bedecked with bells of gold.

8.10.26 As it flew toward him, the high-souled Citra caught it, O king, and hurled that same lance back at Prativindhya, O Bhārata.

8.10.27 Reaching the hero Prativindhya in battle, that lance of great brilliance pierced his right arm and fell to the ground; and where it fell it lit up that place like a thunderbolt.

8.10.28 Then, O king, Prativindhya in his wrath sent forth a gold-decked iron dart, desiring the death of Citra.

8.10.29 Piercing the bright armor that guarded him, and his very heart as well, it passed swiftly into the earth, like a great serpent gliding into its hole.

8.10.30 Smitten by that dart, he fell then, O king, stretching out his two broad arms, thick and round as iron bludgeons.

8.10.31 Seeing Citra slain, your warriors, the ornaments of battle, rushed with fury upon Prativindhya from every side.

8.10.32 Loosing arrows of many kinds and bell-hung śataghnīs, they covered him over as banks of cloud cover the sun.

8.10.33 But the mighty-armed one swept them aside with his web of arrows in the fray, and routed your host as the wielder of the thunderbolt routs the army of the Asuras.

8.10.34 Slaughtered in the battle by the Pāṇḍavas, O king, your men were scattered all at once like clouds driven before the wind.

8.10.35 When that army had fled and was being slain on every side, the son of Droṇa, alone, swiftly bore down upon the mighty Bhīmasena.

8.10.36 Then there arose of a sudden a fearful encounter between the two, such as was the clash of Vṛtra and Vāsava in the war of the gods and the Asuras.

8.11.1 Saṃjaya said: Then, O king, the son of Droṇa pierced Bhīmasena with a winged shaft, moving with utmost speed and displaying the lightness of his hand with weapons.

8.11.2 Then again he struck him with ninety sharpened arrows, marking all his vital points—knowing the vitals well, and nimble of hand.

8.11.3 Bhīmasena, thickly studded by the son of Droṇa with keen arrows, shone in the battle, O king, like the radiant sun crowned with its beams.

8.11.4 Then with a thousand well-aimed arrows the son of Pāṇḍu veiled the son of Droṇa, and let loose a lion's roar.

8.11.5 Then the son of Droṇa, warding off arrows with arrows in the fight, struck the son of Pāṇḍu upon the brow with an iron shaft, O king, as if in mockery.

8.11.6 The son of Pāṇḍu bore that arrow lodged in his forehead, O king, as a proud rhinoceros of the forest bears its horn.

8.11.7 Then the valiant Bhīma, as the son of Droṇa pressed on in battle, pierced him in the brow with three iron shafts, as if to amaze him.

8.11.8 With those arrows fixed upon his forehead the Brāhmaṇa shone forth, like some lofty three-peaked mountain drenched in the rains.

8.11.9 Then the son of Pāṇḍu tormented the son of Droṇa with hundreds of arrows, yet shook him not, as the wind cannot shake a mountain.

8.11.10 In like manner the son of Droṇa, exultant, could not shake the son of Pāṇḍu in the fight with hundreds of keen arrows, as a flood cannot shake a mountain.

8.11.11 Those two great car-warriors, veiling each other with terrible arrows, both heroes skilled in the maneuvers of the chariot, shone resplendent, fierce in the joy of battle.

8.11.12 Both blazing like two suns that work the world's destruction, they scorched each other with their finest shafts as suns scorch with their own rays.

8.11.13 In that great battle they strove, each to answer the other's stroke with a stroke; fearlessly the two contended, blow for matching blow.

8.11.14 Like two tigers the two mighty car-warriors ranged the field, their arrows for fangs, unassailable, their bows agape like jaws, terrible to behold.

8.11.15 The two became invisible, hidden on every side by their webs of arrows, like the moon and the sun veiled by masses of cloud in the sky.

8.11.16 And in a moment those subduers of foes shone forth again upon that field, like the moon and the sun in the heavens freed from the masses of cloud.

8.11.17 Then the son of Droṇa wheeled to the left around Vṛkodara there, drenching him with hundreds of fierce arrows as rain-streams drench a mountain.

8.11.18 But Bhīma could not brook that mark of his foe's mastery, and the son of Pāṇḍu, O king, wheeled in answer about him likewise to the left.

8.11.19 Through the divisions of their circling courses, in their advances and returns, a tumultuous combat arose between the two upon that great field.

8.11.20 Coursing through their various movements—the circle and the steady stand—they smote each other with arrows loosed from bows drawn to the full.

8.11.21 The two great car-warriors each strove to slay the other, and each sought in the encounter to strip the other of his chariot.

8.11.22 Then the son of Droṇa, that mighty car-warrior, brought forth his great celestial weapons; and in the battle the son of Pāṇḍu beat them back with weapons of his own.

8.11.23 Then, O great king, a fearful battle of celestial weapons raged on, terrible as the war of the planets at the destruction of all created beings.

8.11.24 Those arrows, hurled by the two, clashed together, O Bhārata, lighting up all the quarters and that army round about.

8.11.25 The sky grew terrible, overspread by the throngs of arrows, as though strewn with falling meteors at the destruction of created beings, O king.

8.11.26 From the clash of arrows a fire was born there, O Bhārata, scattering sparks and blazing with flame, and it scorched both the contending hosts.

8.11.27 Then the Siddhas, O great king, hovering above, spoke these words: "This battle surpasses all battles whatsoever; greater is it than all the rest.

8.11.28 All other battles are not worth a sixteenth part of this; no such combat has ever been, nor shall ever be again.

8.11.29 Ah, how endowed with knowledge are these two, and how fierce in valor! Ah, the dreadful strength of Bhīma, and the weapon-skill of both!

8.11.30 Ah, the very pith of prowess, ah, the perfect mastery of these two! There they stand in the battle, like Yama the Ender at the close of time.

8.11.31 Like two Rudras come to being, like two suns, or like the twin Aśvins—so are these tigers among men, terrible of form upon the field."

8.11.32 Such words of the Siddhas were heard then again and again, and a lion's roar arose from the assembled dwellers of heaven, beholding the wondrous and unimaginable deeds of the two in that fray.

8.11.33 Those two heroes in the battle, O king, each having wronged the other, glared upon each other, rolling their eyes in wrath.

8.11.34 Their eyes red with anger, their lips quivering in anger, in their anger grinding their teeth and biting their lips,

8.11.35 the two great car-warriors veiled each other with a downpour of arrows, raining floods of shafts upon the field, gleaming with the lightning of their weapons.

8.11.36 Those two great car-warriors, having pierced each other's banner and charioteer, and having pierced each other's horses, wounded one another.

8.11.37 Then in their wrath, O great king, in that great battle, both seized arrows and swiftly hurled them, each seeking the other's death.

8.11.38 Those two arrows, O great king, gleaming at the head of the host, swift as the thunderbolt and hard to bear, met and struck home.

8.11.39 By the force of their rushing and grievously smitten by those two shafts, the two great heroes then sank down, each upon the floor of his own chariot.

8.11.40 Then the charioteer, knowing the son of Droṇa to be senseless, bore him away from the battle, O king, while all the warriors looked on.

8.11.41 In like manner, O king, the charioteer bore away from the fight upon his car that scorcher of foes, the son of Pāṇḍu, who reeled again and again.

8.12.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Tell me how the battle of Arjuna went against the Saṃśaptakas, and how it fared for the others of my side against the Pāṇḍavas.

8.12.2 Saṃjaya said: Hear, O king, as I relate the battle as it befell—the combat of our heroes against their foes, a combat that purges away the body's sins.

8.12.3 The son of Pṛthā, that slayer of foes, plunging into the host of the Saṃśaptakas which was like an ocean, churned it up as a great wind churns the sea.

8.12.4 Striking off with keen broad-headed shafts the heads of the heroes—faces bright as the full moon, with fair eyes, brows, and teeth—Dhanaṃjaya swiftly strewed the earth with them, as with lotuses bereft of their stalks.

8.12.5 The arms of his foes—shapely, long, and full, anointed with sandal and aloe, bearing weapons, clad in armor, like five-hooded serpents—Arjuna severed with his razor-edged shafts in the battle.

8.12.6 Yoke-horses and the foremost team-horses, charioteers, banners, bows, arrows, hands and forearms—again and again the son of Pāṇḍu cut them away with his broad-headed shafts.

8.12.7 Elephants, horses, and chariots with their riders, Arjuna in the battle, O king, sent with arrows by the many thousands to the abode of Yama.

8.12.8 Advancing upon that great hero, bellowing like bulls enraged for the sake of a cow, they rushed at him with roars; and as he smote them, they struck back at him with their arrows, as bulls gore with their horns.

8.12.9 That battle of his with them made the hair stand on end, like the war of the Daityas with the wielder of the thunderbolt for the conquest of the three worlds.

8.12.10 Warding off the weapons of his foes on every side with weapons of his own, Arjuna swiftly pierced their very lives with a multitude of shafts, and roared aloud.

8.12.11 With their triple bamboo poles, wheels, and axles severed, their warriors, horses, and charioteers slain, their weapons and quivers shattered, their banners struck down,

8.12.12 their traces and reins cut through, robbed of their poles and shafts, their seats and yokes broken apart, the array of their weapons hewn down—those chariots he shattered into fragments, as the wind tears great clouds asunder.

8.12.13 Filling all with wonder, a sight worth beholding and a terror to his foes, Arjuna wrought a deed equal to that of a thousand great car-warriors.

8.12.14 The hosts of Siddhas, divine sages, and Cāraṇas sang his praises; the kettledrums of the gods resounded, showers of flowers fell upon the heads of Keśava and Arjuna, and a bodiless voice spoke.

8.12.15 These two heroes, Keśava and Arjuna, who forever bear the loveliness of the moon, the blaze of the sun, the force of the wind, and the splendour of fire.

8.12.16 Unconquerable as Brahmā and Īśāna, the two heroes stood upon a single chariot — the foremost of all beings, the two heroes who are Nara and Nārāyaṇa.

8.12.17 Beholding and hearing of this great wonder, O Bhārata, Aśvatthāman, fully girded, rushed upon the two Kṛṣṇas in battle.

8.12.18 Then, as the son of Pāṇḍu was loosing arrows like Yama, Time, and the Ender, the son of Droṇa hailed him with arrow-laden hand, and laughing spoke.

8.12.19 "If, O hero, you reckon me come to you as a guest deserving of welcome, then with all your soul grant me this day the hospitality of battle."

8.12.20 Thus challenged by the teacher's son with desire for combat, Arjuna held himself in high honour, and said this to Janārdana:

8.12.21 "The Saṃśaptakas too are mine to slay, and the son of Droṇa now summons me. O mighty-armed one, instruct me which of these is to be met first."

8.12.22 So addressed, Kṛṣṇa bore Pārtha into the presence of Droṇa's son — as the Wind bears Indra summoned by victorious rite into the sacrifice.

8.12.23 Addressing him with single mind, Keśava said to Droṇa's son: "Aśvatthāman, stand firm, strike swiftly, and endure!"

8.12.24 "This is the hour for dependants to repay the bread of their lord. Subtle is the dispute of brāhmaṇas; gross are the victory and defeat of the kṣatriya."

8.12.25 "Since out of folly you cannot brook the divine welcome Pārtha would do you, then, desiring to win it, stand firm this day and fight the son of Pāṇḍu."

8.12.26 So addressed by Vāsudeva, the best of the twice-born said "So be it," and pierced Keśava with sixty iron shafts and Arjuna with three.

8.12.27 At this Arjuna, sorely enraged, severed his bow with three broad-headed arrows; whereupon Droṇa's son took up another, still more terrible, bow.

8.12.28 Stringing it in the blink of an eye, he pierced Arjuna and Keśava — Vāsudeva with three arrows and the son of Pāṇḍu with a thousand.

8.12.29 Then, straining himself, Droṇa's son loosed arrows by the thousand, by the million, by the hundred million, and in the battle held Arjuna in check.

8.12.30 From his quiver, his bow, his bowstring, his fingers, O honoured one, from his arms, his two hands, his breast, his face, his nostrils, his eyes,

8.12.31 from his two ears, his head, his limbs, even from the very pores of his skin, and from his chariot and banner, the arrows of that reciter of the Veda streamed forth.

8.12.32 Having pierced Keśava and the son of Pāṇḍu with a vast net of arrows, Droṇa's son roared in delight with a voice like a mass of great thunderclouds.

8.12.33 Hearing him roar, the son of Pāṇḍu said to Acyuta: "Behold, Mādhava, the malice of Droṇa's son toward me."

8.12.34 "Having shut us within a house of arrows, he thinks us slain; this resolve of his I shall undo by skill and by strength."

8.12.35 Cutting each of the arrows loosed by Aśvatthāman into three and three, the best of the Bhāratas scattered them as the wind scatters mist.

8.12.36 Then the son of Pāṇḍu once more pierced the Saṃśaptakas — with their horses, drivers, chariots, and elephants, their banners and bands of foot — with fierce arrows.

8.12.37 Whoever there beheld any form, in whatever wise, each thought that form, and his own self, all covered over with arrows.

8.12.38 Sped from the Gāṇḍīva, those winged shafts of many shapes struck down elephants and men standing a full krośa away in the battle.

8.12.39 Severed by broad-headed arrows, the trunks of the rut-streaming elephants fell, like full-grown autumn trees felled by axes.

8.12.40 And thereafter those elephants fell like mountains, together with their riders, even as ranges of hills shattered by the thunderbolt of the Thunderer.

8.12.41 The chariots, fashioned by rule and like to the cities of the Gandharvas, drawn by horses trained to swiftness and well-guided, mounted by warriors mad for battle —

8.12.42 these Dhanaṃjaya rained his foes with arrows, hewing them to splinters, and slew the bedecked horsemen and the foot-soldiers.

8.12.43 Dhanaṃjaya, the sun of the world's ending, dried up the great, unfordable ocean of the Saṃśaptakas with the fierce rays of his arrows.

8.12.44 Then again, with swift, sun-bright iron shafts of mighty force, he hastened to cleave the great mountain that was Droṇa's son, as the Thunderer cleaves a hill.

8.12.45 The teacher's son, enraged and eager to fight, sought with swift arrows to strike him together with his horses and driver, but could not, for Pārtha cut the shafts down in mid-air.

8.12.46 Then Aśvatthāman, exceedingly enraged, loosed whole sheaves of arrows upon the worthy Arjuna — as one offers a house to a guest.

8.12.47 Then, leaving the Saṃśaptakas, the son of Pāṇḍu fell upon Droṇa's son — as a giver leaves an unworthy man to attend a worthy suppliant.

8.12.48 Then there arose a combat between those two, splendid as Śukra and Aṅgiras — like Venus and the planet of Aṅgiras around a star in the sky.

8.12.49 Scorching each other with the blazing rays of their arrows, they stood, striking terror into the worlds, like two planets straying from their courses.

8.12.50 Then Arjuna pierced him sorely between the brows with an iron shaft; and Droṇa's son shone thereby like the sun with rays flung upward.

8.12.51 Then the two Kṛṣṇas, sorely afflicted by Aśvatthāman with hundreds of arrows, stood with their masses of beams entangled, like two suns at the world's ending.

8.12.52 Then Arjuna, guarded by Vāsudeva, loosed the weapon that strikes on every side, and smote the son of Droṇa with shafts like the thunderbolt, like fire, like the rod of Yama.

8.12.53 He of surpassing fire and most fearsome deeds pierced Keśava and Arjuna in their vital parts with well-loosed arrows of utmost speed, by which even Death, if struck, would tremble.

8.12.54 Warding off the arrows of the straining Droṇa's son with twice as many fair-feathered shafts, Arjuna enveloped that lone hero with his horses, driver, and banner, and then turned upon the Saṃśaptaka host.

8.12.55 Their bows, their arrows, their quivers, their bowstrings, their hands, their arms, the weapons held in their hands, their parasols, their banners, their horses, their garments, their garlands, and their ornaments —

8.12.56 their shields, their armour, their cherished hopes, all that was dear to them, and their very heads — Pārtha clove asunder with the arrows he loosed at his foes, who stood without turning their faces away.

8.12.57 The well-equipped chariots, horses, and elephants, mounted by manful heroes who strove with effort, struck down by the hosts of arrows Pārtha sped, fell together with those best of men.

8.12.58 Faces fair as lotuses, as the sun, as the full moon, splendid with diadems, garlands, and crowns — smitten by broad-heads, crescent-arrows, and razor-shafts, the heads of men fell ceaselessly to the earth.

8.12.59 Then with elephants like the elephant of the lord of the gods, swelling with the pride and wrath of the foes of the gods, the heroes of the Kaliṅgas, Vaṅgas, Aṅgas, and Niṣādas, seeking to slay him, charged upon the son of Pāṇḍu.

8.12.60 The armour, the vital parts, the trunks, and the drivers of those elephants Pārtha rent apart; and their banners and pennons then fell down like the peaks of a mountain struck by the thunderbolt.

8.12.61 When these were broken, the Diademed one covered the teacher's son with arrows the hue of the new-risen sun — as the wind veils the toiling sun with great nets of cloud.

8.12.62 Then, beating off Arjuna's arrows with his own, Droṇa's son covered Arjuna and Vāsudeva with shafts as the moon and sun are veiled in the sky, and roared like a raincloud at the end of the hot season.

8.12.63 Sorely pressed by him and by your warriors, whose weapons were yet unbroken, Arjuna made at once a darkness of arrows and pierced them all with fair-feathered shafts.

8.12.64 Neither taking up, nor nocking, nor loosing his arrows could Savyasācin be seen in the battle; men saw only the slain elephants, horses, foot-soldiers, and chariots, their bodies sewn through with shafts.

8.12.65 Nocking ten choice iron shafts in haste, Droṇa's son loosed them as though they were but one; and of these, five well-sped shafts struck Arjuna and five pierced Acyuta.

8.12.66 Struck by these, those two foremost of all men, streaming blood, like Kubera and Indra, seemed overcome by one whose lore was complete; and others wondered, "Are these two slain?"

8.12.67 Then the lord of the Dāśārhas said to Arjuna: "Why are you heedless? Slay this warrior! Neglected, he will work mischief, and grow grievous as a malady left untreated."

8.12.68 Saying "So be it" to Acyuta, and now alert, he hewed at Droṇa's son with arrows in earnest; and cutting the reins, he struck the horses, which bore him far away from the battle.

8.12.69 Wheeling about, that wise one, best of the line of Aṅgiras, desired no further combat with Pārtha; for, reflecting, he knew that victory was assured to the Vṛṣṇi hero and to Dhanaṃjaya.

8.12.70 When Aśvatthāman of hostile frame had been borne off from the battle by his horses — as a disease is driven from the body by spells, herbs, treatment, and gifts —

8.12.71 Keśava and Arjuna advanced together to face the Saṃśaptakas, upon their chariot, its banner tossed by the wind, thundering like a flood.

8.13.1 Saṃjaya said: Then to the north, in the army of the Pāṇḍavas, an uproar arose from chariots, elephants, horses, and foot-soldiers being slaughtered by Daṇḍadhāra.

8.13.2 Turning the chariot back, Keśava, even as he urged on the horses swift as Garuḍa and the wind, said to Arjuna:

8.13.3 "The lord of Magadha too has pressed forward upon his crushing elephant, in no way inferior to Bhagadatta in skill and in strength."

8.13.4 "When you have slain him, you shall slay the Saṃśaptakas again." And at the end of his words he brought Pārtha into the presence of Daṇḍadhāra.

8.13.5 That chief of the Māgadhas, his goad in hand, irresistible among adversaries as a comet among the planets, that dreadful one churned the enemy's host as a flaming comet would scourge the whole earth.

8.13.6 Mounted upon his well-caparisoned elephant — like a Dānava-elephant, roaring like a great cloud, a crusher of foes — he slew chariots, horses, and herds of elephants by the thousand, and elephants too, with his arrows.

8.13.7 Bearing down upon the chariots with their horses and drivers, in haste he ground the chariots beneath the elephant's feet; and mounted on the elephant he slew other elephants with its legs, its feet, and its trunk, like the wheel of Time.

8.13.8 And men decked in armour of black iron, with their horses, together with the foot-soldiers, he cast down and crushed with his furious, noble tusker, as one tramples thick reeds with a crackling sound.

8.13.9 Then Arjuna, amid the twang of bowstring, the slap of the leather guard, and the rim's roar, amid the din of drums, kettledrums, and many conches, and the clamour of men, horses, and elephants by the thousand, swept down upon that noble elephant on his peerless chariot.

8.13.10 Then Daṇḍadhāra smote Arjuna with twelve choice arrows, Janārdana with sixteen, and the horses with three apiece; and thereupon he roared and laughed again and again.

8.13.11 Then Pārtha with his broad-headed arrows cut away his bowstring, his arrows, and his bow, and his bedecked banner too, and again the drivers along with the foot-guards; and at this the lord of Girivraja flew into a rage.

8.13.12 Then, seeking to throw Arjuna into utter confusion with his elephant, its temples burst with rut, dense as a thundercloud and swift as the wind, he smote Janārdana and Dhanaṃjaya with lances.

8.13.13 Then the son of Pāṇḍu, with three razor-shafts, severed at one stroke his two arms, like elephant trunks, and his head, with its face like the full moon; and thereafter he smote the elephant with hundreds of arrows.

8.13.14 That elephant, clad in golden mail, shone with Pārtha's arrows tipped with refined gold, and so blazed as at night a mountain blazes, its herbs and trees set alight by a forest fire.

8.13.15 Tormented with pain, trumpeting with a voice like a thundercloud, staggering, reeling, stumbling, stricken, in flight, broken, that elephant fell together with its driver, as a mountain falls crushed by the descent of the thunderbolt.

8.13.16 When his brother had been slain in battle, Daṇḍa came on upon an elephant white as snow, garlanded with gold, and like the peak of the snowy mountain, seeking to slay Dhanaṃjaya, the younger brother of Indra.

8.13.17 Striking Janārdana with three lances bright as the sun's rays and Arjuna with five, he roared as he tormented them; then the son of Pāṇḍu hewed off his two arms.

8.13.18 Cleanly cut off by razor-arrows, the two arms, still grasping their lances, their armlets fallen, smeared with sandal-paste, falling together from the elephant, gleamed like two great serpents tumbling from a mountain crag.

8.13.19 Then the head of Daṇḍa, struck off by the Diademed one with a crescent-arrow, fell from the elephant to the earth; and that blood-red head, as it fell, gleamed like the sun sinking from his setting-place toward the western quarter.

8.13.20 Then Pārtha pierced the elephant, like the peak of a white mountain, with choice arrows bright as the sun's rays; and it fell trumpeting, as a peak of the snowy mountain falls when struck by the thunderbolt.

8.13.21 Then other noble elephants like to that one, seeking in the fray to conquer Savyasācin, were made by him even as those two elephants had been; and thereupon the foe's vast host was shattered.

8.13.22 Elephants, chariots, horses, and men in throngs, slaying one another, fell in the battle, stumbling against one another and struck down; and calling out their several clan-names, they were sorely slain.

8.13.23 Then his own soldiers, gathering about Arjuna as the hosts of the gods about Purandara, said: "He of whom we went in dread, as creatures dread death — that foe, O hero, by good fortune you have slain!"

8.13.24 Had you not rescued these folk from their terror, hard-pressed as they were by such mighty foes, the joy of our enemies would have been as great as our own joy now is, when you have slain these foes of ours here.

8.13.25 Hearing such words and yet more spoken by his comrades, Arjuna, glad at heart, honored those people as was fitting, and then, the slayer of the host of the Saṃśaptakas, set forth once more.

8.14.1 Saṃjaya said: Returning once again, the victorious one slew many of the Saṃśaptakas, moving with crooked turns and counter-turns like the planet Aṅgāraka.

8.14.2 Struck by Pārtha's arrows, O king, men, horses, chariots, and elephants reeled, wheeled about, cried out, fell, and wilted, good sir.

8.14.3 The Pāṇḍava cut down draft-beasts, sturdier draft-beasts, drivers, and chariots, and likewise hands, the weapons in those hands, arms too, and heads,

8.14.4 with broad-headed shafts, razor-arrows, crescent-points, and calf-tooth barbs—the heads of the hostile warriors who fought against him in battle.

8.14.5 As bulls eager to fight over a cow rush upon a rival bull, so the heroes fell upon Arjuna by hundreds and by thousands.

8.14.6 The battle between them and him was such as to make the hair stand on end, like that of the Daityas with the wielder of the thunderbolt in the conquest of the three worlds.

8.14.7 A warrior of fierce weapons pierced him with three arrows, like venomous biting serpents; thereupon Arjuna struck that man's head from his body.

8.14.8 Enraged, they rained down on Arjuna from every side with weapons of every kind, as clouds driven by the Maruts pour upon the Himavat in the hot season.

8.14.9 Warding off the enemies' weapons on all sides with his own weapons, Arjuna, with well-aimed shafts, slew all those many foes together.

8.14.10 With their triple bamboo poles, shafts, and supports severed, their flank-guards and drivers slain, their reins, traces, and axles cut, their draw-bars and yokes broken, and all their gear shattered—such did Arjuna swiftly make the chariots with his arrows.

8.14.11 Those priceless chariots, shattered there in their numbers, gleamed like the mansions of the wealthy ruined by fire, wind, and flood.

8.14.12 Elephants, their vital parts pierced through by arrows like thunderbolt and lightning, fell as mountain-top dwellings fall before bolt, gale, and fire.

8.14.13 Many horses with their riders fell, struck down by Arjuna, their tongues and entrails hanging out, spent upon the earth, drenched in blood, ghastly to behold.

8.14.14 Men, horses, and elephants, sewn through by Savyasācin's iron shafts, wheeled about, stumbled, fell, cried out, and wilted, good sir.

8.14.15 With fine arrows whetted on stone, like thunderbolt, lightning, and venom, Pārtha struck them down as great Indra struck the Dānavas.

8.14.16 Heroes in costly armor and ornaments, with garments and weapons of every kind, with their chariots and banners, lie slain by Pārtha.

8.14.17 Vanquished, men of pious deeds, of distinguished birth and learning, they have gone with their bodies to the earth, and by their mighty deeds to heaven.

8.14.18 Then your heroes rushed upon Arjuna's chariot—lords of various realms, with their troops, their wrath kindled.

8.14.19 Borne by chariot-horses, and the foot-soldiers too, bent on killing, they ran at him, swiftly hurling weapons of every kind.

8.14.20 That great downpour of weapons, hurled by those great storm-cloud warriors, the wind that was Arjuna swiftly scattered with his sharp arrows.

8.14.21 That shoreless flood of mighty weapons—with its horses, foot, elephants, and chariots—Pārtha sought all at once to cross by the causeway of his missiles and shafts.

8.14.22 Then Vāsudeva said to Pārtha: "Why do you toy with them, O sinless one? Crush these Saṃśaptakas and then make haste to the slaying of Karṇa."

8.14.23 Saying "So be it," Arjuna at once assailed the Saṃśaptakas who yet remained, and with his weapon slew them by force, as Indra slew the Daityas.

8.14.24 Some saw Arjuna in the fray drawing his arrows or fitting them to the string; by others he was seen only as he loosed the shafts, so swift was he.

8.14.25 Crying "A marvel!" Govinda urged on the horses; white as a goose's wing, they entered the enemy host as geese enter a lake.

8.14.26 Then Govinda, gazing over that field of battle while the slaughter of men went on, spoke to Savyasācin:

8.14.27 "O Pārtha, here rages the dread destruction of the Bharatas, the great ruin of the kings of the earth, brought about for Duryodhana's sake."

8.14.28 "Behold, O Bhārata, the gold-backed bows of the great archers cast aside, and the bundles of arrows and the quivers as well."

8.14.29 "And the arrows with golden nocks and bent joints, and the oil-washed iron shafts, like serpents that have shed their skins."

8.14.30 "Swords with ivory hilts adorned with gold, lances scattered about, and bows bright and decked with gold."

8.14.31 "Coats of mail flung off, gold-backed, O Bhārata, and lances wrought with gold, and javelins adorned with gold."

8.14.32 "And great maces bound with bands of pure gold, and pikes of gold, and spiked clubs adorned with gold."

8.14.33 "Battle-axes with shafts bright with gold flung about, and iron-pointed goads fallen, and heavy pestles."

8.14.34 "Behold the gaily-wrought hundred-slayers, and the huge iron bludgeons, and the discuses cast away, and the many hammers on the field."

8.14.35 "Grasping weapons of every kind, those swift warriors, greedy for victory, though their life is fled, seem still as though alive."

8.14.36 "Behold the warriors by thousands—their limbs crushed by maces, their heads broken by pestles, trampled by elephants, horses, and chariots."

8.14.37 "By arrows, spears, swords, and lances, by sabres, pikes, javelins, claw-weapons, and clubs, men, elephants, and horses—"

8.14.38 "—with bodies hewn in many ways, awash in floods of blood, their breath gone, the battlefields are covered, O slayer of foes."

8.14.39 "With arms smeared with sandal paste, bearing armlets and fair ornaments, with guards on them and bracelets, the earth shines, O Bhārata."

8.14.40 "With finger-guarded hands and forearms flung about, all bedecked, and with the severed thighs of those swift warriors, like elephants' trunks."

8.14.41 "With the severed heads of those bull-eyed men, bound with choice crest-jewels and wearing earrings, the earth is resplendent."

8.14.42 "With headless trunks smeared with blood, their limbs and necks lopped off, the earth shines, O best of the Bhāratas, as if with fires whose flames have died."

8.14.43 "Behold the chariots of many sorts, broken, fair with their golden bells, and the horses too, in many places drenched with blood."

8.14.44 "And the great conch-shells of the warriors, and the white whisks scattered about, and the elephants with their tongues lolling out, lying like mountains."

8.14.45 "And the slain elephant-fighters bright with their banners, and the housings of the elephants, with their well-fitted cloths and woolen rugs."

8.14.46 "And the gay rugs of varied figures torn apart, and the bells broken in many ways, ground to bits by the falling elephants."

8.14.47 "And the goads with handles of beryl gems fallen to the ground, and the gold-wrought whips bound to the banner-tops of the riders."

8.14.48 "And the horse-cloths and coverings, varied and gem-bright, wrought of gold and made of antelope-wool, fallen upon the ground."

8.14.49 "The crest-jewels of the kings, the bright golden garlands, the parasols flung aside, and the yak-tail whisks and fans."

8.14.50 "Behold the earth, miry with blood, strewn with the faces of heroes—faces bright as moon and stars, with lovely earrings and trimmed beards, exceedingly adorned."

8.14.51 "And behold the men still living, moaning on every side, tended by many who have laid down their weapons, O lord of peoples."

8.14.52 "There, with kinsmen gathered round, weeping again and again, having covered over other warriors who have departed, the swift ones, greedy for victory and full of wrath, go forth again to battle."

8.14.53 "Others, proud men, run hither and thither there, begged for water by their fallen kinsmen, the heroes."

8.14.54 "And some who went for water, O Arjuna, lie breathless, many of them; and those heroes who came back, at the very sight of them, lost their senses."

8.14.55 "At the sight of water they rush forward, crying out to one another; behold, O Bhārata, some dead from drinking the water, and others still drinking."

8.14.56 "Others, O lover of kinsmen, forsaking their dear ones and their kin, were seen passing away here and there in that great battle."

8.14.57 "Behold yet others, O best of men, biting their lips, gazing all about with faces knit in scowling brows."

8.14.58 "This deed in the great battle befits you alone, O Arjuna, or the king of the gods in heaven—what you have wrought in this fight."

8.14.59 Thus Kṛṣṇa, showing that field of battle to the Diademed One as he drove on, heard a great clamor from Duryodhana's army.

8.14.60 The blare of conches and kettledrums mingled with tabors and drums, the din of chariots, horses, and elephants, and the dreadful clash of weapons.

8.14.61 Entering that host with his wind-swift horses, Kṛṣṇa halted, beholding your army hard pressed by Pāṇḍya.

8.14.62 For he, the foremost of bowmen, with arrows of every kind slew the throngs of his enemies in battle, robbing them of life like Death himself.

8.14.63 That best of strikers, piercing with sharp arrows the bodies of elephants, horses, and men, made them depart from their flesh, bereft of life.

8.14.64 Cutting apart with his shafts the various weapons hurled by the foremost of his foes, Pāṇḍya slew those enemies as Śakra slew the Asuras.

8.15.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: This great hero, renowned in the world, you named before, but his deeds in battle you have not recounted, O Saṃjaya.

8.15.2 Tell me now in full the valor of that great hero—his skill, his might, his prowess, his measure, and his pride.

8.15.3 Saṃjaya said: Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Kṛpa, the son of Droṇa, Karṇa, Arjuna, and Janārdana—those masters of their craft whom you deem foremost with the bow in battle—

8.15.4 —by him a parity with Karṇa and Bhīṣma was shown in himself, nor would he own himself inferior to Vāsudeva and Arjuna.

8.15.5 That Pāṇḍya, best of kings, foremost of all bearers of arms, slew Karṇa's host like Death scorned and roused to fury.

8.15.6 That force, with its surging chariots and horses, its choice foot-soldiers and elephants, beset by Pāṇḍya, whirled about like a potter's wheel.

8.15.7 His foes, their horses, drivers, banners, and chariots gone, their weapons flung from their hands, Pāṇḍya scattered with well-aimed shafts as the wind scatters clouds.

8.15.8 Elephants with their trunks struck off, their pennons, banners, and weapons gone, together with their foot-guards, that slayer of foes slew as the foe-slayer slew his enemies with the thunderbolt.

8.15.9 Horsemen with their lances, javelins, and quivers, and their horses too, the Pulindas, Khaśas, Bāhlīkas, the Niṣādas, and the Taṅgaṇas,

8.15.10 the southerners and the Bhojas, cruel and hardened in war—stripping them of weapons and armor with his arrows, Pāṇḍya robbed them of life.

8.15.11 Seeing Pāṇḍya, undaunted, smiting the fourfold host with his arrows in the fray, the son of Droṇa, more undaunted still, advanced upon him.

8.15.12 Addressing him sweetly, dancing forward as if without fear, that best of strikers spoke, smiling first, as he summoned him:

8.15.13 "O king, lotus-petal-eyed, master of the finest weapons and mounts, you whose frame seems forged of the thunderbolt, foremost in strength and manhood,"

8.15.14 "twanging your great bow with both long arms, your weapon clasped fast in your fists, you shine exceedingly like a great rain-cloud."

8.15.15 As you rain upon your foes torrents of arrows of tremendous force, I see no champion in this battle fit to stand against you save myself.

8.15.16 Single-handed you crush chariots, elephants, foot-soldiers, and horsemen in their multitudes, as a fearless lion of terrible strength crushes herds of deer in the forest.

8.15.17 With the mighty roar of your chariot you make heaven and earth resound, as the sun at the rains' end, drinking up the grain-fields, floods all things with his rays.

8.15.18 Drawing keen shafts from your quiver, like venomous serpents, do battle with me alone, as the Andhaka demon fought with the three-eyed Rudra.

8.15.19 Thus addressed, the king of the Malaya banner answered, "So be it," and crying "Strike!" he pierced the son of Droṇa with a barbed arrow.

8.15.20 Then Droṇa's son, foremost of the teacher's line, smiling, struck the Pāṇḍya king with vital-piercing, terrible arrows that resembled tongues of flame.

8.15.21 Then Aśvatthāman loosed nine more sharp iron shafts, fledged with heron feathers and endowed with the tenfold speed of flight.

8.15.22 Of these the Pāṇḍya cut five apart with five whetted arrows; the remaining four struck his horses, and they were swiftly bereft of life.

8.15.23 Then, having cut those arrows of Droṇa's son with whetted shafts, the Pāṇḍya, splendid as the sun, severed the drawn bowstring.

8.15.24 Restringing his unstrung bow, Droṇa's son, the slayer of foes, sent forth thousands of arrows at the Pāṇḍya, choking the sky and all the quarters with shafts.

8.15.25 Then the Pāṇḍya, that bull among men, though he knew the arrows of the great-souled Droṇi to be inexhaustible, cut down all those that were hurled at him.

8.15.26 Having with effort cut those arrows that Droṇi sped at him, the foe then drove off his two wheel-guards with whetted shafts.

8.15.27 Then, seeing the deftness of his foe, Droṇa's son bent his bow into a circle and let fly his arrows in a downpour, as the younger brother of Pūṣan pours down rain.

8.15.28 That store of weapons which eight wagons, each drawn by eight oxen, bore away — all that, O honoured one, Droṇi hurled in an eighth part of a day.

8.15.29 Whoever looked upon him there — wrathful as Death itself, like the destroyer at the end of time — most of them fell senseless.

8.15.30 As the rain-cloud at summer's end drenches with its showers the earth with its mountains and trees, so the teacher's son drenched that army with a downpour of arrows.

8.15.31 That well-nigh unbearable rain of arrows loosed by the cloud that was Droṇi, the Pāṇḍya, a very wind, swiftly checked with the weapon of Vāyu, and roared aloud.

8.15.32 As he roared, Droṇi cut down his standard, adorned with sandal and aloe and rising like the Malaya mountain, and slew his four horses.

8.15.33 Slaying his charioteer with a single arrow, with a crescent-headed shaft he cut his bow, loud as a great thundercloud, and shattered his chariot to fragments fine as sesame.

8.15.34 Having warded off weapon with weapon and cut all the foe's arms apart, Droṇi, though his enemy was now in his power, did not slay him, in his longing for the fight.

8.15.35 A noble, well-caparisoned elephant, its driver slain, was sent in haste against him; armoured and mighty, the great lord of Malaya mounted it, as a lion roaring climbs a mountain peak.

8.15.36 Goading the elephant, the lord of the mountain-king, roaring, swiftly hurled at the teacher's son a lance bright as the sun's rays, with all the force, fury, and supreme effort of his weapon's release.

8.15.37 That lance, adorned with strings of gems, fine diamonds and gold, with silk, garlands and pearls, he drove home, crying again and again in his joy, "You are slain!" — and it pierced the splendid ornament on Droṇi's body.

8.15.38 That ornament, gleaming like the sun, moon, planets and fire, fell shattered to powder by the violent blow, as a great forest on a mountain peak, smitten by mighty Indra's bolt, falls to the ground.

8.15.39 Then he blazed up with surpassing fury, like a serpent-king trodden underfoot, and fitted to his bow fourteen arrows like the rod of Death, makers of an end to foes.

8.15.40 With five he struck off the elephant's feet and trunk, with three the king's arms and head, and with six he slew the six great car-warriors who followed the Pāṇḍya king, splendid as the six seasons.

8.15.41 The king's two arms, long and rounded, anointed with choice sandal, decked with gold, pearls, gems and diamonds, fell to the earth and writhed there like serpents struck down by Garuḍa.

8.15.42 And his head, its face bright as the full moon, with long eyes coppery in wrath and a high-bridged nose, falling earthward with its earrings, shone like the moon set between the two Viśākhā stars.

8.15.43 Then your son the king, approaching the teacher's son — perfect in his learning, his deed accomplished — surrounded by his friends, honoured him exceedingly with joy, as the lord of the immortals honoured Viṣṇu when Bali was conquered.

8.16.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: When the Pāṇḍya was slain, Saṃjaya, what did Arjuna do in the battle, and when the foe had been driven off by Karṇa, that lone champion?

8.16.2 Perfect in learning, mighty, disciplined, a hero is that son of Pāṇḍu, granted favour over all beings by the great-souled Śaṃkara.

8.16.3 Grievous and keen is the fear that comes from Dhanaṃjaya, slayer of foes. Tell me, Saṃjaya, what Pārtha did there.

8.16.4 Saṃjaya said: When the Pāṇḍya was slain, Kṛṣṇa hastily spoke salutary words to Arjuna: "Behold the overproud king, and the Pāṇḍavas in retreat.

8.16.5 By Aśvatthāman's resolve and by Karṇa the Sṛñjayas have been slain, and great is the slaughter wrought among horses, men, and elephants" — thus the unassailable Vāsudeva spoke to the diademed one.

8.16.6 Having heard this and seen the terrible, great peril to his brothers, the son of Pāṇḍu said, "Hṛṣīkeśa, drive the horses on, swiftly!"

8.16.7 Then Hṛṣīkeśa set forth with that chariot none could withstand, and once more a fearful encounter arose there.

8.16.8 Then again, O best of kings, a battle broke out between Karṇa and the Pāṇḍavas, swelling the realm of Yama.

8.16.9 Bows, arrows, iron clubs, swords, lances, spears, maces, slings, javelins, daggers, and battle-axes —

8.16.10 maces, darts, swords, spears, slings, and great goads — seizing these, the warriors swiftly fell upon one another, each longing to overcome the rest.

8.16.11 Making heaven, the quarters, the intermediate points, and the sky resound with the noise of arrows, bowstrings and palm-guards, and the earth with the rumble of chariot-wheels, they rushed upon their foes.

8.16.12 Thrilled by that mighty din, the heroes joined battle with heroes, fiercely terrible, each eager to fight the quarrel through to its end.

8.16.13 The sound of bowstrings, palm-guards and bows, the trumpeting of elephants, and the cries of the stricken as they fell — a tremendous uproar arose.

8.16.14 Hearing the manifold whistling of arrows and the roaring of the brave, O Bhārata, men trembled exceedingly, struck others down, and themselves grew faint.

8.16.15 As they roared and loosed a rain of weapons, Karṇa, the son of Adhiratha, crushed many of them with his battle-shafts.

8.16.16 Fifteen chariots of the Pāñcāla heroes, with their horses, drivers, and standards, Karṇa with his arrows sent to the abode of Yama.

8.16.17 The foremost warriors of the Pāṇḍavas, of great valour and swift weapons, veiling the sky, surrounded Karṇa in the battle on every side.

8.16.18 Then Karṇa, churning the enemy host with showers of arrows, plunged into it as a lord of the herd plunges into a lotus-pond filled with birds.

8.16.19 Springing into the midst of the foe, the son of Rādhā, shaking his peerless bow, with sharpened arrows struck off heads and made them fall.

8.16.20 Cutting through shields and armour, as if extinguishing the lives of embodied beings, they could not endure the touch of a second of his winged shafts.

8.16.21 With arrows sped from his bow that shattered armour, body, and life, and with the bowstring and palm-guards, he slew them as a charioteer drives his horses with the whip.

8.16.22 He brought the Pāṇḍus, Sṛñjayas, and Pāñcālas within range of his arrows, and Karṇa crushed them with vehemence, as a lion crushes herds of deer.

8.16.23 Then, O honoured one, the sons of the Pāñcālas and the sons of Draupadī, the twins, and Yuyudhāna together rushed upon Karṇa.

8.16.24 Striving with all their might, the Kuru, Pāṇḍava, and Sṛñjaya warriors, casting away their dear lives in battle, closed with one another.

8.16.25 Well-girt, mailed, adorned with helmets, the great car-warriors — some with maces, some with clubs, and others with iron bars —

8.16.26 rushed fiercely upon each other, like gods with raised rods, roaring, challenging, and bounding about, O honoured one.

8.16.27 Then they slew one another and fell, smitten in the fray, vomiting blood from their limbs, their brains and eyes dashed out in battle.

8.16.28 With faces full of teeth, blood-smeared and red as pomegranates, propped upright by the weapons within them, these slain men yet stood as though alive.

8.16.29 And still others fell upon one another with spears, swords, lances, slings, claw-weapons, darts, and javelins,

8.16.30 and others, in their wrath, hacked, cut, pierced, hurled, mangled, slew, and tore one another asunder.

8.16.31 Slain by one another, lifeless and drenched in gore, they fell, oozing their own bright blood like sandal trees that bleed their sap.

8.16.32 Chariots were destroyed by chariots, elephants by elephants, men by foremost of men, and horses by horses fell in their thousands.

8.16.33 Standards, heads, parasols, elephants' trunks, and the arms of men, severed by razor-shafts, broad-heads, and crescent-blades, let fall their weapons.

8.16.34 Men, elephants, chariots, and horses were crushed in the battle; the brave were slain by horsemen, and the tuskers had their trunks cut off.

8.16.35 Standards with their banners fell like crumbling mountains; and foot-soldiers, swarming up, brought down both elephants and chariots.

8.16.36 Smitten, being struck down, and fallen on every side, horsemen swiftly closed and were slain by foot-soldiers, and bands of foot-soldiers, killed by horsemen, lay slain upon the field.

8.16.37 Like crushed lotuses and withered garlands, O most wise one, were the faces and the limbs of the slain.

8.16.38 The once exceedingly beautiful forms of elephants, horses, and men, O king, like soaked garments, became most grievous to look upon.

8.17.1 Saṃjaya said: Then the elephant-riders, urged on by your son, wrathful and seeking to slay Dhṛṣṭadyumna, rushed with their elephants upon the son of Pṛṣata.

8.17.2 The eastern and southern champions skilled in elephant-warfare — the Aṅgas, Vaṅgas, Puṇḍras, Māgadhas, and Tāmraliptakas,

8.17.3 the Mekalas, Kośalas, Madras, Daśārṇas, and Niṣadhas, skilled in elephant-battle, together with the Kaliṅgas, O Bhārata —

8.17.4 all of these, like rain-laden clouds, drenched in the battle the mountain that was the Pāñcāla prince with arrows, lances, and iron shafts.

8.17.5 Eager to crush those elephants, sorely goaded by heels, toes, and hooks, the son of Pṛṣata drenched them with arrows and iron shafts.

8.17.6 Each one of those mountain-like elephants he pierced with ten, with six, or with eight arrows hurled at them, O Bhārata, even as he was being veiled by the elephants like the sun by clouds.

8.17.7 The Pāṇḍus and Pāñcālas, roaring, their weapons whetted, surrounded those elephants, raining upon them with the twang of bowstrings and the cry of arrows.

8.17.8 Nakula and Sahadeva, the sons of Draupadī, the Prabhadrakas, Sātyaki, Śikhaṇḍin, and the valiant Cekitāna —

8.17.9 those elephants, sped on by the barbarians, seizing men, horses, and chariots with their trunks, in their great fury crushed them underfoot.

8.17.10 They gored with the points of their tusks, snatched up and flung men about, and others, terrible to behold, rushed on with bodies impaled upon their tusks.

8.17.11 But the elephant of the Vaṅga that stood at the forefront, Sātyaki, piercing it in a vital spot with an iron shaft of terrible speed, brought down.

8.17.12 As that warrior, his elephant felled, was springing down from it, Sātyaki pierced his breast with an iron shaft, and he fell to the earth.

8.17.13 As the Puṇḍra's elephant, like a moving mountain, came rushing on, Sahadeva with effort struck it down with three iron shafts.

8.17.14 Having stripped that elephant of its banner, its driver, its armour, its standard, and its very life, Sahadeva once more bore down upon the king of Aṅga.

8.17.15 But Nakula, holding Sahadeva back, himself afflicted the Aṅga, striking the king with three iron shafts like the rods of Yama, and the elephant with a hundred.

8.17.16 The Aṅga hurled at Nakula eight hundred javelins bright as the rays of the sun, but he cut each one into three pieces.

8.17.17 Then with a crescent-headed arrow the Pāṇḍava severed his head, and the slain barbarian fell to the ground together with his tusked beast.

8.17.18 When the preceptor's son, skilled in the lore of elephants, had been slain, the enraged elephant-drivers of the Aṅgas rushed upon Nakula with their beasts.

8.17.19 With fluttering banners on their foreheads, with golden girths and body-coverings, they came on swiftly, eager to crush him, like blazing mountains in motion.

8.17.20 The Mekalas, Utkalas, and Kaliṅgas, the Niṣādas and the men of Tāmraliptaka, bent on slaughter, loosed showers of arrows and javelins.

8.17.21 Seeing Nakula overspread by them as the sun is veiled by clouds, the Pāṇḍavas, Pāñcālas, and Somakas, much enraged, rushed forward all around him.

8.17.22 Then there arose a battle between the car-warriors and the elephants, both pouring forth showers of arrows and javelins by the thousand.

8.17.23 The frontal globes of the elephants burst asunder, and their various vital parts, and the tusks of the deeply pierced beasts, and their ornaments, were shattered by the iron shafts.

8.17.24 With sixty-four keenly sharpened arrows Sahadeva quickly slew eight of those great elephants, and they fell together with their riders.

8.17.25 Drawing his excellent bow with effort, Nakula, O delight of the Kurus, smote the elephants with straight-flying iron shafts.

8.17.26 Then the descendant of Śini and the Pāñcāla prince, the sons of Draupadī, the Prabhadrakas, and Śikhaṇḍin drenched the great elephants with showers of arrows.

8.17.27 Those mountainlike elephants of the foe, struck by the arrow-showers of the Pāṇḍava warriors who were like rain-clouds, fell as mountains fall beneath downpours of thunderbolts.

8.17.28 Having thus slain your elephants, those bulls among men of the Pāṇḍava side looked upon your army, swiftly scattering like a river whose banks have been breached.

8.17.29 Beholding that host, the warriors of the son of Pāṇḍu threw it into confusion, and then once again rushed straight at Karṇa.

8.17.30 Then, O great king, Duḥśāsana the brother advanced against his brother Sahadeva, who in his fury was consuming your host.

8.17.31 Seeing those two meet in mighty combat, the lords of men there raised lionlike roars and waved their garments aloft.

8.17.32 Then, O Bhārata, the mighty son of Pāṇḍu was struck upon the chest with three arrows by your wrathful bowman son.

8.17.33 Thereupon, O king, Sahadeva pierced your son with an iron shaft, then struck him with seventy more and his charioteer with three apiece.

8.17.34 Then, O king, Duḥśāsana, having cut his bow asunder in that great fray, afflicted Sahadeva with seventy-three shafts upon his arms and chest.

8.17.35 Then the wrathful Sahadeva, best of warriors and full of splendour, seized a sword in that great battle and whirled it at your son.

8.17.36 That great blade, having cut through his bow together with its fitted arrows, then fell to the earth like a serpent dropping from the sky.

8.17.37 Then the valiant Sahadeva took up another bow and let fly at Duḥśāsana a death-dealing arrow.

8.17.38 As that shaft came flying on, gleaming like the rod of Yama, the Kaurava cut it in two with his keen-edged sword.

8.17.39 As that sword came suddenly hurtling on, Sahadeva, as if smiling, struck it down in the battle with his sharp arrows.

8.17.40 Then, O Bhārata, your son in that great battle quickly let fall sixty-four arrows upon Sahadeva's car.

8.17.41 Those many arrows speeding upon him in the fight, O king, Sahadeva cut to pieces, each one with five shafts.

8.17.42 Having warded off the great arrows sent by your son, the son of Mādrī then gathered very many shafts and aimed them at him.

8.17.43 Then in his fury, O great king, the valiant Sahadeva fitted a dreadful shaft like Death, Time, and the Ender, and drawing his bow mightily, loosed it at your son.

8.17.44 Piercing him with speed and rending his great armour, the shaft entered the earth, O king, as a serpent enters an anthill; and thereupon, O king, your son, that mighty car-warrior, swooned away.

8.17.45 Seeing him senseless, his charioteer, sorely afraid, swiftly bore the car away as it was being raked by sharp arrows.

8.17.46 Having vanquished him in battle, the son of Pāṇḍu, O descendant of Pāṇḍu's line, joyfully crushed Duryodhana's force on every side.

8.17.47 As a man in anger tramples an anthill of ants, O king, so was that Kaurava army crushed by him, O Bhārata.

8.17.48 Then, O king, Karṇa the son of the sun checked Nakula, who in his fury was rending the host asunder in the battle.

8.17.49 And Nakula, smiling, then said this to Karṇa: "After long, alas, the gods have looked upon me with kindly eyes,

8.17.50 since you, O wretch, have come within the range of my sight in battle. For you are the root of all our calamities, of the enmity and the strife.

8.17.51 Through your fault the Kurus have been wasted, falling upon one another. Slaying you this day in battle, I shall have achieved my purpose and be freed of fever."

8.17.52 Thus addressed, the son of the charioteer answered Nakula in words befitting a prince and, above all, a bowman:

8.17.53 "Strike in battle, O boy, that we may see your manhood. Having done some deed in the fight, O hero, then are you fit to boast.

8.17.54 Without speaking, my son, do the brave fight to the utmost of their power. So fight with me with all your might; this day I shall humble your pride."

8.17.55 Having said this, the charioteer's son swiftly smote the son of Pāṇḍu, and pierced him in the battle with seventy-three arrows.

8.17.56 Then Nakula, thus pierced by the charioteer's son, O Bhārata, struck the charioteer's son in turn with eighty shafts like venomous serpents.

8.17.57 Karṇa, that foremost of archers, cut his bow asunder and afflicted the Pāṇḍava with thirty stone-whetted, golden-feathered arrows.

8.17.58 Piercing his armour, they drank his blood in the battle, as venomous serpents, having broken through the earth, drink water.

8.17.59 Then, taking up another bow, gold-backed and hard to withstand, he pierced Karṇa with twenty arrows and his charioteer with three.

8.17.60 Then in his wrath, O great king, Nakula, slayer of hostile heroes, cut off Karṇa's bow with an exceedingly sharp razor-headed shaft.

8.17.61 Then, while his bow was severed, the hero, laughing, smote that mighty car-warrior renowned in all the worlds with three hundred shafts.

8.17.62 Seeing Karṇa thus sorely pressed by the son of Pāṇḍu, O sire, the car-warriors, together with the gods, were filled with the utmost amazement.

8.17.63 Then Karṇa, the son of the sun, taking up another bow, afflicted Nakula with five arrows in the region of the collarbone.

8.17.64 With those arrows fixed upon his breast, the son of Mādrī shone resplendent, like the sun shedding its light upon the world with its own rays.

8.17.65 Then Nakula, having pierced Karṇa with seven iron shafts, once more cut off the tip of his bow, O sire.

8.17.66 Taking up another bow of swifter force in the battle, Karṇa then with his arrows blocked the quarters on every side around Nakula.

8.17.67 Being suddenly overspread by the arrows loosed from Karṇa's bow, that great car-warrior swiftly cut those arrows asunder with arrows of his own.

8.17.68 Then a net wrought of arrows was seen stretched across the sky, as the heavens appear when filled with swarms of darting fireflies.

8.17.69 By the hundreds of arrows loosed by the two, the sky was then covered over, and it was as thronged as when swarms of locusts fill it.

8.17.70 Those arrows wrought of gold, falling again and again in ordered rows, gleamed like ranks of wild geese flying in lines.

8.17.71 When the sky was veiled in the net of arrows and the sun was hidden, only with difficulty could any creature move about, O lord of peoples.

8.17.72 With the path obstructed all around by masses of arrows, the two illustrious warriors shone like two newly risen morning suns.

8.17.73 The Somakas, being slain by the arrows loosed from Karṇa's bow, shrank away, O king of kings, tormented by pain and afflicted by the shafts.

8.17.74 Likewise your host, being slain by Nakula's arrows, scattered to the quarters, O king, as clouds are driven apart by the wind.

8.17.75 Both armies, being smitten by those two with great celestial arrows, withdrew beyond the reach of the shafts and then stood by as mere onlookers.

8.17.76 When the host had been driven back by the arrows of Karṇa and the Pāṇḍava, those two high-souled warriors pierced each other with showers of shafts.

8.17.77 Displaying their celestial weapons at the head of the battle and suddenly veiling each other, each sought the other's death.

8.17.78 The arrows loosed by Nakula, feathered with heron and peacock plumes, having shrouded Karṇa, then took their stand as though foes encircling him.

8.17.79 Entered as they were into a dwelling of arrows, neither could be seen by anyone, O king, like the moon and sun veiled at the coming of the rains.

8.17.80 Then Karṇa, wrathful in the fray, assuming a still more terrible aspect, covered the Pāṇḍava on every side with showers of arrows.

8.17.81 Though overspread in the battle by the charioteer's son, the Pāṇḍava felt no distress, O king, like the sun amid the rain-clouds.

8.17.82 Then the son of Adhiratha, laughing, O sire, sent forth nets of arrows in the battle by the hundred and by the thousand.

8.17.83 By the arrows of that great-souled one all became one unbroken shadow; with the excellent shafts falling thick, it grew like the shade of clouds.

8.17.84 Then Karṇa, O great king, having cut the bow of that high-souled one, struck down his charioteer from the floor of the car, as if in sport.

8.17.85 And with four sharp arrows he swiftly dispatched his four horses to the abode of Yama, O Bhārata.

8.17.86 Then he swiftly shattered his car to fragments small as sesame seeds with his arrows, and his banner, his wheel-guards, his standard, his sword, O sire, his hundred-mooned shield, and all his equipment.

8.17.87 His horses slain, his car destroyed, his armour gone, O lord of peoples, he quickly stepped down from the car and stood his ground, seizing an iron club.

8.17.88 That uplifted, most terrible iron club of his the charioteer's son shattered with his shafts, O king, by the hundred and by the thousand.

8.17.89 Seeing him weaponless, Karṇa afflicted him many times over with smooth-jointed arrows, yet did not press him hard.

8.17.90 Being smitten in the battle by that mightier master of arms, Nakula, his senses confounded, suddenly fled, O king.

8.17.91 Rushing after him, the son of Rādhā, laughing again and again, cast his strung bow about Nakula's neck, O Bhārata.

8.17.92 Then he shone resplendent, O king, with the great bow hung about his neck, as the moon in the sky encircled by a halo, or as a white cloud adorned by the bow of Indra.

8.17.93 Then Karṇa said to him: "In vain have you spoken. Speak now again, full of joy, that I am one to be slain by you, again and again."

8.17.94 Do not fight against your elders and against the mighty, O Pāṇḍava; fight rather against your equals, my child. Be not ashamed, O Pāṇḍava. Go home, O son of Mādrī, or go to where Kṛṣṇa and Phalguna are.

8.17.95 Having spoken thus, O great king, he then let him go. Though that man had come within reach of death, O king, the son of the charioteer did not slay him; remembering the words of Kuntī, O king, he set him free.

8.17.96 Released by the bowman son of the charioteer, the Pāṇḍava, O king, went off as if abashed toward the chariot of Yudhiṣṭhira.

8.17.97 Scorched by the son of the charioteer, he mounted his chariot, sighing and burning with grief, like a serpent flung into a jar.

8.17.98 Having let him go in the battle, Karṇa swiftly advanced upon the Pāñcālas with his chariot of towering banners and moon-white horses.

8.17.99 At that, O lord of peoples, there arose a great wail among the Pāṇḍavas as they beheld the general advancing upon the ranks of Pāñcāla chariots.

8.17.100 There, O great king, the son of the charioteer wrought havoc, that lord ranging like a wheel as the sun reached the midday sky.

8.17.101 With wheels shattered, with standards and banners cut down, with their charioteers slain or yet alive, with axles broken, O honored one, we saw the ranks of Pāñcāla chariots being borne away.

8.17.102 Here and there, bewildered, the maddened elephants roamed about, their limbs as though encircled by a forest fire in a great wood.

8.17.103 With their temple-bosses split, streaming blood, their trunks lopped off, their finest limbs gashed and their tails sheared away, O honored one, the elephants, slaughtered by that great-souled one, fell like sundered clouds.

8.17.104 Other elephants, terrified by hundreds of iron shafts and lances, rushed straight toward him like moths into a flame.

8.17.105 Other great elephants were seen trumpeting in agony, pouring blood from their bodies like mountains streaming with cascades of water.

8.17.106 And the horses, stripped of their breast-plates and tail-trappings, and of their ornaments of silver, of bronze, and of gold,

8.17.107 bereft of their saddle-cloths and rid of their bits, deprived of their chowries and housings, with their quivers fallen away,

8.17.108 and their riders slain — heroes who had been the splendor of the fight — we saw those splendid horses wandering aimlessly there in the battle.

8.17.109 Pierced through by darts, by swords, and by spears, O lord of men, we saw the cavalrymen, clad in their corselets and turbans.

8.17.110 We saw chariots adorned with gold and well-yoked with swift horses careering wildly about, their warriors slain.

8.17.111 Some with their axles and shafts broken, some with wheels cut off, O honored one, and others stripped of pennon and standard, with pole, yoke, and seat hewn apart.

8.17.112 There we saw the warriors who had lost their cars running about in every direction, terror-stricken by the arrows of the Sun's son, O lord of peoples.

8.17.113 And we saw others, both weaponless and still bearing arms, slain in great numbers — your own men, sheathed in mail and adorned with breast-bells.

8.17.114 We beheld the foot-soldiers, decked with banners gay in many varied hues, running about on every side.

8.17.115 By the arrows loosed from Karṇa's bow we saw still others in the battle, their heads, their arms, and their thighs lopped off, made limbless.

8.17.116 A great and terrible carnage of warriors was seen — of men struck down by Karṇa's missiles, slain by his whetted shafts.

8.17.117 The Sṛñjayas, slaughtered in the battle by the son of the charioteer, rushed straight toward him like insects into a flame.

8.17.118 That mighty warrior, burning down the armies here and there, the kṣatriyas shunned as one shuns the raging fire of the world's end.

8.17.119 And those great car-warriors of the Pāñcālas who survived the slaughter — broken and in flight, their armor and standards shattered — Karṇa, blazing with valor, pursued from behind, scattering arrows upon them.

8.17.120 The mighty car-warrior, the son of the charioteer, scorched them with his arrows, as the dispeller of darkness, having reached the noontide, scorches all beings.

8.18.1 Saṃjaya said: As your son Yuyutsu was rushing against the great host, Ulūka swiftly fell upon him, crying, "Stand! Stand!"

8.18.2 Then Yuyutsu, O king, with a sharp-edged feathered shaft struck Ulūka as Indra strikes a mountain with the thunderbolt.

8.18.3 Thereupon Ulūka, enraged, in the encounter cut your son's bow with a razor-edged arrow and struck him with a barbed shaft.

8.18.4 Casting aside that severed bow, Yuyutsu, his eyes red with rage, took up another very great and more powerful bow.

8.18.5 And then, O bull of the Bhāratas, he pierced the son of Śakuni with sixty arrows, struck his charioteer with three, and wounded him yet again.

8.18.6 But Ulūka, having pierced him with twenty gold-decked shafts, then in his wrath cut down his golden standard in the battle.

8.18.7 That great standard, its staff severed and crumbling, blazing with gold, fell before Yuyutsu's eyes, O king.

8.18.8 Seeing his standard struck down, Yuyutsu, swooning with rage, smote Ulūka in the middle of the breast with five arrows.

8.18.9 With a broad-headed shaft burnished in oil, O honored one, Ulūka instantly struck off the head of his charioteer, O best of the Bhāratas.

8.18.10 He slew the four horses too and pierced him with five arrows; sorely wounded by the mighty one, Yuyutsu withdrew to another chariot.

8.18.11 Having vanquished him in battle, O king, Ulūka swiftly went on, smiting the Pāñcālas and the Sṛñjayas with his whetted shafts.

8.18.12 Your son Śrutakarman, O great king, in half the twinkling of an eye and without flurry, robbed Śatānīka of horses, charioteer, and car.

8.18.13 Standing in his car whose horses were slain, the mighty Śatānīka, in fury, hurled his mace at your son, O honored one.

8.18.14 That mace, reducing the chariot to ashes along with the horses and the charioteer, swiftly fell to earth as if cleaving it open, O Bhārata.

8.18.15 Both those heroes, deprived of their chariots, augmenters of the Kurus' glory, withdrew, eager still to fight, gazing upon each other.

8.18.16 Your son, agitated, mounted the chariot of Vivitsu, while Śatānīka in haste went over to the car of Prativindhya.

8.18.17 Sutasoma, full of fury, pierced Śakuni with his whetted shafts, yet could not shake him, even as a flood of water cannot shake a mountain.

8.18.18 Seeing in him his father's bitterest foe, Sutasoma covered him with many thousands of arrows, O Bhārata.

8.18.19 Śakuni swiftly cut down those arrows with other winged shafts — light-handed with his weapons, a brilliant fighter, and ever wearing the look of victory in the fray.

8.18.20 Having warded off those arrows in the battle with his whetted shafts, he, exceedingly wroth, struck Sutasoma with three arrows.

8.18.21 With his arrows your brother-in-law of mighty valor cut that man's horses, banner, and charioteer to pieces; thereupon the people cried out.

8.18.22 His horses slain, his car destroyed, his bow cut, O honored one, the bowman took up another excellent bow and, descending from the chariot, stood upon the ground, and loosed shafts gold-feathered and whetted on stone.

8.18.23 Then those flights of arrows covered the car of your brother-in-law, that great warrior, as swarms of insects might cover it.

8.18.24 Though he saw them descending upon the floor of his car, the son of Subala was not dismayed in the least, but, illustrious one, crushed those arrows with his own showers of shafts.

8.18.25 At this the warriors there, and the perfected beings stationed in the sky, were filled with delight, beholding that incredible and wondrous feat of Sutasoma — that, himself on foot, he gave battle to that prince who stood upon his car.

8.18.26 With keen, swift, smooth-jointed broad-headed shafts the prince utterly shattered his bow and his quiver as well.

8.18.27 His bow cut, he in the battle, roaring aloud, raised on high a sword the hue of lapis and the blue lotus, its hilt fashioned of ivory.

8.18.28 As wise Sutasoma whirled that blade, gleaming like the cloudless sky, it seemed then to all like Death himself.

8.18.29 Sword in hand, endowed with training and strength, he suddenly moved through circling figures by the thousand — four-and-twenty of them, O great king.

8.18.30 Then the valiant son of Subala hurled arrows at him, and those, even as they fell upon him, he swiftly cut apart with his excellent sword.

8.18.31 Then, enraged, O great king, the son of Subala, slayer of hostile heroes, sped at Sutasoma arrows like venomous serpents.

8.18.32 These too he cut with his sword, by skill and by strength, displaying his nimbleness in the fight, radiant with valor like Garuḍa.

8.18.33 As he ranged about, O king, weaving his circling movements, the son of Subala then cut his gleaming sword with a keen razor-edged shaft.

8.18.34 That great sword, severed, fell at once to the ground; only the hilt with a fragment of blade remained, perforce, in his hand.

8.18.35 Knowing his blade was cut, Sutasoma, that great car-warrior, sprang back six paces and then hurled the remnant at his foe.

8.18.36 That fragment, decked with gold and diamond, cut the bowstring and bow of the great-souled foe in the battle and swiftly fell to the earth; thereupon Sutasoma went over to the great chariot of Śrutakīrti.

8.18.37 The son of Subala too, taking up another terrible and well-nigh unbearable bow, advanced upon the Pāṇḍava host, slaying many bands of foes.

8.18.38 At that there arose a great outcry among the Pāṇḍavas, O lord of peoples, as they beheld the son of Subala ranging fearlessly through the battle.

8.18.39 Those proud and mighty armies, well-armed though they were, were seen put to flight by the great-souled son of Subala.

8.18.40 As the king of the gods once crushed the host of the Daityas, O king, even so did the son of Subala destroy the army of the Pāṇḍavas.

8.18.41 Kṛpa, O king, checked Dhṛṣṭadyumna in the encounter, as a śarabha in the wild would check a proud elephant in combat.

8.18.42 Held in check by that mightier descendant of Gautama, the son of Pṛṣata could not move there even a single step, O Bhārata.

8.18.43 Beholding the form of the descendant of Gautama bearing down upon Dhṛṣṭadyumna's chariot, all beings trembled and deemed that destruction had come.

8.18.44 At this the car-warriors and horsemen, downcast in spirit, said: "Surely the best of men is enraged at the slaying of Droṇa."

8.18.45 "The son of Śaradvat is of great splendor, knower of celestial weapons, lofty of mind. Will it be well today for Dhṛṣṭadyumna at the hands of this descendant of Gautama?

8.18.46 Will this whole army be delivered from its great peril? Will this brāhmaṇa not slay us all, assembled here together?"

8.18.47 "Such is the form he wears, terribly like unto Death, that today in the battle he will follow the path of the son of Bharadvāja."

8.18.48 "The preceptor is swift of hand and ever victorious in fight, master of weapons, endowed with valor, and now possessed by wrath."

8.18.49 "And the son of Pṛṣata is even now seen sorely averse to the fight." Such were the manifold sayings of your men, mingled with those of the foe.

8.18.50 Then, hissing in his wrath, Kṛpa the son of Śaradvat, O king, covered the son of Pṛṣata, now grown motionless, in all his vital parts with arrows.

8.18.51 Assailed in the battle by the great-souled descendant of Gautama, he, bewildered in that supreme combat, knew not what was to be done.

8.18.52 Then his charioteer said to him: "Is all well with you, O son of Pṛṣata? Never before in battle has such a calamity been seen in you."

8.18.53 "It is by the working of fate that those vital-piercing arrows, loosed by the foremost of the twice-born and aimed at all your vital points, have not made an end of you."

8.18.54 "I am turning the chariot back from there, as one draws it back from a river's torrent rushing toward the sea; for I deem that brāhmaṇa unslayable, by whom your valor has been undone."

8.18.55 Then, O king, Dhṛṣṭadyumna slowly spoke these words: "My mind grows faint, dear charioteer, and sweat breaks out upon my limbs;

8.18.56 behold too the trembling in my body and the bristling of my hair. Avoiding that brāhmaṇa in the fight, drive slowly to where the unfaltering one stands."

8.18.57 "Reaching Arjuna or Bhīmasena in the battle, O charioteer, safety would be ours this day, driver—such is my settled conviction."

8.18.58 Then, O great king, the charioteer set forth, urging on the horses toward where Bhīma, the mighty archer, was fighting with your soldiers.

8.18.59 But seeing Dhṛṣṭadyumna's chariot rushing away, O honored one, the descendant of Gautama then pursued him, scattering hundreds of arrows.

8.18.60 And again and again the tamer of foes blew his conch, and gave chase to the fleeing son of Pṛṣata, as great Indra pursued Śambara.

8.18.61 But Śikhaṇḍin, the unassailable death of Bhīṣma, the son of Hṛdika warded off in the battle, smiling as it were, again and again.

8.18.62 And Śikhaṇḍin, closing with that great warrior of the Hṛdikas, struck him in the region of the collarbone with five sharp broad-headed shafts.

8.18.63 But Kṛtavarman, enraged, having pierced him with sixty swift arrows, with a single one cut through his bow, laughing, O king—that great car-warrior.

8.18.64 Then the mighty son of Drupada, taking up another bow, enraged, cried out to the son of Hṛdika, "Stand! Stand!"

8.18.65 Then he sent forth at him ninety arrows, gold-feathered and keen-edged, O lord of kings; but they glanced off from his armor.

8.18.66 Marking those arrows fallen short and dropped upon the ground, the mighty one cut through his bow with a sharp razor-headed shaft.

8.18.67 Then, his bow severed, like a bull with a broken horn, he afflicted him in the arms and chest with eighty shafts in his wrath.

8.18.68 But Kṛtavarman, enraged and wounded by those arrows, taking up another bow together with a store of shafts, O lord, struck Śikhaṇḍin upon the shoulder with choice arrows.

8.18.69 And with the arrows lodged in his shoulder Śikhaṇḍin shone resplendent, like a great tree with its spreading, glistening branches.

8.18.70 Those two, having pierced each other sorely and drenched with blood, shone like two bulls that have gored one another with their horns.

8.18.71 Striving each to slay the other, those two great car-warriors wheeled there in their chariots through circling courses by the thousand.

8.18.72 Kṛtavarman, O great king, pierced the son of Pṛṣata in the battle with seventy keen, stone-whetted arrows feathered with gold.

8.18.73 Then in the fray the Bhoja, foremost of strikers, loosed at him in haste a dreadful arrow that brings life to its end.

8.18.74 Struck by it, O king, he swiftly swooned into a faint, and suddenly, overcome with stupor, leaned against his banner-staff.

8.18.75 And his charioteer bore that best of car-warriors away from the fight, tormented by the son of Hṛdika's shaft and sighing again and again.

8.18.76 When that hero, the son of Drupada, was thus overcome, O lord, the Pāṇḍava host, slaughtered on every side, broke into flight.

8.19.1 Saṃjaya said: He of the white horses too, O great king, scattered your force, as the wind, falling upon a heap of cotton, drives it on every side.

8.19.2 Against him advanced the Trigartas, the Śibis together with the Kauravas, the Śālvas, and the Saṃśaptakas, and that host of the Nārāyaṇas.

8.19.3 Satyasena, Satyakīrti, Mitradeva, Śrutaṃjaya, Sauśruti, Citrasena, and Mitravarman, O Bhārata—

8.19.4 the king of the Trigartas in the battle, encircled by his brothers and by his sons, mighty archers, bearers of manifold weapons in the fight,

8.19.5 they, loosing volleys of arrows and showering Arjuna in the encounter, rushed upon him in the fray like floods of water toward the sea.

8.19.6 But those warriors, by hundreds and by thousands, closing with Arjuna, all came to destruction, as serpents do at the sight of Tārkṣya.

8.19.7 Though slaughtered in the battle, they did not then forsake the Pāṇḍava, even as moths forsake not the fire that consumes them, O king.

8.19.8 Satyasena pierced the Pāṇḍava in the fight with three arrows, Mitradeva with sixty-three, and Candradeva with seven.

8.19.9 Mitravarman with seventy-three, and Sauśruti with five, Śatruṃjaya with twenty, and Suśarman with nine arrows.

8.19.10 And having slain there King Śatruṃjaya with stone-whetted shafts, he struck from Sauśruti's body his head together with its helmet, and swiftly with arrows sent Candradeva to the abode of Yama.

8.19.11 Then the others, O great king, those great car-warriors striving in the fight, he held off, each one of them, with five arrows apiece.

8.19.12 But Satyasena, enraged, hurled a great iron lance, aiming it at Kṛṣṇa in the fray, and roared a lion's roar.

8.19.13 That fierce lance of iron, having pierced the left arm of the high-souled Mādhava, then fell to the earth.

8.19.14 And as Mādhava was wounded by the lance in that great battle, the goad fell from his hand, and the reins as well, O lord of peoples.

8.19.15 That one of great renown, taking up again the goad and the reins, drove those horses on toward Satyasena's chariot.

8.19.16 But seeing Viṣvaksena wounded, Pārtha Dhanaṃjaya, of mighty strength, having rent Satyasena with sharp arrows—

8.19.17 then with well-sharpened shafts he severed from the body, in the midst of the host, that king's great head, adorned with earrings.

8.19.18 Having slain him with whetted arrows, he assailed Mitravarman, and with a sharp calf-tooth shaft struck down his charioteer as well, O honored one.

8.19.19 Then once more with hundreds of arrows the self-controlled one, enraged, brought down the bands of the Saṃśaptakas by hundreds and by thousands.

8.19.20 Then with a silver-feathered razor-headed shaft that one of great renown severed the head of the high-souled King Mitradeva, and, enraged, struck Suśarman in the region of the collarbone.

8.19.21 Then all the Saṃśaptakas, surrounding Dhanaṃjaya, crushed him with floods of weapons in their wrath, making the ten directions resound.

8.19.22 But Jiṣṇu, sorely pressed by them, equal to Śakra in prowess, the immeasurable-souled great car-warrior, brought forth the Aindra weapon; and then arrows by the thousand sprang into being, O lord of peoples.

8.19.23 Of banners being cut down, and of bows, in the encounter, of chariots with their pennons, of quivers along with their arrows,

8.19.24 of axles and of harness-straps, of wheels together with their reins, of chariot-poles, of fenders, and of darts in the fray,

8.19.25 of stones falling, of lances together with double-edged spears, of maces and of iron bludgeons, of pikes along with iron lances,

8.19.26 of hundred-slayers with their wheels, of arms together with thighs, of neck-cords and armlets, and of bracelets, O honored one,

8.19.27 of necklaces and gold ornaments, and of corselets, O Bhārata, of parasols and fans, and of heads together with their diadems—a great din was heard here and there, O lord of peoples.

8.19.28 Heads with their earrings, fair-eyed, shining like the full moon, were seen upon the earth, like the host of stars in the sky.

8.19.29 The bodies of the slain, well-garlanded, well-clad, and anointed with sandal-paste, were seen upon the ground; and that dreadful battlefield then took on the semblance of a city of the gandharvas.

8.19.30 With slain princes and mighty kṣatriyas, and with fallen elephants and horses, the earth in that battle became impassable, as though strewn with shattered mountains.

8.19.31 There was no path for the wheels of the high-souled Pāṇḍava, as he slew his foes with broad-headed shafts and an immense host of elephants and horses.

8.19.32 The chariot-wheels sank down to the very nave, O honored one, as he ranged through the battle in that mire of blood.

8.19.33 The sinking wheels the horses dragged on with great effort, joined to mighty toil, though swift as the mind and the wind.

8.19.34 That army, slaughtered by the bow-bearing son of Pāṇḍu, turned its face away for the most part, and stood not its ground in the encounter.

8.19.35 Having conquered in battle those many bands of Saṃśaptakas, Jiṣṇu shone forth, O great king, like a smokeless, blazing fire.

8.19.36 Yudhiṣṭhira, O great king, loosing many arrows, King Duryodhana himself received fearlessly in combat.

8.19.37 That mighty son of yours, as he rushed suddenly on, the King of Righteousness swiftly pierced, and cried, "Stand! Stand!"

8.19.38 And he in turn pierced him with nine sharp arrows, and, sorely enraged, struck his charioteer with a broad-headed shaft.

8.19.39 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira hurled at Duryodhana thirteen gold-feathered, stone-whetted arrows.

8.19.40 With four he slew his four steeds, that great car-warrior, and with the fifth he struck the head of his charioteer from the body.

8.19.41 With the sixth the king's banner, with the seventh his bow, and with the eighth his sword he cast down upon the ground; and with five more the King of Righteousness sorely afflicted the king himself.

8.19.42 Leaping down from that chariot whose horses were slain, your son, fallen into utmost distress, stood there upon the ground.

8.19.43 But seeing him fallen into peril, Karṇa, the son of Droṇa, Kṛpa, and the rest advanced together, seeking to rescue the lord of men.

8.19.44 Then all the sons of Pāṇḍu, encircling Yudhiṣṭhira, advanced in the battle, O king; and thereupon the combat raged on.

8.19.45 Then thousands of trumpets sounded in that great battle; war-cries and tumultuous shouts arose, O lord of the earth, as the Pāñcālas closed with the Kauravas in the fray.

8.19.46 Men met with men, elephants with noble elephants, chariots together with car-warriors, and horses with horsemen.

8.19.47 There were single combats, O great king, worth the beholding in that encounter, wondrous, beyond thought, full of weapons, and surpassing.

8.19.48 They fought with great impetuosity, each seeking the other's death; they slew one another in the battle, holding fast to the warrior's vow; for in no wise did they give battle from behind.

8.19.49 For but a moment that battle was fair to look upon; then, O king, it raged on frenzied, as though deranged, and past all bounds.

8.19.50 A car-warrior, closing with an elephant as he ranged at the head of the battle, sent it on to Death with smooth-jointed arrows.

8.19.51 And elephants, closing with horses, flinging many about, exceedingly fierce, drove them off here and there, time and again.

8.19.52 And having driven off many horses, the elephants, O king, swollen with might, struck some with their tusks and crushed others sorely.

8.19.53 And in the battle they gored with their tusks the horses together with their riders, and others, seizing them with force, those exceedingly strong beasts hurled aside.

8.19.54 The elephants, struck by the foot-soldiers in their vulnerable parts on every side, gave forth a dreadful cry of anguish and fled in the ten directions.

8.19.55 And as the foot-soldiers fled suddenly in that great battle, casting off their ornaments and leaping swiftly down upon the field of combat—

8.19.56 the great elephants, taking them for a mark, wheeled about and seized and rent the bright ornaments as well.

8.19.57 And other elephants were sorely gripped upon their chest-plates, their temporal bosses, and their tusk-sockets by pikes, iron lances, and spears.

8.19.58 Some, gripping their maces, were broken apart there by the cruel warriors who stood at their flanks—charioteers, horsemen, and the rest—and fell to the ground.

8.19.59 Other great elephants there crushed to the earth with their rush a rider together with his chariot, armored and bearing his banner.

8.19.60 The elephants, falling upon a chariot and seizing it by the yoke-pole, O sir, suddenly flung it about there in that ghastly, mighty battle.

8.19.61 And a great elephant, struck down by iron shafts, fell to the ground like the peak of a mountain shattered by the thunderbolt.

8.19.62 Warriors, closing with warriors, struck one another with their fists in the fight, and seizing each other by the hair, they cut and pierced one another together.

8.19.63 And another, raising his arms and casting his foe upon the ground, set his foot upon the breast of the still-quivering man and struck off his head.

8.19.64 Another, O great king, trampled a dead man with his feet, while yet another plunged his weapon into the body of one still living.

8.19.65 A great combat of fists arose among the warriors there, O Bhārata, and fierce seizing of hair, and bare wrestling with the arms alone.

8.19.66 While one was locked in struggle with another, a third, unnoticed, took his life in the battle with manifold weapons in many ways.

8.19.67 As the warriors clashed and the tumult raged on, headless trunks rose up by the hundreds and by the thousands.

8.19.68 Drenched in blood, the weapons and the coats of mail gleamed like garments dyed in a deep crimson hue.

8.19.69 Thus that great battle, dreadful and utterly confused, like a frenzied dancing-stage, filled the whole world with its uproar.

8.19.70 Neither friend nor foe could be told apart, O king, by the men tormented with arrows; the kings, greedy for victory, fought only because there was fighting to be done.

8.19.71 Their own men slew their own, O great king, and the foes they met as well; through the heroes of both armies all became confusion.

8.19.72 With chariots broken, O great king, and elephants brought down, with horses fallen there and men struck to the ground,

8.19.73 the earth became impassable, a mire of flesh and blood, and in a moment, O great king, it flowed with streams of gore.

8.19.74 Karṇa slew the Pāñcālas, and Dhanaṃjaya the Trigartas; Bhīmasena, O king, slew the Kurus and their whole host of elephants.

8.19.75 Thus this destruction came to pass between the armies of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas in the afternoon, O great king, as both longed for an ample victory.

8.20.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Most piercing sorrows, hard to bear and many, have I heard from you, Saṃjaya—the destruction of my sons.

8.20.2 From the way you recount to me how the battle proceeds, my settled conviction, O bard, is this: the Kauravas are no more.

8.20.3 When Duryodhana was made chariotless there in that great battle, what did the son of Dharma do, and how did the king fare in that contest?

8.20.4 How did the hair-raising battle unfold in the afternoon? Tell me that truly, Saṃjaya, for you are skilled in the telling.

8.20.5 Saṃjaya said: As the armies clashed and fought, division against division, your son, O lord of peoples, mounted another chariot.

8.20.6 Seized with great wrath, like a venomous serpent, Duryodhana, beholding the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira, said to his driver: "Go, O charioteer, go swiftly!" O Bhārata.

8.20.7 "Bring me quickly, O charioteer, to where the Pāṇḍava is—where the king, armored, shines beneath his held-aloft parasol."

8.20.8 That charioteer, urged on by the king, sent the king's splendid chariot straight toward Yudhiṣṭhira in the fray.

8.20.9 Then Yudhiṣṭhira, enraged like a noble bull run wild, urged on his charioteer: "Go to where Suyodhana is!"

8.20.10 The two heroes met, those brothers, the foremost of charioteers; and meeting, the two of mighty valor, mailed and battle-frenzied, those great archers, hewed at one another with their arrows in the combat.

8.20.11 Then king Duryodhana, O sir, with a stone-whetted broad-headed shaft severed the bow of the righteous-natured one in the fight; but Yudhiṣṭhira, enraged, would not brook that bold stroke.

8.20.12 Casting aside the severed bow, his eyes red with rage, the son of Dharma took up another bow at the head of the host,

8.20.13 and cut off Duryodhana's banner and his bow as well; then Duryodhana, taking up another bow, pierced the Pāṇḍava in return.

8.20.14 The two, deeply roused against each other, loosed showers of arrows, like two lions wholly enraged, each longing to conquer the other.

8.20.15 They smote one another, bellowing like bulls, and those two great car-warriors ranged about, eyeing each other.

8.20.16 Then, well wounded by shafts loosed from bows drawn to their full length, the two shone, O great king, like a pair of kiṃśuka trees in blossom.

8.20.17 Then, O king, in that great battle, the terrifying lion-roars again and again, and the clapping of palms, and the twang of bows,

8.20.18 and the blaring of conches—all these those two foremost car-warriors made, and they pressed one another hard, O great king.

8.20.19 Then king Yudhiṣṭhira, enraged, with the speed of the thunderbolt and hard to withstand, struck your son in the breast with three arrows.

8.20.20 Your son swiftly pierced that lord of earth in return with five sharp, gold-feathered, stone-whetted arrows.

8.20.21 Then king Duryodhana hurled a lance, O Bhārata—all of steel, keen, and like a great blazing meteor.

8.20.22 As it sped down upon him, the Dharma-king at once cut it through with three stone-whetted shafts, and pierced him with seven.

8.20.23 Then that lance with its golden shaft, massive and heavy, fell down, and as it fell it shone like a great meteor, resembling fire itself.

8.20.24 Seeing his lance struck down, your son, O lord of peoples, smote Yudhiṣṭhira with nine sharp broad-headed shafts.

8.20.25 Sorely wounded, that foremost of the mighty, the scorcher of foes, quickly took up an arrow, aiming at Duryodhana,

8.20.26 and that mighty one fitted the fierce arrow to his bow; then the king, valorous and enraged, loosed it at the king.

8.20.27 That arrow, reaching your son, the great car-warrior, stunned the king into a swoon, and then passed on into the earth.

8.20.28 Then Duryodhana, enraged, raising his mace and rushing on with speed, eager to make an end of the quarrel, charged at the Pāṇḍava.

8.20.29 Marking him with mace upraised, like Death with rod in hand, the Dharma-king hurled at your son a great lance, blazing, of mighty speed, like a flaming meteor.

8.20.30 Standing in his chariot, pierced by it as it broke through his armor in that great battle, his heart utterly shaken, he both fell and swooned.

8.20.31 Then Kṛtavarman, coming swiftly, came to the aid of your son, the king, who was sunk indeed in an ocean of distress.

8.20.32 Bhīma too, seizing his great gold-adorned mace, rushed with speed upon Kṛtavarman in the battle. Thus did that fight of your men with the foe come to pass.

8.21.1 Saṃjaya said: Then, with Karṇa at their head, your men, frenzied for battle, turned back once more and waged a combat like that of gods and demons.

8.21.2 Thrilled by the sounds of elephants, chariots, men, horses, and conches, and by the manifold falling of weapons, the throngs of elephants, chariots, and foot-soldiers, rushing face to face, fell upon one another and struck.

8.21.3 By arrows, axes, fine swords, and pikes, and by shafts of many kinds, the elephants, chariots, and horses were laid low in that great battle by the best of men, and men were laid low by the war-beasts.

8.21.4 With the heads of men—like lotuses, like the sun, like the moon, with white teeth and fair faces, eyes, and noses, and with gleaming diadems and earrings—the earth lay strewn and shone.

8.21.5 Smitten by iron clubs, pestles, lances, and javelins, by claw-knives, slings, and hundreds of maces, the elephants, men, and horses by the thousands then became the streaming currents of rivers of blood.

8.21.6 With its men, chariots, horses, and elephants struck down, dreadful to behold and terrible, that host, slain by the foe, looked then like the realm of the Lord of the ancestors at the destruction of all creatures.

8.21.7 Then your soldiers, O lord of men, and your sons, like the sons of the gods, with hosts of measureless might before them, those bulls of the Kurus, advanced in battle against the son of Śini.

8.21.8 Most splendid and terrible it appeared, that host thronged with the best of men, with horses, chariots, and elephants, roaring like the upheaved waters of the salt sea, resembling the armies of gods and demons.

8.21.9 Then the son of the Sun, in valor the equal of the lord of the gods, struck in the fight the hero of the Śinis—who was like the younger brother of the chief of the immortals—with shafts bright as the rays of the day-maker.

8.21.10 Him too—that best of men, together with his chariot, horses, and charioteer—the bull of the Śinis, hastening, then covered over in the fight with arrows of various kinds, gleaming like the venom of serpents.

8.21.11 Vasuṣeṇa, hard pressed by the arrows of the bull of the Śinis—to him, that bull among car-warriors, your friends, mighty car-warriors, swiftly hastened with elephants, chariots, horses, and foot-soldiers.

8.21.12 Upon that host, vast as the ocean, assailed by the foes that rushed on still more swiftly, the mighty comrade of Drupada's son charged, and wrought then a great destruction of men, chariots, horses, and elephants.

8.21.13 Then those two best of men, their daily rites performed, having duly worshipped Lord Bhava, resolved upon the slaying of the foe, Arjuna and Keśava swiftly bore down upon your host.

8.21.14 That chariot, rumbling like a rain-cloud, its banner and standard shaken by the wind, drawn by white horses, approaching near—the foes beheld it then, their senses stolen away.

8.21.15 Then twanging the Gāṇḍīva, dancing as it were upon the field, Arjuna filled the sky, the quarters, and the intermediate quarters with a dense press of arrows.

8.21.16 Chariots like celestial cars, equipped with their gear, weapons, and banners, together with their charioteers, he then struck down with his arrows as the wind scatters the clouds.

8.21.17 Elephants and their drivers, with their pennons, weapons, and banners, and horsemen and horses and foot-soldiers, he sent with his arrows to the realm of Yama.

8.21.18 Against him, like enraged Death himself, irresistible, that great car-warrior, Duryodhana advanced alone, smiting with arrows of various kinds.

8.21.19 Arjuna, slaying his bow, his charioteer, his standard, and his horses—each with seven shafts—cut through his parasol with a feathered arrow.

8.21.20 And taking up a ninth, a piercing one, he loosed that excellent shaft at Duryodhana; but the son of Droṇa cut it into seven pieces.

8.21.21 Then, cutting the bow of Droṇa's son and slaying his fine horses with arrows, the Pāṇḍava likewise severed the most terrible bow of Kṛpa as well.

8.21.22 Cutting the bow of Hārdikya, he slew likewise his banner and his horse; and severing the excellent shaft of Duḥśāsana, he advanced upon Rādheya.

8.21.23 Then, leaving off Sātyaki, Karṇa, hastening, pierced Arjuna with three arrows, struck Kṛṣṇa with twenty, and the son of Pṛthā again with three.

8.21.24 Then Sātyaki, coming up, pierced Karṇa with sharp arrows—with ninety-nine fierce ones—and tormented him again with a hundred.

8.21.25 Then all the foremost heroes of the Pāṇḍavas pressed Karṇa hard—Yudhāmanyu and Śikhaṇḍin and the sons of Draupadī and the Prabhadrakas.

8.21.26 Uttamaujas and Yuyutsu, the twins, and the grandson of Pṛṣata, and the host of the Cedis, Karūṣas, and Matsyas, and of the Kekayas, and the mighty Cekitāna, and the Dharma-king of noble vows—

8.21.27 These, with chariots, horses, and elephants and with foot-soldiers of fierce valor, surrounded Karṇa in the battle and showered him with manifold weapons, all uttering harsh words, all bent upon the slaying of Karṇa.

8.21.28 That rain of weapons Karṇa cut apart in many ways with his sharp arrows, and swept them all away, as the wind sweeps away trees after breaking them.

8.21.29 Car-warriors, elephants with their mahouts, and horses with their riders, and the swarms of arrows—all these Karṇa, enraged, was seen smiting down.

8.21.30 That host of the Pāṇḍavas, being slain by the blazing might of Karṇa's weapons, its bodies stripped of arms and wounded, well-nigh turned its face away in flight.

8.21.31 Then Arjuna, having himself beaten back Karṇa's missile with a counter-missile, blanketed the quarters, the sky, and the earth with showers of arrows.

8.21.32 Some of his arrows fell like maces, others like iron bludgeons, others again like śataghnīs, and still others like fierce thunderbolts.

8.21.33 Slaughtered by those shafts, that host with its foot-soldiers, horses, chariots, and elephants reeled about in every direction, its eyes shut tight in utter distress.

8.21.34 Horses, men, and elephants then met an utterly merciless battle; and others, being struck down by the arrows, fled in terror.

8.21.35 While they were thus locked together in battle, longing for victory, the sun reached the western mountain and went to its setting.

8.21.36 Then, great king, by reason of the darkness and especially of the dust, we could make out nothing at all, whether fair or foul.

8.21.37 Those mighty bowmen, O Bhārata, dreading a battle by night, then drew off in a body together with all their horses.

8.21.38 And when the Kauravas had withdrawn at the day's close, O king, the sons of Pṛthā, joyful at heart at having won the victory, went off to their own camp.

8.21.39 They went with the sounds of manifold instruments and with lion-roars and dancing, mocking their foes and extolling Acyuta and Arjuna.

8.21.40 When the withdrawal had been made by those heroes, all the soldiers, those lords of men, pronounced their blessings upon the Pāṇḍavas.

8.21.41 Then, the withdrawal accomplished, the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, those lords of men, well pleased, went to their encampments in the night and took their rest.

8.21.42 And Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, and Piśācas, and beasts of prey in throngs, repaired to that dreadful battlefield, which resembled the dancing-ground of Rudra.

8.22.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: It is plain that Arjuna did not slay us all only by his own choosing; for in battle not even Death himself, were he the aggressor, could escape him.

8.22.2 For Pṛthā's son alone carried off Bhadrā, alone he sated Agni, and alone, having conquered this earth, he made its kings bearers of tribute.

8.22.3 Alone, wielding his divine bow, he slew the Nivātakavacas; alone he fought against Śarva, who stood there in the guise of a Kirāta.

8.22.4 Alone he protected the Bharatas, alone he pleased Bhava. By him alone were all my men of fierce energy vanquished. They are not to be blamed but rather praised. Tell me what it was they did.

8.22.5 Saṃjaya said: Slain, smitten, and shattered, stripped of their armor, weapons, and mounts, their voices pitiful and their hearts seared, those proud warriors had been overcome by their foes.

8.22.6 Within their camp the Kauravas once more took counsel together, like serpents whose fangs are broken, whose venom is gone, and who lie trodden underfoot.

8.22.7 Then Karṇa, hissing like an enraged serpent, wringing one hand with the other and gazing at your son, spoke to them.

8.22.8 Arjuna is ever vigilant, steadfast, skilled, and resolute; and Adhokṣaja besides keeps rousing him whenever the moment has come.

8.22.9 By his sudden release of missiles we have today been outwitted; but tomorrow, O lord of earth, I shall undo his every resolve.

8.22.10 Addressed thus, the king said "So be it," and gave the foremost of princes leave to depart. Having passed the night in comfort, they set forth gladly for battle.

8.22.11 They beheld the unassailable array drawn up with care by the Dharma King, that chief of the Kurus, after the doctrine of Bṛhaspati and Uśanas.

8.22.12 Then Duryodhana called to mind Karṇa, the bull-shouldered, the constant adversary of those who had mastered themselves.

8.22.13 The king's mind turned to Karṇa, the equal of Purandara in battle, of the host of the Maruts in strength, and of Kārtavīrya in valor — the charioteer's son, that mighty bowman, like a kinsman in times of peril.

8.22.14 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Since your minds then turned to Karṇa Vaikartana, O dull-witted ones, did you look to him as men tormented by cold look to the sun?

8.22.15 When the withdrawal of the armies was over and battle was joined once more, how did Karṇa Vaikartana fight there, Saṃjaya, and how did all the Pāṇḍavas fight against the charioteer's son?

8.22.16 For the mighty-armed Karṇa alone could slay the sons of Pṛthā together with the Somakas. The strength of Karṇa's arms is held equal to that of Śakra and Viṣṇu, and so too are the most terrible weapons and the prowess of that great-souled one.

8.22.17 Saṃjaya said: Seeing then Duryodhana sorely afflicted by the Pāṇḍava, and seeing too the sons of Pāṇḍu prevailing in that great battle —

8.22.18 — relying upon Karṇa in the fray, pride rose again in Duryodhana, and he dared to think he could conquer the sons of Pṛthā along with their sons and with Keśava.

8.22.19 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Alas, what great sorrow, that the impetuous Karṇa could not overcome the sons of Pāṇḍu in battle! Surely fate is the supreme refuge. Alas, this dreadful consummation of the dicing now comes to pass.

8.22.20 Alas, the sharp griefs wrought by Duryodhana — most terrible, like barbs in the flesh — these, Saṃjaya, I must endure.

8.22.21 And the son of Subala too, my son, he reckons a man of sound policy.

8.22.22 While battles fit for the gods were going forward, Saṃjaya, I have heard ever and again of my sons being slain and overcome.

8.22.23 In battle there is none to hold the Pāṇḍavas back; they plunge into our ranks as into a throng of women, for fate is the stronger force.

8.22.24 Saṃjaya said: He who broods afterward upon a deed already past — that deed of his is not undone thereby, and he himself is ruined by his grieving.

8.22.25 This matter of yours has gone far indeed, for though you knew, you did not do beforehand what should have been done in weighing the possible against the impossible.

8.22.26 Many times, O king, you were told by the Pāṇḍavas, "Do not make war"; yet out of folly toward the Pāṇḍavas, O lord of peoples, you would not heed it.

8.22.27 Dreadful wrongs were committed by you against the sons of Pāṇḍu; and because of you this fearful destruction of the kings' folk comes to pass.

8.22.28 But now let that be past; grieve not, O bull of the Bhāratas. Hear all the dreadful carnage just as it befell, O steadfast one.

8.22.29 When night had brightened into dawn, Karṇa went to the king; and the mighty-armed one, drawing near, addressed Duryodhana.

8.22.30 Today, O king, I shall meet the glorious Pāṇḍava, and I shall slay that hero — or he shall slay me.

8.22.31 Owing to the multitude of my tasks and of Pṛthā's son's likewise, O king, no encounter has yet come about between me and Arjuna.

8.22.32 But hear this word of mine, spoken to the best of my judgment, O lord of peoples: I shall not return from the field, O Bhārata, without having slain Pṛthā's son in battle.

8.22.33 When the chief warriors of this host have fallen, and I alone stand fast in the fight, Pṛthā's son will come against me, who shall then be deprived of Śakra's dart.

8.22.34 Now learn, O ruler of men, what is most to your advantage, and the power of Arjuna's weapons and his equipment.

8.22.35 In cleaving a mighty frame, in nimbleness, in striking at a distance, in deftness, and in the wielding of missiles, Savyasācin is not my equal.

8.22.36 There is that bow named Vijaya, surpassing all weapons, fashioned by Viśvakarman with great care for Indra's sake.

8.22.37 With it, O king, the Lord of a Hundred Sacrifices conquered the hosts of the Daityas; at its twang the ten quarters grew confused before the Daityas. That most prized bow Śakra bestowed upon the Bhārgava.

8.22.38 That celestial, peerless bow the Bhārgava gave to me — with it I shall fight the mighty-armed Arjuna, foremost of the victorious, as Indra in battle fought all the assembled sons of Diti.

8.22.39 This dreadful bow given by Rāma surpasses the Gāṇḍīva; thrice seven times was the earth conquered with that bow.

8.22.40 The bow whose celestial deeds the Bhārgava told of — that bow Rāma indeed gave to me, and with it I shall fight the Pāṇḍava.

8.22.41 This day, Duryodhana, I shall gladden you and your kinsmen by slaying in battle the hero Arjuna, foremost of the victorious.

8.22.42 With its mountains, forests, and islands, with its seas, the earth, its foes slain, shall this day become an abode for your sons and grandsons, O king.

8.22.43 Nothing is unattainable for me this day, above all for your dear sake — even as success belongs to the self-possessed man who cleaves rightly to dharma.

8.22.44 For he can no more withstand me in battle than a tree can withstand fire. Yet I must needs declare wherein I fall short of Phalguna.

8.22.45 Divine is the string of his bow, and inexhaustible his two great quivers; his celestial bow, the matchless Gāṇḍīva, is undecaying in battle.

8.22.46 Yet I too have the great and celestial Vijaya, a most excellent bow; therein, by that bow, I surpass Pṛthā's son, O king.

8.22.47 But learn from me wherein the Pāṇḍava hero is greater than I: the holder of his reins is the Dāśārha, honored by all the worlds.

8.22.48 And his is the celestial chariot given by Agni, adorned with gold, indestructible on every side, O hero, and his steeds are swift as thought; and his banner is divine and shining — the wondrous ape.

8.22.49 And Kṛṣṇa, the Maker of the world, guards that chariot. Wanting in these things, I yet wish to fight the Pāṇḍava.

8.22.50 But here is a hero his match, Śalya, the ornament of the assembly: if he would act as my charioteer, your victory would be assured.

8.22.51 Let Śalya, hard for foes to overcome, become my charioteer; and let wagons carry my iron shafts fletched with vulture feathers.

8.22.52 And let chief chariots, O lord of kings, yoked with the finest horses, follow ever close behind me, O bull of the Bhāratas.

8.22.53 Thus shall I surpass Pṛthā's son in advantages; for Śalya excels Kṛṣṇa, even as I excel Arjuna.

8.22.54 As the Dāśārha, slayer of hostile heroes, knows the heart of horses, so too does the great chariot-warrior Śalya understand them.

8.22.55 In strength of arm none is the equal of the king of the Madras; and in weapons no bowman is the equal of me.

8.22.56 And in the driving of horses none here is the equal of Śalya. Thus this chariot of mine shall be superior to Pṛthā's son's.

8.22.57 This I wish done by you, O great king, scorcher of foes; when it is so done, my every desire will be fulfilled.

8.22.58 Then you shall see in battle what I will do, O Bhārata: by every means I shall this day conquer all the Pāṇḍavas assembled against me.

8.22.59 Duryodhana said: All this I shall do as you deem fit, Karṇa. Chariots with their quivers and horses shall follow after you, O son of the charioteer.

8.22.60 And let wagons carry your iron shafts fletched with vulture feathers; and we and all the kings, Karṇa, will follow after you.

8.22.61 Saṃjaya said: Having spoken thus, O great king, your majestic son the king drew near to the king of the Madras and addressed to him these words.

8.23.1 Saṃjaya said: Your son, O great king, approaching the king of the Madras with humility, spoke to him this word out of affection.

8.23.2 O you whose vow is truth, O greatly fortunate one, increaser of the woes of your foes, O lord of the Madras, hero in battle, terror of the enemy host —

8.23.3 — you have heard Karṇa, O best of speakers, as he spoke, how in the midst of these lions among kings he chooses you.

8.23.4 Therefore, for the destruction of Pṛthā's son and indeed for my own good, O best of chariot-warriors, you should graciously consent to act as his charioteer.

8.23.5 In all the world there is no holder of his reins to equal you. Guard Karṇa, then, on every side, as Brahmā guards Śaṃkara.

8.23.6 As Kṛṣṇa, the excellent holder of the reins, is the companion of Pṛthā's son, so do you too guard Rādheya on every side.

8.23.7 Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Kṛpa, Karṇa, yourself, the valiant Bhoja, Śakuni the son of Subala, the son of Droṇa, and I myself — these are our strength; and among these alone, O lord of the host, was the army apportioned in nine parts.

8.23.8 No share of this remained for Bhīṣma or for great-souled Droṇa; surpassing the share allotted to each, those two slew my enemies.

8.23.9 For those two tigers among men were aged, and they were brought down by guile; yet having wrought deeds hard to perform, they passed from here to heaven, O sinless one.

8.23.10 So too other tigers among men were struck down in battle by the foe, and many of our own went forth to heaven in the fight, yielding up their lives and performing, to the utmost of their strength, deeds rich and abundant.

8.23.11 Karṇa alone, the mighty-armed, is devoted to our welfare and delight, and you too, O tiger among men, are a great chariot-warrior of all the worlds; in him my hope of victory is vast, O lord of the Madra folk.

8.23.12 As Kṛṣṇa is the supreme holder of the reins for Pārtha in battle, joined with whom and guarded by whom in the fight, O king, Pārtha performs the deeds that lie plain before your very eyes—

8.23.13 never before in battle did Arjuna slay enemies thus; yet day after day, O lord of the Madras, he is seen routing them in the fray.

8.23.14 There remains a share for Karṇa and for you, O greatly radiant one; that share, together with Karṇa, destroy at one stroke in the battle.

8.23.15 As at the sight of the sun and his red dawn the darkness perishes, O honored one, so let the sons of Kuntī perish with the Pāñcālas and the Sṛñjayas.

8.23.16 Karṇa is the foremost of chariot-warriors, and you are the foremost of charioteers; in all the world there is no union of two equal to yours.

8.23.17 As in every circumstance the Vārṣṇeya guards the Pāṇḍava, so let you wholly protect Karṇa Vaikartana in the battle.

8.23.18 With you as his charioteer he will become unassailable in war even by the gods led by Śakra, O lord of earth—how much more so by the sons of Pāṇḍu! Do not doubt my word overmuch.

8.23.19 Hearing Duryodhana's words, Śalya, filled with wrath, drew his brow into a triple-furrowed frown, shaking his hands again and again.

8.23.20 Rolling his great eyes red with anger, the mighty-armed Śalya, proud in the strength of lineage, sovereignty, and sacred learning, spoke these words:

8.23.21 You hold me in contempt, son of Gāndhārī, and surely you mistrust me, in that you tell me so freely, 'Let the charioteering be done.'

8.23.22 Deeming Karṇa greater than myself, you sing his praises; but I do not reckon Rādheya in battle as the equal of myself.

8.23.23 Let a greater share be assigned to me, O lord of earth; having slain that share in battle, I shall depart as I came.

8.23.24 Or else I shall fight, I alone, O delight of the Kurus; behold today my valor in battle as I consume the foe.

8.23.25 A man of my kind, O Kaurava, would not act after harboring such designs in his heart; do not, do not doubt me overmuch.

8.23.26 And in battle no slight whatsoever should be offered me; behold these two arms of mine, firm-knit as the thunderbolt itself.

8.23.27 Behold my wondrous bow, and my arrows like venomous serpents; behold my chariot well-arrayed with noble steeds swift as the wind, and behold, son of Gāndhārī, my mace adorned with bands of gold.

8.23.28 In wrath I could cleave the earth, scatter the mountains, and dry up the oceans by my own fiery might, O king.

8.23.29 Knowing me, then, to be of such a kind and able to subdue the foe, why do you yoke me to the charioteering of one lesser, the son of a charioteer, O king?

8.23.30 Truly you ought not, O lord of kings, to harness me thus in service; for being the better, I cannot bear to do the bidding of a worse man.

8.23.31 He who places under the sway of a lesser man one who is greater, who out of affection has come and submitted to his power—that is a sin that turns the higher to the lower.

8.23.32 The brāhmaṇas were created by Brahmā from his mouth, the kṣatra from his breast; from his thighs he brought forth the vaiśyas, and the śūdras from his feet—so says the śruti; and from these arise the distinct mixed castes, born against and along the grain of the orders.

8.23.33 And from the union of these four orders one with another, O Bhārata, the kṣatriyas are declared to be protectors, gatherers, and givers.

8.23.34 The brāhmaṇas, by officiating at sacrifices, by teaching, and by accepting pure gifts, were established by Brahmā upon the earth for the welfare of the world.

8.23.35 Tillage, the herding of cattle, and giving in every form are the duties of the vaiśyas; and the śūdras are ordained as the servants of brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, and vaiśya.

8.23.36 The sūtas are ordained as servants of the brāhmaṇa and the kṣatriya, and not of the vaiśya or the śūdra; in this very matter hear my word, O sinless one.

8.23.37 I, being a consecrated king, sprung from a line of royal sages, am proclaimed a great chariot-warrior, one to be served and to be hymned by the bards.

8.23.38 Being such a one, O crusher of hostile clans, I cannot bring myself to do charioteering for the son of a charioteer in battle.

8.23.39 Having met with this insult, I will not fight at all; taking my leave of you this day, son of Gāndhārī, I shall go as I came.

8.23.40 Having spoken thus, Śalya, that tiger among men, the ornament of assemblies, rose and swiftly departed from the midst of the kings, full of indignation.

8.23.41 But your son, restraining him out of love and high regard, spoke sweet and conciliatory words that accomplish every purpose:

8.23.42 As you have said this, O Śalya, so it is without doubt; yet I have a certain intention—mark it, O lord of men.

8.23.43 Karṇa is not greater than you; I have no doubt of it in the least, nor would the king of the Madras do anything that would prove untrue.

8.23.44 For your forefathers, those best of men, bore aloft the truth alone; and therefore you are called Ārtāyani—such is my conviction.

8.23.45 And because on earth you are as a spear-point to your enemies, O bestower of honor, therefore your name is told as Śalya, O lord of earth.

8.23.46 What you have already declared, O giver of abundant largesse—do that very thing, O knower of dharma, for my sake, whatever you are asked.

8.23.47 Neither Rādheya nor I, valiant though we be, is greater than you; we choose you as the driver of his noble steeds in the encounter.

8.23.48 For just as this world holds Karṇa to surpass Dhanaṃjaya in qualities, so too it holds you, dear sir, to surpass even Vāsudeva.

8.23.49 Karṇa indeed surpasses Pārtha in weapons, O bull among men, and you too surpass Kṛṣṇa in the driving of horses and in strength alike.

8.23.50 As the great-minded Vāsudeva knows the very heart of horses, so do you know it twofold, O king of the Madras; there is no doubt of this.

8.23.51 Śalya said: In that you call me, O son of Gāndhārī, in the midst of the host, O Kaurava, superior to the son of Devakī, I am well pleased with you.

8.23.52 So be it: I will undertake the charioteering of the renowned Rādheya as he fights with the foremost of the Pāṇḍavas, even as you wish, O hero.

8.23.53 Yet I have one condition, O hero, with regard to Vaikartana: that I may utter freely in his presence whatever words I please.

8.23.54 Saṃjaya said: 'So be it,' O king, said your son together with Karṇa, O Bhārata, to the son of the Madra king, O best of the Bhāratas.

8.24.1 Duryodhana said: Yet further, O lord of the Madras, hear what I shall tell you—how this came to pass of old in the war between the gods and the asuras, O mighty one.

8.24.2 What Mārkaṇḍeya, the great sage, told to my father and to me—as I relate it in full, O best of royal sages, do you mark it, and let there be no questioning of it in your mind.

8.24.3 There was a great clash of the gods and the asuras, O king; the first battle, the one centered on Tāraka, took place, and then the daityas were vanquished by the gods—so we have heard.

8.24.4 And when the daityas had been vanquished, there were three sons of Tāraka—Tārākṣa, Kamalākṣa, and Vidyunmālin, O king.

8.24.5 Undertaking fierce austerity and abiding in the highest self-restraint, they wasted their own bodies through penance, O tormentor of foes.

8.24.6 By their subjugation of the senses, their austerity, and their self-restraint, O king, the Grandsire, well pleased, the bestower of boons, granted them boons.

8.24.7 And together they begged of the Grandsire of all the worlds, O king, this boon: invulnerability among all beings for all time.

8.24.8 Then the god, the lord and master of the worlds, said to them: 'There is no such thing as complete immortality; turn back from this, O asuras, and choose some other boon, whatever pleases you well.'

8.24.9 Then, O king, the three together, having deliberated again and again at length, bowed before the lord of all the worlds and spoke this word:

8.24.10 Grant us this boon, O god, O Grandsire: that we, dwelling in three cities, may roam over this earth and through this world, set forward by your grace.

8.24.11 Then, after a thousand years, we shall come together one with another, and these cities shall pass into a single union, O sinless one.

8.24.12 And whoever then, O blessed one, should destroy these cities once they have come together, with a single arrow—that best of gods shall be our death.' 'So be it,' the god replied to them, and entered heaven.

8.24.13 Having gained their boon and rejoicing, they took counsel together and, for the fashioning of the three cities, chose Maya, the great asura, the all-maker, the ageless one, honored by daityas and dānavas.

8.24.14 Then the wise Maya, by his own austerity, made three cities: one of gold, one of silver, and one of black iron.

8.24.15 The golden one stood there in heaven, the silver in mid-air, and the iron one upon the earth, set as upon a wheel, O lord of earth.

8.24.16 Each one measured a hundred yojanas in breadth and in length, furnished with houses and towers and lofty watch-platforms, and great ramparts and gateways.

8.24.17 Thronged with the increase of every excellence, yet uncrowded and free of all ill, each was adorned with palaces of many kinds and with portals as well.

8.24.18 And in the cities there were kings, O king, each apart: the wondrous golden one belonged to great-souled Tārākṣa, the silver to Kamalākṣa, and the iron to Vidyunmālin.

8.24.19 Those three daitya-kings, overrunning the three worlds swiftly by their fiery might, stood firm for whole hosts of years, as a Prajāpati.

8.24.20 Of those foremost dānavas there gathered from here and there millions and hundreds of millions, yea crores of warriors without rival, who, longing for great dominion, took refuge in the unassailable Tripura.

8.24.21 And Maya, the provider of every need, was the support of them all; relying upon him, they all dwelt without fear from any quarter.

8.24.22 Whatever desire any dweller of Tripura conceived in his mind, that very desire Maya then provided for him by his magic art.

8.24.23 And there was a son of Tārākṣa, Hari by name, of great strength, who performed the highest austerity, by which the Grandsire was well pleased.

8.24.24 He begged of the well-pleased god: 'Let there be in our city a well into which the slain, struck down by weapons, may be cast and rise up mightier than before.'

8.24.25 And having gained the boon, the hero Hari, son of Tārākṣa, fashioned there that well, the giver of life to the dead, O lord.

8.24.26 In whatever form and in whatever guise a daitya had died, cast into that well he was reborn in that very same form.

8.24.27 Having won that well, the dwellers of Tripura oppressed all the worlds; perfected by great austerity and multipliers of the gods' terror, they suffered no loss whatever in battle, O king.

8.24.28 Then, overcome by greed and delusion and bereft of sense, all of them, grown shameless, transgressed the established order that had been ordained.

8.24.29 Routing the gods together with their hosts here and there, time and again, they roamed at their own pleasure, made arrogant by the granting of the boon.

8.24.30 All the sacred groves of the gods and the haunts dear to the dwellers of heaven, the holy hermitages of the sages, the sacrificial posts, and the settled lands—these the dānavas, evil in their conduct, destroyed, transgressing every bound.

8.24.31 All those gods together, O subduer of foes, went up to the Grandsire to tell of the outrage wrought by the foes of the gods.

8.24.32 Having related the whole truth and bowed their heads in reverence, they asked the blessed Grandsire for a means to slay them.

8.24.33 Hearing that, the blessed god spoke this to the gods: 'Those evil-souled asuras, those haters of the wise, who continually offend against you and afflict you—'

8.24.34 "I am indeed impartial to all beings—of this there is no doubt; yet the unrighteous must be slain: thus do I declare to you.

8.24.35 Choose, then, O Ādityas, as your warrior Sthāṇu, the Lord Īśāna, the ever-victorious, who acts without weariness; he shall slay those foes of the gods."

8.24.36 Hearing this his word, the gods, with Śakra at their head, placed Brahmā before them and went for refuge to him whose emblem is the bull.

8.24.37 They undertook the highest austerity, chanting the eternal Brahman; and those knowers of dharma, together with the sages, drew near to Bhava with their whole being.

8.24.38 With meaningful words they praised him who, in terrors, grants safety best of all—the All-Self, the great-souled one, by whom the whole was pervaded through his own being,

8.24.39 who by many special austerities knows the yoga of the self, who knows the Sāṃkhya of the self, and whose self is ever under his own command.

8.24.40 They beheld that Īśāna, a mass of splendor, the lord of Umā, who in the world is like none other, steadfast in vows, untouched by stain.

8.24.41 And they perceived the one Blessed Lord as manifold in form; in that great-souled one they saw forms that were reflections of their own selves, and they beheld one another there, all of them utterly amazed.

8.24.42 And the gods and the brahmin-sages bowed their heads to the earth before that Lord who is made of all beings, the unborn, the master of the world.

8.24.43 Honoring them with a word of blessing and raising them up, Śaṃkara the Blessed One, smiling, addressed them: "Speak, speak."

8.24.44 Granted leave by the Three-Eyed One, then, though their minds were still unsettled, they said to Bhava: "Homage, homage be to you, O all-pervading Lord!"

8.24.45 "Homage to the God beyond the gods, the bearer of the bow, the surpassingly wrathful; you who destroyed the sacrifice of Prajāpati, you are extolled by the Prajāpatis.

8.24.46 Homage to him who is praised, who is worthy of praise, who is being praised, to Death itself; to the deep-red Rudra, the blue-throated, the wielder of the trident.

8.24.47 To the unerring, the deer-eyed, the fighter with the choicest weapons; to the irresistible, the radiant, to Brahman, to the keeper of chastity.

8.24.48 To Īśāna, the immeasurable, the restrainer, clad in a hide; to him constant in austerity, the tawny-hued, the keeper of vows, robed in a skin.

8.24.49 To the father of Kumāra, the three-eyed, the bearer of the choicest weapons; to the destroyer of the suffering of those who take refuge, the slayer of the hosts of Brahman's haters.

8.24.50 Homage to the lord of the forest-trees, to the lord of men; and ever homage to the lord of cattle, to the lord of sacrifices.

8.24.51 Homage be to you with your hosts, to the Three-Eyed One of fierce splendor; O God, accept us who have taken refuge in you by thought, word, and deed."

8.24.52 Then the Blessed One, well pleased, greeted them with a welcome and said: "Let your fear depart; tell me, what shall I do for you?"

8.24.53 When the great-souled one had granted his boon to the hosts of fathers, gods, and sages, Brahmā, doing honor to Śaṃkara, spoke a word for the world's welfare:

8.24.54 "By your bestowal, O Lord of the gods, I hold this office of Prajāpati; and while presiding over it I have granted a great boon to the Dānavas.

8.24.55 None but you, O Lord of what is and what shall be, is able to destroy them, who have overstepped all bounds; for you alone are their match in slaying them.

8.24.56 Therefore, O God, to these dwellers in heaven who have taken refuge and now entreat you, show your grace, O Lord of the gods, and slay the Dānavas, O bearer of the trident."

8.24.57 The Blessed Lord said: "That all your foes must be slain—such is my own resolve; yet I alone am not equal to the slaying of those haters of the gods.

8.24.58 Do you, then, all united, by the power of my weapon conquer those enemies in battle; for union is a mighty strength."

8.24.59 The gods said: "Whatever is the measure of our splendor and strength, theirs is twice as much—so we judge, for we have seen their splendor and strength."

8.24.60 The Blessed One said: "Those evil ones who have wronged you must by all means be slain; with half my splendor and strength, smite all those foes."

8.24.61 The gods said: "We shall not be able to bear half of your splendor, O Maheśvara; rather, with half the strength of us all, do you yourself slay the foes."

8.24.62 Duryodhana said: Then the Lord of the gods, thus addressed by them, said "So be it," O best of kings; and taking half from them all, he grew yet more abundant in splendor.

8.24.63 And that god became in strength mightier than them all; from that time onward Śaṃkara has been renowned as Mahādeva, the Great God.

8.24.64 Then Mahādeva said: "Bearing bow and arrow, I shall slay in battle those foes from a chariot, O dwellers in heaven.

8.24.65 Do you, then, look to my chariot and likewise to my bow and arrow, while this day I lay them low upon the earth."

8.24.66 The gods said: "Taking the whole substance of the three worlds from every side, we shall fashion for you, O Lord of gods, a chariot of mighty might."

8.24.67 Thus, devised by their intelligence, wrought by Viśvakarman and auspicious, those tigers among the gods then fashioned that chariot.

8.24.68 For its frame they made the goddess Earth, garlanded with broad cities, bearing her mountains, forests, and islands, the upholder of beings.

8.24.69 Mount Mandara they made its axle, the great rivers its struts, and the quarters and intermediate quarters the encircling rim of the chariot.

8.24.70 The blazing planets they made its underbeams, and the stars its guard-rail; the threefold pole, joined to dharma, artha, and kāma, they made its binding, and the manifold herbs, with their varied burst of flowers and fruits, were set therein.

8.24.71 Making the sun and moon the two wheels of that best of chariots, they set there as its front and rear flanks the auspicious night and day.

8.24.72 The ten lords of serpents, headed by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, they made its sturdy shaft; the sky its yoke, and the world-dissolving clouds the yoke-straps.

8.24.73 Firmness, wisdom, steadiness, and humility they made its yoke-pins; and the vault of heaven, with its planets, lunar mansions, and stars, became the dappled covering.

8.24.74 The lords of the worlds—the masters of the gods, the waters, the spirits, and wealth—they made its horses; and Sinīvālī, Anumati, Kuhū, and the devout Rākā they made the harness-ropes of the steeds, and the cross-bars too, and the throat-strap.

8.24.75 Action, truth, austerity, and gain were set there as the reins; the mind became the standing-place, and Sarasvatī the surrounding road.

8.24.76 Banners of many hues and varied design, stirred by the wind, and the lightning bound to it as Indra's bow, made the blazing chariot blaze the more.

8.24.77 When that best of chariots had thus been fashioned, O great king, by the gods, O tiger among men, for the crushing of the foes,

8.24.78 Śaṃkara laid his own chief weapons upon the chariot, and set up the bull as its banner-staff, drawn out across the sky.

8.24.79 The rod of Brahman, the rod of Time, the rod of Rudra, and Fever stood ready as the outriders of that chariot, raised on every side.

8.24.80 The Atharvan and the Aṅgiras hymns became the wheel-guards of the great-souled one; the Ṛgveda, the Sāmaveda, and the Purāṇa went before him.

8.24.81 The lore of old and the Yajurveda became his rear-guards; and the divine speeches and the sacred sciences were made to attend at his flanks.

8.24.82 The goad and the rest, O lord of kings, and the cry of Vaṣaṭ likewise, and at its front the syllable Oṃ, O king, became a maker of surpassing splendor.

8.24.83 Making the year, dappled with its six seasons, into the bow, and the Night of Time, the doom of men, into the bow's unaging string—

8.24.84 And the arrow became Viṣṇu, blazing fire and Soma alike; for Agni and Soma are the whole world, and the world is called Viṣṇu's own.

8.24.85 And Viṣṇu is the very self of the Blessed Bhava of measureless splendor; therefore those foes could not endure the touch of Hara's bowstring.

8.24.86 Into that arrow the Lord, his wrath made keen, loosed an unbearable fire of anger, born of the fury of Bhṛgu and Aṅgiras, exceedingly hard to withstand.

8.24.87 Dark-blue and red, smoke-hued, clad in a hide, terrible to behold, like ten thousand suns, wrapped in flames of splendor, he blazed.

8.24.88 Hard to shake, the overthrower, the conqueror, the slayer of Brahman's haters is Hara; ever the protector and the destroyer of folk according as they cleave to dharma or to its opposite.

8.24.89 Surrounded by his tormenting hosts, dread of form, fierce and towering, the Blessed Sthāṇu shone forth, encompassed by those very qualities of his own self.

8.24.90 Resting upon his limbs stood this whole universe, moving and unmoving, O king, and it shone, a wondrous sight to see.

8.24.91 Beholding that divine chariot, mailed and bow in hand, he took up that divine arrow sprung from Soma, Viṣṇu, and Agni.

8.24.92 Then the gods fashioned for the all-pervading Lord the feathers of that arrow, O king, and the bearer of holy fragrance, the wind, O best of kings, to speed it.

8.24.93 Mounting it, Mahādeva, terrifying even the gods, then ascended, intent, as though making heaven and earth to tremble.

8.24.94 Resplendent, the boon-giver, sword in hand, with arrow and bow, the God said, as if smiling: "Who shall be my charioteer?"

8.24.95 The hosts of gods said to him: "Whomever you shall appoint, O Lord of gods, he shall be your charioteer—of this there is no doubt."

8.24.96 The God said to them again: "Whoever is greater than I—make him my charioteer; consider this yourselves, and do not delay."

8.24.97 Hearing this word spoken by the great-souled one, the gods then went to the God, the Grandsire, and propitiating him, spoke thus:

8.24.98 "O God, by you was this destruction of the gods' foes ordained, and so we have done it; and he whose banner is the bull is well pleased.

8.24.99 And the chariot, decked with wondrous weapons, has been arrayed by us; but we know not who should be the charioteer upon that best of chariots.

8.24.100 Therefore let some charioteer be appointed, O best of gods; you ought, O Lord, to make that word of ours bear fruit.

8.24.101 For of old, O Blessed One, you said to us, 'I shall do you good'; that you ought now to do.

8.24.102 That best of chariots of ours is yoked, O God, hard to oppose, the router of the foes; and there as warrior is stationed the bearer of the Pināka, who, rousing himself, strikes terror into the Dānavas.

8.24.103 Even so are the four Vedas his foremost steeds, and the earth with her mountains the chariot, O great-souled one; the train of the lunar mansions follows in the guard-rail—the warrior in which must be protected by a charioteer.

8.24.104 For that a charioteer must be sought, surpassing all these; upon him rest the chariot, O God, the horses and the warrior alike, the coats of mail, the weapons, and the bow, O Grandsire.

8.24.105 Save you, we see no other for the charioteer there; for you are endowed with all virtues and surpass the gods, O Lord. Mount swiftly to the charioteer's seat and curb these matchless steeds."

8.24.106 Thus, bowing their heads to the Grandsire, the lord of the three worlds, the gods entreated him for the office of charioteer—so we have heard.

8.24.107 Brahmā said: "In nothing of this is the word you have spoken false, O dwellers in heaven; lo, I shall curb the horses of the matted-haired one as he fights."

8.24.108 Then that Blessed God, the Grandsire, the maker of the worlds, was appointed by the gods as charioteer of the great-souled Īśāna.

8.24.109 As that one honored by the worlds swiftly mounted the car, those horses, swift as the wind, at once bowed down their heads.

8.24.110 And as Maheśvara ascended, they sank to the earth upon their knees.

8.24.111 Then the great-grandsire, lord of the three worlds, taking up the reins, urged on those horses, swift as mind and as the wind.

8.24.112 Then, when the boon-giver had mounted and set forth against the asuras, the Lord of all, smiling, said: "Well done, well done!"

8.24.113 "Go, O God, where the Daityas are; urge on the horses, unwearied. Behold this day the strength of my arms as I strike down the foes in battle."

8.24.114 Then, O king, he urged on those steeds, swift as the rushing wind, toward that Tripura which was guarded by the Daityas and Dānavas.

8.24.115 Then Śarva, having strung his bow and fitted that arrow to it, joined it with the Pāśupata weapon and fixed his thought upon Tripura.

8.24.116 While he stood thus, O king, wrathful and with bow upraised, those three cities at that very moment, through the working of Time, became one.

8.24.117 And when the three cities had thus merged into one and come together, a tumultuous joy arose among the high-souled gods.

8.24.118 Then all the hosts of gods, the Siddhas, and the supreme sages, filled with gladness and singing his praises, sent up the cry of "Victory!"

8.24.119 Then before that god — of form too terrible to describe and of unbearable splendor — who was about to slay the Asuras, Tripura came into view.

8.24.120 Drawing that divine bow, the blessed Lord of the worlds loosed against Tripura that arrow which held the essence of the three worlds; and having burned that city together with its hosts of Asuras, he hurled it into the western ocean.

8.24.121 Thus was Tripura burned, and the Dānavas too without remainder, by the wrathful Maheśvara, who sought the welfare of the three worlds.

8.24.122 And that fire, born of his own wrath, crying "Alas! Alas!", was checked; for the three-eyed god said to it, "Do not reduce the worlds to ashes."

8.24.123 Then the gods, the worlds, and the sages, restored to their natural state, praised Sthāṇu of incomparable might with words rich in meaning.

8.24.124 Dismissed by the blessed Lord, all the gods, their desires fulfilled, departed as they had come, with Prajāpati at their head and gladdened in heart.

8.24.125 Even as the blessed Brahmā, the Grandsire and sustainer of the worlds, once held the reins, so do you govern the steeds of this high-souled son of Rādhā.

8.24.126 For you, O tiger among kings, are superior to Kṛṣṇa, to Karṇa, and above all to Phalguna; in this there is no doubt.

8.24.127 For in battle this one is the equal of Rudra, and you, O sinless one, are the equal of Brahmā; therefore the two of you are able to vanquish my foes, as those two vanquished the Asuras.

8.24.128 O Śalya, contrive it swiftly today that this Karṇa may crush and slay the son of Kuntī, him of the white steeds and Kṛṣṇa as charioteer; for upon you rest Karṇa, the kingdom, and we ourselves.

8.24.129 And hear from me yet this other ancient tale besides, which a brāhmaṇa learned in dharma told in the presence of my father.

8.24.130 And having heard this wondrous speech, fraught with cause, effect, and meaning, do you act, O Śalya, with firm resolve; let there be no hesitation in this.

8.24.131 Born in the lineage of the Bhārgavas was Jamadagni, of great austerities; his son, famed as Rāma, was endowed with splendor and excellence.

8.24.132 Undertaking fierce austerities, serene of soul, self-disciplined, and with senses restrained, he won the favor of Bhava for the sake of celestial weapons.

8.24.133 Pleased with him for his devotion and his tranquility, and knowing what lay in his heart, Mahādeva — Śaṃkara — showed himself to him.

8.24.134 The Lord said: Rāma, I am pleased with you; blessings upon you. Known to me is your desire. Make yourself pure, and all this you shall obtain.

8.24.135 I shall give you those weapons when you have become pure; for the weapons consume, O Bhārgava, one who is unworthy and incapable.

8.24.136 Thus addressed by the trident-bearing God of gods, the son of Jamadagni, bowing his head, replied to the high-souled Lord.

8.24.137 When you know me, O Lord of the gods, to be worthy of bearing the weapons, then upon me, who serve you faithfully, it will be fitting that you bestow them.

8.24.138 Duryodhana said: Then, through austerity, self-mastery, and observance, with worship, offerings, and oblations attended by sacrificial fires and sacred chants,

8.24.139 he propitiated Śarva for many long years; and Mahādeva became gracious toward the high-souled Bhārgava.

8.24.140 Again and again he spoke of his virtues in the presence of the Goddess: "This Rāma, firm in his vows, is ever devoted to me."

8.24.141 Thus did the gracious Lord, the slayer of foes, recount his virtues many times in the presence of the gods and the ancestral fathers.

8.24.142 Now at that very time there were Daityas of mighty strength, and by them, blinded with pride and delusion, the dwellers of heaven were oppressed.

8.24.143 Then the gods, banded together and resolved to slay them, made every effort to destroy the foe, yet were unable to conquer them.

8.24.144 Then the gods, approaching Maheśvara and propitiating him with devotion, said to him, "Slay the hosts of our enemies."

8.24.145 Then the god, having promised the gods the destruction of their foes, summoned Rāma the Bhārgava, and Śaṃkara spoke to him.

8.24.146 O Bhārgava, slay all the gathered enemies of the gods, for the welfare of the worlds, and likewise for my own pleasure.

8.24.147 Rāma said: O Lord of the gods, O Maheśvara, what power have I, untrained in arms, to slay all these Dānavas, skilled in arms and frenzied in battle?

8.24.148 The Lord said: Go; by meditating upon me you shall slay the Dānavas, and having conquered all your foes you shall attain abundant excellences.

8.24.149 Duryodhana said: And having heard this speech and wholly accepted it, Rāma, when the rites of benediction had been performed, set forth against the Dānavas.

8.24.150 And the Bhārgava slew those enemies of the gods, filled with frenzy, pride, and strength, with blows whose touch was like the thunderbolt and the lightning.

8.24.151 Though his body was wounded by the Dānavas, that foremost of the twice-born, the son of Jamadagni, when touched by Sthāṇu became at once free of wounds.

8.24.152 And the blessed god, pleased with that deed of his, granted boons to the high-souled Bhārgava, knower of the Veda.

8.24.153 And by the trident-bearing God of gods, filled with affection, he was told: "The pain that arose in your body from the fall of the foes' weapons —

8.24.154 by that pain your human deed has been wiped away, O delight of the Bhṛgus. Receive now from me the celestial weapons, as you desire."

8.24.155 Then, having received all the weapons and the manifold boons his mind had longed for, Rāma bowed his head to Śiva.

8.24.156 And having obtained leave of the Lord of the gods, that great ascetic departed. Thus did the sage recount this event of olden time.

8.24.157 And the Bhārgava too, O tiger among men, with inmost soul well pleased, imparted the whole science of archery to the high-souled Karṇa.

8.24.158 For had there been any taint in Karṇa, O king, the delight of the Bhṛgus would never have given him the celestial weapons.

8.24.159 Nor do I in any wise believe Karṇa to be born in the lineage of a charioteer; I deem him the son of a god, sprung from the race of the Kṣatriyas.

8.24.160 How should a doe bring forth a tiger — this long-armed great warrior, like the sun, with his earrings and his armor?

8.24.161 Behold his arms, brawny and like the trunks of the king of elephants; behold his broad chest, the crusher of all foes.

8.25.1 Duryodhana said: Thus did that blessed god, the Grandsire of all the worlds, perform the office of charioteer there where Rudra rode upon the car.

8.25.2 A chariot's charioteer should be a hero greater than the warrior himself; therefore, O tiger among men, do you govern the steeds in battle.

8.25.3 Saṃjaya said: Then Śalya, lord of the Madras, slayer of foes, embracing your son Duryodhana and well pleased, spoke these words.

8.25.4 If, O king, you so judge it, O son of Gāndhārī, fair to behold, then whatever is dear to you, all that I shall do.

8.25.5 O best of the Bhāratas, in whatsoever task I am at any time fit, there, devoting myself wholly to it, I shall take up the burden of your work.

8.25.6 But whatever I, seeking his good, may say to Karṇa, be it pleasant or unpleasant — let your honor and Karṇa pardon me all of it utterly.

8.25.7 Karṇa said: As Brahmā is ever devoted to the good of Īśāna, and Keśava to the good of Pārtha, so, O king of the Madras, be devoted always to ours.

8.25.8 Śalya said: Self-reproach and self-praise, the censure of others and the flattery of others — this fourfold conduct is not practiced by the noble.

8.25.9 Yet what I shall now declare, O learned one, for the sake of your assurance — though it be joined with praise of myself — hear it truly as it is.

8.25.10 I am fit to drive the chariot of Śakra, even as Mātali, O lord, through unfailing skill and through my knowledge, learning, and remedies.

8.25.11 Therefore, O sinless one, while you fight with Pārtha in the battle, I shall drive your steeds; be free of fever, O son of the charioteer.

8.26.1 Duryodhana said: This king of the Madras, O Karṇa, will be your charioteer, a driver greater than Kṛṣṇa, even as Mātali is to the lord of the gods.

8.26.2 As Mātali guides the chariot yoked with tawny steeds, so today shall this Śalya be the controller of your chariot-horses.

8.26.3 With you the warrior upon the car and the king of the Madras as charioteer, surely in battle Pārtha, foremost of car-warriors, shall not prevail.

8.26.4 Saṃjaya said: Then, O king, Duryodhana spoke once more to the impetuous king of the Madras, who was to govern the noble steeds in battle.

8.26.5 "Guarded by you, the son of Rādhā shall conquer Dhanaṃjaya." Thus addressed, O Bhārata, Śalya mounted the chariot and said, "So be it."

8.26.6 When Śalya had consented, Karṇa, glad of heart, said to his charioteer again and again, hastening him: "Charioteer, make ready my car for me."

8.26.7 Then, having duly made ready that victorious and excellent chariot, like a city of the Gandharvas, he presented it to his master, saying, "Victory!"

8.26.8 That chariot, which the household priest, knower of the Veda, had earlier consecrated, Karṇa, foremost of car-warriors, worshipped according to rule.

8.26.9 Reverently circling it and worshipping the Sun, he had the king of the Madras, who stood beside him, mount up in front.

8.26.10 Then the mighty-splendored Śalya ascended Karṇa's great and unassailable chariot, foremost of cars, as a lion ascends a mountain.

8.26.11 Then, O king, Karṇa mounted his own excellent chariot, on which Śalya was already stationed, as the sun mounts a lightning-bearing cloud.

8.26.12 Mounted upon one chariot, those two, in splendor like the sun and fire, shone forth as the sun and fire together blaze upon a cloud in the sky.

8.26.13 Those two heroes, hymned in praise, shone then with surpassing radiance, like Indra and Agni invoked by priest and assembled celebrants at a sacrifice.

8.26.14 There stood Karṇa upon the chariot whose steeds Śalya held, twanging his dreadful bow, like the sun girt round with a halo.

8.26.15 Stationed upon that foremost of chariots, Karṇa, that tiger among men, his arrows for his rays, shone like the radiant sun resting upon Mount Mandara.

8.26.16 To that great hero of measureless splendor, the son of Rādhā, as he stood upon the car and went forth, Duryodhana spoke these words.

8.26.17 That hard deed in battle which Droṇa and Bhīṣma left undone, accomplish it, O hero, son of Adhiratha, before the eyes of all the bowmen.

8.26.18 For it was my settled hope that the two great car-warriors Bhīṣma and Droṇa would surely slay Arjuna and Bhīmasena.

8.26.19 That heroic deed which the two of them left undone in the great battle, do you accomplish it, O son of Rādhā, like a second Wielder of the Thunderbolt.

8.26.20 Either take captive the King of Dharma, or slay Dhanaṃjaya, and Bhīmasena too, O son of Rādhā, and the twin sons of Mādrī.

8.26.21 Victory be yours, and blessings upon you. Go forth, O bull among men, and reduce all the armies of the son of Pāṇḍu to ashes.

8.26.22 Then thousands of trumpets and tens of thousands of kettledrums, being sounded, rang out splendidly, like the voices of the storm-clouds in the sky.

8.26.23 Receiving that speech, Rādheya, best of chariot-warriors, standing upon his car, addressed Śalya, who was skilled in war:

8.26.24 "Urge on the horses, O mighty-armed one, that I may slay Dhanaṃjaya, Bhīmasena, both twins, and King Yudhiṣṭhira."

8.26.25 "Today, O Śalya, let Dhanaṃjaya behold the strength of my arms, as I loose thousands and hundreds of heron-feathered shafts."

8.26.26 "Today, O Śalya, I will hurl arrows of surpassing keenness, for the destruction of the Pāṇḍavas and for Duryodhana's victory."

8.26.27 Śalya said: O son of a charioteer, how is it that you make light of the Pāṇḍavas, who are masters of every weapon, mighty archers, and all of them great chariot-warriors?

8.26.28 Men who never turn back, exalted, unconquerable, true in valor — who could strike fear into the very Lord of a Hundred Sacrifices himself.

8.26.29 When you hear the roar of the Gāṇḍīva in battle, O Rādheya, like the crashing of the thunderbolt, then you will speak no more like this.

8.26.30 Saṃjaya said: But disregarding that speech uttered by the king of the Madras, Karṇa said to Śalya, "You shall see today," O lord of men.

8.26.31 Seeing Karṇa, the mighty archer, stationed and eager for battle, all the Kurus, their faces glad, raised a shout, O scorcher of foes.

8.26.32 Then, amid the thunder of drums and the din of kettledrums, the varied twang of arrows, and the roars of the swift warriors, your men went forth to battle, having made death their only turning-back.

8.26.33 As Karṇa set forth and the warriors rejoiced, the earth trembled, O king, and gave forth a loud, shrill cry.

8.26.34 Seven great planets were seen issuing forth from the sun; a falling of meteors occurred, and a burning of the quarters of the sky; thunderbolts crashed down, and dreadful winds blew.

8.26.35 And flocks of beasts and birds, many in number, then circled your army from the left, foretelling a great terror.

8.26.36 As Karṇa set out, his horses stumbled to the ground, and a dreadful rain of bones fell from the sky.

8.26.37 The weapons blazed, the banners shook, and the draught-animals shed tears, O lord of the people.

8.26.38 These and many other most dreadful portents arose there, O honored one, for the destruction of the Kauravas.

8.26.39 Yet they reckoned them as nothing, all of them deluded by fate; and as the son of the charioteer set out, the men cried, "Victory!" upon the earth, and your Kauravas deemed the Pāṇḍavas already vanquished.

8.26.40 Then that slayer of hostile heroes, standing upon his car, gazing upon Bhīṣma and Droṇa whose valor had been spent, blazed up, O Bhārata, radiant as fire — that Vaikartana, the bull among chariot-warriors, the elephant of the car.

8.26.41 Addressing Śalya, he spoke these words, having beheld the matchless deeds of Pārtha; burning with pride and arrogance, blazing as if with wrath, he sighed and said:

8.26.42 "Bow in hand, standing on my car, I do not fear even great Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, in his wrath; yet, beholding Bhīṣma and the foremost ones laid low, my steadfastness still does not forsake me."

8.26.43 "When those two, blameless and like unto great Indra and Viṣṇu, crushers of the best of chariots, horses, and elephants, all but invincible, were slain by the foe — even now, for that, there is a trembling in me in battle."

8.26.44 "Looking upon the mighty ranks in battle — men, horses, elephants, and chariots slain by the kings' shafts — how is it that the preceptor, that bull among Brāhmaṇas, knower of the great weapons, did not slay all his enemies in the fight?"

8.26.45 "Recalling the slaying of Droṇa in the great combat, I speak the truth — mark it, O Kurus: none other than I among you could withstand Arjuna in battle, when he comes on like death itself in fearful form."

8.26.46 "Training, graciousness, strength, and firmness, the great weapons and humility were in Droṇa; if that great soul has gone into the power of death, then I deem all the rest stricken helpless today."

8.26.47 "Nothing here, they know, is to be reckoned as certain in this world, because of the impermanence of action's fruit. At sunrise, who, freed of doubt, would take pride today, when the preceptor has been struck down?"

8.26.48 "Surely neither weapons, nor strength, nor prowess, nor skill, nor sound policy, nor the supreme arms suffice to keep a man in happiness — for so the preceptor was slain in battle by the foe."

8.26.49 "Him whose splendor equaled fire and the sun, who in prowess was like Viṣṇu and Purandara, ever in counsel the peer of Bṛhaspati and Uśanas — even him that hard-to-bear weaponry could not save."

8.26.50 "With outcry raised, women and children weeping, the manhood of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's host brought low — I know what must be done by me, O Śalya: therefore advance against the army of our enemies."

8.26.51 "There, where the Pāṇḍava king, true to his word, stands firm, with Bhīmasena and Arjuna, Vāsudeva, the Sṛñjayas, Sātyaki, and the twins — who but I could endure those two?"

8.26.52 "Therefore advance swiftly, O lord of the Madras, against the Pāñcālas, the Pāṇḍavas, and the Sṛñjayas in battle. Either I shall slay them, joining combat, or I think I shall go the way of Droṇa."

8.26.53 "But know me thus, O Śalya: it is not that I will not go into the midst of those heroes. Treachery toward a friend is not to be borne by me; giving up my life, I will follow after Droṇa."

8.26.54 "For wise man and fool alike, at life's end, the release of breath comes to him who has reached the jaws of the Ender. Therefore, O learned one, I will go forth against Pārtha; what is ordained cannot be overstepped."

8.26.55 "For ever of gracious conduct toward me, O king, has the son of Vicitravīrya been; for the achievement of his purpose I give up dear pleasures and life that is so hard to surrender."

8.26.56 "Decked with tiger-skin, its axle never creaking, with a triple golden scabbard and a silver triple yoke-pole — this best of chariots, yoked with the finest steeds, Rāma gave to me."

8.26.57 "Behold, O Śalya, the splendid bows, the banner, the mace, the arrows of fearful form, the blazing sword, the supreme weapon, and the bright conch, loud-resounding and terrible."

8.26.58 "Mounting this bull among chariots — pennoned, roaring like the falling thunderbolt, yoked with white horses, adorned with fair quivers — I shall slay Arjuna in battle by main force."

8.26.59 "If death, the taker of all, ever-vigilant, guards that son of Pāṇḍu in battle, then either I shall slay him, joining combat, or I shall go to Yama by the road that Bhīṣma went."

8.26.60 "Even if Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, and Vāsava, with their hosts, were to come all at once into the great battle to guard the Pāṇḍava — what need of many words? — I would conquer him together with them."

8.26.61 Hearing the words of one thus boasting in the frenzy of battle, that valiant king of the Madras laughed in scorn, rebuked him, and made reply:

8.26.62 "Cease, cease, O Karṇa, from your boasting; you are too rash, and your speech is unfitting. Where is Dhanaṃjaya, that best of men, and where, then, are you? Have done, O foolish one!"

8.26.63 "The dwelling of the Yadus, guarded by Upendra like heaven warded by the king of the gods — who, beholding it, could carry off by force the younger sister of that best of men, save Arjuna?"

8.26.64 "Who among men here could challenge to combat Bhava, the maker of the three worlds, the Lord of lords, in a quarrel over the slaying of a deer, save Arjuna, whose might equaled the valor of the king of the gods?"

8.26.65 "Asuras, gods, great serpents, and men, Garuḍas, piśācas, with yakṣas and rākṣasas, he conquered with his arrows out of reverence for Agni, and the victorious one gave him the oblation he desired."

8.26.66 "Surely you remember, O son of the sun, when that son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra was carried off by his foes and then set free by those best of men, who in the wilds slew many of those enemies?"

8.26.67 "When you had fled at the very first, the strife-loving sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra — surely you remember when they were rescued by the Pāṇḍavas, who overcame the hosts of the sky-rangers?"

8.26.68 "Again, at the seizing of the cattle, you all — with your full strength and steeds, together with the preceptor and his son and Bhīṣma — were vanquished by that best of men. Was not Arjuna unconquered by you then as well?"

8.26.69 "Now this further fine battle has come upon you again, this very day, for your destruction. If you do not flee out of fear of the foe, then, gone to war this day, you are as good as slain, O son of a charioteer."

8.26.70 Saṃjaya said: As the lord of the Madras, with cheerful mind, was thus speaking many harsh words in praise of the foe, that mighty bull, the commander of the Kuru host, exceedingly enraged, said to the king of the Madras:

8.26.71 "So be it, so be it — why do you boast? Surely the battle between me and him is at hand. If he conquers me in the great combat, then let this fair boasting of yours stand proven."

8.26.72 "So be it," said the lord of the Madras, and made no further reply. "Drive on, O lord of the Madras," Karṇa then said to him, eager for battle.

8.26.73 That chariot, with white horses and Śalya for its driver, advanced upon the enemies, smiting foes in battle as the sun dispels the darkness.

8.26.74 Then Karṇa, well pleased, advanced upon his car decked with tiger-skin and yoked with white steeds; and looking upon the bannered host of the Pāṇḍavas, he hastily asked after Dhanaṃjaya.

8.27.1 Saṃjaya said: Even as he advanced, Karṇa, gladdening your army, kept asking after the Pāṇḍava, scanning each warrior in the battle one by one.

8.27.2 "Whoever today shows me that great soul, the one with white steeds, to him I would grant whatever desired boon his heart wishes."

8.27.3 "And if he should think that not enough, then to him who tells me of Dhanaṃjaya I would give besides a cartload filled with jewels."

8.27.4 "And if that man who has pointed out Arjuna should think that not enough, then I would give him yet another gift — a golden elephant and six oxen."

8.27.5 "And to him I would give, besides, a hundred adorned women, dark and lovely, golden chains about their throats, skilled in song and music."

8.27.6 "And if that man who has shown me Arjuna should think that not enough, then I would give him another gift — five hundred white horses."

8.27.7 "And I would give, moreover, eight hundred other steeds, decked with golden trappings and bright jeweled ear-ornaments, and well broken in."

8.27.8 "And to him who tells me of Dhanaṃjaya I would give a bright golden chariot, richly adorned, yoked with the finest Kāmboja steeds."

8.27.9 "To him I would give another gift — six hundred elephants, covered with various golden trappings and wearing golden garlands, bred in the western lands and trained by elephant-tamers."

8.27.10 "And if that man who has shown me Arjuna should think that not enough, then I would give him another gift — whatever he himself might desire."

8.27.11 "My sons and wives, my pleasure-houses, and whatever other wealth is mine — that too I would give him, whatever his heart should wish."

8.27.12 "And having slain the two Kṛṣṇas together, I would give all their wealth entirely to him who tells me of Keśava and Arjuna."

8.27.13 Uttering these words again and again in the battle, Karṇa blew his excellent, sweet-sounding conch, born of the sea.

8.27.14 Hearing those well-spoken words of the son of the charioteer, Duryodhana, O great king, was delighted, together with his followers.

8.27.15 Then the thunder of drums and tabors on every side, the lion-roar mingled with instruments, and the trumpeting of elephants —

8.27.16 — arose then, O king, in your army, O bull of the Bhāratas; and such was the clamor of the warriors in their high joy.

8.27.17 And while the army thus rejoiced, the king of the Madras, with a laugh, addressed these words in reply to Rādheya, that tormentor of foes, who, sweeping along on his great chariot, was boasting in the midst of battle:

8.27.18 "Do not, O son of a charioteer, out of pride bestow the golden elephant and the six oxen upon any man today: you shall see Dhanaṃjaya for yourself."

8.27.19 "As if from childishness you fling away your wealth like Vaiśravaṇa; without any effort at all, O Rādheya, you shall behold Dhanaṃjaya today."

8.27.20 "Why do you squander all this in vain, and why, like a fool, do you talk so much? The faults that lie in giving to the unworthy — those, in your delusion, you do not perceive."

8.27.21 "With the wealth you proclaim, abundant indeed, you could perform many kinds of sacrifices; offer them up in worship, O charioteer's son."

8.27.22 "And that you seek to slay the two Kṛṣṇas — that, from delusion, is mere idle fancy; for we have never heard of two lions struck down in the fray by a jackal."

8.27.23 "You crave what is not to be craved; you have no true friends, since they do not at once restrain you as you fall headlong into the fire."

8.27.24 "You do not know what the hour requires; you are ripened by Time, beyond doubt. Who that wished to live would utter such rambling, unfitting nonsense?"

8.27.25 "Like crossing the ocean with your two arms after binding a stone about your neck, or like leaping down from a mountain-peak — such is the thing you mean to do."

8.27.26 "Joined with all your warriors, well guarded by arrayed troops, do battle with Dhanaṃjaya, if you wish to attain what is best."

8.27.27 "For the good of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son I speak to you, not out of malice. Believe this that I have told you, if there is in you any wish to live."

8.27.28 Karṇa said: Trusting in my own valor I challenge Arjuna in battle. But you, an enemy wearing a friend's face, wish only to frighten me.

8.27.29 No one today shall turn me back from this resolve—not even Indra, raising his thunderbolt. What then can a mere mortal do?

8.27.30 Saṃjaya said: When Karṇa's speech was ended, Śalya, the lord of the Madras, spoke his reply again, eager to provoke Karṇa to the utmost.

8.27.31 When the heron-feathered arrows, sped by Phalguna's force, loosed from the bowstring by his skilled hand, their points whetted sharp, come pursuing you—then you shall burn with grief at Arjuna's onslaught.

8.27.32 When Pārtha, the ambidextrous archer, taking up his divine bow and lighting up the whole army, crushes you with his keen shafts—then, son of a charioteer, you shall repent too late.

8.27.33 As a child lying in its mother's lap reaches out to seize the moon, so you, standing on your chariot and striving in your folly, long today to conquer Arjuna.

8.27.34 Embracing a trident of razor-keen edge, you rub all your limbs against it—for, Karṇa, in seeking to fight Arjuna today you face a deed sharp as that very edge.

8.27.35 As a young, foolish, headstrong little beast might challenge a great, full-grown, maned lion—such, son of a charioteer, is your challenge to Arjuna today.

8.27.36 Do not, O son of a charioteer, challenge that prince of mighty valor, as a jackal in the forest, gorged on flesh, might challenge a lion—do not perish by approaching Pārtha.

8.27.37 You, a hare, summon to battle a great elephant whose tusks are like chariot-poles and whose temples and mouth run with rut—you summon Pārtha Dhanaṃjaya, O Karṇa.

8.27.38 In your childishness you poke with a stick at a black serpent lying in its hole—a creature of deadly venom, its poison-sac brimful—when you wish to fight Pārtha.

8.27.39 In your folly you cross the path of a wrathful maned lion and roar at him like a jackal—at Pāṇḍava, that lion among men, O Karṇa.

8.27.40 Like a small bird you summon to the swoop the fair-winged son of Vinatā, swiftest and best of all that fly—you summon Pārtha Dhanaṃjaya, O Karṇa.

8.27.41 Without a boat you would cross the dread abode of all waters, surging with waves and teeming with great fish, swelling at the rising of the moon.

8.27.42 Like a calf you summon to combat a bull with a neck deep as a drum, sharp-horned and ready to strike—you summon Pārtha Dhanaṃjaya, O Karṇa.

8.27.43 Like a frog you croak back at a great thundering cloud—at Arjuna, that rain-god among men, who pours upon the world the waters of every wish.

8.27.44 As a dog kept in its own house might bark at a tiger ranging in the forest, so do you bark, O Karṇa, at Dhanaṃjaya, that tiger among men.

8.27.45 A jackal too, O Karṇa, dwelling in the forest surrounded by hares, thinks himself a lion—so long as he has not yet seen a lion.

8.27.46 Just so, son of Rādhā, you imagine yourself a lion—having not yet beheld Dhanaṃjaya, that subduer of foes, that tiger among men.

8.27.47 You think yourself a tiger only so long as you have not seen the two Kṛṣṇas standing together upon one chariot, like the sun and the moon.

8.27.48 Only so long as you have not heard the roar of Gāṇḍīva in the great battle, O Karṇa, can you speak as you please.

8.27.49 When you behold him making the ten directions ring with the din of his chariot and bow, roaring like a tiger, you will turn into a jackal.

8.27.50 You are ever a jackal, and Dhanaṃjaya is ever a lion. Fool, through your hatred of the brave you appear forever as a jackal.

8.27.51 As the mouse to the cat, the dog to the tiger, in strength and weakness; as the jackal to the lion, as the hare to the elephant—

8.27.52 as falsehood to truth, as poison to the nectar of immortality—so are you and Pārtha, each made known by your own deeds.

8.27.53 Saṃjaya said: But the son of Rādhā, thus reviled by Śalya of boundless splendor, in towering rage answered Śalya, fixing in his mind that spear of words.

8.27.54 The virtues of a man of virtue, O Śalya, are known by one who has virtue, not by one without it. But you, ever destitute of merit, how shall you, the meritless, know merit?

8.27.55 Arjuna's mighty weapons, his wrath, his valor, his bow and arrows—these I know well, O Śalya; you do not know them so.

8.27.56 Knowing thus both my own valor and the valor that is in the Pāṇḍava, I challenge him to battle, O Śalya—not like a moth rushing into the fire.

8.27.57 And here, O Śalya, is this arrow, finely nocked, drinker of blood, lying apart in its own quiver, well-feathered, burnished bright and richly adorned.

8.27.58 It has rested, honored, for many long years in a casket filled with sandal-paste—venomous as a serpent, deadly, the slayer of hosts of men, horses, and elephants.

8.27.59 Peerless among shafts, of terrible might, it cleaves armor and bone alike; with it, in my fury, I could rive even Meru, the great mountain.

8.27.60 This shaft I would never loose at any other than Phalguna, or Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī—hear from me the truth of this.

8.27.61 With that arrow, O Śalya, in utmost wrath I shall fight Vāsudeva and Dhanaṃjaya—such a deed is worthy of me.

8.27.62 In Kṛṣṇa rests the glory of all the Vāsudevas, and in Pārtha rests the victory of all the sons of Pāṇḍu. Who, meeting both together, could hope to overcome them?

8.27.63 When these two tigers among men, standing together upon one chariot, advance against me alone—then, O Śalya, behold the noble deed that is mine.

8.27.64 Those two cousins, sons of a father's sister and a mother's brother, unconquered kinsmen—you shall see them slain by me, strung like two gems upon a single thread.

8.27.65 In Arjuna is the Gāṇḍīva, in Kṛṣṇa the discus; the one bears Garuḍa, the other the monkey on his banner. These two, terror to the timid, bring me joy, O Śalya.

8.27.66 But you, of base nature, a fool unskilled in great battles, sunk in fear, out of sheer terror babble much that is incoherent.

8.27.67 For some reason you sing the praises of those two, O man of a vile land. When I have slain them in battle, I shall surely slay you too, along with your kinsmen.

8.27.68 Born of a sinful land, dull-witted, base, you disgrace of warriors—having been a friend, why now, turned enemy, do you seek to frighten me with the two Kṛṣṇas?

8.27.69 Either those two shall slay me today, or I shall slay them as they stand in battle. I do not fear the two Kṛṣṇas, for I know full well my own strength.

8.27.70 Were there a thousand Vāsudevas and hundreds of Phalgunas, I alone would slay them all. Hold your peace, O man of a wretched land.

8.27.71 Hear from me, O Śalya, those verses about the vile Madrakas which women, children, the old, and folk gathered at play sing aloud, as though reciting a lesson.

8.27.72 Recited of old by brāhmaṇas, duly, in the presence of a king—listen to them with attention, O fool, and either endure them or make your reply.

8.27.73 The Madraka is ever a betrayer of friends; whoever hates us, he is a Madraka. There is no friendship to be had with a Madraka, that basest of men, foul of speech.

8.27.74 The Madraka is forever vile of soul, forever false and crooked. To the very end there is wickedness among the Madrakas—so have we heard.

8.27.75 Father and mother and son, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and maternal uncles, son-in-law, daughter, brother, grandson, and all their kindred—

8.27.76 and friends and chance-come guests, men-servants and maid-servants assembled together—and women mingling with men, known and unknown alike, at their own pleasure.

8.27.77 In whose houses the so-called respectable, ever feeding on parched barley-meal, having drunk strong liquor together with beef, roar aloud and laugh—

8.27.78 and where unbridled things go on at every whim, where they prattle wantonly to one another—among such people how can there be any righteousness?

8.27.79 With the Madrakas, a lawless folk notorious for foul deeds, one should practice neither enmity nor friendship.

8.27.80 There is no fellowship with a Madraka, for the Madraka is fickle; among the Madrakas, and among the Gāndhārakas, purity is a thing hard to come by.

8.27.81 By an offering performed for a priest who sacrifices for kings, the oblation given is utterly lost.

8.27.82 As a brāhmaṇa who performs the sacraments for a śūdra comes to ruin, so do the haters of the brahman ever come to ruin in this world.

8.27.83 There is no fellowship with a Madraka. The venom of a scorpion's sting is undone, and all is set at peace, by a spell of the Atharvan.

8.27.84 For one stung by a scorpion, or stricken by venoms of every kind, the wise prepare a remedy, and its truth is seen indeed. So, knowing this, hold your peace—and yet hear my further word.

8.27.85 Their women, drunk with liquor, cast off their garments and dance, unrestrained in coupling and roaming at their own desire. How can a Madraka, son of such women, presume to speak of righteousness?

8.27.86 They who make water standing, like she-camels at Daśeraka—you who are the son of such women, fallen from shame and shameless every way, do you wish here to speak of righteousness?

8.27.87 When a Madraka woman is asked for sūvīraka, she scratches her buttocks; and unwilling to give it, she utters this harsh word:

8.27.88 "Let no one, no one ask me for sūvīraka, which is dear to me. I would sooner give my son for the asking than give up my sūvīraka."

8.27.89 The Madraka women are tall and brazen, wrapped in coarse blankets, gluttonous and devoid of all cleanliness—so, for the most part, have we heard.

8.27.90 Of such things, and of others, much could be told by me or by another—of those followers of evil ways, who are blameworthy from the tips of their hair to the tips of their nails.

8.27.91 How then should the Madrakas and the Sindhu-Sauvīras know righteousness here—barbarians sprung from a sinful land, ignorant of all the laws?

8.27.92 This, we have heard, is the foremost duty of a warrior: that he lie slain in battle, honored by the good.

8.27.93 That I should come free from the clash of arms in the encounter—that is no first choice of mine, who in death desire heaven.

8.27.94 I am the dear friend of the wise son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; for his sake are my very life-breaths, and whatever wealth is mine.

8.27.95 It is plain that you too, O man of a sinful land, have been suborned by the Pāṇḍavas, for you behave toward us in all things like an enemy.

8.27.96 Yet surely I cannot be turned away from battle, even by hundreds of your kind—any more than a man who knows the law can be turned by unbelievers.

8.27.97 Like a cātaka bird tormented by the heat, lament and wither away as you please; I, who stand firm in the warrior's calling, cannot be frightened.

8.27.98 Remember the goal which my teacher Rāma once declared to me—the goal of those lions among men who give up their bodies and never turn back in battle.

8.27.99 Know that I have taken up that noblest course, the way of Purūravas—bent on the protection of my own and on the slaughter of my foes.

8.27.100 I see no being in the three worlds, O Madraka, who could turn me back from this resolve—such is my conviction.

8.27.101 Knowing this, hold your peace. Why, out of fear, do you talk so much? Take care that I do not slay you and cast you to the flesh-eating beasts, O basest of Madrakas.

8.27.102 It is only by these three things, O Śalya—out of regard for friendship, for the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and through forbearance toward your abuse—that you yet live.

8.27.103 If once more, O king of the Madras, you speak such a word, I shall strike off your head with my mace, that is like the thunderbolt.

8.27.104 This very day, O man of a wretched land, men shall hear and behold whether the two Kṛṣṇas have slain Karṇa, or Karṇa has slain them.

8.27.105 Having spoken thus, O lord of peoples, the son of Rādhā once more said to the king of the Madras, calmly: "Drive on, drive on!"

8.28.1 Saṃjaya said: My lord, having heard the words of the son of Adhiratha, who gloried in battle, Śalya spoke again to Karṇa, putting forth a parable.

8.28.2 Even as a man is drunk with liquor, so are you—and yet perhaps not quite so; and seeing you thus heedless, I try, out of friendship, to set you right.

8.28.3 Listen to this comparison with a crow that I now set forth, Karṇa; having heard it, do as you please, O base man, defiler of your line.

8.28.4 I can recall no fault in myself at all, Karṇa, for which you, O mighty-armed one, should wish to destroy me, who am innocent.

8.28.5 Yet I must surely speak, if you would understand your own good—and all the more, since I stand upon your chariot and wish the king well.

8.28.6 Smooth ground and rough, the strength and weakness of the warrior, the unceasing toil and weariness of the horses together with the chariot-fighter—

8.28.7 the knowledge of weapons, the cries of beasts and birds, the load and the overload, and the drawing-out of barbs—

8.28.8 the deployment of missiles, the fighting itself, and the omens too—all this must be known to me, who am as the householder of this chariot. Therefore, Karṇa, I tell you once more this instructive tale.

8.28.9 On the shore of the sea, they say, there dwelt a Vaiśya rich in wealth and grain, a performer of sacrifices, a lord of generosity, patient, steadfast in his own duty, and pure.

8.28.10 With many sons, fond of his children, compassionate to all beings, he lived without fear in the realm of a king whose chief care was righteousness.

8.28.11 Of his many young sons, those glorious boys, a crow became the pet, fed on the leavings of their meals.

8.28.12 To it the Vaiśya's young sons would always give meat and rice, curds and milk, sweet milk-pudding, honey and clarified butter.

8.28.13 And that crow, nourished on scraps by the Vaiśya's young sons, grew arrogant and held in contempt the birds that were his equals—and his betters too.

8.28.14 Now one day there came flying down to the seashore some swans, swift as Garuḍa in flight, ruddy-limbed and glad of heart.

8.28.15 Then the boys, seeing the swans, said to the crow: "Surely you, O bird, are the best of all winged creatures!"

8.28.16 And the egg-born one, beguiled by those witless children, took their words for truth, out of folly and out of pride.

8.28.17 Puffed up by his diet of scraps, the crow flew at those many far-flying birds, eager to learn which among them was the foremost.

8.28.18 Whichever of those far-flying swans he judged the best, that bird the dull-witted crow challenged, saying, "Let us fly!"

8.28.19 Hearing this, the swans gathered there laughed aloud as the crow babbled on; and those mighty, best of fliers, the ruddy-limbed birds, spoke these words to the crow.

8.28.20 "We are swans, dwellers on Lake Mānasa, who roam this whole earth, and we are ever honored among birds for our far-ranging flight.

8.28.21 How is it, fool, that being but a crow, you challenge to a flight the strong, adamant-limbed, far-flying swan? How, crow, do you speak of flying together with us?"

8.28.22 Then the foolish, boastful crow, scorning the swan's words again and again, gave his answer out of native frivolity:

8.28.23 "A hundred and one styles of flight will I fly, no doubt of it—each one stretching a hundred leagues, varied and of many kinds:

8.28.24 the up-flight and the down-flight, the forth-flight and the plain flight, the low-flight and the close-flight, the sidelong and the soaring courses;

8.28.25 the spread-flight and the round-flight, the away-flight and the deft-flight, the high-flight and the great-flight, the swoop and the wheeling;

8.28.26 the goings and comings and returnings, and many a downward dart—all these I shall perform before your very eyes this day, and then you shall behold my power."

8.28.27 When the crow had spoken thus, one of the birds, a swan, laughed and answered the crow—hear that speech from me:

8.28.28 "A hundred and one styles of flight you, crow, will surely fly; but all birds know only one single style of flight,

8.28.29 and that one alone shall I fly, crow; no other do I know. As for you, red-eyed one, fly by whatever style you fancy."

8.28.30 Then the crows gathered there burst out laughing: "How shall a swan with a single style of flight outdo a hundred styles?

8.28.31 With one flight against a hundred, the strong, swift-striding crow will overmatch the swan's single flight!"

8.28.32 So then the swan and the crow flew off in contest—the ruddy-limbed swan with his one flight, and the crow with his hundred.

8.28.33 The ruddy-limbed one flew, and the crow flew too, eager to amaze with his flights, proclaiming his own performance.

8.28.34 Then, seeing the crow's flights, dazzling and diverse, the crows rejoiced and cried out with their cawings,

8.28.35 jeering at the swans and uttering insults; flying up again and again, they called out, "In a moment! And like this! And like that!"

8.28.36 From treetops and from level ground they swooped down and soared up, raising their varied clamor, confident then of victory.

8.28.37 But the swan set out to fly with a gentle, easy stroke, and for a moment, sir, he fell behind the crow.

8.28.38 Despising the swans' pace, the crow spoke these words: "That swan who flew up yonder—why, the very same now lags behind!"

8.28.39 Then the swan, hearing this, set off toward the western quarter, speeding higher and higher over the ocean, the abode of Varuṇa.

8.28.40 Then fear entered the crow, bewildered out there, seeing no island, no tree, sinking down worn out: "Where, weary as I am, can I come to rest upon this watery deep?"

8.28.41 For the sea is not to be withstood, the home of many a host of creatures, gleaming with hundreds of great beings—it surpasses even the sky.

8.28.42 By reason of the sea's depth, O lowest of your line, there is no telling its waters from the wide horizon's robe; for they who dwell upon the sea, Karṇa, are hard to conquer—how much more so a crow far out over the deep, Karṇa?

8.28.43 Then the swan, having outstripped him in a moment, looked back upon the crow, who—try as he might—could not get away; and the ruddy-limbed one, having passed him, gazed upon that crow.

8.28.44 And seeing him thus falling behind, the swan, mindful of the vow of the virtuous and wishing to lift up the sinking bird, spoke these words:

8.28.45 "Boasting of your many flights again and again, you now fly without naming them; this secret art you do not declare to us at all.

8.28.46 What style of flight, O crow, is this that you now fly, touching the water with both wings and with your beak again and again?"

8.28.47 Touching the water of the sea with his wings and his beak, that crow, in distress and utterly spent, suddenly dropped down.

8.28.48 The swan said: "Those hundred and one styles of flight, crow, of which you boasted just now, in all their variety—here, today, they are proved a lie in you."

8.28.49 The crow said: "Made proud by my diet of scraps, O swan, I deemed myself the equal of Garuḍa, and looked down on many crows and on other birds besides. For my very life, swan, I throw myself upon you—carry me to the shore of an island!"

8.28.50 "If, swan, I should come safe again to my own country, never again would I despise anyone. Lift me out of this calamity!"

8.28.51 As he spoke thus, wretched, wailing, witless, croaking "Caw, caw!" and sinking in the great deep,

8.28.52 the swan came up to the crow—drenched and pitiable to behold—and lifting the trembling creature with his feet, he set him gently upon his back.

8.28.53 Having set the dazed crow upon his back, the swan, Karṇa, came back to the island from which the two had set out in their contest.

8.28.54 And having set that bird down again and comforted him, the swan, swift as thought, departed to the region he desired.

8.28.55 As that crow in the Vaiśya's house grew proud from feeding on scraps, even so are you, Karṇa, nourished on scraps by Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons—no doubt of it—and you despise all your equals and your betters alike.

8.28.56 Guarded by Droṇa, Aśvatthāman, and Kṛpa, by Bhīṣma and the other Kauravas—why then did you not slay the lone Pārtha in Virāṭa's city?

8.28.57 There, scattered and gathered alike, you were all vanquished by the Diademed One, like jackals by a lion. Where then was that valor of yours?

8.28.58 And seeing your brother slain, defeated by the Left-handed Archer, before the very eyes of the Kuru heroes you were the first to flee.

8.28.59 So too in the Dvaita forest, Karṇa, when the Gandharvas fell upon you, abandoning all the Kurus you were the first to flee.

8.28.60 Smiting and conquering the Gandharvas led by Citrasena in battle, Karṇa, it was Pārtha who set Duryodhana free, together with his wives.

8.28.61 And once again, Karṇa, the ancient might of Pārtha and of Keśava was recounted by Rāma in the hall, in the assembly of kings.

8.28.62 And ever did you hear that word of Droṇa and Bhīṣma, declaring before the kings that the two Kṛṣṇas could not be slain.

8.28.63 How much shall I tell of all the ways in which Dhanaṃjaya surpasses you, surpasses all beings, as the brahmin surpasses every other?

8.28.64 This very moment you shall behold them, stationed on their chariot in the forefront of battle—the son of Vāsudeva and the Pāṇḍava Dhanaṃjaya.

8.28.65 Those two bulls among men, renowned among gods, demons, and mortals, blaze forth in their splendor; but you are like a firefly among men.

8.28.66 Knowing this, O son of a charioteer, do not slight Acyuta and Arjuna. They are lions among men, and you a mere cur; so hold your peace, boaster.

8.29.1 Saṃjaya said: When the son of Adhiratha had thus heard the unwelcome speech of the lord of the Madras, unabashed he answered Śalya: "This is well known to me—what manner of men are Arjuna and Vāsudeva.

8.29.2 The strength of the Pāṇḍava Arjuna, and his great weapons, while Śauri drives his chariot—all this I rightly know this day, Śalya, though to you it lies beyond your sight.

8.29.3 Unassailable though they are, the best of all who bear arms, those two Kṛṣṇas I shall fight without fear; yet what torments me far more this day is the curse from Rāma and from that best of brahmins.

8.29.4 Long ago I dwelt with Rāma in the guise of a brahmin, wishing to master the celestial weapon; and there too, Śalya, the king of the gods cast a hindrance in my path, seeking only Phalguna's good.

8.29.5 Entering my thigh in the misshapen body of a worm, he bored it through; yet out of fear of my teacher I did not stir, and the brahmin, awakening, beheld it.

8.29.6 Questioned, I told that great sage, "I am a charioteer's son." Then he cursed me: "This weapon, won by you through a charioteer's deceit, shall not come to your mind at the hour of need."

8.29.7 "Save only at the hour of your death—for the sacred power cannot abide unfailing in one who is no brahmin." Yet even so, this weapon will more than suffice this day, in this tumultuous and terrible battle, my friend.

8.29.8 As the swift and measureless lord of waters, the sea—who would drown whole hosts of creatures and swells into a vast mountain—is yet held back by the shore alone, immeasurable though he be,

8.29.9 so shall I give battle to the son of Kuntī, slayer of heroes, as he looses his unerring, feathered shafts that cleave the vital points—he who is the foremost bow-drawer in the world this day.

8.29.10 With my own strength I shall withstand that mighty one, surpassing in might, wielder of the great weapon, like unto the sea, terrible and most hard to face, who in floods of arrows drowns the kings—Pārtha I shall meet with my shafts, as the shore meets the ocean.

8.29.11 In battle this day, against him whose equal among men, when he takes up the bow, I deem there is none—who in war could vanquish gods and demons alike—against him behold this day my most dreadful combat.

8.29.12 The over-proud Pāṇḍava, eager for the fight, will come against me with his superhuman great weapons; striking down his missiles with my own in the fray, with my choicest shafts I shall lay Pārtha low.

8.29.13 Him who blazes hot as the very sun, his rays at their full, flaming with glory, dispeller of darkness—Dhanaṃjaya I shall veil with my arrows, as a boundless cloud veils the sun.

8.29.14 As one might become a cloud and with showers of rain quench the fire—Vaiśvānara, his crest of smoke ablaze, radiant, consuming this whole world—so with showers of arrows shall I quell Pārtha in battle.

8.29.15 The crushing, mighty, smiting one—the rending wind, fierce Mātariśvan—even him in battle I shall withstand, as the unmoving Himālaya withstands the gale: Dhanaṃjaya enraged and unforgiving.

8.29.16 Skilled and unhampered in the ways of chariot-warfare, ever the foremost champion in battles, the best in the world of all who bear the bow—Dhanaṃjaya I shall withstand in the fray.

8.29.17 This very day in battle I shall fight, and fully knowing it, against that man who, when he takes up his bow among mortals, has no equal — one who could withstand this whole earth.

8.29.18 He, Savyasācin, who upon the plain of Khāṇḍava conquered all beings, the gods among them — what man other than me, caring for his own life, would dare to do battle with him?

8.29.19 I myself, gladly, in the assembly of the kṣatriyas, would proclaim the valor of that son of Pāṇḍu. Why then, you fool, dull-witted and prating, do you recite to me the prowess of Arjuna?

8.29.20 A spiteful man, harsh and cruel, mean, abusive, intolerant of those who endure — of such men I could slay hundreds. Yet you I forbear, out of patience, because the hour demands it.

8.29.21 You have spoken hateful words for the Pāṇḍavas' sake, assailing me like an idiot, you doer of evil. Crooked in your ways toward me who am upright, you are as good as slain, a betrayer of friendship — for friendship is sealed in seven steps.

8.29.22 But this is the hour, fraught with death and most terrible, in which Duryodhana has come to war. Longing for the fulfillment of his cause, I shall go to him there, where no withdrawal is possible.

8.29.23 A friend, O giver of honor, derives from "to love," "to delight," "to cherish," "to protect," or "to gladden," and so the learned declare from the scriptures of old — and all of that is mine in Duryodhana.

8.29.24 A foe derives from "to fell," "to chastise," "to lay low," "to wound," or "to swell," and, with a prefix, in many ways from "to destroy" — and nearly all of that is in you, both for you toward me and for me toward you.

8.29.25 For Duryodhana's sake, and to spite you, for glory's sake, for my own sake, and for the lord's sake — therefore I shall fight, with all my strength, against the Pāṇḍava and Vāsudeva. Behold that deed of mine this day.

8.29.26 Behold this day my surpassing weapons — sprung from Brahmā, divine, and human alike. I shall close with that man of fierce might as a maddened elephant closes with the lordliest of bulls in rut.

8.29.27 The weapon sprung from Brahmā, unconquerable, peerless, I shall hurl by force of mind against Pārtha for victory; and from it too he shall not escape in battle — unless this day my chariot wheel should sink into broken ground.

8.29.28 Not from the son of Vivasvat with his rod in hand, nor from Varuṇa with his noose, nor from the lord of wealth with his mace, nor even from Vāsava with his thunderbolt —

8.29.29 nor from any other assailant whatsoever do I feel fear. Know this, O Śalya, that I, being fearless, feel no dread.

8.29.30 Therefore I have no fear of Pārtha, nor of Janārdana. This day, in the decisive clash, my battle with the two of them shall come to pass.

8.29.31 "Let your wheel sink into a hole" — so a brāhmaṇa once cursed me: that while I fight in battle, brought to a single, narrow pass, peril should fall upon me.

8.29.32 For that reason I dread, and dread greatly, the utterance of the brāhmaṇa — for these moon-pale kings are masters of pleasure and of pain alike.

8.29.33 For heedlessly, O Śalya, I slew with an arrow the calf of his sacred milk-cow as it grazed in a lonely place — the calf of a brāhmaṇa who was a treasury of penance.

8.29.34 Seven hundred elephants with tusks like chariot-poles, and hundreds of bondwomen and bondmen I offered to that foremost of the twice-born, yet he would show me no favor.

8.29.35 Fourteen thousand black cows with white calves I brought as gifts, yet from that best of the twice-born I won no grace.

8.29.36 My house, abounding in all desirable things, and whatever wealth was mine — all of that, with honor, I offered to give him, yet he would not have it.

8.29.37 Then he said to me, who, though at fault, entreated him with all my effort: "What I have spoken, O sūta, stands thus; it cannot be otherwise."

8.29.38 "A falsehood spoken would destroy my offspring, and from it I should incur sin. Therefore, to safeguard righteousness, I cannot bring myself to utter an untruth."

8.29.39 "Do not seek to thwart the brāhmaṇa's decree; the atonement you have offered has been made. Let no one in the world render my word false — undergo it to the end."

8.29.40 This much I have told you, though I was provoked, yet out of friendship. I know you for one who reviles me — be silent now, and hear my answer.

8.30.1 Saṃjaya said: Then once more, O great king, the son of Rādhā addressed the king of the Madras, that subduer of foes, checking his reply.

8.30.2 "Whatever, by way of example, you have prated at me, O Śalya — I cannot be frightened by you with mere words in battle."

8.30.3 "Even if all the gods, with Vāsava at their head, should give me battle, even then I would feel no fear — how much less from Pārtha, though Keśava be at his side."

8.30.4 "I cannot in any way be frightened by mere words. Find some other man whom you are able to frighten in battle."

8.30.5 "This much only is a low man's strength — the abuse you fling at me. Unable to attain to my qualities, you bluster much, O evil-minded one."

8.30.6 "For Karṇa was not born into this world for fear's sake, good sir. I was born for valor's sake, and likewise for glory's sake."

8.30.7 "But hear this from me with full attention, O lord of the Madra people — what I heard told in the presence of Dhṛtarāṣṭra."

8.30.8 "Brāhmaṇas, recounting many varied and curious lands and the kings of olden times, used to wait upon Dhṛtarāṣṭra."

8.30.9 "There an aged and foremost of the twice-born, telling certain tales of bygone days, spoke these words in censure of the Bāhlika land and of the Madras."

8.30.10 "Those who are cast out by the Himavat, and scorned by the Gaṅgā, by the Sarasvatī, the Yamunā, and by Kurukṣetra as well —"

8.30.11 "those who dwell between the five rivers, with the Sindhu for the sixth — those Bāhlīkas, outside the law and impure, one should shun."

8.30.12 "There is a banyan tree called Govardhana, and a market-square called Subhāṇḍa; this is the gate of the royal house — these I remember from my boyhood."

8.30.13 "On a matter most pressing I once dwelt among the Bāhlīkas; thus, from living among them, their conduct became known to me."

8.30.14 "There is a city named Śākala, a river named Āpagā, and the Bāhlīkas called Jartikā — most contemptible is their way of life."

8.30.15 "Having drunk liquor of fried grain and molasses, they eat beef together with garlic; gorging on cakes, meat, and parched grain, they are void of good conduct."

8.30.16 "They laugh, sing, and dance with their women, drunken and stripped of clothing, upon the walls and houses of the city, garlanded and anointed without."

8.30.17 "With sundry drunken ditties, like the braying of asses and camels, they call out to one another, hurling abuse, frenzied with their intoxication."

8.30.18 "'Alas, slain! Alas, slain! Alas, my lord and husband, slain!' — so wailing, the wretched women dance about, unrestrained on the festal days."

8.30.19 "It is said that a certain one among the Bāhlika chieftains, those defiled folk, while dwelling in the Kurujāṅgala, sang thus, his heart far from glad:"

8.30.20 "'Surely that tall, fair woman, clad in fine wool, lies remembering me, a Bāhlika now dwelling among the Kurus.'"

8.30.21 "'When I have crossed the Śatadru river and the lovely Irāvatī, and gone to my own land, I shall behold the fair women with their heavy conch-bangles.'"

8.30.22 "'Their eye-corners bright with red arsenic, fair-skinned, anointed with collyrium of Trikakud, wrapped in nothing but deerskin, leaping about, lovely to behold —'"

8.30.23 "'to the sounds of drums and kettledrums, of conches and tabors, mounted on asses, camels, and mules, drunken, we shall journey at our ease.'"

8.30.24 "'In the woods of śamī, pīlu, and karīra, along the pleasant roads, eating cakes and balls of barley-meal, washed down with buttermilk —'"

8.30.25 "'grown strong upon the highways, on the unfrequented road we shall fall to robbery and beat down many a traveler.'"

8.30.26 "Among such base, outcaste, evil-souled Bāhlīkas, what man of any sense would dwell even for a moment?"

8.30.27 "Such did the brāhmaṇa declare the Bāhlīkas to be, men of worthless conduct — and you are taker of a sixth part of both their merit and their sin."

8.30.28 "Having spoken thus, the worthy brāhmaṇa spoke yet again. Mark now what he told of the ill-bred Bāhlīkas."

8.30.29 "There, in the thriving city of Śākala, a rākṣasī sings ever on the dark fourteenth night, beating her drum in the darkness:"

8.30.30 "'When shall the songstresses again sing their ballads in Śākala, sated with beef, having drunk the great liquor of molasses,'"

8.30.31 "'together with fair, tall, well-adorned women, eating their fill of mutton washed down with mouthfuls of onion?'"

8.30.32 "'They who do not eat the flesh of swine, of fowl, of cattle, of asses, of camels, and of sheep — their birth is in vain.'"

8.30.33 "So sing the dwellers of Śākala, drunk on rum, leaping about with their children and their elders — what good conduct can there be among such folk?"

8.30.34 "Know this, O Śalya — and come, I shall tell you more besides — what yet another brāhmaṇa told us in the Kuru assembly."

8.30.35 "Where these five rivers flow, where too the pīlu-forests stand — the Śatadru, the Vipāśā, the Irāvatī third, the Candrabhāgā and the Vitastā, with the Sindhu sixth, flowing forth beyond —"

8.30.36 "those lands are called Āraṭṭa, lost to righteousness; let none go to them — to the outcastes, the slave-born, the Videhas who keep no sacrifice."

8.30.37 "Neither the gods, nor the fathers, nor the brāhmaṇas accept the offerings of those Bāhlīkas whose law has utterly perished — so runs the sacred tradition."

8.30.38 "Thus too declared a learned brāhmaṇa in the assembly of the good: the Bāhlīkas eat, shameless, from wooden and earthen bowls smeared with barley-gruel and licked by dogs and the like."

8.30.39 "The milk of ewes, of camels, and of asses, and whatever is made therefrom, the Bāhlīkas both eat and drink."

8.30.40 "Mixing their offspring, base wretches, devouring every kind of food and milk — the Bāhlīkas called Āraṭṭa are to be shunned by the wise."

8.30.41 "Mark too, O Śalya — and come, I shall tell you yet more — what still another honorable brāhmaṇa declared in the Kuru assembly."

8.30.42 "Having drunk milk in Yugaṃdhara, and lodged in Acyutasthala, and bathed likewise in Bhūtilaya — how shall a man go to heaven?"

8.30.43 "Where these five rivers flow, having issued from the mountains — there are the Bāhlīkas called Āraṭṭa; among them no Ārya should dwell two days together."

8.30.44 "Two piśācas there were, named Bahi and Hlīka, dwelling by the Vipāśā; the Bāhlīkas are their offspring — they are no creation of Prajāpati."

8.30.45 "The Kāraskaras, the Māhiṣakas, the Kaliṅgas, the forest Kīkaṭas, the Karkoṭakas and Vīrakas, and the men of evil law — these one should avoid."

8.30.46 "So a certain rākṣasī, dwelling a single night in a house of śamī wood, girt with a great mortar, spoke to a wanderer among the holy fords."

8.30.47 "Those lands are called Āraṭṭa, those people are called Bāhlika; the Vasātis, the Sindhus, and the Sauvīras — these for the most part stand condemned."

8.30.48 "Mark too, O Śalya — and come, I shall tell you more — hear with single-minded attention what I now duly relate."

8.30.49 "A brāhmaṇa once came as a guest to the house of an artisan; observing the customs there, well pleased, he said to the craftsman:"

8.30.50 "'Long have I dwelt alone upon a peak of the Himavat, and I have seen many lands, thronged with diverse customs.'"

8.30.51 "'And nowhere do these peoples set themselves against righteousness; all of them spoke the law as it is declared by those who have mastered the Vedas —'"

8.30.52 "'but ever wandering among lands thronged with diverse customs, O great king, when I came among the Bāhlīkas, this is what I observed:'"

8.30.53 "'There a man, having first been a brāhmaṇa, becomes thereafter a kṣatriya, then a vaiśya, then a śūdra; and the Bāhlika becomes thereafter a barber —'"

8.30.54 "'and, having become a barber, he becomes a brāhmaṇa once more; and there a man, having been twice-born, is born again even as a slave.'"

8.30.55 "'One man in a family becomes a brāhmaṇa, while the rest do as they please. The Gāndhāras, the Madrakas, and the Bāhlīkas are men devoid of all sense.'"

8.30.56 "'This confounding of all law I heard told there; and having wandered the whole earth over, it is among the Bāhlīkas that I found this perversion.'"

8.30.57 Know this too, O Śalya — come, I will tell you yet more — the words another man spoke in condemnation of the Bāhlīkas.

8.30.58 Long ago a certain chaste woman of Āraṭṭa was carried off by robbers, they say, and wrongfully ravished; thereupon she laid this curse upon them:

8.30.59 "Because you have approached me unlawfully — a young girl with kinsmen still living — the women of your houses shall become harlots, and never shall you be freed from this dreadful sin, O basest of men."

8.30.60 The Kurus together with the Pāñcālas, the Śālvas, the Matsyas and the Naimiṣas, the Kosalas, the Kāśis, the Aṅgas, the Kaliṅgas, and the Māgadhas as well —

8.30.61 and the illustrious Cedis — these know the eternal law; and good men in many lands, for the most part, keep to it, save those who have lapsed.

8.30.62 From the lands of the Kurus and Pāñcālas down to the Matsyas, and from the Naimiṣa region the excellent Cedis — these good folk live by the ancient law, all save the Madras and the crooked people of the Five Rivers.

8.30.63 Knowing such discourses on the law, O king, you ought to stay silent like a dolt, Śalya; for you are the protector and ruler of that people, and you take a sixth part of their merit and their sin alike.

8.30.64 Or rather, you take only a share of their evildoing, since you fail to protect them; the king who guards his subjects has a share in their merit, but you have a share only in their demerit.

8.30.65 In olden times, when the eternal law was honored in every land, the Grandsire, beholding the ways of the Five Rivers, cried out, "Shame!"

8.30.66 On account of those outcaste, low-bred men of unclean deeds, the Grandsire scorned the practice of the Five Rivers; even when the four orders abide each in its own duty, he would not honor that custom.

8.30.67 Know this too, O Śalya — come, I will tell you yet more — what the Rākṣasa Kalmāṣapāda said as he was sinking in a lake:

8.30.68 "Begging is the defilement of a Kṣatriya, falsehood the defilement of a Brāhmaṇa; the Bāhlīkas are the defilement of the earth, and the Madra women the defilement of all womankind."

8.30.69 A certain king, having pulled the night-prowler up as he was sinking, questioned him; and what that demon then declared, hear it now.

8.30.70 "The Mlecchas are the defilement of mankind, the Mauṣṭikas the defilement of the Mlecchas; the Śaṇḍas are the defilement of the Mauṣṭikas, and the priests of kings the defilement of the Śaṇḍas."

8.30.71 "And the defilement of those Madrakas who employ kings' priests as their sacrificers — that very defilement shall be yours, if you do not let me go."

8.30.72 Thus, for those afflicted by a Rākṣasa or struck down by the power of poison, this demon's utterance was declared a proven remedy, a charm against such ills.

8.30.73 The Pāñcālas keep the Vedic law, the Kauravas their own duty; the Matsyas embody truth, the Śūrasenas sacrifice; the Easterners are slaves, the Southerners low men, the Bāhlīkas are thieves, and the Surāṣṭras born of mixed castes.

8.30.74 Ingratitude, the seizing of another's wealth, the drinking of liquor, and the violating of a teacher's wife — for those whose law is this there is no such thing as sin; shame upon the Āraṭṭas, the people of the Five Rivers!

8.30.75 From the Kurus to the Pāñcālas, the Naimiṣas, and the Matsyas too — these know the law; and the Kaliṅgas, the Aṅgas, the Māgadhas, and the elders live by the ordinances of the wise.

8.30.76 The eastern quarter is held by the gods, with Agni the knower-of-beings at their head; the southern, guarded by Yama of holy deeds, belongs to the ancestral fathers.

8.30.77 The western quarter the mighty Varuṇa guards, watching over the Asuras; the northern is the lord Soma's, friend of the Veda, dwelling there together with the Brāhmaṇas.

8.30.78 Himavat presides over the Rākṣasas and Piśācas, Gandhamādana over the Guhyakas; Dhruva watches over all beings, and Viṣṇu Janārdana over the worlds.

8.30.79 The Māgadhas understand a hint, the Kosalas a mere glance; the Kurus and Pāñcālas grasp a half-spoken word, the Śālvas need the whole command; but the hillmen are as rugged as the very mountains.

8.30.80 The Yavanas, O king, are all-knowing and brave above all; the Mlecchas follow only their own usages; but other folk understand nothing unless it is plainly told.

8.30.81 The Bāhlīkas stand condemned, and no Madrakas escape it either; and you, Śalya, being of such a stock, have no right to make reply.

8.30.82 Knowing this, hold your peace and do not work against me; else I will slay you first, and then slay Keśava and Arjuna both.

8.30.83 Śalya said: The abandoning of the sick and the selling of one's own wives and sons go on among the Aṅgas, Karṇa — those people whose overlord you are.

8.30.84 What Bhīṣma once said of you in the reckoning of chariot-warriors and master-warriors — knowing these faults of your own, lay aside your wrath, and be not angry.

8.30.85 Everywhere there are Brāhmaṇas, everywhere Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras too, O Karṇa, and virtuous women faithful to their vows.

8.30.86 And men everywhere take their pleasure in jesting, one with another, cutting at each other in raillery; in every land there are those given to such sport.

8.30.87 Everyone is forever skilled at finding fault with others, but knows nothing of his own faults — or, knowing them, is blind.

8.30.88 Saṃjaya said: Karṇa made no answer, and Śalya turned to face the foe; then Rādheya, laughing once more, urged him on again, saying, "Drive on!"

8.31.1 Saṃjaya said: Then Karṇa, surveying the matchless battle-array of the Pārthas, that breaker of hostile lines guarded by Dhṛṣṭadyumna,

8.31.2 advanced with the thunder of his chariot, with lion-roars, and with the blare of instruments, as though making the earth itself tremble.

8.31.3 Quivering, as it were, with rage, that battle-mad scorcher of foes, the mighty-splendored one, drew up his ranks in due order, O bull of the Bhāratas,

8.31.4 and scattered the Pāṇḍava host as Maghavat scatters the army of the Asuras; bearing down upon Yudhiṣṭhira, he turned him to his left.

8.31.5 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: How, Saṃjaya, did Rādheya array himself against the Pāṇḍavas — those heroes led by Dhṛṣṭadyumna and guarded by Bhīmasena?

8.31.6 And who, Saṃjaya, were the flanks and the wings of my army, and how were they posted, drawn up each in its proper place?

8.31.7 And how too did the sons of Pāṇḍu array themselves against my men, and how did that great and most terrible battle begin?

8.31.8 And where was Bībhatsu when Karṇa advanced upon Yudhiṣṭhira? For who, with Arjuna near at hand, could dare to close with Yudhiṣṭhira?

8.31.9 He who once, single-handed, vanquished all beings at the Khāṇḍava — who, save Rādheya, would fight against him and still wish to live?

8.31.10 Saṃjaya said: Hear the ordering of the array, and how Arjuna went forth, having committed the king to others' care, and how the battle then came to pass.

8.31.11 Kṛpa, son of Śaradvat, O king, and the swift Māgadha, and Kṛtavarman of the Sātvata line held the right wing.

8.31.12 On their flank Śakuni and the great chariot-warrior Ulūka, with horsemen bearing bright lances, guarded your host.

8.31.13 with unshaken men of Gāndhāra and unconquerable hillmen, who came on in swarms like locusts and were as dreadful to look upon as Piśācas.

8.31.14 Thirty-four thousand chariots that never turned back — the battle-mad Saṃśaptakas — guarded the left flank.

8.31.15 Mustered by your sons and eager to slay Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, they had as their wing the Kāmbojas, the Śakas, and the Yavanas.

8.31.16 At the command of the Sūta's son, with their chariots, horse, and foot, they took their stand, challenging Arjuna and the mighty Keśava.

8.31.17 In the center, at the army's head, Karṇa took his post, mailed, with gleaming armor and armlets and garlands, guarding the front of the host.

8.31.18 Guarded by your fiercely wrathful sons, that best of weapon-bearers, the hero, shone as he led on the vanguard of the army.

8.31.19 Iron-fisted, mighty-armed, with the radiance of the sun and of fire, tawny-eyed and fair to behold, mounted on the shoulders of a great elephant, Duḥśāsana, surrounded by troops, stood at the rear of the array.

8.31.20 Behind him, O great king, came King Duryodhana himself, guarded by his own brothers with their gaily caparisoned horses and bright armor.

8.31.21 Guarded by the mighty Madrakas and Kekayas joined together, he shone, O great king, like Indra of the hundred sacrifices amid the gods.

8.31.22 Aśvatthāman and the foremost great chariot-warriors of the Kurus, and ever-rutting elephants ridden by valiant Mlecchas, followed that array of chariots like rain-shedding clouds.

8.31.23 With their banners and pennons, with blazing peerless weapons, and manned by their riders, they shone like mountains clothed in forest.

8.31.24 Footguards by the thousand — valiant men bearing pikes and swords, who never turned back — went at the feet of those elephants and foot-soldiers.

8.31.25 With its horsemen, chariots, and elephants richly adorned, that king of arrays shone forth like the host of gods and Asuras.

8.31.26 Disposed after the fashion of Bṛhaspati, well ordered by its wise commander, the great array seemed to dance, and struck terror into the foe.

8.31.27 From its wings and flanks the eager warriors poured forth — foot, horse, chariots, and elephants — like storm-clouds in the rainy season.

8.31.28 Then, beholding Karṇa at the army's head, King Yudhiṣṭhira spoke to Dhanaṃjaya, slayer of foes, the matchless hero:

8.31.29 "Behold, Arjuna, the great array set in order by Karṇa for the battle; furnished with wings and flanks, the host stands resplendent."

8.31.30 "Looking, then, upon this mighty hostile force, let such a plan be devised that it may not overwhelm us."

8.31.31 Thus addressed by the king, Arjuna, with hands joined in reverence, said to him: "It is wholly as you say, and not otherwise."

8.31.32 "The destruction appointed for it I shall accomplish, O Bhārata; its ruin lies in the slaying of its chief, and that I will achieve."

8.31.33 Yudhiṣṭhira said: Therefore you yourself take Rādheya, Bhīmasena Suyodhana, Nakula Vṛṣasena, and Sahadeva the son of Subala;

8.31.34 Śatānīka take Duḥśāsana, the bull of the Śini line take Hārdikya, Dhṛṣṭadyumna take Droṇa's son, and I myself will go against Kṛpa;

8.31.35 let the sons of Draupadī with Śikhaṇḍin take the remaining sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; and let each of my men slay each of those several enemies of ours.

8.31.36 Saṃjaya said: Thus addressed by the King of Righteousness, Dhanaṃjaya answered, "So be it," and gave his orders to his own troops, and himself advanced to the army's front.

8.31.37 Then, seeing that chariot of wondrous aspect coming on, Śalya spoke once more to Karṇa, the son of Adhiratha, that man maddened for battle:

8.31.38 "Here comes that very chariot, drawn by white horses and driven by Kṛṣṇa — the son of Kuntī, slaying his foes, after whom you have been asking again and again."

8.31.39 "A tumultuous din is heard, the loud rumble of chariot-wheels; this dust has risen up and stands veiling the very sky."

8.31.40 "Pounded by chariot-wheels the earth trembles, Karṇa; this great wind blows on every side of your host; and these flesh-eating beasts cry out, making a fearful clamor."

8.31.41 "Behold, Karṇa, most dreadful, terrifying, and hair-raising, a headless trunk dark as a cloud, standing there veiling the sun."

8.31.42 "Behold how the sun is stared at from every quarter by manifold herds of beasts and by mighty, arrogant tigers."

8.31.43 "Behold the herons and the vultures gathered by the thousand, standing fronting us, dreadful, calling out one to another."

8.31.44 "White are the horses yoked to your great chariot, Karṇa; these meteors blaze, and your banner too is trembling."

8.31.45 "Behold his horses springing forward, huge of frame and swift, fair to see, as though flying through the sky like Garuḍas."

8.31.46 "Surely, at these omens, the kings, slain in hundreds and in thousands, Karṇa, shall lie sleeping, covering the earth."

8.31.47 "A tumultuous, hair-raising sound is heard, Rādheya — of conch-shells and of war-drums and of tabors, on every side."

8.31.48 "Hear, Karṇa, the manifold twang of arrows, the din of men and horses and chariots, and the noise of bowstrings, hand-guards, and shafts of those great-souled warriors."

8.31.49 Wrought by craftsmen from cloths burnished with gold and silver, hangings of many hues gleam upon the chariot, trembling as the wind sets them astir.

8.31.50 Behold these banners, hung with little bells and bearing emblems of the golden moon, the stars, and the sun—they flash, O Karṇa, on Arjuna's car like streaks of lightning in a thundercloud.

8.31.51 The standards jangle and chime, driven by the wind, and the chariots too, with their pennons, belong to the high-souled Pāñcālas.

8.31.52 As he smites the flood of your elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers, the tip of his banner can be seen, and the twang of his bowstring is heard.

8.31.53 Today, Karṇa, you shall behold that hero of the white horses, whose charioteer is Kṛṣṇa, striking down his foes in battle—the very warrior of whom you keep asking.

8.31.54 Today, Karṇa, you shall see those two tigers among men, red-eyed scorchers of the foe, Vāsudeva and Arjuna, standing together upon a single car.

8.31.55 He whose charioteer is the Vārṣṇeya and whose bow is the Gāṇḍīva—if you can slay him, O Rādheya, you shall become our king.

8.31.56 "Summoned by the Saṃśaptakas, he has gone straight to meet them, and that mighty one wreaks havoc upon those foes in the fray"—so spoke the lord of the Madras, and Karṇa, full of furious wrath, answered him.

8.31.57 Look—beset on every side by the enraged Saṃśaptakas, the son of Pṛthā is no more to be seen, veiled as the sun is veiled by clouds. This is his end, O Śalya: Arjuna has sunk in an ocean of sorrow.

8.31.58 Śalya said: Who could slay Varuṇa with water, or the fire with fuel? Who could fetter the wind, or who could drink up the great ocean?

8.31.59 Such, I deem, would be the subduing of Pṛthā's son in battle. For Arjuna cannot be conquered by all the gods and demons together, with Indra at their head.

8.31.60 Yet if it pleases you to be so deluded, speak on and be of good cheer; but he cannot be conquered in war—set your heart upon some other wish.

8.31.61 He who could vanquish Arjuna in battle could lift up the earth with his two arms, could in his wrath burn up these creatures, could cast down the gods from the third heaven.

8.31.62 Behold the hero, Kuntī's son Bhīma, who toils untiringly, the mighty-armed one blazing in his splendor, standing immovable as Mount Meru.

8.31.63 Impatient of insult, ever seething, nursing his long grudge, here stands the valiant Bhīma in the fight, athirst for victory.

8.31.64 Here stands the best of the upholders of righteousness, the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira, hard for foes to withstand in battle, that conqueror of the cities of his enemies.

8.31.65 And here stand those two tigers among men, brothers like the twin Aśvins—Nakula and Sahadeva—unconquerable in the fight.

8.31.66 Yonder are seen these five sons of Kṛṣṇā, arrayed for war like five mountains, each one Arjuna's equal in the field.

8.31.67 And here are the sons of Drupada, with Dhṛṣṭadyumna at their head—heroes of surpassing might, though bereft now of Satyajit—holding their ground.

8.31.68 Even as those two lions among men were thus conversing, the two armies clashed violently together, like the Gaṅgā meeting the Yamunā.

8.32.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: When the hosts were thus arrayed and locked in conflict, O Saṃjaya, how did the son of Pṛthā go against the Saṃśaptakas, and Karṇa against the Pāṇḍavas?

8.32.2 Tell me this battle in full, for you are skilled in the telling; I never tire of hearing the valorous deeds of heroes in the fray.

8.32.3 Saṃjaya said: Having stationed his mighty army in its place to face the foe, Arjuna marshalled a battle-array against your son's ill counsel.

8.32.4 Thick with horsemen and elephants, crowded with foot and chariots, that great host, arrayed by Dhṛṣṭadyumna and the other leaders, shone resplendent.

8.32.5 With horses dove-grey in hue, and splendor like the moon's and the sun's, the son of Pṛṣata, bow in hand, blazed forth like Death himself made flesh.

8.32.6 About the son of Pṛṣata stood the sons of Draupadī, eager for battle, dread of aspect, with their followers, as the host of stars about the moon.

8.32.7 Then, when the hosts were marshalled, Arjuna, beholding the Saṃśaptakas on the field, rushed upon them in wrath, brandishing the Gāṇḍīva bow.

8.32.8 Then the Saṃśaptakas charged at Pṛthā's son, athirst to slay, resolved upon victory, having made death their only turning-back.

8.32.9 That force, teeming with troops of horse, thronged with rutting elephants and chariots, dense with footmen and floods of brave warriors, rushed swiftly upon Arjuna.

8.32.10 The tumultuous clash between them and the Diademed One was such as we had heard of in his fight against the Nivātakavacas.

8.32.11 Chariots, horses, banners, elephants, foot-soldiers, and lords of chariots, arrows, bows, swords, discuses, and battle-axes—

8.32.12 —and arms upraised with their weapons, and weapons held aloft, and heads of his foes by the thousand, the son of Pṛthā cut asunder.

8.32.13 Thinking his chariot sunk in that great whirlpool of an army, like the whirlpool of the nether deep, the Saṃśaptakas roared aloud for joy.

8.32.14 But Bībhatsu in his wrath slew his foes before him, and with the rear and the north and the south of his car as well, like Rudra slaughtering the beasts.

8.32.15 Then, O venerable one, between the Pāñcālas, the Cedis, and the Sṛñjayas and your warriors there raged a most terrible battle.

8.32.16 Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman, and Śakuni the son of Subala, their troops exultant and furious, smiting hard with their hosts of chariots—

8.32.17 —battle-maddened, they fought against the Kosalas, the Kāśis, the Matsyas, the Karūṣas, the Kekayas, and the brave Śūrasenas, valiant warriors all.

8.32.18 That fight, which made an end of them, destroyed the sins of their bodies; for those warriors—Śūdra, Vaiśya, and Kṣatriya—it was righteous, heaven-winning, and bestowing fame.

8.32.19 Duryodhana too, O bull of the Bhāratas, together with his brothers, guarded by the foremost Kuru heroes and the great car-warriors of the Madras,

8.32.20 —that Kuru hero shielded Karṇa as he fought in the field against the Pāṇḍavas with the Pāñcālas, the Cedis, and Sātyaki.

8.32.21 And Karṇa too, smiting down the great host with his sharpened arrows and crushing the foremost car-warriors, sorely beset Yudhiṣṭhira.

8.32.22 Stripping his foes by the thousand of their armor, their weapons, their bodies, and their breath, and joining them to heaven and to fame, he brought joy to his own.

8.32.23 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: How Karṇa, having pierced the army of the sons of Pṛthā and wrought slaughter among men, fell upon the king—tell me that, Saṃjaya.

8.32.24 Which heroes of the Pārthas held Karṇa back in the fight? And whom did the son of Adhiratha crush before he beset Yudhiṣṭhira?

8.32.25 Saṃjaya said: Seeing the Pārthas arrayed with Dhṛṣṭadyumna at their head, Karṇa, the harrower of foes, charged swiftly upon the Pāñcālas.

8.32.26 As he rushed swiftly on, the Pāñcālas, flushed with the look of victory, went forth to meet him, O great king, like wild geese flying toward the mighty ocean.

8.32.27 Then on both sides arose the heart-stirring blast of a thousand conches and the terrible thunder of war-drums.

8.32.28 And the sound of many instruments, the clamor of elephants, horses, and chariots, and the lions' roar of the heroes grew terrible in that hour.

8.32.29 The earth with its mountains, trees, and seas, the sky with its winds and clouds, and the heaven with its sun, moon, planets, and stars—all visibly reeled.

8.32.30 Living things were overwhelmed by that uproar and were sore afflicted; and of the creatures that could not swim, the most part perished.

8.32.31 Then Karṇa, exceedingly wrathful, loosing his weapons swiftly, smote the Pāṇḍava army as Maghavat smote the host of demons.

8.32.32 Swiftly piercing among the Pāṇḍava chariots and loosing his shafts, he slew seventy and seven of the foremost of the Prabhadrakas.

8.32.33 Then that best of car-warriors, with twenty-five fair-feathered, whetted chariot-arrows, slew five and twenty Pāñcālas.

8.32.34 With gold-feathered iron shafts that cleave through the bodies of foes, the hero slew the Cedis by hundreds and by thousands.

8.32.35 As he wrought thus in battle his more-than-human deeds, O great king, the chariot-throngs of the Pāñcālas hemmed him round.

8.32.36 Then fitting five unbearable shafts to his bow, O Bhārata, Karṇa Vaikartana, the bull among men, slew five Pāñcālas.

8.32.37 Bhānudeva, Citrasena, and Senābindu, O Bhārata, and Tapana and Śūrasena—these Pāñcālas he slew in the fray.

8.32.38 As the brave Pāñcālas were being struck down by his arrows, a great wail of woe arose among the Pāñcālas in that mighty battle.

8.32.39 As they were scattered in rout, the quarters were filled with their cries of woe; and again Karṇa swiftly slew them with his feathered shafts.

8.32.40 Now the guards of Karṇa's chariot-wheels were his two sons, O venerable one, hard to conquer—Suṣeṇa and Satyasena—who fought, having staked their very lives.

8.32.41 And the guard of Karṇa's rear was his eldest son, the great car-warrior Vṛṣasena, who himself protected Karṇa from behind.

8.32.42 Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Sātyaki, the sons of Draupadī, Vṛkodara, Janamejaya and Śikhaṇḍin, and the heroic Prabhadrakas,

8.32.43 the Cedis, Kekayas, and Pāñcālas, the twins and the Matsyas, all mailed and smiting hard, charged upon Rādheya, eager to slay him.

8.32.44 With weapons of every kind and with showers of arrows they rained upon him, crushing him, as in the rainy season the clouds beat upon a mountain.

8.32.45 But Karṇa's sons, smiting fiercely, sought to save their father, and your other heroes too, O king, held those heroes back.

8.32.46 Suṣeṇa, having cut Bhīmasena's bow with a broad-headed shaft and pierced Bhīma in the breast with seven iron arrows, let out a roar.

8.32.47 Then Vṛkodara of dread prowess, taking up another stout bow and stringing it, cut asunder Suṣeṇa's bow.

8.32.48 And in his wrath, as though dancing, he pierced him with nine arrows, and swiftly pierced Karṇa too with three and seventy whetted shafts.

8.32.49 And Satyasena, Karṇa's son, with his horses, his charioteer, his banner, and his weapons, he struck down with ten shafts in the very midst of his beholding friends.

8.32.50 His head, struck off by the razor-arrow, its face fair as the moon, was lovely still to look upon, like a lotus fallen from its stalk.

8.32.51 Having slain Karṇa's son, Bhīma fell once more upon your men; and severing the bows of Kṛpa and the son of Hṛdika, he afflicted those two as well.

8.32.52 Piercing Duḥśāsana with three and Śakuni with six iron shafts, he made both Ulūka and Patatrin chariotless.

8.32.53 "Ho, Suṣeṇa, you are slain!"—so crying, he took up an arrow; but Karṇa cut it down and struck him with three shafts.

8.32.54 Then Bhīma seized yet another, well-jointed and keenly sharpened, and loosed it at Suṣeṇa; but that one too the bull-like Karṇa cut down.

8.32.55 Again Karṇa, seeking to save his son, pierced the cruel Bhīmasena with three and seventy chariot-arrows, fierce shafts loosed in his desire to kill.

8.32.56 And Suṣeṇa, seizing an excellent bow that could bear a heavy strain, smote Nakula with five arrows in the arms and the breast.

8.32.57 But Nakula, piercing him in turn with twenty stout, strain-bearing shafts, let out a mighty roar that struck fear into Karṇa.

8.32.58 Then Suṣeṇa, O great king, that great car-warrior, having pierced him with ten swift arrows, quickly cut his bow with a razor-shaft.

8.32.59 Then Nakula, beside himself with wrath, took up another bow and held Suṣeṇa back in the encounter with many arrows.

8.32.60 And that slayer of hostile heroes, O king, covering the quarters with his arrows, smote his charioteer, and then struck Suṣeṇa with three shafts, and cut his stout bow in three with three broad-headed arrows.

8.32.61 Then Suṣeṇa, beside himself with rage, took up another bow and pierced Nakula with sixty shafts and Sahadeva with seven.

8.32.62 That battle grew vast and terrible, like the war of gods and demons, as they swiftly struck one another with arrows, each bent on the other's death.

8.32.63 Sātyaki, having slain Vṛṣasena's charioteer with three shafts, cut his bow with a broad arrow, killed his horses with seven, struck down his banner with a single dart, and pierced him in the heart with three.

8.32.64 Then, having sunk down upon his own chariot, he rose again in a moment, and bearing sword and shield rushed at the scion of Śini, eager to slay him.

8.32.65 As Vṛṣasena came bounding swiftly forward, Sātyaki struck his sword and shield with ten boar-eared arrows.

8.32.66 But Duḥśāsana, seeing him stripped of chariot and weapon, took him up at once into his own car and bore him off to another chariot.

8.32.67 Then, mounting another chariot, Vṛṣasena the great warrior, unassailable in battle, once more guarded Karṇa's rear.

8.32.68 And the scion of Śini, with nine and nine swift shafts, stripped Duḥśāsana of charioteer, horses, and car, and struck him with three upon the brow.

8.32.69 But he, mounting another chariot duly equipped, fought once more against the Pāṇḍavas, swelling the strength of Karṇa's host.

8.32.70 Then Dhṛṣṭadyumna pierced Karṇa with ten shafts, the sons of Draupadī with seventy-three, and Yuyudhāna with seven.

8.32.71 Bhīmasena struck him with sixty-four, Sahadeva with five, Nakula with thirty arrows, Śatānīka with seven, the hero Śikhaṇḍin with ten, and the King of Righteousness with a hundred.

8.32.72 These and other foremost heroes, O lord of kings, greedy for victory, fell upon that mighty archer, the charioteer's son, in the great affray.

8.32.73 Them the charioteer's son, that valiant subduer of foes, ranging gracefully upon his car, pierced in return with ten and ten sharpened arrows each.

8.32.74 There, O great king, we beheld the might of Karṇa's weapons and the deftness of that high-souled one, and it seemed a thing of wonder.

8.32.75 For they could not see that great warrior taking up his arrows, nor fitting them to the string, nor loosing them in his fury.

8.32.76 Heaven, sky, earth, and the quarters were swiftly overrun with his keen shafts; and in that place the firmament shone as if veiled with crimson cloud.

8.32.77 As if dancing, bow in hand, the glorious son of Rādhā pierced in turn each of those by whom he had been struck, with thrice as many arrows.

8.32.78 And piercing them again with ten and ten apiece, he roared aloud; whereupon they, with their horses, charioteers, banners, and parasols, gave way and left him an opening.

8.32.79 Crushing those mighty archers with his showers of shafts, the son of Rādhā, tormentor of foes, entered the king's host where its ranks were thinnest.

8.32.80 Having slain three hundred chariots of the unretreating Cedis, the son of Rādhā with his keen arrows then assailed Yudhiṣṭhira.

8.32.81 Then those Pāṇḍavas, O king, with Śikhaṇḍin and Sātyaki, encircled the king to shield him from the son of Rādhā.

8.32.82 In like manner all your own host, the great archers of the army, intent in battle, guarded Karṇa, irresistible in the fray, on every side.

8.32.83 The blare of many instruments arose, O lord of peoples, and the lion-roar of the unretreating warriors broke forth.

8.32.84 Then once again the Kurus and Pāṇḍavas, fearless, came together — the sons of Pṛthā led by Yudhiṣṭhira, and we led by the charioteer's son.

8.33.1 Saṃjaya said: Karṇa, having rent that host asunder, rushed upon the King of Righteousness, surrounded by thousands of chariots, elephants, horsemen, and foot-soldiers.

8.33.2 The thousands of varied weapons hurled by his foes that bull among men cut apart with hundreds of fierce arrows, and, unperturbed, pierced his enemies in turn.

8.33.3 He severed their heads, their arms, and their thighs on every side; slain, they fell to the earth, while others, broken, fled away.

8.33.4 But the Draviḍas, Andhras, and Niṣādas, urged on once more by Sātyaki, those foot-soldiers fell upon Karṇa in battle, seeking to slay him.

8.33.5 Stripped of arms, heads, and helmets, struck down by Karṇa's shafts, they fell upon the earth all at once, like a felled grove of sāla trees.

8.33.6 Thus hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of warriors, slain in battle, sank to the earth in their bodies, filling the quarters with their fame.

8.33.7 Then the Pāṇḍavas and Pāñcālas hemmed in Karṇa Vaikartana, wrathful in battle like Death himself, as men hem in a disease with spells and herbs.

8.33.8 But crushing them, he fell once more upon Yudhiṣṭhira, like some most virulent disease that defies the remedy of spell and herb.

8.33.9 Hemmed in by the Pāṇḍavas, Pāñcālas, and Kekayas, all eager to seize the king, he could not break past them, as Death cannot pass a knower of Brahman.

8.33.10 Then Yudhiṣṭhira, slayer of hostile heroes, his eyes red with wrath, spoke to Karṇa, who stood at no great distance, held in check.

8.33.11 Karṇa, Karṇa of vain insight, son of a charioteer, hear my word! Ever in battle you vie with the glorious Phalguna, and ever you harry us, standing fast in the will of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son.

8.33.12 Whatever strength, whatever valor, and whatever hatred of the Pāṇḍavas is yours — show it all today, calling up your utmost manhood; for this day, in this great battle, I shall purge you of your appetite for war.

8.33.13 Having spoken thus, O great king, the son of Pāṇḍu then pierced Karṇa with ten keen iron arrows fledged with gold.

8.33.14 The charioteer's son, that subduer of foes and mighty archer, pierced him in return with nine calf-toothed shafts, as though laughing, O Bhārata.

8.33.15 Then the hero, with two razor-tipped shafts and with smooth-jointed arrows, slew in battle the two Pāñcāla guardians of the high-souled king's chariot-wheels.

8.33.16 Those two foremost heroes, on either flank of the King of Righteousness, had shone beside his chariot like the twin Punarvasu stars beside the moon.

8.33.17 Yudhiṣṭhira again pierced Karṇa with thirty shafts, and struck Suṣeṇa and Satyasena with three apiece.

8.33.18 He pierced Śalya with ninety arrows and the charioteer's son with seventy-three, and pierced those who guarded him with three straight-flying shafts each.

8.33.19 Then the son of Adhiratha, laughing and shaking his bow, cleft the king's bow with a broad arrow, pierced him with sixty shafts, and roared aloud in joy.

8.33.20 Then the foremost heroes of the Pāṇḍavas ran toward Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking to save him from the charioteer's son, and assailed Karṇa with their arrows.

8.33.21 Sātyaki and Cekitāna, Yuyutsu and the Pāṇḍya, Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, the sons of Draupadī, and the Prabhadrakas;

8.33.22 the twins and Bhīmasena, and the son of Śiśupāla, the Karūṣas, the surviving Matsyas, the Kekayas, the Kāśis and Kosalas — these heroes, in haste, held Vasuṣeṇa in check.

8.33.23 And Janamejaya the Pāñcāla pierced Karṇa with his shafts — with boar-eared darts, iron arrows, tubular bolts, and keen arrows, with calf-toothed shafts, broad-headed darts, razor-edged and sparrow-mouthed arrows.

8.33.24 With diverse and dreadful weapons the riders of chariots, elephants, and horses rushed at Karṇa from every side, hemming him in with intent to kill.

8.33.25 Beset on all sides by the foremost of the Pāṇḍavas, he invoked the Brāhma weapon, filling the quarters with his arrows.

8.33.26 Then the fire that was Karṇa, with arrows for its mighty flames and his valor for its heat, ranged gracefully through the battle, consuming the forest of the Pāṇḍavas.

8.33.27 That mighty archer, having turned aside the great weapons of those high-souled warriors, laughed and cut the bow of the lord of men with his shafts.

8.33.28 Then, fitting ninety smooth-jointed arrows in the twinkling of an eye, Karṇa with his keen shafts pierced through the king's armor in the battle.

8.33.29 That mail, wrought with gold, gleamed as it fell, like the remnant of a lightning-laden cloud, scattered by the wind from before the sun.

8.33.30 That body of the lord of men, its armor fallen away, shone adorned with celestial jewels, like the cloudless sky by night.

8.33.31 Then the son of Pṛthā, stripped of mail by the arrows and drenched in blood, in his fury hurled an all-iron lance at the son of Adhiratha.

8.33.32 That lance, blazing as it were in the sky, he cut with seven arrows; severed by the mighty archer's shafts, it fell to the ground.

8.33.33 Then Yudhiṣṭhira, striking Karṇa upon both arms, upon the brow, and upon the heart with four javelins, roared aloud in joy.

8.33.34 Karṇa, blood streaming forth, hissing in his wrath like a serpent, cut the banner with a broad arrow, pierced the Pāṇḍava with three, severed his two quivers, and shattered his chariot to bits.

8.33.35 Thus the son of Pṛthā withdrew, his flank-guards and charioteer slain, unable, in his despair, to stand before Karṇa's face.

8.33.36 The son of Rādhā, rushing upon him, touched his shoulder with his hand and spoke, O king, laughing, as if to revile the Pāṇḍava:

8.33.37 How should one born in a noble line, established in the warrior's duty, abandon his foes in combat to save his own life in the great battle?

8.33.38 It is my belief that you are not skilled in the duties of a warrior; you are suited rather to the strength of the brahmin — to study and the rites of sacrifice.

8.33.39 Do not fight, son of Kuntī; do not close with heroes, do not speak harsh words to them, and do not venture into the great battle.

8.33.40 Having so spoken, the mighty one let the son of Pṛthā go and fell to smiting the Pāṇḍava host as the thunderbolt-bearer smites the demon hordes; then the lord of men, O king, departed swiftly, as if ashamed.

8.33.41 Then the Cedis, Pāṇḍavas, and Pāñcālas, and Sātyaki the great warrior, the valiant sons of Draupadī, and the two Pāṇḍava sons of Mādrī, followed the king as he withdrew, unshaken.

8.33.42 Then Karṇa, seeing Yudhiṣṭhira's host turned away in flight, pursued its rear together with the Kuru heroes who rode behind him.

8.33.43 Then, with the blare of conches and kettledrums and the twang of bows, the lion-roar of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons arose.

8.33.44 But Yudhiṣṭhira, O scion of Kuru, mounting in haste the chariot of Śrutakīrti, O great king, looked upon Karṇa's prowess.

8.33.45 Seeing his host driven before the foe, the King of Righteousness, Yudhiṣṭhira, wrathful, said to those warriors: Slay him! Slay him by the thousand!

8.33.46 Then, given leave by the king, the great warriors of the Pāṇḍavas, all led by Bhīmasena, charged against your sons.

8.33.47 There arose a tumultuous din of warriors, O Bhārata — of elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers, and of weapons, on every side.

8.33.48 Rise! Strike! Advance! Fall upon them! — so crying out to one another, the warriors slew each other on the field of battle.

8.33.49 There, from the showers of arrows in the air, came a darkness as of cloud-shadow, as the foremost of men, met together, struck one another down.

8.33.50 Bereft of pennons, banners, and parasols, of horses, charioteers, and weapons, their limbs mangled, their lords slain, the spent warriors fell upon the ground.

8.33.51 The noblest of elephants, like the towering peaks of mountains, fell slain with their riders, like crags split by the thunderbolt.

8.33.52 Horses by the thousand, their armor and trappings cut, broken, and overturned, fell with their riders, their heroes slain.

8.33.53 And bands of foot-soldiers by the thousand, their weapons and limbs scattered about, were slain in the press by elephants, horses, chariots, and by hostile warriors.

8.33.54 On every side the earth was strewn with the heads of battle-drunken warriors — heads with broad, long, coppery eyes and faces like the lotus and the moon.

8.33.55 And in the wide expanse of the heavens men heard a sound — the celestial cars of the throngs of Apsarases and the strains of their song and music.

8.33.56 The heroes slain and cut down while facing the foe — by the thousand the hosts of Apsarases bore them up, one by one, into their celestial cars, and departed.

8.33.57 Beholding that great marvel with their own eyes, the heroes, their hearts thrilled with longing for heaven, rushed swiftly against one another.

8.33.58 Splendidly they fought in battle—chariot-warriors against chariot-warriors, foot-soldiers against foot-soldiers, elephants against elephants, and horses against horses.

8.33.59 As the battle raged thus, with its slaughter of elephants, horses, and men, and the army shrouded in dust, one's own struck down one's own, and the foe struck the foe.

8.33.60 The fight blazed hair against hair, tooth against tooth, nail against nail, with fists and grappling—a struggle that destroyed both body and sin.

8.33.61 As the battle ran on with its destruction of elephants, horses, and men, a river of blood streamed forth from the bodies of men, horses, and elephants, and it bore along the many fallen bodies of men, horses, and elephants.

8.33.62 In that press of men, horses, and elephants, a most terrible river whose waters were blood and whose mire was gore, fed by the slaughtered riders of men, horses, and elephants, flowed on bearing their bodies—a thing of dread to the faint-hearted.

8.33.63 Those who sought victory made for its farther shore, some crossing by the fords, some swimming, and yet others sinking and rising up again.

8.33.64 Their limbs smeared with blood, their armor, weapons, and garments dyed red, they bathed in that river, drank of its gore, and grew faint, O bull of the Bhāratas.

8.33.65 Chariots, horses, men, and elephants, weapons and ornaments, garments and armor, the dying and the dead, the earth, the sky, the heavens, and all the quarters—nearly everything we saw was crimson.

8.33.66 From the smell of the blood, from its touch, its taste, its excessive sight, and the very sound of its trickling, a great despondency fell upon nearly the whole army, O Bhārata.

8.33.67 That sorely battered army of yours the heroes once more assailed—the chariot-warriors led by Bhīmasena and headed by Sātyaki.

8.33.68 Unable to withstand the onset of those great-souled warriors as they charged, the mighty host of your sons turned its back in flight, O king.

8.33.69 That host, its chariots, horses, and elephants scattered, choked with men and steeds, its shields and armor shattered, its weapons and bows flung away—

8.33.70 —your army fled, churned up on every side, like a herd of elephants harried by a lion in the great forest.

8.34.1 Saṃjaya said: Seeing the Pāṇḍavas charging upon them, your army, O king, did not turn back, though your son cried out to them.

8.34.2 Then from the flank and from the wing, and with the wings from the right as well, the Kurus with weapons raised rushed upon Bhīma in battle.

8.34.3 Karṇa too, seeing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra fleeing with averted faces, drove his swan-white, peerless steeds to where Vṛkodara was.

8.34.4 Urged on, O great king, by Śalya who shone in battle, those horses, reaching Bhīmasena's chariot, were brought to a halt.

8.34.5 Seeing Karṇa drawing near, Bhīma, filled with wrath, set his mind upon Karṇa's destruction, O bull of the Bhāratas.

8.34.6 He said to the hero Sātyaki and to Dhṛṣṭadyumna, son of Pṛṣata: 'Guard this king, the righteous-souled Yudhiṣṭhira, who, before my very eyes, has just barely escaped from a great peril.'

8.34.7 'Before me the king was stripped of all his equipage, to please Duryodhana, by the evil-souled son of Rādhā.'

8.34.8 'This day, O son of Pṛṣata, I shall make an end of that sorrow. Either I shall slay Karṇa in battle, or he shall slay me in a most terrible fight—this I tell you truly.'

8.34.9 'This day I give over the king into your keeping as a sacred trust; do you all, without anxiety, strive together for his protection.'

8.34.10 Having spoken thus, the mighty-armed one advanced against the son of Adhiratha, making all the quarters resound with a great lion's roar.

8.34.11 Seeing Bhīma, who delighted in battle, swiftly approaching, the lord and sovereign of the Madras spoke thus to the son of the charioteer:

8.34.12 'Behold, Karṇa, the mighty-armed delight of the Pāṇḍus, enraged and surely eager to pour out upon you a wrath long stored up.'

8.34.13 'Never before have I seen such a form upon him, O Karṇa—not when Abhimanyu was slain, nor when the rākṣasa Ghaṭotkaca fell.'

8.34.14 'In his wrath, fit to hold back the whole of the three worlds, he wears a form fair yet terrible, like the fire of the world's end.'

8.34.15 As the lord of the Madras spoke thus to the son of Rādhā, O king, Vṛkodara, ablaze with anger, bore down upon Karṇa.

8.34.16 Beholding Bhīma, who rejoiced in battle, come on in that fashion, the son of Rādhā, smiling as it were, spoke these words to Śalya:

8.34.17 'The words you have spoken to me this day concerning Bhīmasena, O lord of the Madra people, O mighty one, are true—of this there is no doubt.'

8.34.18 'This Vṛkodara is brave and heroic and wrathful, heedless of his own body and of his very life, and surpassing in strength.'

8.34.19 'When he dwelt in concealment in the city of Virāṭa, to do a kindness to Draupadī, relying on the strength of his arms alone, keeping his identity hidden, he slew Kīcaka together with his kinsmen.'

8.34.20 'This day, at the head of the battle, armed and frenzied with rage, he would march into the fray even against Death himself with uplifted, ready rod, the servant of Yama.'

8.34.21 'But this is my heart's desire, long cherished: that I should slay Arjuna in battle, or that Dhanaṃjaya should slay me. Through this meeting with Bhīma, that wish of mine may perhaps be fulfilled this very day.'

8.34.22 'For if Bhīmasena be slain, or be deprived of his chariot, then Pārtha will come against me—and that will be well for me. Resolve quickly upon what you deem fit here.'

8.34.23 Hearing these words of the great-souled son of Rādhā, Śalya spoke thus to the son of the charioteer as he came on:

8.34.24 'Advance, O mighty-armed one, against the mighty Bhīmasena; and when you have driven Bhīmasena off, then you shall meet Phalguna.'

8.34.25 'That desire which you have cherished in your heart since long ago shall surely be fulfilled, O Karṇa—this I tell you truly.'

8.34.26 Thus addressed, Karṇa spoke again to Śalya: 'I shall slay Arjuna in the encounter, or Dhanaṃjaya shall slay me. Fix your mind upon the battle—drive on, drive on!' he urged.

8.34.27 Then Śalya swiftly drove the chariot, O lord of the people, to where Bhīma, the great archer, was putting the host to rout.

8.34.28 Then the blare of trumpets and the great clamor of kettledrums arose, O lord of kings, at the meeting of Karṇa and Bhīma.

8.34.29 Then the mighty Bhīmasena, filled with wrath, with bright sharp iron shafts drove your hard-to-assail army fleeing in all directions.

8.34.30 That clash was tumultuous and terrible in aspect, O lord of the people, fierce indeed, in the battle between Karṇa and the Pāṇḍava; and after a moment, O lord of kings, the Pāṇḍava charged upon Karṇa.

8.34.31 Seeing him charge on, Karṇa Vaikartana, the bull among men, struck him in wrath upon the chest, between the breasts, with an iron shaft; then that one of measureless soul overwhelmed him with showers of arrows.

8.34.32 Pierced by the son of the charioteer, he covered Karṇa over with feathered shafts and struck him with nine sharp, smooth-jointed arrows.

8.34.33 Karṇa cut his bow in two at the middle with a feathered shaft; then, when his bow was severed, he struck him between the breasts with a most sharp iron shaft that pierced through all armor.

8.34.34 Taking up another bow, Vṛkodara, O king, who knew the vital points, pierced the son of the charioteer in his vitals with keenly whetted shafts and roared a mighty roar, as if to shake heaven and earth.

8.34.35 Karṇa tormented him with five-and-twenty iron shafts, as one might torment with firebrands a rut-maddened, haughty elephant in the forest.

8.34.36 Then the Pāṇḍava, his limbs torn by the arrows, frenzied with rage, his eyes coppery with fury and indignation, in his desire to slay the son of the charioteer—

8.34.37 —fitted to his bow an arrow of great speed, of supreme striking power, a shaft that could cleave even mountains.

8.34.38 Drawing the bow with might back to his ear, that surpassing son of the Wind-god, the great archer, in his wrath let the shaft fly, eager to slay Karṇa.

8.34.39 Loosed by the mighty one, that arrow, with the sound of thunderbolt and lightning, rent Karṇa in the battle as a thunderbolt's force cleaves a mountain.

8.34.40 Struck by Bhīmasena, the son of the charioteer, O perpetuator of the Kurus, that commander of armies sank down senseless upon the floor of his chariot.

8.34.41 Then the lord of the Madras, seeing the son of the charioteer fallen senseless, bore Karṇa, who shone in battle, away from the field upon his chariot.

8.34.42 Then, Karṇa being vanquished, Bhīmasena routed the great host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, as Indra routed the host of the Dānavas.

8.35.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: A most difficult deed has been done by Bhīma, O Saṃjaya, in that the mighty-armed Karṇa was struck down upon the floor of his chariot.

8.35.2 'Karṇa alone in battle will slay the Sṛñjayas together with the Pāṇḍavas'—so, O charioteer, did Duryodhana tell me again and again.

8.35.3 Seeing the son of Rādhā vanquished by Bhīma in the encounter, what then did my son Duryodhana do thereafter?

8.35.4 Saṃjaya said: Seeing the son of Rādhā, the son of the charioteer, reeling in that great battle, the king with his vast army spoke to his own brothers:

8.35.5 'Go quickly—good fortune to you—and protect the son of Rādhā, who is sinking in the fathomless ocean of calamity that is the terror of Bhīmasena.'

8.35.6 Commanded thus by the king, eager to slay Bhīmasena, they advanced in fury like moths upon a flame.

8.35.7 Śrutāyus, Durdhara, Krātha, Vivitsu, Vikaṭa, Sama, Niṣaṅgin, Kavacin, Pāśin, and Nanda and Upananda—

8.35.8 —Duṣpradharṣa and Subāhu, Vātavega and Suvarcas, Dhanurgrāha and Durmada, and likewise Sattvasama and Saha—

8.35.9 —these valiant and mighty ones, surrounded by their chariots, having reached Bhīmasena, beset him on every side and loosed upon him from all directions volleys of arrows of many marks.

8.35.10 Sorely pressed by them, the mighty Bhīmasena swiftly slew, of those sons of yours rushing upon him, O lord of men, fifty chariot-warriors along with their fifty chariots.

8.35.11 Then, in his wrath, with a broad-headed shaft Bhīma struck off Vivitsu's head, decked with earrings and helmet and like the full moon; and so, O great king, slain by Bhīma, he fell to the earth.

8.35.12 Seeing that hero slain, his brothers from every side, O lord, charged in battle upon Bhīma of dreadful prowess.

8.35.13 Then with two other broad-headed shafts, Bhīma of dreadful prowess took the lives of two of your sons in that great battle.

8.35.14 Both fell to the earth like trees broken by the wind—Vikaṭa and Sama, the two of them, fair as the sons of gods, O king.

8.35.15 Then Bhīma in haste sent Krātha to the abode of Yama; struck by a most sharp iron shaft, he fell slain to the earth.

8.35.16 Then a piercing cry of woe arose, O lord of men, as your bow-bearing sons were slain, O king.

8.35.17 When their host was thrown into disorder, the mighty Bhīmasena dispatched Nanda and Upananda in battle to the dwelling of Yama.

8.35.18 Then your sons, stricken and dismayed, fled in terror, beholding Bhīmasena in the battle like Yama the all-ending destroyer at the world's close.

8.35.19 Seeing your sons slain, the high-minded son of the charioteer again drove his swan-white steeds to where the Pāṇḍava was.

8.35.20 Urged on by the king of the Madras, O great king, those horses, reaching Bhīmasena's chariot at speed, were brought to a stand.

8.35.21 That clash was tumultuous and terrible of aspect, O lord of the people, fierce indeed, O great king, in the battle between Karṇa and the Pāṇḍava.

8.35.22 Seeing those two great chariot-warriors joined in combat, O great king, the thought arose in me: how, indeed, will this turn out this day?

8.35.23 Then in a moment, O lord of kings, without much effort, smiling as it were, Karṇa made Bhīma of terrible deeds bereft of his chariot.

8.35.24 Bereft of his chariot, that best of the Bhāratas, laughing aloud, the mighty-armed one, peer of the wind, mace in hand, leapt down from his excellent car.

8.35.25 Seven hundred war-elephants, O king, with tusks like chariot-poles and trained to strike, Bhīma the scorcher of foes, his form fierce with wrath, struck down all at once.

8.35.26 Knowing the vital points, he smote them mightily, roaring as he struck — upon their gums, their eyes, their temples, their cheeks, and upon their tender spots.

8.35.27 Then they fled in terror; but, driven back again by their mahouts, they hemmed him in as clouds enshroud the sun.

8.35.28 Those seven hundred elephants, with their riders, weapons, and banners, he, standing on the ground, smote with his mace, as the wind scatters the autumn clouds.

8.35.29 Then the son of Kuntī crushed once more in battle fifty-two mighty elephants belonging to the son of Subala.

8.35.30 And the Pāṇḍava slew in the fight a full hundred chariots and hundreds of foot-soldiers besides, scorching your host.

8.35.31 Scorched by the sun and by the great-souled Bhīma, your army shrank together like a hide cast into fire.

8.35.32 Stricken with terror of Bhīma, O bull of the Bhāratas, your warriors forsook him in the battle and fled in all ten directions.

8.35.33 Five hundred other chariots, clattering, their warriors clad in shields and armor, rushed swiftly upon Bhīma with showers of arrows on every side.

8.35.34 All of them, with their charioteers, chariots, pennons, standards, and weapons, Bhīma crushed with his mace, as Viṣṇu crushed the Asuras.

8.35.35 Then three thousand horsemen, sent by Śakuni and esteemed as heroes, advanced against Bhīma, lances, spears, and javelins in their hands.

8.35.36 Going forth to meet those Yavana horsemen, the slayer of his finest foes, ranging along manifold paths, smote and crushed them to death.

8.35.37 Loud was the clamor of those stricken on every side, O Bhārata, as they were hewn down by his sword, like reeds being cut.

8.35.38 Thus having slain three thousand of the finest horses of the son of Subala, he mounted another chariot and in wrath advanced against the son of Rādhā.

8.35.39 Karṇa too in the battle, O king, covered with arrows the son of Dharma, that tamer of foes, and struck down his charioteer as well.

8.35.40 Then, seeing in the fight the chariot bolting away, the great car-warrior gave chase, scattering straight-flying arrows fledged with heron-feathers.

8.35.41 As he sped toward the king, the son of the Wind, in his wrath, veiling heaven and earth with arrows, covered him over with a net of shafts.

8.35.42 Then the son of Rādhā, that harrier of foes, swiftly wheeling back, covered Bhīma all about with whetted arrows.

8.35.43 As Karṇa was engrossed with Bhīmasena's chariot, O Bhārata, Sātyaki of measureless spirit assailed him, to take him in the flank; and Karṇa, though sorely afflicted by his shafts, turned upon him.

8.35.44 Closing with each other, those two bulls among all bowmen, those two high-minded ones, shone resplendent as they loosed their many-colored arrows.

8.35.45 From them both, O lord of kings, a dread net of arrows spread across the sky, terrible to behold, ruddy as the back of the krauñca, fierce in its aspect.

8.35.46 By the thousands of arrows loosed by those two we could no longer perceive the sun's radiance, nor the sky, nor the quarters, nor the intermediate quarters — let alone aught else.

8.35.47 The mighty rays of the noonday sun, blazing at midday, O king, were then all stolen away by those floods of arrows shot by Karṇa and Mādhava.

8.35.48 Seeing the son of Subala, Kṛtavarman, the son of Droṇa, the son of Adhiratha, and Kṛpa locked in conflict with the Pāṇḍavas, the Kurus turned back once more.

8.35.49 The din of their onset was fierce, O lord of peoples, terrifying as that of oceans roused to swelling by the rains.

8.35.50 Those two armies, deeply stirred at the sight of each other in the great battle, filled with mighty exultation, grappled with one another.

8.35.51 Then, when the sun had reached the midpoint of heaven, there began a battle the like of which had never before been seen nor heard of.

8.35.52 Flood of host meeting flood of host in the fray, rushed upon it with violence, as a torrent of waters rushes upon the sea.

8.35.53 A mighty roar arose from those floods of hosts as they thundered against one another, like the great clamor of the surging seas.

8.35.54 Those two armies, sweeping with speed each against the other, became merged into one, as two rivers blend at their confluence.

8.35.55 Then began a battle of dreadful aspect, O lord of peoples, between the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, each coveting exceeding great glory.

8.35.56 As the Kurus roared there, their unbroken cries were heard, O king, of many kinds, calling out their names, O Bhārata.

8.35.57 Whatever distinction a man had in battle — by his father's line or his mother's, by his deeds or by his character — that he proclaimed aloud in the fight.

8.35.58 Beholding those heroes in the battle defying one another, my thought was, O king, that for these there was no life left.

8.35.59 And seeing the forms of those wrathful warriors of boundless energy, a keen fear came upon me — how will this come to pass?

8.35.60 Then those Pāṇḍavas, O king, and the great car-warriors of the Kauravas hewed at one another with sharp shafts, slaying each the other.

8.36.1 Saṃjaya said: Those kṣatriyas, O great king, each seeking the slaughter of the other, having become foes to one another, slew one another in the battle.

8.36.2 Floods of chariots and floods of horses and floods of men on every side, and floods of elephants, O great king, were locked together each with the other.

8.36.3 Of maces and iron clubs and of darting kaṇapas, of javelins, of bhiṇḍipālas, and of bhuśuṇḍīs on every side —

8.36.4 the collision we beheld in that exceedingly terrible battle; and showers of arrows fell on all sides like locusts.

8.36.5 Elephants closing with elephants struck one another down, and horses with horses in the battle, and car-warriors with car-warriors, foot-soldiers with bands of foot-soldiers, and horses with troops of horses.

8.36.6 Foot-soldiers crushed chariots and elephants, chariots crushed elephants and horses, and the swift-moving elephants in battle crushed the three arms, O king.

8.36.7 As the heroes fell there and cried out against one another, the battlefield grew terrible, like the slaughtering-place of beasts.

8.36.8 Strewn over with blood, the earth gleamed, O Bhārata, like the ground in the rains, thick-scattered with swarms of the indragopa beetles.

8.36.9 Or as a dusky young woman might wear two white garments dyed with deep crimson, so did the earth appear, dappled as it were with flesh and blood, and seeming as though wrought of gold.

8.36.10 Of severed heads and of arms together with thighs, of earrings flung about and of ornaments, O Bhārata —

8.36.11 of golden breast-plates upon their cords, and of the bodies of bowmen, and of armor with its banners — heaps of these fell there upon the ground.

8.36.12 Elephants closing with elephants tore them with the points of their tusks, and those elephants, gored by the tusks, shone forth even so.

8.36.13 Their limbs bathed in blood, they were like cataracts of red ochre, gleaming as mountains adorned with minerals stream down their slopes.

8.36.14 Many lances, hurled by the elephant-riders, that stood lodged and pointed back at them, those elephants whirled about with their trunks, and others broke them in pieces.

8.36.15 Their armor cleft by iron shafts, the noblest of elephants shone forth, O great king, like cloudless mountains at the coming of winter.

8.36.16 Studded with gold-feathered arrows, the noblest of elephants shone like mountains with their peaks ablaze with meteors, O honored sir.

8.36.17 Some elephants, huge as hills, struck down by other elephants, fell to the earth in that battle like winged mountains.

8.36.18 Other elephants ran wild, tormented by the barbs and afflicted by their wounds, and fell to the ground in that great battle upon their flanks and frontal-globes.

8.36.19 Others sank down like lions, bellowing fearful cries; and many drooped, O king, while still others trumpeted in pain.

8.36.20 And horses, slain by arrows, decked in golden trappings and housings, sank down and drooped and strayed off into the ten directions.

8.36.21 Others, dragged along and writhing upon the earth, struck by arrows and lances, took on many a contorted shape.

8.36.22 And men, struck down, lay groaning there upon the earth, O honored sir, some beholding their kinsmen, some their fathers, some their grandfathers.

8.36.23 And others, beholding their foes rushing at them there, O Bhārata, proclaimed to one another their renowned family names.

8.36.24 The severed arms of those men, O great king, adorned with gold, twisted up and twisted about, fell down and sprang up again.

8.36.25 They fell thus to the ground and quivered by the thousands, and others in the battle made violent leaps, twitching like serpents.

8.36.26 Those arms, like the coils of serpents, smeared with sandal-paste, O lord of peoples, drenched and red with blood, shone exceedingly bright, like golden standards.

8.36.27 As the dreadful melee thus raged on every side, men fought unrecognized, striking down one another.

8.36.28 With the field strewn with dust risen from the earth and crowded with the clash of weapons and wrapped in darkness, O king, neither friend nor foe could be told apart.

8.36.29 Such did that battle become, dreadful of aspect and terrifying; and great rivers whose waters were blood streamed forth there again and again.

8.36.30 Strewn with heads for boulders, with hair for moss and grass, choked with masses of bones, and bearing the finest of bows and arrows —

8.36.31 with flesh for mire and slough, those most terrible floods of blood set flowing rivers that swelled the realm of Yama.

8.36.32 Those rivers of dreadful aspect, bearing men to the abode of Yama, deep and engulfing, bred terror in the kṣatriyas as they plunged into them.

8.36.33 With carrion-eaters howling here and there, O tiger among men, the battlefield grew terrible, like unto the city of the king of the dead.

8.36.34 Countless headless trunks rose up on every side, and the hordes of spirits, sated with flesh and blood, danced indeed.

8.36.35 And having drunk the blood there and drunk the marrow-fat, O Bhārata, gorged on fat, marrow, and grease, and sated with flesh, the flocks of crows and vultures were seen rushing about.

8.36.36 But the heroes in the battle, O king, casting off fear so hard to cast off, renowned for their warrior's vow, did their deeds without dread.

8.36.37 On that field strewn with arrows and lances and thronged with bands of carrion-eaters, the heroes ranged about in companies, proclaiming their own valor.

8.36.38 To one another they made known their names and lineages, O Bhārata, and in the battle proclaimed all about their fathers' names and the names of their clans.

8.36.39 For many warriors there, O lord of peoples, calling out aloud, crushed one another with lances, javelins, and spears.

8.36.40 As that battle, dreadful of aspect and most terrible, raged on, the Kaurava army foundered, like a shattered ship upon the sea.

8.37.1 Saṃjaya said: As that battle raged then, and the kṣatriyas were going under, the mighty twang of the Gāṇḍīva was heard in the fight, O honored sir.

8.37.2 There the Pāṇḍava wrought havoc among the Saṃśaptakas, and among the Kosalas, O king, and among the Nārāyaṇa host.

8.37.3 But the Saṃśaptakas in the battle, greedy for victory and filled with fury, rained down a shower of arrows on every side upon the head of Pārtha.

8.37.4 That shower, O king, the mighty Pārtha, foremost of car-warriors, all at once stemmed with force and plunged into the battle, slaying as he went.

8.37.5 Having checked the array of chariots with heron-feathered shafts whetted on stone, Pārtha closed in battle upon Suśarman, that mighty car-warrior.

8.37.6 That best of car-warriors rained down showers of arrows upon him, and the saṃśaptakas too, standing firm in the fight, poured them upon Pārtha.

8.37.7 Then Suśarman, having pierced Pārtha with nine swift arrows, struck Janārdana on the right arm with three shafts, and with yet another broad-headed arrow he pierced the banner, O honoured one.

8.37.8 That great monkey upon the banner, O king, the work of Viśvakarman, gave a mighty roar and roared again, striking terror all around.

8.37.9 Hearing the cry of the monkey, your army, struck with terror and seized by overwhelming fear, became wholly motionless.

8.37.10 Then that host, standing motionless, gleamed, O king, like the grove of Caitraratha strewn with blossoms of every kind.

8.37.11 Then recovering their senses, O best of the Kurus, those warriors drenched Arjuna with arrows as rain-clouds drench a mountain, and they all encircled the great car of the Pāṇḍava.

8.37.12 Seizing forcibly and at once the horses, the chariot-wheels, and the chariot-shafts, O Bhārata, they then let loose a lion's roar.

8.37.13 Others seized the mighty arms of Keśava, while still others, O great king, joyfully laid hold of Pārtha as he stood upon his car.

8.37.14 But Keśava, shaking his arms there at the head of the battle, flung them all down as a rogue elephant flings other elephants.

8.37.15 Then Pārtha, enraged in battle, hemmed in by those great car-warriors, seeing his chariot held fast and Keśava set upon, struck down very many who rode in chariots and many footmen besides.

8.37.16 And then with close-fighting arrows he made the warriors who pressed close fall away in the fight, and he spoke thus to Keśava.

8.37.17 Behold, mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, the bands of saṃśaptakas, who wrought a dreadful deed, now slain by me in their thousands.

8.37.18 There is no man upon earth, O bull of the Yadus, none in the world save myself, who could endure this dread blockade of the chariot.

8.37.19 Having spoken thus, Bībhatsu blew his Devadatta, and Kṛṣṇa too blew the Pāñcajanya, as though filling heaven and earth with sound.

8.37.20 Hearing that blast of the conches, the host of the saṃśaptakas reeled, O great king, and was sorely terrified.

8.37.21 Then the Pāṇḍava, slayer of hostile heroes, wrought a foot-binding snare, O great king, invoking again and again the serpent-weapon.

8.37.22 Those against whom Pārtha wrought the foot-binding snare in battle, bound by the foot-snare of the great-souled Pāṇḍava, became motionless, O king, as though made of iron.

8.37.23 Then the son of Pāṇḍu slew those motionless warriors, as Indra of old slew the Daityas in the battle at the killing of Tāraka.

8.37.24 Being slaughtered in the fight, they let go that splendid chariot and began to cast away all their weapons.

8.37.25 Then Suśarman, O lord of kings, seeing his host held captive, swiftly brought forth the Garuḍa-weapon, that great car-warrior.

8.37.26 Thereupon eagles swooped down, devouring the serpents, and those serpents fled away, O king, at the sight of the sky-rangers.

8.37.27 That host, freed from the foot-binding snare, shone forth, O lord of peoples, like the sun released from a mass of clouds, scorching the creatures.

8.37.28 Those warriors, set free, hurled volleys of arrows and volleys of weapons against the chariot of Phalguna, O honoured one.

8.37.29 Cutting apart that downpour wrought of mighty weapons with showers of his own arrows, the son of Vāsava, slayer of hostile heroes, then held the warriors at bay.

8.37.30 Then Suśarman, O king, having pierced Arjuna in the heart with a smooth-jointed arrow, struck him again with three more shafts; deeply wounded and pained, Arjuna sank down upon the floor of his chariot.

8.37.31 Then recovering his senses, he of the white horses and Kṛṣṇa for charioteer, that immeasurable one, swiftly brought forth the Aindra weapon; and thereupon thousands of arrows came into being, O honoured one.

8.37.32 In every quarter they were seen, destroying in battle elephants, horses, and chariots with their weapons by the hundreds of thousands, O king.

8.37.33 As the host was being slaughtered, a vast terror entered the bands of the saṃśaptakas and the cowherds, O Bhārata; for there was no man there who could fight back against Arjuna.

8.37.34 Before the very eyes of those heroes the great army was slain, and watching it being cut down, they stood helpless to exert their valour.

8.37.35 Having slain ten thousand warriors there in the fight, the son of Pāṇḍu blazed forth in battle, O king, like a smokeless fire flaming high.

8.37.36 Of those that remained, O Bhārata, there were fourteen thousand foot, ten thousand chariots, and three thousand tuskers.

8.37.37 Then the saṃśaptakas once more encircled Dhanaṃjaya, having resolved either to die or to win victory and turn him back.

8.37.38 And there a great battle was joined, O lord of peoples, between your men and the valiant, mighty Pāṇḍava, the diademed one.

8.38.1 Saṃjaya said: Kṛtavarman, Kṛpa, Droṇa's son, and the Sūta's son, O honoured one, Ulūka and the son of Subala, and the king together with his brothers—

8.38.2 seeing their army sinking, tormented by fear of the son of Pāṇḍu, sought eagerly to lift it up, as one would a foundering ship upon the sea.

8.38.3 Then for a moment, as it were, there was a most fierce battle, O Bhārata, breeding terror in the timid and swelling the joy of the brave.

8.38.4 The showers of arrows let loose by Kṛpa in the encounter the Sṛñjayas cut to pieces, like swarms of locusts.

8.38.5 Then Śikhaṇḍin, enraged, rushed swiftly upon the son of Gautama and rained showers of arrows on every side upon the Brāhmaṇa.

8.38.6 But Kṛpa, knower of mighty weapons, having beaten back that shower of arrows, in his wrath pierced Śikhaṇḍin in the fight with ten shafts.

8.38.7 Then Śikhaṇḍin, incensed, pierced Kṛpa most sorely in the battle with seven straight-flying, heron-feathered arrows.

8.38.8 Then Kṛpa, that great car-warrior, sorely pierced by sharp arrows, best of the twice-born, deprived the son of Pṛṣata of horses, charioteer, and car.

8.38.9 Then that great car-warrior, leaping down from the car whose horses were slain, seized shield and sword and rushed swiftly upon the Brāhmaṇa.

8.38.10 As he came rushing on, Kṛpa covered him at once in the fight with smooth-jointed arrows, and that seemed a wondrous thing.

8.38.11 There we beheld a marvel like stones floating upon water, that Śikhaṇḍin stood motionless in the fight, O king.

8.38.12 Seeing Śikhaṇḍin overwhelmed by Kṛpa, O best of kings, the great car-warrior Dhṛṣṭadyumna at once advanced against Kṛpa.

8.38.13 As Dhṛṣṭadyumna then advanced against the chariot of Śāradvata's son, the great car-warrior Kṛtavarman impetuously took him in hand.

8.38.14 And as Yudhiṣṭhira advanced against the chariot of Śāradvata's son, together with his sons and with his army, Droṇa's son held him off.

8.38.15 Nakula and Sahadeva, those two great car-warriors pressing forward, your son met and held back with a shower of arrows.

8.38.16 Bhīmasena, the Karūṣas, the Kekayas together with the Sṛñjayas—these Karṇa, son of Vikartana, held off in the battle, O Bhārata.

8.38.17 Then Kṛpa, son of Śaradvat, hastened to send arrows against Śikhaṇḍin in the fight, as though eager to consume him, O honoured one.

8.38.18 Those gold-adorned arrows sent by him on every side Śikhaṇḍin cut apart, swinging and whirling his sword again and again.

8.38.19 Then the son of Gautama swiftly shattered with his shafts the hundred-mooned shield of Pṛṣata's son, and thereupon the people raised a great cry.

8.38.20 Bereft of his shield, O great king, sword in hand, he rushed on, fallen into Kṛpa's power like a stricken man into the jaws of death.

8.38.21 Seeing that mighty warrior engulfed and harassed by the arrows of Śaradvat's son, Suketu, the son of Citraketu, O king, hastened forth.

8.38.22 Scattering many sharp arrows upon the Brāhmaṇa in the fight, that one of immeasurable spirit charged against the chariot of Gautama's son.

8.38.23 Seeing that Brāhmaṇa of steadfast vows irresistible in the fight, Śikhaṇḍin then swiftly withdrew, O best of kings.

8.38.24 Then Suketu, O king, having pierced the son of Gautama with nine arrows, struck him with seventy more, and again with three shafts.

8.38.25 Then he cut apart his bow together with the arrow set to it, O honoured one, and struck his charioteer sorely in a vital spot with a shaft.

8.38.26 But the son of Gautama, then enraged, taking up a new and firm bow, struck Suketu with thirty arrows in all his vital points.

8.38.27 With all his limbs unstrung, he reeled upon his splendid chariot, as a tree sways, violently shaken, in an earthquake.

8.38.28 From his swaying body Kṛpa, with a razor-edged arrow, struck down the head with its blazing earrings, its turban, and its helm.

8.38.29 That head fell upon the ground like a piece of flesh borne off by a hawk; then his body, falling thereafter, reached the earth.

8.38.30 When he was slain, O great king, his followers, struck with terror, abandoned the son of Gautama in the fight and fled to the ten quarters.

8.38.31 But the mighty Kṛtavarman, having checked Dhṛṣṭadyumna in the fight, said boldly to the son of Pṛṣata, "Stand, stand!"

8.38.32 Then there was a tumultuous battle between the Vṛṣṇi and the son of Pṛṣata in the field, like the strife of two hawks greedy for a morsel of flesh, O king.

8.38.33 Dhṛṣṭadyumna in the fight struck Hārdikya in the chest with nine arrows, in his wrath sorely afflicting the son of Hṛdika.

8.38.34 But Kṛtavarman, struck hard by the son of Pṛṣata in the fight, covered the son of Pṛṣata, chariot and horses, with his shafts.

8.38.35 Covered over with his chariot, O king, Dhṛṣṭadyumna could not be seen, like the sun veiled by clouds at the coming of the rains.

8.38.36 Shaking off that mass of arrows with his own gold-adorned shafts, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, though wounded, shone forth in battle, O king.

8.38.37 Then the son of Pṛṣata, enraged, that commander of the host, closing upon Kṛtavarman, let loose a most terrible shower of weapons.

8.38.38 That unbroken downpour of weapons rushing suddenly upon him Hārdikya scattered in the fight with many thousands of arrows.

8.38.39 Seeing his hard-to-withstand shower of weapons rent asunder in the fight, the son of Pṛṣata closed upon Kṛtavarman and held him in check.

8.38.40 And swiftly he sent his charioteer to the abode of Yama with a sharp-edged broad arrow; slain, the man fell from the chariot.

8.38.41 Then the mighty Dhṛṣṭadyumna, having vanquished that great car-warrior, his foe, at once held back the Kauravas in the fight with his shafts.

8.38.42 Thereupon your warriors rushed against Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and raising a lion's roar, the battle then went on.

8.39.1 Saṃjaya said: Droṇa's son, seeing Yudhiṣṭhira guarded by the grandson of Śini and by the valiant sons of Draupadī, advanced upon him as though in joy.

8.39.2 Scattering dread volleys of arrows, gold-nocked and whetted on stone, displaying his manifold passes of skill with a deft and nimble hand,

8.39.3 he then filled the sky with arrows charged by celestial-weapon mantras, and that master of arms hemmed in Yudhiṣṭhira in the fight.

8.39.4 Veiled by the arrows of Drauṇāyani, nothing whatever could be discerned; that whole front of the battlefield had become one mass of arrows.

8.39.5 That web of arrows poised in the sky, adorned with a meshwork of gold, shone forth, O best of the Bhāratas, like a great canopy stretched overhead.

8.39.6 With that gleaming net of arrows veiling the battle, O king, a shade as of clouds arose, the very sky barred over by shafts.

8.39.7 There we beheld a marvel, where such a thicket of arrows had formed: beholding the prowess of Droṇa's son, not one shaft fell to the ground.

8.39.8 Beholding the deftness of Droṇa's son, the great chariot-warriors were struck with wonder, O great king; and all those kings could not so much as look upon him, as upon the burning sun.

8.39.9 Though Sātyaki strove, and the King of Righteousness, the son of Pāṇḍu, and the other hosts as well, they could mount no prowess against him.

8.39.10 Then, as the host was being slaughtered, the great chariot-warriors who were Draupadī's sons, Sātyaki and the King of Righteousness, and the Pāñcālas too, all joined together; and casting off the dread fear of death, they rushed upon the son of Droṇa.

8.39.11 Sātyaki, having pierced Droṇa's son with twenty-five stone-tipped shafts, pierced him again with seven gold-adorned iron arrows.

8.39.12 Yudhiṣṭhira struck him with seventy-three, Prativindhya with seven, Śrutakarman with three arrows, and Śrutakīrti with seven.

8.39.13 Sutasoma with nine and Śatānīka with seven, and many other heroes pierced him on every side.

8.39.14 Then he, exceedingly wrathful, O king, hissing like a venomous serpent, pierced Sātyaki with twenty-five stone-whetted shafts.

8.39.15 Śrutakīrti with nine and Sutasoma with five, Śrutakarman with eight and Prativindhya with three arrows, Śatānīka with nine and the son of Dharma with seven.

8.39.16 Then he smote the other heroes with two shafts apiece, and with sharpened arrows he cut asunder the bow of Śrutakīrti.

8.39.17 Then, taking up another bow, Śrutakīrti the great chariot-warrior pierced Droṇa's son with three shafts and struck him again with other whetted arrows.

8.39.18 Then Droṇa's son, O great king, O Bhārata, with a torrent of arrows enveloped that host, and the kings on every side with his shafts.

8.39.19 Then again the immeasurable-souled son of Droṇa, laughing, cut asunder the bow of the King of Righteousness and pierced him with three arrows.

8.39.20 Then the son of Dharma, O king, taking up another mighty bow, pierced the son of Droṇa with seventy shafts and afflicted him in the arms and breast.

8.39.21 Then Sātyaki, enraged, with a sharp crescent-headed arrow cut the bow of Droṇa's son as he struck in the battle, and roared aloud.

8.39.22 His bow cut, Droṇa's son then, foremost of the mighty, with a spear swiftly struck down the charioteer of the Śaineya from his car.

8.39.23 Then, taking up another bow, the mighty son of Droṇa enveloped the Śaineya with a downpour of arrows, O Bhārata.

8.39.24 His horses, the chariot-driver fallen in the fray, bolted in flight, and were seen running this way and that, O Bhārata.

8.39.25 Then those warriors, with Yudhiṣṭhira at their head, rained upon the son of Droṇa, foremost of weapon-bearers, with force loosing their whetted shafts.

8.39.26 Beholding them advancing in fearful aspect, the scorcher of foes, the son of Droṇa, laughing, received them in the great battle.

8.39.27 Then the great chariot-warrior, son of Droṇa, blazing with a hundred shafts for his flames, burned up the thicket of the army in battle as fire burns dry brush in the forest.

8.39.28 That army of the son of Pāṇḍu, scorched by Droṇa's son, was thrown into tumult, O best of the Bhāratas, as a river's mouth is troubled by a great sea-monster.

8.39.29 And beholding, O great king, the prowess of Droṇa's son, they deemed all the Pāṇḍavas already slain by the son of Droṇa.

8.39.30 But Yudhiṣṭhira in haste closed with the son of Droṇa, that great chariot-warrior, and spoke to him, filled with wrath and indignation:

8.39.31 "You have, it seems, no affection, nor any gratitude, O tiger among men, that you seek this very day to slay me."

8.39.32 "By a brāhmaṇa austerity must be practiced, and giving, and study; by a kṣatriya the bow must be bent. You are a brāhmaṇa only in name."

8.39.33 "Before your very eyes, O mighty-armed one, I shall vanquish the Kauravas in battle. Do your deed in the fray; you are surely but a brāhmaṇa in name only."

8.39.34 Thus addressed, O great king, the son of Droṇa, smiling as it were, and reflecting on the justice of it, made no reply at all.

8.39.35 And saying nothing further, he covered the son of Pāṇḍu in battle with a torrent of arrows, wrathful as Death covering all creatures.

8.39.36 Being thus covered then by the son of Droṇa, O honored one, the Pārtha swiftly withdrew, abandoning his great host.

8.39.37 When that son of Dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira, had withdrawn, the son of Droṇa stood firm, O king, beyond reproach of the great-souled one.

8.39.38 Then King Yudhiṣṭhira, leaving the son of Droṇa in that great battle, set forth against your host, intent upon a cruel deed.

8.40.1 Saṃjaya said: Vaikartana himself, holding back Bhīmasena—accompanied by the Pāñcāla, hemmed about by the Cedis and the Kekayas—checked him with his shafts.

8.40.2 Then Karṇa, exceedingly enraged, slew the Cedis, the Karūṣas, and the Sṛñjaya great chariot-warriors before the very eyes of Bhīmasena.

8.40.3 Then Bhīmasena, leaving Karṇa, that best of chariot-warriors, advanced upon the Kaurava host, blazing like fire upon dry brushwood.

8.40.4 The son of the sūta too, in battle, slew the Pāñcālas and the Kekayas, and the great-bowmen Sṛñjayas, by the thousands.

8.40.5 Among the saṃśaptakas the Pārtha, among the Kauravas Vṛkodara, and among the Pāñcālas Karṇa—those great chariot-warriors wrought havoc.

8.40.6 Those warriors, consumed by those three who were like fire, went to destruction in the battle, O king, through your evil counsel.

8.40.7 Then Duryodhana, enraged, pierced Nakula with nine arrows, O best of the Bhāratas, and his four steeds as well.

8.40.8 Then again your son, the immeasurable-souled lord of men, with a razor-headed shaft cut down the golden standard of Sahadeva.

8.40.9 Then Nakula, enraged, struck your son with twenty-one shafts in the battle, O king, and Sahadeva with five.

8.40.10 Both those best of the Bhāratas, foremost of all bowmen, he in great wrath pierced in the breast, with five arrows and five.

8.40.11 Then with two more broad-headed arrows he cut through the bows of the twins, O king, laughing, and pierced them with seven.

8.40.12 Taking up two other bows, fair and excellent, resembling the bow of Indra, those two heroes shone in the fray, like the sons of the gods.

8.40.13 Then those two impetuous brothers, O king, rained dreadful arrows upon their brother in the battle, as two great clouds upon a mountain.

8.40.14 Then, enraged, O great king, your son, the great chariot-warrior, held back the two great-bowmen sons of Pāṇḍu with his feathered shafts.

8.40.15 His bow alone was seen as a circle in the battle, O Bhārata, and the arrows were seen issuing forth on every side.

8.40.16 Veiled by his shafts, the two sons of Pāṇḍu gleamed forth like the moon and the sun in the sky, cloud-shrouded, their radiance dimmed.

8.40.17 And those arrows, O great king, gold-feathered and stone-whetted, covered all the quarters then, like the rays of the sun.

8.40.18 When the sky had thus become a thicket of arrows and was veiled over, the form of the twins appeared like Yama, the all-ending Death.

8.40.19 Beholding that prowess of your son, the great chariot-warriors deemed the two sons of Mādrī to have come near to death.

8.40.20 Then the commander of the host of the great-souled Pāṇḍava, the son of Pṛṣata, O king, advanced thither, where King Suyodhana was.

8.40.21 Then, passing beyond the two heroic great chariot-warriors who were Mādrī's sons, Dhṛṣṭadyumna smote your son with his shafts.

8.40.22 Him the immeasurable-souled, exceedingly impatient son of yours pierced—the Pāñcāla prince—with twenty-five shafts, laughing, O bull among men.

8.40.23 Then again the immeasurable-souled son of yours, O lord of the earth, having pierced the Pāñcāla prince with sixty-five, roared aloud.

8.40.24 Then the king, with a keenly sharpened razor-edged arrow, cut his bow with the arrow set to it, and his hand-guard too, O honored one, in the battle.

8.40.25 Casting aside that severed bow, the Pāñcāla prince, harrower of foes, swiftly took up another, new and able to bear the strain.

8.40.26 Blazing as it were with impetuosity, his eyes red with fury, the great-bowman Dhṛṣṭadyumna, though wounded, shone resplendent.

8.40.27 He, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, seeking to slay that best of the Bhāratas, let fly fifteen iron arrows like hissing serpents.

8.40.28 Those stone-whetted shafts, fledged with heron and peacock feathers, piercing the king's gold-wrought armor, sank with force into the earth.

8.40.29 Sorely wounded, O great king, your son shone exceedingly, like a kiṃśuka tree in spring, dappled with blossoms, laden with flowers.

8.40.30 His armor cut by the iron arrows, his form battered by the blows, he in wrath cut asunder the bow of Dhṛṣṭadyumna with a broad-headed shaft.

8.40.31 Then, his bow cut, the lord of the earth in haste, O king, smote him with ten shafts between the brows.

8.40.32 Those shafts, burnished by the smith, adorned his face as bees greedy for nectar adorn a campaka in full bloom.

8.40.33 Casting aside that severed bow, the high-minded Dhṛṣṭadyumna swiftly took up another bow and sixteen broad-headed arrows.

8.40.34 Then, slaying Duryodhana's horses and his charioteer with five, he cut with a broad-headed shaft the gold-wrought bow.

8.40.35 The chariot with its gear, the parasol, the spear, the sword, the mace, and the standard—the son of Pṛṣata cut all of your son's with nine broad-headed arrows.

8.40.36 The bright standard of the Kuru lord, bearing the figure of an elephant wrought in gems and banded with refined gold, all the kings beheld cut down.

8.40.37 Duryodhana, chariotless, all his weapons cut away in the battle, his own brothers guarded round about, O bull of the Bhāratas.

8.40.38 Setting that lord of men upon his car, O king, Daṇḍadhāra in alarm bore him away, before the very eyes of Dhṛṣṭadyumna.

8.40.39 But Karṇa, the mighty one, coveting the king, having vanquished Sātyaki, advanced face to face in the battle against the fierce-arrowed slayer of Droṇa.

8.40.40 The Śaineya swiftly came up behind him, goading him with shafts, as one elephant gores another in the flank with its tusks.

8.40.41 There was, O Bhārata, a mighty battle, between Karṇa and the son of Pṛṣata, in the midst of your high-souled warriors.

8.40.42 Neither of the Pāṇḍavas nor of ours was any warrior seen turning his back, for that Karṇa had advanced in haste upon the Pāñcālas.

8.40.43 In that moment, O best of men, a destruction of elephants, steeds, and men arose on both sides, O king, when the day had reached its middle.

8.40.44 But the Pāñcālas, O great king, in haste and eager for victory, rushed upon Karṇa from every side, like birds upon a tree.

8.40.45 The son of Adhiratha, enraged, singling them out with the points of his arrows as they strove, those resolute ones, met them head-on in the front:

8.40.46 Vyāghraketu and Suśarman, and Śaṅku, and Ugra, and Dhanaṃjaya, and Śukla and Rocamāna, and Siṃhasena, hard to conquer—

8.40.47 Those heroes, with the speed of their chariots, encircled that best of men—the enraged Karṇa, splendid in battle, who was loosing his arrows.

8.40.48 But as those warriors fought on, the valiant lord of men, Rādheya, struck down eight of them with eight whetted arrows.

8.40.49 Then, O great king, the valiant son of the sūta, skilled in war, slew yet others—many thousands of warriors.

8.40.50 And in the battle, O king, he slew Viṣṇu and Viṣṇukarman, Devāpi and Bhadra, Daṇḍa, Citra, Citrāyudha, and Hari—

8.40.51 Siṃhaketu, Rocamāna, and Śalabha the great chariot-warrior; in fury he struck down even the great chariot-warriors of the Cedis.

8.40.52 As he took the lives of these, the form of Ādhirathi, his limbs drenched with blood, grew vast and mighty, like that of Rudra himself.

8.40.53 There, O Bhārata, the elephants struck by Karṇa's arrows, panic-stricken, fled in all directions, spreading great confusion.

8.40.54 Tormented by Karṇa's shafts, they fell to the earth in the battle, uttering manifold cries, like mountains shattered by the thunderbolt.

8.40.55 With elephants, horses, and men falling on every side, and with chariots overturned upon the road, the earth was strewn over.

8.40.56 Neither Bhīṣma nor Droṇa, nor any other of your men in war, performed such a deed as was done in that battle.

8.40.57 By the son of the sūta, O tiger among men, a great slaughter was wrought among elephants, chariots, horses, and men.

8.40.58 As a lion is seen ranging fearlessly amid the deer, so Karṇa moved without fear amid the Pāñcālas.

8.40.59 As a lion drives the terrified herds of deer to the four quarters, so Karṇa drove the throngs of Pāñcāla chariots.

8.40.60 As deer that come within the jaws of a lion can nowhere survive, so the great chariot-warriors who came upon Karṇa did not live.

8.40.61 As men are consumed when they come upon a blazing fire, so, O Bhārata, the Sṛñjayas were burned in battle by the fire that was Karṇa.

8.40.62 By Karṇa alone, O Bhārata, among the Cedis and the Pāñcālas, many esteemed as heroes were slain, each named aloud as he fell.

8.40.63 And to me, O lord of men, beholding Karṇa's prowess, it seemed that not a single Pāñcāla would escape alive from Ādhirathi in the battle.

8.40.64 Scattering the Pāñcālas in the fight, the valiant son of the sūta, in fury, rushed against Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma.

8.40.65 Then Dhṛṣṭadyumna and the sons of Draupadī, O venerable one, and hundreds of other men surrounded that slayer of foes to protect the king.

8.40.66 Śikhaṇḍin and Sahadeva, Nakula and the son of Nakula, Janamejaya, the grandson of Śini, and many of the Prabhadrakas—

8.40.67 these, of boundless might, becoming the vanguard of Dhṛṣṭadyumna in the conflict, ranged against Karṇa as he loosed his missiles and arrows.

8.40.68 There in the fight Ādhirathi, alone, fell upon those many—Cedis, Pāñcālas, and Pāṇḍavas—as Garuḍa swoops upon serpents.

8.40.69 Bhīmasena, that mighty archer, enraged, battling alone in the fight against the Kurus, the Madras, and the Kekayas, shone resplendent.

8.40.70 There elephants struck by Bhīma's iron shafts in their vital parts, their riders slain, fell down and made the earth tremble.

8.40.71 Horses with their riders slain, and foot-soldiers bereft of life, lay pierced upon the field, vomiting blood in streams.

8.40.72 And chariot-warriors by the thousand, fallen with their weapons fallen from their hands, were seen lifeless—unwounded, slain by very terror of Bhīma.

8.40.73 With chariot-warriors, horses, charioteers, foot-soldiers, and elephants, all hewn apart by Bhīmasena's arrows, the earth was strewn over.

8.40.74 Tormented by Bhīmasena's might, the host of Duryodhana, O king, stood as though paralyzed—spiritless and grievously wounded.

8.40.75 Motionless and wretched in that great and tumultuous battle, it appeared, O king, like the ocean grown still with calm waters in its season.

8.40.76 That army of your son, endowed with wrath, valor, and strength, was then forcibly beaten down by arrows, and soaked in floods of blood, it grew drenched and dripping with gore.

8.40.77 The son of the sūta, enraged in battle, driving back the host of the Pāṇḍavas, and Bhīmasena driving back the Kurus, each shone in surpassing splendor.

8.40.78 As that fierce and wondrous battle went on, Arjuna, having slain in the midst of the host the many bands of the Saṃśaptakas—

8.40.79 —Arjuna, foremost of the victorious, then said to Vāsudeva: "This host that would fight on is broken, O Janārdana.

8.40.80 These great Saṃśaptaka chariot-warriors flee with all their bands, unable to withstand my arrows, as deer flee the lion's roar.

8.40.81 And the great host of the Sṛñjayas is being rent apart in this great battle, O Kṛṣṇa; yonder elephant-girth banner of the wise Karṇa is seen ranging again and again amid the royal army.

8.40.82 The other great chariot-warriors are not able to vanquish Karṇa in battle; for you know Karṇa to be a man of valor in prowess.

8.40.83 Drive there, then, to where Karṇa is putting our host to flight.

8.40.84 Or, avoiding the great chariot-warrior, the son of the sūta, drive on through the battle, that weariness may not oppress you, O Kṛṣṇa—or as it pleases you."

8.40.85 Hearing this, O great king, Govinda, as if smiling, said to Arjuna at once: "Swiftly slay the Kauravas, O son of Pāṇḍu."

8.40.86 Then the swan-white horses, urged on by Govinda, bearing Kṛṣṇa and the son of Pāṇḍu, entered into that great host of yours.

8.40.87 As the white horses adorned with gold, driven by Keśava, entered your army, it was rent asunder on all four sides.

8.40.88 Cleaving the great army and entering within, Keśava and Arjuna, enraged, their eyes red with fury, shone forth in mighty splendor.

8.40.89 Those two, eager for battle, summoned by their foes to the sacrifice of war, shone like the two Aśvin gods duly invoked by sacrificers at the rite.

8.40.90 Those two tigers among men, enraged, grew swift and impetuous, like two elephants goaded to fury by the slap of hands in the great battle.

8.40.91 Plunging into the array of chariots and the squadrons of horse, Phalguna ranged through the midst of the host like Death with noose in hand.

8.40.92 Seeing him advancing valiantly within your army in the fight, O Bhārata, your son once more urged on the bands of the Saṃśaptakas.

8.40.93 Then with a thousand chariots, three hundred elephants, and fourteen thousand horse in that great battle—

8.40.94 —and with two hundred thousand foot-soldiers and archers, heroes who had won renown and were known on every side, those great chariot-warriors advanced against the two heroes, overwhelming them.

8.40.95 Though covered over with arrows in the battle, that crusher of hostile hosts, the son of Pṛthā, revealing his terrible self like Death with noose in hand and slaying the Saṃśaptakas, became all the more a sight to behold.

8.40.96 Then, with arrows bright as lightning and adorned with gold, sped by the Diademed One, the very sky seemed without an interval between them.

8.40.97 With the great arrows loosed from the arm of the Diademed One falling thick, all things appeared overspread, O lord, as if by the brood of Kadrū.

8.40.98 Arrows golden-shafted, bright-pointed, and smooth-jointed, the Pāṇḍava of measureless soul displayed in all directions.

8.40.99 Having slain ten thousand of the Saṃśaptaka kings, the great chariot-warrior, the son of Kuntī, hastened against their flanking force.

8.40.100 Reaching that flanking force, guarded by the Kāmbojas, the son of Pṛthā crushed it by force with his arrows, as Vāsava crushed the Dānavas.

8.40.101 With his broad-headed shafts he swiftly cut away the weapon-grasping hands of the assailing foes, and their arms, and likewise their heads.

8.40.102 With their limbs and members severed, weaponless, they fell to the earth, like many-branched trees shattered by a wind blowing on every side.

8.40.103 Upon Arjuna, as he slew the throngs of elephants, horses, chariots, and foot, the younger brother of Sudakṣiṇa rained down a shower of arrows.

8.40.104 As he shot, Arjuna struck off with two crescent-headed arrows his two arms, like iron bludgeons, and with a razor-edged shaft his head, whose face was bright as the full moon.

8.40.105 He fell then from his mount, streaming with his own blood, like a peak of a realgar-red mountain riven by the thunderbolt.

8.40.106 They beheld the younger brother of Sudakṣiṇa, the Kāmboja, slain—tall, his eyes like lotus-petals, exceedingly fair to look upon, resembling a pillar of gold, like a golden mountain cleft asunder.

8.40.107 Then once more the battle grew terrible and wondrous to behold, and many were the conditions of the warriors fighting there.

8.40.108 With the horses of these Kāmbojas, Yavanas, and Śakas struck down and smeared with blood, all then became red, O lord of peoples.

8.40.109 By chariots, by chariot-horses and charioteers, by horses with their riders slain, by elephants with their riders slain, and by mahouts whose elephants were slain, O great king, a fearful destruction of men was wrought upon one another.

8.40.110 As that flanking force and the wing were being slain by the great-souled one, the son of Droṇa hastened against Arjuna, foremost of the victorious.

8.40.111 Brandishing his great bow adorned with gold, and taking up his terrible arrows like the sun gathering its own rays.

8.40.112 By those arrows loosed by the son of Droṇa, falling on every side, O great king, the two—Kṛṣṇa and Dhanaṃjaya—standing in their chariot, were covered over.

8.40.113 Then with hundreds of sharp arrows the valiant son of Bhāradvāja rendered both Mādhava and the son of Pāṇḍu motionless in the battle.

8.40.114 All things, moving and unmoving, broke into cries of woe, seeing the two protectors of all that moves and is still covered over with arrows.

8.40.115 And the hosts of Siddhas and Cāraṇas gathered together from every side, anxiously wondering whether the welfare of the worlds might yet be preserved this day.

8.40.116 Never before, O king, had I beheld such prowess as arose in the son of Droṇa as he covered the two Kṛṣṇas over with arrows.

8.40.117 The twang of the son of Droṇa's bow, terrifying his foes in the battle, I heard again and again, O king, like the roaring of a lion.

8.40.118 And his bowstring, as he ranged through the battle shooting to left and right, became like lightning flashing in the midst of the clouds.

8.40.119 Then the Pāṇḍava, swift of action and firm of hand though he was, fell into utter bewilderment and gazed upon the son of Droṇa.

8.40.120 He deemed his own prowess robbed from him by that exceedingly great-souled one; and his form in the battle, O king, became hard to look upon.

8.40.121 As the great battle between the son of Droṇa and the Pāṇḍava went on thus, O lord of kings, with the mighty son of Droṇa waxing strong and the son of Kuntī failing, wrath came upon Kṛṣṇa.

8.40.122 Sighing in his anger, O king, and seeming to burn with his very eyes, he looked again and again upon the son of Droṇa and upon Phalguna in the battle.

8.40.123 Then in his wrath Kṛṣṇa spoke to the son of Pṛthā with affection: "Most wondrous is this I see of you in battle, O Pārtha—that the son of Droṇa surpasses you this day, O Bhārata.

8.40.124 Is the Gāṇḍīva yet in your hand, and do you stand upon your chariot, O Arjuna? Are your two arms unharmed? Is your valor still the same as ever?"

8.40.125 Thus addressed by Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, hastening in that hour for haste, loosed fourteen broad-headed shafts and cut asunder the bow of the son of Droṇa, and his standard, parasol, and banner, his chariot, his lance, and his mace.

8.40.126 And he smote him hard upon the collarbone with calf-tooth arrows; and the son of Droṇa, falling into a deep swoon, sank down clinging to his banner-staff.

8.40.127 That senseless man, O great king, tormented by fear of the Diademed One, his charioteer bore away from the battle, guarding him from Dhanaṃjaya.

8.40.128 At that very moment, Vijaya, the scorcher of foes, slew your army by the hundreds and by the thousands, even as that heroic son of yours looked on, O Bhārata.

8.40.129 Thus did this slaughter of your men come to pass against the foe — cruel, ruinous, and dreadful, O king, born of your evil counsel.

8.40.130 The son of Kuntī crushed the saṃśaptakas, and Vṛkodara the Kurus, and the Pāñcāla scattered Vasuṣeṇa utterly in the fray.

8.41.1 Saṃjaya said: Kṛṣṇa, hastening, again spoke softly to Pārtha: "Behold, O Kauravya, the king, and the Pāṇḍavas withdrawing."

8.41.2 "Behold Karṇa in the great arena, blazing like fire; and yonder the dread mighty archer Bhīma has turned back to the battle."

8.41.3 "After him these turn back, led by Dhṛṣṭadyumna — the foremost of the Pāñcālas, the Sṛñjayas, and the Pāṇḍavas; and by the returning Pārthas the great host of the enemy is broken."

8.41.4 "This Karṇa, O Arjuna, stays the fleeing Kauravas — like Death himself in his onset, equal to Śakra in valor."

8.41.5 "Yonder goes Drauṇi, O Kauravya, the best of those who bear weapons; and Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the great chariot-warrior, rushes upon him in the fray."

8.41.6 All this the unassailable Vāsudeva recounted to the Diademed One; and thereupon, O king, a most terrible, mighty battle arose.

8.41.7 And lion-roars rang out there at the clash, O king, of both the armies — who had made of death their only turning-back.

8.42.1 Saṃjaya said: Then the Kurus and the Sṛñjayas, unafraid, came together once more — the Pārthas with Yudhiṣṭhira at their head, and we with Vaikartana at ours.

8.42.2 Then there began a fearful, hair-raising battle between Karṇa and the Pāṇḍavas, swelling the realm of Yama.

8.42.3 When that tumultuous battle, whose waters were blood, had broken forth — the valiant saṃśaptakas being now but a remnant, O Bhārata —

8.42.4 Dhṛṣṭadyumna, O great king, together with all the kings, and the Pāṇḍava great chariot-warriors, charged straight at Karṇa.

8.42.5 As they came on in the fray, exultant and eager for victory, Karṇa alone withstood them in the battle, as a mountain withstands floods of water.

8.42.6 Reaching that Karṇa, those great chariot-warriors were scattered, as floods of water are scattered in all directions on meeting a mountain; and between the two, O great king, the battle was hair-raising.

8.42.7 But Dhṛṣṭadyumna, in his wrath, struck Rādheya with a smooth-jointed shaft and cried, "Stand! Stand!"

8.42.8 But the great chariot-warrior, brandishing Vijaya, his peerless bow, cut asunder the bow of Pārṣata and, full of wrath, smote the son of Pṛṣata with nine shafts like venomous serpents.

8.42.9 Those shafts, having pierced the gold-wrought armor of that great-souled one, gleamed smeared with blood like śakra-gopa beetles, O sinless one.

8.42.10 Casting aside that severed bow, the great chariot-warrior Dhṛṣṭadyumna took up another bow, and with arrows like venomous serpents pierced Karṇa with seventy smooth-jointed shafts.

8.42.11 In like manner, O king, Karṇa too, that mighty archer, pierced with sharpened shafts the scorcher of foes, Pārṣata, the enemy of Droṇa.

8.42.12 At him Karṇa, O great king, in his fury sped a gold-adorned shaft, like a second rod of Death.

8.42.13 As it swiftly fell upon him, that shaft of dreadful form, O lord of peoples, the grandson of Śini, deft of hand, cut it sevenfold, O king.

8.42.14 Seeing his arrow thus brought down by shafts, O lord of peoples, Karṇa enveloped Sātyaki on every side with a shower of arrows.

8.42.15 And he pierced him in that battle with seven iron shafts; the grandson of Śini in turn pierced him with arrows adorned with gold.

8.42.16 Then the combat grew exceedingly fierce, terrifying to eye and ear, O king — dreadful and wondrous, and on every side worth the beholding.

8.42.17 In all the beings there a thrill of horror arose, beholding that feat in battle of Karṇa and the grandson of Śini, O king.

8.42.18 In this interval Drauṇi advanced against the exceedingly mighty Pārṣata, tamer of foes, destroyer of the valor and the lives of enemies.

8.42.19 Dhanaṃjaya being far off, Drauṇi spoke in his wrath: "Stand! Stand this day, slayer of a Brāhmaṇa — you shall not escape me alive!"

8.42.20 So saying, the swift-handed hero, that great chariot-warrior, straining to his utmost might, overwhelmed with sharp, keen-edged, dreadful shafts the Pārṣata, who likewise strove with all his power.

8.42.21 For as Drauṇi, beholding Pārṣata in battle, O honored one, so too the Pārṣata, slayer of hostile heroes, beholding Drauṇi in the fray, grew not greatly glad of heart, but deemed his own death at hand.

8.42.22 But Drauṇi, O lord of kings, seeing Dhṛṣṭadyumna standing firm in the fray, hissing with rage, the hero rushed upon the Pārṣata; and at the mere sight of each other the two were seized with utmost fury.

8.42.23 Then the valiant son of Droṇa, O great king, said in haste to Dhṛṣṭadyumna who stood near, O lord of peoples: "Basest of the Pāñcālas, this day I shall send you to your death!"

8.42.24 "The sinful deed you wrought of old in slaying Droṇa shall this day fall back upon you, as surely as ill-doing brings its fruit."

8.42.25 "If, unguarded by Pārtha, you stand your ground in the fight, and do not flee, O fool — this truth I tell you."

8.42.26 Thus addressed, the valiant Dhṛṣṭadyumna answered in reply: "That same sword of mine shall give you what it gave your father as he strove in the fight."

8.42.27 "If indeed Droṇa, that so-called Brāhmaṇa, was slain by me, how then shall I not now slay you in battle by my valor?"

8.42.28 So saying, O great king, the wrathful commander, the Pārṣata, pierced Drauṇi with a sharpened arrow.

8.42.29 Then Drauṇi, exceedingly enraged, with smooth-jointed shafts veiled all the quarters about Dhṛṣṭadyumna in the fight, O king.

8.42.30 Neither the sky, nor the quarters, nor the warriors round about could be seen, O great king, so veiled were they by arrows in their thousands.

8.42.31 In like manner the Pārṣata, O king, veiled with arrows Drauṇi, who shone in the fray, even as the son of the sūta looked on.

8.42.32 Rādheya too, O great king, alone held in check the Pāñcālas together with the Pāṇḍavas, the sons of Draupadī, Yudhāmanyu, and the great chariot-warrior Sātyaki — a sight to behold on every side.

8.42.33 Dhṛṣṭadyumna too in the fray cut asunder Drauṇi's bow; casting aside that severed bow, Drauṇi took up another, swift and dreadful in battle, with arrows like venomous serpents.

8.42.34 He, O lord of kings, in the twinkling of an eye shattered with his shafts the Pārṣata's bow, his lance, his mace, his banner, his horses, his charioteer, and his chariot itself.

8.42.35 He, his bow cut, his chariot lost, his horses slain, his charioteer slain, took up a broad sword and a hundred-mooned shield, gleaming bright.

8.42.36 But Drauṇi too, O lord of kings, that great chariot-warrior, swift of hand and firm in arms, the hero swiftly cut these asunder in the fray with broad-headed shafts — and that, while he had not stepped down from his chariot, seemed a marvel.

8.42.37 Yet Dhṛṣṭadyumna — chariotless, his horses slain, his bow cut, pierced again and again by shafts and hewn to pieces by weapons — that great chariot-warrior, for all his striving, the foremost of the Bhāratas could not overcome.

8.42.38 When Drauṇi could not make an end of him with his arrows, O king, then the hero, casting aside his bow, hastily pursued the Pārṣata.

8.42.39 The onset of that great-souled one as he rushed forth, O king, was like that of Garuḍa swooping down, eager to seize the foremost of serpents.

8.42.40 At that very moment Mādhava said to Arjuna: "Behold, O Pārtha, how Drauṇi makes mighty effort to slay the Pārṣata — without doubt he will slay him."

8.42.41 "Deliver him, O mighty-armed — the Pārṣata, scorcher of foes, who has come into the jaws of Drauṇi as one fallen into the jaws of Death."

8.42.42 So saying, O great king, the valiant Vāsudeva sped the horses thither, to where Drauṇi was stationed.

8.42.43 Those horses, bright as the moon, urged on by Keśava, sped toward Drauṇi's chariot as though drinking up the sky.

8.42.44 Seeing the two of mighty valor, Kṛṣṇa and Dhanaṃjaya, coming on, the strong one, O king, redoubled his effort to slay Dhṛṣṭadyumna.

8.42.45 At the mere sight of Dhṛṣṭadyumna being dragged off, O lord of men, the mighty Pārtha hurled his shafts against Drauṇi.

8.42.46 Those gold-wrought arrows, sped forcefully from the Gāṇḍīva, reaching Drauṇi entered him as serpents enter an anthill.

8.42.47 Scattered by those dreadful shafts, the valiant son of Droṇa, tormented by the arrows of Dhanaṃjaya, the hero mounted his chariot, and seizing his peerless bow pierced Pārtha with his darts.

8.42.48 In this interval the hero Sahadeva, O ruler of men, bore the Pārṣata, scorcher of foes, away from the fray upon his chariot.

8.42.49 Arjuna too, O great king, pierced Drauṇi with feathered shafts; and the son of Droṇa, enraged, smote him upon the arms and the breast.

8.42.50 But Pārtha, enraged in battle, hurled at the son of Droṇa an iron shaft, the measure of Doom, like a second rod of Time; and it, of great splendor, fell upon the Brāhmaṇa's shoulder.

8.42.51 Reeling, O great king, from the force of that shaft in the fight, he sank down upon the floor of his chariot and fell into utter distress.

8.42.52 Then Karṇa, O great king, drew the bow named Vijaya, gazing again and again in wrath upon Arjuna in the fray, longing for single combat with Pārtha in that great battle.

8.42.53 But the charioteer, leaving aside that stricken hero, harrier of foes, bore him in haste away from the field of battle upon his chariot.

8.42.54 Then a great shout went up, O great king, from the Pāñcālas flushed with victory, beholding the Pārṣata delivered and the son of Droṇa hard pressed.

8.42.55 And divine instruments sounded forth by the thousands, and a lion-roar arose at the sight of that dreadful, great marvel.

8.42.56 Having done thus, Pārtha Dhanaṃjaya said to Vāsudeva: "Drive on to the saṃśaptakas, O Kṛṣṇa — this is my supreme task."

8.42.57 Then the Dāśārha, hearing the Pāṇḍava's word, drove onward in his richly bannered chariot, swift as the mind and the wind.

8.43.1 Saṃjaya said: In this interval Kṛṣṇa spoke a word to Pārtha, as though pointing out to the son of Kuntī the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira.

8.43.2 "Yonder, O Pāṇḍava, your brother is swiftly pursued by the mighty sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, great archers bent on his slaying, O Pārtha."

8.43.3 "And the Pāñcālas, enraged and frenzied in battle, follow after at great speed, seeking to save the great-souled Yudhiṣṭhira."

8.43.4 "Yonder Duryodhana, O Pārtha, mailed and ringed by his host of chariots — that king of all the world — runs in pursuit of the king."

8.43.5 "Eager to slay that tiger among men, the mighty one, together with his brothers — whose touch is like a venomous serpent's, skilled in every mode of war."

8.43.6 "These sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra advance with their elephants, horses, chariots, and foot, eager to seize Yudhiṣṭhira as suitors covet a most precious jewel."

8.43.7 "Behold — the lord, hemmed in and guarded by the Sātvata and by Bhīma, as the Daityas, eager to carry off the nectar, were held helpless by Śakra and Agni."

8.43.8 "By force of their numbers these great chariot-warriors, hastening, advance again upon the Pāṇḍava, as floods of water flow to the sea in the rainy season."

8.43.9 "Roaring with lion-roars, blowing too their conch-shells, those strong mighty archers, brandishing their bows withal —"

8.43.10 "I deem the son of Kuntī, Yudhiṣṭhira, fallen into the jaws of Death, offered up into the fire — blessings on you — gone into Duryodhana's power."

8.43.11 "For so well arrayed is the host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, O Pāṇḍava, that not even Śakra, once come within range of its arrows, could win free of it."

8.43.12 "The arrow-force of the valiant Duryodhana, of Drauṇi, of the son of Śaradvat, and of Karṇa, could rend asunder even the mountains."

8.43.13 When valiant Duryodhana hurls his floods of arrows swiftly, like Death himself enraged, who in battle could withstand his onslaught?

8.43.14 And by Karṇa, that scorcher of foes—strong, swift of hand, accomplished, and skilled in war—the king has been turned back.

8.43.15 Rādheya, that hero, joined with the high-souled sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, is able in battle to press hard even the foremost of the Pāṇḍavas.

8.43.16 As Pārtha fought thus in the engagement with self-possessed soul, his armor was stripped away even by other great chariot-warriors.

8.43.17 Wasted by fasting, O best of the Bhāratas, the king stands firm in the strength of the brahman, not, O lord, in the overwhelming strength of the warrior.

8.43.18 I think, O Pārtha, that the great king Yudhiṣṭhira no longer lives, since the wrathful Bhīmasena now endures these lion-roars.

8.43.19 of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, O subduer of foes, who again and again roar and blow their great conches in the battle, flushed with the look of conquest—

8.43.20 "Yudhiṣṭhira the Pāṇḍava is slain!"—so, O bull of the Bhāratas, does Karṇa urge on the mighty sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

8.43.21 Veiling the king with the Sthūṇākarṇa, the Indrajāla, and the Pāśupata weapons, O Pārtha, the great chariot-warriors pursue him. I deem the king to be in distress, O Bhārata, and in need of being attended to.

8.43.22 For the Pāñcālas with the Pāṇḍavas, foremost of all weapon-bearers, follow after him in haste at this urgent hour, eager to lift him up though he sinks as it were into the abyss, mighty though he is.

8.43.23 The king's banner is no longer seen, cut down by Karṇa's arrows, O Pārtha, before the very eyes of the twins, of Sātyaki, and of Śikhaṇḍin—

8.43.24 of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, of Bhīma, or of Śatānīka, O lord, and of all the Pāñcālas and the Cedis as well, O Bhārata.

8.43.25 There Karṇa in battle, O Pārtha, shatters the Pāṇḍavas' host with his arrows, as an elephant tramples a bed of lotuses.

8.43.26 Your chariot-warriors are fleeing, O joy of Pāṇḍu; look, look, O Pārtha, how these great chariot-warriors give way!

8.43.27 These elephants, O Bhārata, struck down by Karṇa in the battle, uttering cries of anguish, scatter to the ten directions.

8.43.28 Behold on every side, O Pārtha, the host of chariots in flight, driven before him in the battle by Karṇa, that grinder of foes.

8.43.29 Behold in the battle the elephant-girth pennon ranging here and there, the banner of the Sūta's son who stands upon his car, O best of those who bear banners.

8.43.30 Yonder Rādheya rushes toward Bhīmasena's chariot, scattering as it were hundreds of arrows and smiting your host.

8.43.31 Behold these Pāñcālas, driven and slain by that great-souled one in the mighty fray, as the Daityas were by Śakra.

8.43.32 Having vanquished in battle the Pāñcālas, the Pāṇḍavas, and the Sṛñjayas, Karṇa looks in every direction—seeking you, I think.

8.43.33 Behold, O Pārtha, how fair he shines as he draws his peerless bow, like Śakra, having conquered his foes, surrounded by the throngs of gods.

8.43.34 These Kauravas shout aloud, beholding Karṇa's prowess, terrifying in the battle the Pārthas and the Sṛñjayas by the thousands.

8.43.35 Having with all his might struck terror into the Pāṇḍavas in the great battle, Rādheya, the honored one, addresses all the troops:

8.43.36 "Charge, advance, run swiftly, O Kauravas, so that no Sṛñjaya may escape from you alive in the fight!"

8.43.37 "Do this, girt for the work; we shall follow at your back." Having spoken thus, he advanced behind them, scattering arrows.

8.43.38 Behold Karṇa in the battle, O Pārtha, radiant with his white complexion, like the day-maker sun lighting up the mountain of dawn.

8.43.39 and with the parasol borne above his head in the battle, O Bhārata, white as the full moon and ribbed with a hundred staves.

8.43.40 Karṇa watches for you with sidelong glance, O lord of peoples; summoning his utmost effort, he will surely come against you in the encounter.

8.43.41 Behold him, O mighty-armed one, brandishing his great bow and loosing arrows like venomous serpents, that man of vast strength.

8.43.42 Yonder Rādheya is seen returning, O you of the monkey banner, and he comes on to his own destruction, like a moth toward a flame.

8.43.43 Seeing Karṇa alone, O Bhārata, the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, well girt and seeking to protect him, advances with his array of chariots.

8.43.44 That evil-souled one, together with all these, must be slain with effort by you who desire glory and kingdom and the highest happiness.

8.43.45 Considering yourself, your soul made perfect, O bull of the Bhāratas, and Rādheya, who has done wrong against the righteous Yudhiṣṭhira—

8.43.46 set yourself against Rādheya, for the time has come at once; fixing your mind on the noble resolve in war, advance against that leader of chariot-bands.

8.43.47 For five hundred of these chief chariots, O best of charioteers, come on with speed, manned by the strong and dreadful in splendor.

8.43.48 Five thousand elephants, twice as many horses, O son of Kuntī, and footmen by the myriad, all banded together—that host, each guarding the other, O hero, moves against you.

8.43.49 Against the Sūta's son, that great archer, show yourself by your own might; summoning your utmost effort, O bull of the Bhāratas, go forth to meet him.

8.43.50 Yonder Karṇa, in fury, rushes upon the Pāñcālas; for I see his banner moving toward Dhṛṣṭadyumna's chariot. He will utterly destroy the Pāñcālas, I think, O scorcher of foes.

8.43.51 I tell you glad tidings, O Pārtha, and thus it is, O bull of the Bhāratas: the king lives, the Kaurava Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Dharma!

8.43.52 Yonder the mighty-armed Bhīma has turned back at the head of the host, surrounded by the Sṛñjaya troops and by Sātyaki, O Bhārata.

8.43.53 These Kauravas are being slain in the battle by sharp arrows, O son of Kuntī, by Bhīmasena and by the high-souled Pāñcālas.

8.43.54 For the army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son has turned its face from the battle and flees in haste, smitten by Bhīma's arrows.

8.43.55 Like a field whose crop has failed, drenched with blood, the Bhārata army, O best of the Bhāratas, is a piteous sight to behold.

8.43.56 Behold, O son of Kuntī, Bhīmasena, that lord of warriors, returned like a furious venomous serpent; before him the host takes flight.

8.43.57 Banners yellow, red, black, and white, adorned with stars, moon, and sun, are scattered abroad, and these parasols too, O Arjuna.

8.43.58 Standards of gold and silver and of bright metal, of many kinds, are cast down, and the elephants and horses are scattered.

8.43.59 These chariot-warriors fall from their cars, their lives fled, slain by the many-colored arrows of the unyielding Pāñcālas.

8.43.60 The swift Pāñcālas charge upon the masterless elephants, horses, and chariots, and upon the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.43.61 And those tigers among men, relying on Bhīmasena, crush the unassailable strength of the foe, recking nothing of their lives, O subduer of enemies.

8.43.62 These Pāñcālas roar and blow their conches, and they charge in battle, smiting their foes with arrows.

8.43.63 Behold the glory of heaven, O scorcher of foes: the Pāñcālas, enraged, smite down the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra as lions slay elephants.

8.43.64 On every side this great host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son is overwhelmed by the Pāñcālas, as the Gaṅgā is by swift swans coming from Lake Mānasa.

8.43.65 Mightily do the heroes Kṛpa, Karṇa, and the rest exert themselves to check the Pāñcālas, like bulls among bulls.

8.43.66 The heroes led by Dhṛṣṭadyumna slay by the thousand those great chariot-warriors of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, deeply sunk under Bhīma's weapons; and the great host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son has its chariots for the most part downcast.

8.43.67 Behold these elephants, cleft by Bhīma's iron shafts, falling like the peaks of mountains struck by the thunderbolt of the wielder of the bolt.

8.43.68 Pierced by the well-jointed arrows of Bhīmasena, these great elephants flee, trampling their own ranks.

8.43.69 Do you not recognize, O Arjuna, the unbearable lion-roar of Bhīma, the hero flushed with conquest, as he shouts in the battle?

8.43.70 There the Niṣāda's son comes upon the Pāṇḍava with his lordly elephant, raging to slay him with lances, like Death with rod in hand.

8.43.71 His two arms, lances and all, were severed by the roaring Bhīma, and he was struck down by ten keen iron shafts bright as tongues of fire.

8.43.72 Having slain him, he comes on again; behold Vṛkodara smiting other striking elephants, dark as rain-clouds and mounted by their drivers, with bolts like spears and lances.

8.43.73 Slaying seven and seven of those elephants together with their pennons and banners with sharp arrows, the elder of the Pārtha cut them down—each single elephant slain by ten iron shafts.

8.43.74 Nor is that clamor of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra now heard, since that bull of the Bhāratas, equal to Puraṃdara in his wrath, has returned to the fray.

8.43.75 Three full divisions of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, banded together, were thus checked by the wrathful lion among men, Bhīmasena.

8.43.76 Saṃjaya said: Seeing that most difficult feat accomplished by Bhīmasena, Arjuna scattered the remaining foes with his keen arrows.

8.43.77 Those bands of the saṃśaptakas, being slain in the battle, O lord, attained the guesthood of Śakra and became free of sorrow, filled with joy.

8.43.78 And Pārtha, that tiger among men, with his well-jointed arrows smote the fourfold host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son.

8.44.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: When Bhīmasena had turned back, and the Pāṇḍava Yudhiṣṭhira too, and when my host was being slain by the Pāṇḍavas and Sṛñjayas—

8.44.2 and when the flood of my army was streaming away with cries again and again of despair—what then did the Kurus do? Tell me that, Saṃjaya.

8.44.3 Saṃjaya said: Beholding the mighty-armed Bhīma, the glorious son of the Sūta, his eyes red with wrath, O king, rushed upon Bhīmasena.

8.44.4 And seeing your army turning its face away from Bhīmasena, the strong one, O king, with great effort steadied it again.

8.44.5 Having rallied your son's host, the mighty-armed Karṇa then went forth to meet the Pāṇḍavas, maddened with battle.

8.44.6 And the great chariot-warriors of the Pāṇḍavas went forth to meet Rādheya, shaking their bows in the fray and loosing their arrows.

8.44.7 Bhīmasena, the grandson of Śini, Śikhaṇḍin, Janamejaya, and the strong Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and all the Prabhadrakas as well—

8.44.8 and the Pāñcālas, those tigers among men, enraged and flushed with the look of conquest in battle, charged your host on every side.

8.44.9 And likewise your great chariot-warriors, O king, charged in haste upon the Pāṇḍavas' host, eager to slay.

8.44.10 Dense with chariots, elephants, and horses, thronged with footmen and banners, the army became, O tiger among men, a wondrous sight to behold.

8.44.11 And Śikhaṇḍin went against Karṇa, and Dhṛṣṭadyumna against your son Duḥśāsana, O great king, who was girt with a mighty host.

8.44.12 Nakula went against Vṛṣasena, and Yudhiṣṭhira against Citrasena, and Sahadeva, O king, advanced upon Ulūka in the battle.

8.44.13 Sātyaki went against Śakuni, and Bhīmasena against the Kauravas, while the great chariot-warrior, the son of Droṇa, set himself against the watchful Arjuna in the battle.

8.44.14 Gautama fell upon the great archer Yudhāmanyu in the battle, and the strong Kṛtavarman charged against Uttamaujas.

8.44.15 Bhīmasena of the mighty arms, O honored one, single-handedly held back all the Kurus and your sons together with their troops.

8.44.16 Then Śikhaṇḍin, slayer of Bhīṣma, O great king, checked with his arrows Karṇa, who was ranging fearlessly over the field.

8.44.17 Thus opposed, Karṇa, his lips quivering with rage, struck Śikhaṇḍin with three arrows between the brows.

8.44.18 Bearing those arrows, Śikhaṇḍin shone in great splendor, like a silver mountain crowned with three peaks.

8.44.19 That mighty archer, sorely wounded by the sūta's son in the encounter, pierced Karṇa in battle with ninety sharpened arrows.

8.44.20 Karṇa, that great chariot-warrior, slew his horses and his charioteer with three arrows, and tore down his banner with a razor-edged shaft.

8.44.21 Then that great chariot-warrior, scorcher of foes, leaping down from his car of slain horses, in fury hurled a spear at Karṇa.

8.44.22 Cleaving that spear in battle with three arrows, O Bhārata, Karṇa then pierced Śikhaṇḍin with nine sharpened shafts.

8.44.23 Warding off the arrows loosed from Karṇa's bow, that best of men, Śikhaṇḍin, foremost of the victorious, then swiftly withdrew.

8.44.24 Then Karṇa, O great king, scattered the Pāṇḍava forces, as a swift-rushing wind falls upon a heap of cotton.

8.44.25 Dhṛṣṭadyumna, O great king, hard pressed by your son, pierced Duḥśāsana with three arrows in the breast.

8.44.26 Duḥśāsana in turn pierced his left arm, O honored one, with a sharp, gold-feathered, broad-headed arrow of smooth joints.

8.44.27 Pierced through, the unforgiving Dhṛṣṭadyumna, enraged, sped a dreadful arrow at Duḥśāsana, O Bhārata.

8.44.28 As that arrow loosed by Dhṛṣṭadyumna sped toward him with great force, your son cut it apart with three shafts, O lord of peoples.

8.44.29 Then, closing in, he tormented Dhṛṣṭadyumna in the arms and chest with seventeen more broad-headed, gold-adorned arrows.

8.44.30 Then that son of Pṛṣata in fury cut his bow apart, O honored one, with a keen-edged razor-shaft, whereupon the people raised a great shout.

8.44.31 Then, taking up another bow, your son, O bull of the Bhāratas, hemmed in Dhṛṣṭadyumna on every side with showers of arrows.

8.44.32 Beholding the prowess of your high-souled son, the warriors in the field, the Siddhas, and the hosts of Apsarases broke into joyous acclaim.

8.44.33 Then there raged between your men and the foe a battle dreadful and terrible of aspect, as though it were the appointed hour of doom for all living things, O scorcher of foes.

8.44.34 Vṛṣasena, having pierced Nakula with five iron arrows, struck him again with three others as he stood near his father.

8.44.35 Then Nakula, enraged, as if with a smile, pierced Vṛṣasena deep in the heart with a keen iron shaft.

8.44.36 Sorely wounded by his powerful foe, that harasser of enemies pierced his foe with twenty arrows, and the other struck him with five.

8.44.37 Then those two bulls among men covered each other with a thousand arrows, and the host was broken asunder.

8.44.38 Seeing Dhṛtarāṣṭra's army in flight, the sūta's son pursued and forcibly rallied it, O lord of peoples; and when Karṇa had thus turned away, Nakula advanced against the Kauravas.

8.44.39 And Karṇa's son, leaving Nakula in the battle, swiftly hastened to guard the wheel of Rādheya's chariot, O honored one.

8.44.40 Ulūka, enraged in battle, was checked by Sahadeva; and the valiant Sahadeva, having slain his four horses, dispatched his charioteer to the abode of Yama.

8.44.41 Then Ulūka, that delight of his father, leaping down from his car, O lord of peoples, made his way to the full strength of the Trigartas.

8.44.42 Sātyaki, having pierced Śakuni with twenty sharpened arrows, cut down the banner of Subala's son with a broad-headed shaft, as if in sport.

8.44.43 Subala's son, valiant and enraged in that battle, O king, rent his armor and in turn cut down his golden banner.

8.44.44 Then Sātyaki struck him back with sharpened arrows and tormented his charioteer, O great king, with three shafts; and swiftly with his arrows he sent his horses to the abode of Yama.

8.44.45 Then Śakuni, that great chariot-warrior, leaping down at once, O bull of the Bhāratas, swiftly mounted Ulūka's car and was quickly borne away from the battle-loving grandson of Śini.

8.44.46 Then Sātyaki in the battle, O king, rushed with speed upon the host of your men, and thereupon the array was broken.

8.44.47 Driven by the arrows of Śini's grandson, the army, O lord of peoples, swiftly fled in all ten directions and fell as if its life had departed.

8.44.48 Your son withstood Bhīmasena in the encounter; but Bhīma in a moment stripped that lord of the realm of horses, charioteer, car, and banner, whereat the Cāraṇas were well pleased.

8.44.49 Then the king withdrew there from the range of Bhīmasena; and thereupon the whole Kuru army rushed upon Bhīmasena, and a great uproar arose among those eager to slay Bhīma alone.

8.44.50 Yudhāmanyu, having pierced Kṛpa, swiftly cut his bow apart; then Kṛpa, foremost of weapon-bearers, took up another bow.

8.44.51 He brought down to the earth Yudhāmanyu's banner, his charioteer, and his parasol; then Yudhāmanyu, that great chariot-warrior, withdrew upon his car.

8.44.52 And Uttamaujas at once covered with arrows the son of Hṛdika, of terrible prowess, as a cloud covers a mountain with its rain.

8.44.53 That battle was vast and terrible of aspect, O scorcher of foes, such a battle as I had never before beheld, O lord of peoples.

8.44.54 Then Kṛtavarman, O king, pierced Uttamaujas in the heart in that combat, and he thereupon sank down on the floor of his car.

8.44.55 His charioteer bore that best of car-warriors away upon his chariot; and then in haste, O king, Kṛtavarman fell upon the Pāṇḍava host.

8.45.1 Saṃjaya said: Droṇa's son, surrounded by a great array of chariots, charged suddenly, O king, to where the king was stationed.

8.45.2 As he charged in suddenly, the hero Pārtha, with Śauri at his side, at once held him back, as the shore holds back the abode of sea-monsters.

8.45.3 Then, enraged, O great king, the valiant son of Droṇa covered Arjuna and Vāsudeva with his arrows.

8.45.4 Seeing the two Kṛṣṇas thus shrouded, the great chariot-warriors of the Kurus, struck with the utmost wonder, gazed on then.

8.45.5 Then Arjuna, as if with a smile, brought forth a celestial weapon; but the brāhmaṇa warded off that weapon in the fight, O Bhārata.

8.45.6 Whatever weapon the Pāṇḍava launched in battle, eager to slay, that very weapon the mighty archer, Droṇa's son, beat down.

8.45.7 As the dreadful combat of weapons went on, O king, we beheld Droṇa's son in the battle like Death with gaping jaws.

8.45.8 Having veiled all the quarters and the intermediate quarters with his crooked-flying shafts, he pierced Vāsudeva with three arrows in the right arm.

8.45.9 Then Arjuna, having slain all the horses of that high-souled one, made the ground of the battle a river coursing with streams of blood.

8.45.10 Slain by the arrows loosed from Pārtha's bow, the car-warriors fell, and the horses, their harness loosed, ran hither and thither.

8.45.11 Seeing that deed of Pārtha, the splendid in battle, Droṇa's son covered Kṛṣṇa on every side with sharpened arrows in the fight.

8.45.12 Then, O great king, Droṇa's son, drawing back a feathered shaft, reached Arjuna and struck him in the region of the breast in that encounter.

8.45.13 Sorely wounded in the battle by Droṇa's son, O Bhārata, he took up a dreadful iron club and hurled it at Droṇa's son.

8.45.14 That iron club, adorned with gold, as it hurtled toward him, Droṇa's son at once cut apart, whereupon the people raised a shout.

8.45.15 Shattered in many pieces by the arrows of Bharadvāja's grandson, it fell to the earth, O king, like a mountain riven by the wind.

8.45.16 Then Arjuna in the battle pierced Droṇa's son with ten arrows and with a broad-headed shaft swept his charioteer from the chariot-seat.

8.45.17 Taking the reins of his horses himself, he covered the two Kṛṣṇas with his arrows; therein we beheld the wondrous swiftness of Droṇa's son's prowess.

8.45.18 That he held the horses in check and yet did battle with Phalguna—for that, O king, all the warriors in the field honored him.

8.45.19 But when Phalguna was being overborne in battle by Droṇa's son, then Jaya cut apart the reins of his chariot-horses with razor-edged shafts.

8.45.20 Those horses, harried by the force of the arrows, bolted away, and thereupon a great clamor again arose in your army, O Bhārata.

8.45.21 And the Pāṇḍavas, having won the victory, fell upon your army, loosing sharpened arrows on every side, eager for triumph.

8.45.22 By the Pāṇḍavas, O great king, those heroes flushed with victory, the great host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons was broken again and again.

8.45.23 Even before the eyes, O great king, of your sons skilled in varied modes of warfare, of Śakuni the son of Subala, and of the high-souled Karṇa,

8.45.24 the great army, though rallied by your sons, O lord of men, would not stand its ground in the battle, being smitten on every side.

8.45.25 Then, O great king, with the warriors fleeing this way and that in terror, the great host of your sons fell into utter confusion.

8.45.26 Though the sūta's son cried again and again, "Stand! Stand!", that army, slaughtered by the high-souled ones, would not stand fast.

8.45.27 Then, O great king, a great shout was raised by the Pāṇḍavas, flushed with conquest, as they saw the army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son fleeing on every side.

8.45.28 Then Duryodhana said to Karṇa, as if in affection: "See, Karṇa, how sorely our army is afflicted by the Pāṇḍavas.

8.45.29 Even while you stand here, it flees on every side in terror. Knowing this, O mighty-armed subduer of foes, do what the hour demands.

8.45.30 Thousands of warriors, O bull among men, O hero, being routed by the Pāṇḍavas in battle, cry out to you alone."

8.45.31 Hearing this weighty speech of Duryodhana, Rādheya, that joy of the sūta, spoke these words to the king of the Madras:

8.45.32 "Behold the might of my arms and of my weapons, O lord of men. This day I shall slay in battle all the Pāñcālas together with the sons of Pāṇḍu. Drive on the horses with care, O tiger among men, O lord of men."

8.45.33 Having spoken thus, O great king, the valiant son of the sūta, that hero, took up Vijaya, his ancient and surpassing bow, strung it, O great king, and stroked it again and again.

8.45.34 And having stayed his own warriors by a true oath, that mighty one of immeasurable soul brought to bear the Bhārgava weapon.

8.45.35 Then, O king, sharp arrows by the thousands, the hundred-thousands, the hundred-millions, and the tens of millions poured forth in that great battle.

8.45.36 Veiled by those blazing, most dreadful shafts winged with the feathers of heron and peacock, the Pāṇḍava army could no longer be discerned at all.

8.45.37 A great cry of anguish arose among the Pāñcālas, O lord of peoples, tormented in the encounter by the mighty Bhārgava weapon.

8.45.38 As elephants fell, O king, and men too by the thousands, and chariots and horses as well, O tiger among men, on every side,

8.45.39 the earth trembled, O king, beneath those slain on every side, and the whole great host of the Pāṇḍavas fell into utter confusion.

8.45.40 But Karṇa alone, foremost of warriors, blazed forth like a smokeless fire; burning up his foes, O tiger among men, that scorcher of enemies shone resplendent.

8.45.41 Slaughtered by Karṇa, the Pāñcālas together with the Cedis reeled this way and that, bewildered like elephants caught in a forest fire; and they cried out, O tiger among men, those best of men, as they had done before.

8.45.42 Hearing them cry out, terrified at the head of the battle, fleeing in all directions, O king, panic-stricken on every side, there arose a great wail of anguish, like that of the dead at the dissolution of the world.

8.45.43 Seeing them being slain by the Sūta's son, O venerable one, all creatures trembled, even those born in the brute creation.

8.45.44 Cut down in battle by the Sūta's son, the Sṛñjayas called out again and again upon Arjuna and Vāsudeva, as the senseless dead cry out upon the King of the Dead in his own city.

8.45.45 Then Dhanaṃjaya, son of Kuntī, spoke to Vāsudeva, seeing the most terrible Bhārgava weapon loosed there with fury:

8.45.46 "Behold, mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, the prowess of the Bhārgava weapon! This weapon can in no way be countered in battle.

8.45.47 And behold the Sūta's son in his fury, O Kṛṣṇa, in this great battle—a hero like Death himself, working a fearful slaughter.

8.45.48 Sharply urging on his horses, he looks toward me again and again; nor do I see any sign that Karṇa would flee from the field.

8.45.49 A man who lives wins in battle either victory or defeat; but for one already conquered, O Hṛṣīkeśa, there is only death—how then can there be victory?"

8.45.50 Then Janārdana set off, wishing to see Yudhiṣṭhira, and resolved to wear Karṇa down by exertion in the fight, O venerable one.

8.45.51 And Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna: "The king is sorely wounded. Comfort him first, O best of the Kurus, and then you shall slay Karṇa."

8.45.52 Then Dhanaṃjaya, to see the king tormented by arrows, drove swiftly upon his chariot through the battle at Keśava's command.

8.45.53 As the son of Kuntī went on, wishing to behold the King of Righteousness, he scanned the host but did not see his elder brother there.

8.45.54 Having waged an unbearable combat with Droṇa's son, O Bhārata, the wielder of the thunderbolt-like bow, the son of Kuntī overcame in battle the descendant of Bhṛgu.

8.45.55 Having vanquished Droṇa's son, that fierce bowman, having accomplished a great and arduous deed of nobility, Dhanaṃjaya then surveyed his own army—he whom no enemies could assail.

8.45.56 As he fought, that hero Savyasācin cheered the brave men stationed at the front of the host; praising them with renowned deeds of old, he made firm in the line the warriors of his own chariot-division.

8.45.57 But the diademed, garlanded one, not seeing in the fight his eldest brother, scion of Ajamīḍha, approached Bhīma swiftly and said, "What news is there here, O king, of the king?"

8.45.58 Bhīma said: "The king, Yudhiṣṭhira, son of Dharma, has withdrawn from here, his limbs broken by Karṇa's arrows—if indeed he yet lives at all."

8.45.59 Arjuna said: "Then go you swiftly from here for news of the king, best of the Kurus; for surely, pierced most grievously by Karṇa's shafts, the king has gone to the camp."

8.45.60 "He who, in the night battle when it was joined, though pierced most grievously by Droṇa, that impetuous one stood his ground even there, awaiting victory, so long as he was not slain by Droṇa—

8.45.61 that foremost of the Pāṇḍavas, that great-souled one, has today been brought into peril by Karṇa in battle. Go quickly now to learn of him, O Bhīma; I shall stand here, holding back the enemy hosts."

8.45.62 Bhīma said: "Go you yourself, great-souled one, to learn the news of the king, that bull of the Bhāratas; for if I go there, Arjuna, the warriors will say of me, 'He is afraid.'"

8.45.63 Then Arjuna said to Bhīmasena: "The sworn warriors stand arrayed against me; without slaying these, I cannot withdraw from here, from this throng of the enemy host."

8.45.64 Then Bhīmasena said to Arjuna: "Relying on my own valor, O foremost of the Kurus, I shall fight back against all the sworn warriors in battle—go, Dhanaṃjaya!"

8.45.65 Hearing these words of Bhīmasena, his brother, words most hard to utter in the midst of foes, Arjuna, resolving to go and behold the best of the Kurus, then spoke to the foremost of the Vṛṣṇis:

8.45.66 "Urge on the horses, Hṛṣīkeśa, and plunge through this ocean of chariots; I wish to behold King Ajātaśatru, O Keśava."

8.45.67 Then the chief of all the Dāśārhas urged on the horses and said this to Bhīma: "This deed of yours today is no wonder, O hero; we shall go—slay the enemy hosts, Bhīma."

8.45.68 Then Hṛṣīkeśa drove on to where King Yudhiṣṭhira was, faster and faster, O king, with steeds that rivaled Garuḍa.

8.45.69 Having stationed Bhīmasena, that subduer of foes, against the opposing line, and having given Vṛkodara his charge concerning the battle, O lord of kings—

8.45.70 then those two foremost of men, having gone and come upon the king lying alone, both descended from the chariot and bowed at the feet of the King of Righteousness.

8.45.71 Beholding those two tigers among men come to him unharmed and in joy, O bull among men—the two Kṛṣṇas, like the Aśvins approaching Vāsava—

8.45.72 the king welcomed them, as Vivasvat welcomes the Aśvins, or as the preceptor welcomed Śakra and Viṣṇu when the great Asura Jambha had been slain.

8.45.73 Believing Karṇa slain, Yudhiṣṭhira, the King of Righteousness, well pleased, addressed those two scorchers of foes in a voice faltering with joy.

8.46.1 Saṃjaya said: But seeing those two of great spirit, Keśava and Arjuna, come together, he supposed the son of Adhiratha had been slain in battle by the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva.

8.46.2 The son of Kuntī welcomed them with words most gracious and kind, that slayer of foes honoring them with a smile, O bull of the Bhāratas.

8.46.3 Yudhiṣṭhira said: "Welcome, son of Devakī! Welcome to you, Dhanaṃjaya! Dear to me indeed is the sight of you both, O Acyuta and Arjuna.

8.46.4 Unhurt and unscathed, how did you fight that great chariot-warrior, like a venomous serpent in battle, skilled in every weapon—

8.46.5 the foremost of all the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, their refuge and their armor, guarded by Vṛṣasena and by the archer Suṣeṇa—

8.46.6 of mighty valor, sanctioned by Rāma, invincible in arms, the protector of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who advanced at the head of the host—

8.46.7 the destroyer of enemy armies, the crusher of hostile throngs, devoted to Duryodhana's welfare and ever ready for battle with us—

8.46.8 unassailable in great battle even by the gods with Vāsava at their head, equal to fire and wind in splendor and in might—

8.46.9 deep as the netherworld, the increaser of his friends' joy, like Death to his foes—having slain Karṇa in the great battle, by good fortune you two have come back, like the immortals after conquering an Asura!

8.46.10 For today, O Acyuta and Arjuna, I joined battle with that undaunted one, who, like enraged Death bent on destroying all creatures—

8.46.11 by him my banner was cut down, and my flank-charioteers were slain, and my horses too were killed, while Yuyudhāna looked on—

8.46.12 while Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the twins, the heroic Śikhaṇḍin, the sons of Draupadī, and all the Pāñcālas looked on.

8.46.13 Having vanquished these mighty warriors and many enemy throngs, Karṇa overcame me too, O mighty-armed one, as I strove in the great battle.

8.46.14 And pursuing me in the fight, that foremost of warriors spoke many a harsh word, again and again, scorning me—of this there is no doubt.

8.46.15 That I live at all, Dhanaṃjaya, is by the might of Bhīmasena. But what need of many words here?—I have no will to endure that any longer.

8.46.16 For thirteen years, Dhanaṃjaya, in fear of him I got no sleep by night, nor any ease by day at any time.

8.46.17 Seized with hatred of him, I am consumed within, Dhanaṃjaya, knowing my own death at hand, like an elephant who has scented the lion.

8.46.18 All this time of mine has passed, O lord, in brooding upon this: how might Karṇa be destroyed by me in battle?

8.46.19 Waking and sleeping, son of Kuntī, ever I saw Karṇa and Karṇa alone; this whole world seemed to me to have become Karṇa, wherever I turned.

8.46.20 Wherever I went, Dhanaṃjaya, in dread of Karṇa, there too I would see Karṇa himself standing before me.

8.46.21 And I, O Pārtha, conquered by that hero who never fled from battle, with my horses and my chariot, was spared alive and let go.

8.46.22 What use have I now of life, or what use again of a kingdom, thus disgraced as I am here by Karṇa, the ornament of battle?

8.46.23 What I never met before from Bhīṣma, from Kṛpa, or from Droṇa in combat, that I have met today in battle from the Sūta's son, the great chariot-warrior.

8.46.24 Therefore I ask you, son of Kuntī—for I am in distress—tell me in full how Karṇa was slain by you.

8.46.25 He whose valor in battle equaled Śakra's, whose might matched Yama's, and who was Rāma's equal in arms—how indeed was he struck down?

8.46.26 Renowned as a great chariot-warrior, skilled in every kind of fighting, the foremost of bowmen, the one man above all others—

8.46.27 honored by Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his sons, O lord of peoples, ever for your destruction—that son of Rādhā, how was he slain by you?

8.46.28 For of all warriors, Arjuna, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, that bull among men, ever held Karṇa to be your death in battle.

8.46.29 That one, O tiger among men, how was he struck down by you in battle? Tell me, Bībhatsu, how Karṇa was slain by you.

8.46.30 And his lofty head—was it carried off before the eyes of his friends by you, O tiger among men, as a tiger carries off the head of a deer?

8.46.31 He, the Sūta's son, who beset every quarter and region, seeking to seize you in battle—Karṇa, who would give away whole droves of elephants in war—is he now, struck by your keen heron-feathered shafts,

8.46.32 slain by you in battle—does that evil-souled Sūta's son lie upon the earth? Have you done me this day my dearest joy, by slaying the Sūta's son in the fight?

8.46.33 He who ranged on every side for your undoing, drunk with pride and arrogance, that Sūta's son—he who deemed himself a hero—having met him in battle, have you slain him today in combat?

8.46.34 He who, for your undoing, would give away to others a golden chariot yoked with the finest elephants, that wicked one who ever vied in battle—has he been slain by you, my son, in the fight?

8.46.35 He who, ever drunk with the pride of his prowess, would boast in the assembly of the Kauravas, the exceedingly dear friend of Suyodhana—has that wicked one been slain by you today?

8.46.36 Pierced by the blood-seeking birds loosed from your bow and sped by you, does that wicked one lie today with his body cleft? Is the arm of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son broken at last?

8.46.37 He who, full of arrogance, ever boasted in the midst of kings, gladdening Duryodhana, saying in his folly, 'I am the slayer of Phalguna'—has his chariot now been brought to nothing thereby?

8.46.38 "Never will I wash my feet so long as Pārtha lives"—such was that dull-witted one's vow at all times, O son of Śakra. Has that Karṇa been slain by you this day?

8.46.39 He of evil mind who said to Kṛṣṇā, that Karṇa, in the assembly amid the Kuru heroes, 'Why do you not abandon the Pāṇḍavas, Kṛṣṇā—those weaklings, fallen and bereft of strength?'—

8.46.40 That vow which Karṇa made for your undoing—'I shall not come back here without having slain Pārtha together with Kṛṣṇa'—does that evil-minded one now lie with his body riven by arrows?

8.46.41 Was this clash of the Sṛñjayas and Kauravas in battle—wherein I was brought to such a plight—made known to him? Has he been slain by you today, joined in combat?

8.46.42 Has the head of that exceedingly dull-witted one, with its earrings, radiant as the sun, been severed from its body by you in battle, O Savyasācin, with blazing arrows loosed from the Gāṇḍīva?

8.46.43 That for which I, struck down by his arrows, fixed my mind upon you for the slaying of Karṇa, O hero—has that thought of mine been made fruitful by you today through the felling of Karṇa?

8.46.44 That with which Suyodhana, full of arrogance, looked down upon us, relying upon Karṇa—has that prop of Suyodhana been broken by you today by your valor?

8.46.45 He who once called us 'barren sesame seeds' in the midst of the assembly, before the eyes of the kings—has that evil-minded, exceedingly wrathful Sūta's son, encountered in battle, been slain by you?

8.46.46 That evil-souled Sūta's son who, laughing, once said, 'She is won by the son of Subala—drag the daughter of Yajñasena here yourself by force!'—has he too been slain by you here this day?

8.46.47 That dull-witted wretch who, though reckoned but half a chariot-warrior, dared to revile the foremost weapon-bearer on earth, our grandsire — that vile son of Adhiratha — has he been slain by you this day?

8.46.48 This unrelenting fire, fanned ever by his treachery, lodged within my heart — quench it for me today, O Phalguna, by saying: "That evil-minded man I met and slew this day."

8.47.1 Saṃjaya said: Having heard those words of the righteous king, enraged at the son of Adhiratha, the great-souled and victorious Arjuna, of boundless might, spoke thus to the indomitable, undaunted Yudhiṣṭhira:

8.47.2 As I was fighting today with the Saṃśaptakas, O king, the son of Droṇa, the vanguard of the Kuru host, suddenly took his stand before me, loosing arrows that flew like venomous serpents.

8.47.3 Seeing this cloud-like chariot of mine, the Ambaṣṭha host stood firm, ready to die. Having slain five hundred of them, I then came upon the son of Droṇa, O foremost of kings.

8.47.4 Then he discharged volley upon volley of arrows, drawn to the ear and loosed at full stretch, by the force of his training and the strength of his weapons — even as the rain-cloud pours down in the season of storms.

8.47.5 We could not tell when he took an arrow nor when he fitted it, nor by which hand — the left or the right — he would let it fly: so swiftly did that son of Droṇa wheel about in the battle.

8.47.6 The son of Droṇa pierced me with five sharp arrows and Vāsudeva with five more; but I, in the space of an eyeblink, crushed him with thirty shafts like thunderbolts.

8.47.7 Streaming blood from all his limbs, overwhelmed by me, he withdrew into the chariot-ranks of the Sūta's son, not heeding the foremost of his own warriors, all of them drenched in gore.

8.47.8 Then, seeing his army crushed in the fight, its warriors scattered, its horses and elephants in flight, the destroyer Karṇa, joined by fifty chief chariot-warriors, came swiftly against me.

8.47.9 Having destroyed them and left Karṇa aside, I hastened to see you; for all the Pāñcālas shrink from Karṇa as cattle shrink from the scent of a lion.

8.47.10 Like men plunging into the mouth of a great fish, the Prabhadrakas rush upon Karṇa; encountering Karṇa, O king, the Prabhadrakas enter as into the gaping jaws of Death.

8.47.11 Come and behold today both me and the Sūta's son, each resolved on victory and eager for the fray. Six thousand royal princes, O Bhārata, those chariot-warriors, have sunk down — bound for heaven and its world.

8.47.12 Meeting the Sūta's son in battle, O foremost of kings, as the Thunderer met Vṛtra, I shall fight him hard, O Bhārata — that son of the Sūta — if only he shows himself in this engagement today.

8.47.13 If today I do not by main force slay Karṇa as he fights, together with his kinsmen, O king, then may I go to that grievous fate that awaits those who promise and do not perform, O lion among kings.

8.47.14 I take my leave of you — wish me victory in battle, before the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra overwhelm Bhīma. I shall slay the Sūta's son, O lion among men, and his army, and all the hosts of our foes.

8.48.1 Saṃjaya said: Hearing that Karṇa was hale and of lofty valor, the king Yudhiṣṭhira, tormented by Karṇa's arrows, grew wrathful and spoke these words to Phalguna, to Dhanaṃjaya of measureless might:

8.48.2 Had you said this back in the Dvaita forest — "O king, I cannot bring myself to fight Karṇa" — then, O Pārtha, we would all have taken such measures as the hour demanded, then and there.

8.48.3 Having promised me his death, O hero, and the trusty army with him, why then, having led us into the very midst of the foe, did you lift us up only to dash us down upon the bare ground?

8.48.4 We placed our hopes in you, O Arjuna, longing to attain much that is good and desired; yet all that has come to nothing for us, O prince — like the over-flowering nicula tree to those who craved its fruit.

8.48.5 Like a hook hidden by its bait, like a wild ox lured by a false call, you have shown me ruin in the guise of a kingdom — to me who sought a kingdom — and to no purpose at all.

8.48.6 When you, dull-witted one, were but seven days old, a voice from the sky said to Pṛthā: "This son who is born has the prowess of Vāsava; he shall vanquish all the heroes who are your foes."

8.48.7 "This one, of surpassing might, shall conquer at Khāṇḍava the hosts of the gods and all beings besides; this one shall vanquish the Madrakas, the Kaliṅgas, and the Kekayas; this one shall slay the Kurus in the midst of kings."

8.48.8 "No bowman shall ever surpass this one, nor has any ever been who could conquer him. This noble one, master of himself and perfect in every art, could, if he wished, bring all beings under his sway."

8.48.9 "In beauty he is the equal of the moon, in swiftness of the wind, in steadfastness of Meru, in forbearance of the earth, in radiance of Sūrya, in splendor of the Lord of Wealth, in heroism of Śakra, in strength of Viṣṇu —

8.48.10 so is this great-souled son of yours, O Kuntī — a slayer of foes born as Viṣṇu was born of Aditi: renowned, of measureless might, the preserver of his line, for the victory of his own and the destruction of his enemies."

8.48.11 Thus spoke the voice from the sky upon the summit of Śataśṛṅga, in the hearing of the ascetics. Yet you have proved to be no such man this day — surely, then, even the gods speak falsehood.

8.48.12 Hearing the like from those other most excellent sages whom we ever revered, I had never thought to bow to Suyodhana — nor did I know you to be one stricken with fear of the son of Adhiratha.

8.48.13 Mounted upon that fair, ape-bannered car wrought by Tvaṣṭṛ, its axles never creaking, grasping your sword bright with gold and this Gāṇḍīva bow as tall as a palm-tree, and borne onward by Keśava himself — how, O Pārtha, could you have turned and fled in fear of Karṇa?

8.48.14 Had you, base-souled one, handed this bow to Keśava and yourself become the driver in the battle, then Keśava would have slain the fierce Karṇa, as the Lord of the Maruts, thunderbolt in hand, slew Vṛtra.

8.48.15 Better had you miscarried in the fifth, the perilous, month, or had Pṛthā's womb never borne you at all! That, O prince, would have spared you this toil — better that than to flee from battle, O base-souled one!

8.49.1 Saṃjaya said: Thus addressed by Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Kuntī, he of the white steeds, in a great rage seized his sword, bent on slaying the bull of the Bhāratas.

8.49.2 Seeing his fury, Keśava, the knower of hearts, then said: "What is this, O Pārtha — why have you taken up your sword?"

8.49.3 "I see no one here for you to fight, O Dhanaṃjaya; for the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra have all been shattered by wise Bhīma."

8.49.4 "You came away from the field, O son of Kuntī, saying the king must be seen; and now you have seen that king, and Yudhiṣṭhira is well."

8.49.5 "Now that you behold this tiger among kings, of a tiger's own prowess, and the hour for rejoicing has come — why has wrath seized hold of you?"

8.49.6 "I see no one here, O son of Kuntī, who ought to be slain by you. Why then do you so hastily grasp your great sword?"

8.49.7 "This I ask of you, O son of Kuntī, O man of wondrous valor: what is it you mean to do, that in your wrath you lay hold of the sword?"

8.49.8 Thus addressed by Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, his eyes fixed upon Yudhiṣṭhira, spoke to Govinda, hissing in his anger like a serpent:

8.49.9 "Whoever should urge me, saying 'Give the Gāṇḍīva to another,' him I would behead — such is my secret vow."

8.49.10 "That very thing has been said to me by the king, O undaunted one of measureless prowess, here before your face, Govinda; and this I cannot bring myself to forgive."

8.49.11 "Therefore I shall slay this king, scrupulous though he be in dharma; by killing this best of men I shall keep my vow. For this end have I taken up the sword, O delight of the Yadus."

8.49.12 "So, having slain Yudhiṣṭhira, I shall be discharged of my debt even to truth, and I shall become free of grief and free of fever, O Janārdana."

8.49.13 "Or what do you deem fitting in this hour that has now arisen? You, dear one, know all the comings and goings of this world; so shall I act in whatever way you shall direct me."

8.49.14 Kṛṣṇa said: Now, O Pārtha, I know that you have never attended upon the elders, since at the wrong hour, O tiger among men, you act with such reckless fury. For one who knows the distinctions of dharma would never act thus, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.49.15 He who treats what ought not to be done as a thing to be done, and what ought to be done as a thing to be left undone — he, O Pārtha, is the basest of men.

8.49.16 You do not know the settled conviction of those seers who, following dharma, have attained it — those who understand it both in brief and at length.

8.49.17 For a man who lacks sure knowledge in deciding what is to be done and what is not, is helplessly bewildered, O Pārtha — even as you, in your folly, are now bewildered.

8.49.18 It is by no means easy to know what should be done and what should not; all this is known through sacred learning, and that learning you do not comprehend.

8.49.19 Out of ignorance you, who deem yourself a knower of dharma, would uphold dharma; but a righteous man, O Pārtha, does not look upon the slaying of living beings as dharma.

8.49.20 The non-slaying of living creatures, dear one, I hold to be the highest of all; rather should a falsehood be spoken than that one should ever do harm.

8.49.21 How then, O best of men, would you slay your eldest brother, the king, a man learned in dharma — as if you were some other, common man?

8.49.22 The slaying of one who does not fight, who bears no weapon, who turns his back and flees, or who seeks refuge, who joins his palms in supplication or surrenders — such killing, O Bhārata, is not approved by the wise.

8.49.23 And this vow of yours, O Pārtha, was made of old when you were but a boy; therefore, out of folly, you now resolve upon a deed bound up with unrighteousness.

8.49.24 How, O Pārtha, would you slay your elder, claiming to be mindful of dharma, without having weighed the course of duties — a course subtle and hard to trace?

8.49.25 And I shall declare to you this secret of dharma, O bull of the Bhāratas — what Bhīṣma, or the dharma-knowing Yudhiṣṭhira, might tell you,

8.49.26 or what Vidura the steward, or even the renowned Kuntī, might say — that I shall tell you in its truth; mark it well, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.49.27 To speak the truth is good; there is nothing higher than truth. Yet in its essence this is very hard to know — what truth is, for him who would practice it.

8.49.28 There may be truth that ought not to be told, and falsehood that ought to be told; when one's whole substance is being plundered, a falsehood ought to be spoken.

8.49.29 When life is at stake, and in matters of marriage, a falsehood ought to be spoken; for there are cases where falsehood becomes truth, and truth itself becomes falsehood.

8.49.30 The simple-minded man sees as truth only that truth which he himself has practiced; but only after he has discerned aright between truth and falsehood does one become a knower of dharma.

8.49.31 What wonder is it that even a man of cultivated wisdom, though most cruel, should gain great merit — as Balāka did by slaying the blind one?

8.49.32 And what wonder, again, that a fool, devoted to dharma yet unlearned, should incur grievous sin — as Kauśika did concerning the rivers?

8.49.33 Arjuna said: Tell me this, O blessed one, that I may understand it — the tale bound up with Balāka and the blind one, and the tale of the rivers and of Kauśika.

8.49.34 Kṛṣṇa said: There was once a certain hunter of deer named Balāka, O Bhārata, who slew beasts to sustain his wife and children, not out of wanton desire.

8.49.35 He supported his blind mother and father, and others who depended on him; ever devoted to his own duty, truthful in speech, and free from malice.

8.49.36 Once, eager for game and striving hard, he found no quarry; then he caught sight of a beast of prey that had drunk water and saw by scent alone.

8.49.37 That creature, the like of which he had never seen before, he then slew; and at once a rain of flowers fell down upon him from the sky.

8.49.38 And a delightful celestial chariot, resounding with the song and music of Apsarases, descended from heaven to bear that hunter of deer away.

8.49.39 For that creature, O Arjuna, had by its austerities won a boon for the destruction of all beings, and had been made blind by the Self-Existent.

8.49.40 By slaying that beast, which was bent upon the annihilation of all beings, Balāka thus went to heaven. So hard to know is dharma.

8.49.41 There was also a brāhmaṇa named Kauśika, an ascetic but of little learning, who is said to have dwelt at the meeting of rivers, not far from a village.

8.49.42 "I must always speak the truth" — this was the vow he had taken; and so he became renowned as a teller of truth, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.49.43 Now once, in fear of robbers, certain people entered that forest; and the cruel robbers too came on, searching diligently for them.

8.49.44 Then, coming up to Kauśika the truth-teller, they said: "By which path, O reverend one, did those many folk go? Adjured by your truth, speak; if you know where they are, tell us."

8.49.45 Thus questioned, Kauśika spoke to them a truthful word: "They have taken shelter in this forest, thick with trees and creepers and thickets." And so, the tradition tells, those cruel men found them and slew them.

8.49.46 By that great unrighteousness, that ill-spoken word, Kauśika went to a most grievous hell — unskilled in the subtleties of dharma, of scanty learning, a fool who knew not the distinctions of duty.

8.49.47 He who, without asking the elders to resolve his doubt, deserves thereby to fall into a great pit. In this there will be some mark and indication for guidance.

8.49.48 The highest knowledge is hard to attain; herein one determines it by reasoning. "Sacred revelation is dharma" — so say many people.

8.49.49 Yet this I do not gainsay; for not all is ordained therein. The teaching of dharma was made for the welfare and thriving of living beings.

8.49.50 From its upholding, they say, dharma takes its name, for dharma upholds all creatures. Whatever is bound up with upholding — that, it is determined, is dharma.

8.49.51 When men, wishing to seize what is not theirs by right, demand something, then if release can be had by saying nothing, one should by no means speak out at all.

8.49.52 But where one must needs speak, or where silence itself would breed suspicion — there, it is reasoned, to utter a falsehood is better than the truth.

8.49.53 In peril of life, or at a marriage, or to save all one's kinsmen and wealth, or in the course of jesting, a falsehood may be spoken — and in this those who see into the true meaning of dharma perceive no wrong.

8.49.54 He who is freed of dealings with thieves even by means of oaths — for him to speak falsely there is the better course, and that, beyond all reasoning, is the truth.

8.49.55 Nor should wealth be given to such men, by any means, while one has the power to refuse; for wealth given to the wicked torments even the giver. Therefore one who utters falsehood for the sake of dharma does not thereby become a liar.

8.49.56 This summary of dharma's marks I have set forth for you according to rule. Having heard it, tell me, Pārtha: is Yudhiṣṭhira to be slain?

8.49.57 Arjuna said: As a man of vast wisdom would speak, as one of great understanding would speak, and as is for our good — even so is this speech of yours.

8.49.58 You are to us as a mother, and likewise as a father, and our supreme refuge, Kṛṣṇa; therefore your word is wondrous.

8.49.59 For in the three worlds there is nothing anywhere unknown to you; therefore you know the highest dharma, all of it, exactly as it is.

8.49.60 I hold the Pāṇḍava, Yudhiṣṭhira the Dharma-king, not to be slain. Within the bounds of that compact, speak some favor for him. And hear yet this other thing I would say, that lies within my heart.

8.49.61 You know my vow, O Dāśārha: should any man among mortals say to me, 'Give over your Gāṇḍīva, Pārtha, to another,' or, 'There is one who surpasses you in arms' —

8.49.62 — him would I slay outright, Keśava; and one who calls me a beardless weakling, Bhīma would slay. Now this very thing the king said to me in your presence, lion of the Vṛṣṇis: 'Give up your bow,' again and again.

8.49.63 If I slay him, Keśava, I will not remain even a moment longer in the world of the living. Yet that vow of mine, known throughout the world, must be made true, O foremost of the upholders of dharma. So devise it, Kṛṣṇa, that the Pāṇḍava may live and I as well — such counsel you must give me now.

8.49.64 Vāsudeva said: The king is worn out and wounded, gashed by Karṇa in the fray with showers of whetted arrows. That is why, Pārtha, he spoke harshly to you; for upon Karṇa today the whole game of battle is staked.

8.49.65 'With him slain, the Kurus will be vanquished' — such is the mind of the king, the son of Dharma. When a man suffers a great humiliation, then, though he lives, he is called as good as dead.

8.49.66 This king has ever been honored — by you, by Bhīma, and by the twins, and by elders and the foremost of men throughout the world. Therefore apply to him only a fraction of disrespect.

8.49.67 Address this venerable one, Pārtha, with the familiar 'thou' — say 'thou' to Yudhiṣṭhira; for a guru addressed as 'thou' is thereby, as it were, slain, O Bhārata.

8.49.68 So conduct yourself, son of Kuntī, toward the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira; effect in this way a token of dishonor, O upholder of the Kurus.

8.49.69 For this is a teaching of the Atharvan and the Aṅgirasas, the highest of revealed teachings; and it is to be carried out without question, always, by men who desire their welfare.

8.49.70 For this, Pāṇḍava, will be reckoned a slaying of the Dharma-king at your hands; thus shall it be understood. And thereafter, having bowed to his feet and soothed him, you must speak peace, O Pārtha.

8.49.71 Your wise brother, the king, the son of Pāṇḍu, will never harbor any anger against you. Freed of falsehood and of a brother's slaying, Pārtha, joyfully strike down Karṇa, the sūta's son.

8.49.72 Saṃjaya said: Thus addressed by Janārdana, Pārtha approved that 'slaying' of his dear one, and then Arjuna spoke to the Dharma-king, harshly and by force, words such as he had never uttered before.

8.49.73 Speak not, O king, while others speak; you do not even hold your ground within a krośa's distance of the battle's midst. It is Bhīma who has the right to reproach me — he who fights as the foremost champion of all warriors,

8.49.74 — who, in season pressing back the foe in battle and slaying those heroic lords of earth, having killed more than a thousand elephants, roared out his tumultuous lion's roar;

8.49.75 That hero does deeds most hard to do, such as you could never do at any time: leaping down from his chariot and seizing his mace, with it he strikes down horses, men, and elephants in the fray.

8.49.76 With his fine sword he slays steeds, chariots, horses and elephants, and with chariot-wheels and bow he slays his foes; trampling his enemies underfoot he destroys them, and again with his two arms — he whose valor is that of Indra of the hundred sacrifices.

8.49.77 Of mighty strength, the equal of Kubera and of Yama, slayer by main force of his foes as they deserve — it is that Bhīmasena who has the right to reproach me, not you, who are forever guarded by your friends.

8.49.78 Crushing great car-warriors, the noblest elephants, horses, and chief among the foot-soldiers, Bhīma alone has plunged into the host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons; it is that subduer of foes who has the right to rebuke me.

8.49.79 He who slays in their multitudes the hosts of the Kaliṅgas, Vaṅgas, Aṅgas, Niṣādas, and Māgadhas — ever rut-maddened, like dark thunderclouds — he is able to upbraid me who am blameless.

8.49.80 Mounting in season his well-yoked car, drawing his bow, his fist full of arrows, that hero pours forth showers of shafts in the great battle, as a cloud pours forth its streams of water.

8.49.81 The wise say that the strength of the best of brahmins lies in speech, but the strength of the warrior in the might of his arms. You, Bhārata, are strong only in words, and harsh withal; you yourself know what manner of man I am.

8.49.82 I strive ever to do what is dear to you, with wife and sons and life and my own self; and yet you strike me down with the arrows of your speech. From you we have never known any happiness at all.

8.49.83 You have despised me, you who keep to Draupadī's couch, while for your sake I slay great car-warriors; thus, over-suspicious, Bhārata, you are harsh. From you I have known no happiness whatever.

8.49.84 By Bhīṣma, true to his word, the manner of his own death was himself declared; and for your pleasure, O lord of men, in battle the heroic Śikhaṇḍin, Drupada's great son, guarded by me, slew him.

8.49.85 Nor do I rejoice in your sovereignty, since you clung to the dice to our ruin; having yourself committed a sin practiced only by the ignoble, you now wish to cross over your foes in battle by means of these your brothers.

8.49.86 Many are the faults of the dice, contrary to all law — those that Sahadeva named, you heard them. Yet you would not cross beyond those vices, fit only for the wicked, through which we have all gone down to hell.

8.49.87 You were the gambler; through you came the loss of the kingdom; from you arose our calamity, O lord of men. Goad us no more with the cruel whips of your words, O king, kindling the wrath of us ill-fated ones.

8.49.88 Having made the steadfast-minded king hear these harsh words, Savyasācin cut him to the quick; then the son of the king of gods repented, and sighing deeply drew forth his sword.

8.49.89 Kṛṣṇa said to him: Why now do you draw from its sheath this sword, sky-bright? Tell me truly your answer again; then will I speak the word of counsel for the accomplishing of the end.

8.49.90 Thus questioned by that best of men, deeply grieved, Arjuna spoke to Keśava: I shall slay my own body by force — this body wherewith I have done so unfit a thing.

8.49.91 Hearing that word of Pārtha, the foremost of the upholders of dharma said this to Dhanaṃjaya: Proclaim here your own virtues, Pārtha; thus at once will your heart's grief be lifted from you.

8.49.92 'So be it, Kṛṣṇa,' said Dhanaṃjaya, hailing the word, and lowering his bow he spoke to Yudhiṣṭhira, the foremost of the upholders of dharma — 'Hear me, O king,' said the son of Śakra:

8.49.93 There is no other bowman like me, O lord of men, save the god who bears the Pināka; for, sanctioned by that great one, in a moment I could destroy the world with all that moves and moves not.

8.49.94 For by me, O king, all the quarters, with the lords that rule them, were conquered and brought under your sway; that Rājasūya, with its gifts complete, and your celestial hall — these were yours through my might.

8.49.95 Upon my palm these shaft-marks are inscribed, and in battle my bow is drawn taut with its arrow; my feet too are marked with shafts and banner. One like me, gone to battle, none can conquer.

8.49.96 The northern peoples are slain, the western struck down, the eastern routed, the southern destroyed; of the Saṃśaptakas but a remnant is left. Half of the entire host has been slain by me.

8.49.97 The army of the Bhāratas, bright as the host of the gods, lies slain by me, O king. Those who know not the celestial weapons I slay with ordinary arms; therefore I do not reduce the world to ashes.

8.49.98 Having spoken thus, Pārtha said again to Yudhiṣṭhira, the foremost of the upholders of dharma: By him shall Rādhā be made childless, or Kuntī by me — know this for the truth, O king. Be gracious, O king; forgive what I have spoken; in time you will understand it. To you my homage.

8.49.99 Having appeased the king, the conqueror of foes, he stood and, drawing near, said to him: I go now to deliver Bhīma from the fray, and with my whole soul to slay the sūta's son.

8.49.100 For your pleasure is my very life — I speak the truth; know it so, O king. And so, having clasped his feet, the Diademed One of blazing splendor rose and set out: 'Soon, not long hence, this shall come to pass; yonder he turns — I go against him.'

8.49.101 Hearing this, the Pāṇḍava, the Dharma-king, his brother Phalguna's harsh speech, rose from that couch and, his mind overwhelmed with grief, spoke then to Pārtha:

8.49.102 I have acted, Pārtha, in a way that was not good, whereby this most dreadful calamity has come upon you all. Therefore strike off this head of mine today — the head of one who is the ruin of his line, the basest of men.

8.49.103 Of a sinner, beset with the vice of sin, of dull wit, slothful, and a coward, a scorner of his elders and a harsh man too — what use is it to you to follow me, a hard man, any longer?

8.49.104 I, a sinner, shall go this very day to the forest; may you live happily, rid of me. The great-souled Bhīmasena is fit to be king; what business has a eunuch like me with ruling?

8.49.105 Nor am I able to bear these harsh words of yours again, spoken in anger. Let Bhīma be king; what use is there in my life, O hero, now that I am despised?

8.49.106 Having spoken thus, the king sprang up at once, leaving that couch behind, and sought to go forth then to the forest; but Vāsudeva, bowing, said to him:

8.49.107 O king, this is known to you — how the vow of the Gāṇḍīva-bearer, faithful to his word, concerning the Gāṇḍīva is renowned far and wide.

8.49.108 Whoever should say to him, 'Give over your Gāṇḍīva to another' — that man in the world is to be slain by him; and you spoke to him in just such terms.

8.49.109 Therefore, to keep that vow of his true, Pārtha, at my urging, has shown you this disrespect, O lord of earth; for disrespect toward elders is called a slaying.

8.49.110 Therefore, O mighty-armed one, this transgression of us both — of me and of Pārtha — forgive it, O king, with regard to Arjuna.

8.49.111 To you, great king, we have both come for refuge; you should forgive me, O king, as I bow and entreat you.

8.49.112 This day the earth shall drink the blood of the wicked son of Rādhā; truly I promise you — know the sūta's son as slain today. He whose death you desire — his life is already gone this day.

8.49.113 Hearing these words of Kṛṣṇa, the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira hastily raised up Hṛṣīkeśa, who bowed before him, and then, with palms joined, spoke this word in answer:

8.49.114 It is even as you say; this transgression is indeed mine. I am won over, Govinda, and delivered this day, Mādhava; rescued from dread calamity are we this day by you, O Acyuta.

8.49.115 Having gained you as our protector, we two, bewildered by ignorance, have this day crossed over from the dreadful ocean of calamity.

8.49.116 Boarding the raft of your wisdom, we, together with our counselors, have crossed over from the ocean of grief and sorrow; protected by you we are, O Acyuta.

8.50.1 Saṃjaya said: Having thus, at Kṛṣṇa's word, retorted to Yudhiṣṭhira, Pārtha grew downcast, as though he had committed some sin.

8.50.2 Then Vāsudeva, as if smiling, said to the Pāṇḍava: How indeed could this have come to pass, Pārtha — that you should slay with a keen-edged sword the son of Dharma, who stands firm in dharma?

8.50.3 Merely by saying 'thou' to the king you fell into such despondency; but had you slain the king, Pārtha, what answer could you have made? So very hard is dharma to discern, especially by those of feeble understanding.

8.50.4 You, from your dread of unrighteousness, would surely have gone to the most dreadful and terrible hell, for the slaying of your eldest brother.

8.50.5 Therefore do you appease the king, the best of the upholders of dharma, joined to dharma, the foremost of the Kurus; this is my counsel herein.

8.50.6 Having appeased the king with devotion, and Yudhiṣṭhira being made glad, let us go in haste to fight against the chariot of the sūta's son.

8.50.7 Slaying the hard-to-conquer Karṇa today with your whetted shafts, bring abundant joy to the son of Dharma, O giver of honor.

8.50.8 This, O mighty-armed one, is my counsel, fitting to the hour; and when this is done, your task too will be accomplished.

8.50.9 Then Arjuna, O great king, filled with shame, fell with his head at the feet of the Dharma-king, O sinless one.

8.50.10 He said, O best of the Bhāratas: 'Be gracious,' again and again; 'forgive, O king, what was spoken by one who loves dharma and is fearful of it.'

8.50.11 Seeing Dhanaṃjaya, the slayer of foes, fallen at his feet and weeping, O bull of the Bhāratas, the Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira —

8.50.12 — the king, the Dharma-king, raised up his brother Dhanaṃjaya and, embracing him with affection, the lord of earth burst into tears.

8.50.13 Having wept for a long while, the two brothers of great splendor, those tigers among men, their hearts unburdened, became filled with mutual love.

8.50.14 Then, embracing the son of Pāṇḍu lovingly and kissing him upon the head, filled with the highest affection and smiling, he spoke to the Conqueror:

8.50.15 "O mighty-armed one, before the eyes of the whole army Karṇa cut down with his arrows my armor, my banner, my bow, my spear, my horses, and my mace, O great archer, even as I strove in the battle.

8.50.16 Having known and seen his prowess in battle, O Phalguna, I sink down in grief, and life itself is no longer dear to me.

8.50.17 O hero, if today you do not slay that son of a charioteer, I shall abandon my very breath of life — for what use have I of living?"

8.50.18 Thus addressed, the Ever-Victorious replied, O bull of the Bhāratas: "By truth I swear to you, O king, and by your own favor, and by Bhīma, O best of men, and by the twins, O lord of the earth —

8.50.19 that this very day in battle I shall slay Karṇa, or else, slain, I shall fall upon the earth. By truth I lay my hand upon my weapon."

8.50.20 Having spoken thus to the king, he addressed these words to Mādhava: "This day in battle I shall slay Karṇa, O Kṛṣṇa — there is no doubt. Set your mind, may you prosper, upon the death of that evil-souled one."

8.50.21 Thus addressed, Keśava said to Pārtha, O best of kings: "I am able, O best of the Bhāratas, to make every effort according to my strength.

8.50.22 And this too has ever been my desire, O great chariot-warrior; my thought is always how you might slay Karṇa in battle."

8.50.23 And the wise Mādhava spoke further to the son of Dharma: "Yudhiṣṭhira, you should soothe this Bībhatsu, and grant him leave today for the slaying of the evil-souled Karṇa.

8.50.24 For having heard that you were tormented by Karṇa's arrows, both he and I came here to learn how things stood, O joy of the Pāṇḍavas.

8.50.25 By good fortune, O king, you are free of hurt; by good fortune you were not taken captive. Console Bībhatsu, and bid the Conqueror to victory, O sinless one."

8.50.26 Yudhiṣṭhira said: "Come, come, O Pārtha, Bībhatsu, embrace me, son of Pāṇḍu. I was told by you what ought to have been said, though it was harsh — and that I have forgiven.

8.50.27 I grant you leave — slay Karṇa, O Dhanaṃjaya. And bear no anger, O Pārtha, for the cruel words I spoke to you."

8.50.28 Saṃjaya said: Then Dhanaṃjaya, O king, bowing with his head, clasped with both hands the feet of his eldest brother, O venerable one.

8.50.29 Then the king, raising him up and embracing him close, and kissing him upon the head, spoke to him once more these words:

8.50.30 "O mighty-armed Dhanaṃjaya, you have honored me well. May you attain greatness and victory once more, and that everlasting."

8.50.31 Arjuna said: "This day, closing with that evil-doing Rādheya, proud of his strength, together with his kinsmen, I shall bring him to his end in battle with my arrows.

8.50.32 He by whom you were tormented with arrows, drawing his bow taut — for that deed Karṇa shall this day reap a terrible fruit.

8.50.33 This day, having slain Karṇa, O lord of the earth, I shall come to you to do you honor amid the cries of war — this I tell you truly.

8.50.34 I shall not turn back from the field of battle this day without having slain Karṇa — and on this truth I touch your feet, O lord of the world."

8.50.35 Saṃjaya said: Having won over the King of Righteousness, Pārtha, with gladdened inmost heart and bent upon the slaying of the charioteer's son, spoke to Govinda:

8.50.36 "Let the chariot be made ready once more, and let the finest horses be yoked, and let all the weapons be set in order upon the great car.

8.50.37 Let the well-trained horses and the skilled horsemen, with all the gear of the chariot, come forth in haste."

8.50.38 When this was spoken, O great king, by the high-souled Phalguna, Kṛṣṇa said to Dāruka: "Do all as Arjuna, best of the Bhāratas, foremost of all bowmen, has said."

8.50.39 Then, commanded by Kṛṣṇa, Dāruka, O best of kings, yoked that tiger-skinned chariot, the scorcher of foes.

8.50.40 Mounting the chariot now yoked by the high-souled Dāruka, taking leave of the King of Righteousness and bidding the brāhmaṇas pronounce their blessings, amid auspicious benedictions he ascended that finest of chariots.

8.50.41 Upon him the king, the deeply wise Yudhiṣṭhira, the Lord of Righteousness, bestowed the highest blessings, fit for the slaying of Karṇa.

8.50.42 Seeing that great archer setting forth, O Bhārata, the creatures reckoned Karṇa already slain by the high-souled son of Pāṇḍu.

8.50.43 All the quarters grew clear on every side, O king; and blue jays and woodpeckers and herons, O lord of men, then circled rightward about the joy of the Pāṇḍus.

8.50.44 Many birds, O king, bearing masculine names, auspicious and benign, urging Arjuna on to battle, cried out in joyful guise.

8.50.45 Herons, vultures, cranes, and crows, O lord of peoples, went on before him, fearsome, in their craving for flesh.

8.50.46 And the auspicious omens proclaimed for Pārtha the destruction of the enemy's host and the slaying of Karṇa as well.

8.50.47 Then, as Pārtha set forth, a great sweat broke upon him, and a deep anxiety arose: "How indeed will this come to pass?"

8.50.48 Then the Slayer of Madhu, seeing Pārtha strained and gripped by anxiety, spoke to the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva:

8.50.49 "O wielder of the Gāṇḍīva, of those whom you have vanquished in battle with your bow, there is no human conqueror to be found here other than you.

8.50.50 For many heroes have been seen, in valor equal to Śakra, who, meeting you in battle, O hero, have gone to the highest goal.

8.50.51 For who, O venerable one, could stand against Droṇa and Bhīṣma and Bhagadatta, and Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti, and Sudakṣiṇa of the Kāmbojas,

8.50.52 and the mighty Śrutāyus, and Acyutāyus too, and emerge unharmed — who is there so capable as you?

8.50.53 For yours are the celestial weapons, and lightness of hand, and strength; yours, O Arjuna, the piercing, the casting, the aim, and the union of all; and freedom from bewilderment in battle, and the bending of all knowledge to your will.

8.50.54 You could slay all the gods and demons together with all that moves and moves not; for upon the earth, O Pārtha, there is no warrior, no man, equal to you in battle.

8.50.55 For of all the bow-wielding warriors, mad with the lust of battle, from the gods downward, I neither see nor hear of one equal to you.

8.50.56 By Brahmā were the creatures created, and so too the marvelous Gāṇḍīva with which you fight, O Pārtha; therefore there is none equal to you.

8.50.57 Yet I must surely tell you what is wholesome for you, O son of Pāṇḍu: do not, O mighty-armed one, hold lightly Karṇa, who shines in battle.

8.50.58 For Karṇa is strong and bold, accomplished in arms and a great chariot-warrior, skilled and a wondrous fighter, expert in place and time.

8.50.59 In splendor he is like fire, in swiftness equal to the wind's rush, in wrath the very likeness of Death, with the frame of a lion, and mighty.

8.50.60 With arms long as iron bars, mighty-armed, broad-chested, hard to conquer, exceedingly proud, valiant, a foremost hero, and fair to look upon.

8.50.61 Endowed with every warrior's virtue, a giver of safety to his friends, ever a hater of the Pāṇḍavas, and devoted to the welfare of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son.

8.50.62 Rādheya is, to my mind, one who cannot be slain by all the gods together with Vāsava — save by you. This day, then, slay the charioteer's son.

8.50.63 Even by the gods arrayed for war, bearing flesh and blood, all of them eager to fight, he cannot be conquered in battle.

8.50.64 Slaying that evil-souled one, wicked-minded and cruel, of corrupt understanding, ever set against the sons of Pāṇḍu, and forsaking his own good in his enmity with the Pāṇḍavas — by slaying Karṇa this day, become one whose purpose is fulfilled.

8.50.65 He through whom the wicked Suyodhana deems himself a hero — that son of a charioteer, the root of all these evils, conquer this day, O Dhanaṃjaya."

8.51.1 Saṃjaya said: Then again the immeasurable-souled Keśava spoke to Arjuna, who was resolved and wholly intent upon the slaying of Karṇa:

8.51.2 "This day, O Bhārata, the seventeenth day is passing of that most dreadful destruction of men and elephants and horses.

8.51.3 Vast though the army of your kinsmen was, closing with the foe in mutual battle, but little of it now remains, O lord of peoples.

8.51.4 For the Kauravas, O Pārtha, abounding in elephants and horses, having met you as their foe, were destroyed at the head of battle.

8.51.5 And all these Pāñcālas and Sṛñjayas with their kindred, and the Pāṇḍavas, having gained you, the unassailable, stand firm.

8.51.6 By the Pāñcālas, the Pāṇḍavas, the Matsyas, the Karūṣas, the Cedis and the Kekayas, guarded by you, O slayer of foes, was the host of enemies brought to ruin.

8.51.7 For who, dear one, is able to conquer in battle the Kauravas gathered together, save the Pāṇḍavas, those great chariot-warriors, when guarded by you in war?

8.51.8 For you are able in battle to conquer the three worlds with their gods, demons, and men, all together arrayed — how much more, then, the host of the Kauravas?

8.51.9 For King Bhagadatta, O tiger among men, who else but you was able to conquer — even were he the equal of Vāsava?

8.51.10 And this vast army guarded by you, O sinless Pārtha — all the kings of the earth could not even look upon it with their eyes.

8.51.11 And likewise, O Pārtha, by Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, ever guarded by you in battle, were Bhīṣma and Droṇa brought down.

8.51.12 For who among the Pāñcālas, O Pārtha, was able to vanquish in battle by force of arms those two great chariot-warriors, Bhīṣma and Droṇa, equal in valor to Śakra?

8.51.13 For who, in the clash of battle, could face the son of Śaṃtanu, Droṇa, Vaikartana, Kṛpa, the son of Droṇa, the son of Somadatta, and Kṛtavarman too, the lord of the Sindhus, the king of the Madras, and King Suyodhana —

8.51.14 all those heroes, accomplished in arms in battle, each with his followers, fierce commanders of armies, furious and mad with the lust of war?

8.51.15 And many companies have been brought low, their horses, chariots, and elephants torn asunder — fierce hosts from divers lands, of warriors who would brook no offense.

8.51.16 Of the Govāsas, the Dāsamīyas, and the Vasātis, O Bhārata, of the Vrātyas, the Vāṭadhānas, and the proud Bhojas as well —

8.51.17 and the swelling great hosts of the brāhmaṇa-warriors, O Bhārata, having met you, went to their destruction, together with their horses, chariots, and elephants.

8.51.18 And the fierce, cruel-doing Tukhāras, Yavanas, and Khaśas, the Dārvābhisāras, Daradas, Śakas, Ramaṭhas, and Taṅgaṇas,

8.51.19 and the Andhrakas and Pulindas, the Kirātas of fierce prowess, and the Mlecchas and the mountain-dwellers, and those who dwell by the sea and its marshlands — wrathful, drunk with battle, mighty, with steadfast hands —

8.51.20 these, raging for Suyodhana's sake together with the Kurus, could be conquered in battle by none other than you, O scorcher of foes.

8.51.21 For seeing the host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son towering and arrayed in mighty strength, what man, whose protector you were not, would dare advance against it?

8.51.22 That army, surging like the ocean and veiled in dust, was rent asunder and slain by the wrathful Pāṇḍavas guarded by you, O lord.

8.51.23 The lord of the Māgadhas, the mighty Jayatsena, was slain in battle by Abhimanyu just seven days ago this day.

8.51.24 Then ten thousand elephants of terrible deeds, that king's retinue, Bhīma slew with his mace; and other elephants too were slain, and chariots by the hundred, by his might.

8.51.25 Thus, dear one, as that great and dreadful battle raged on, the Kauravas, encountering Bhīmasena and you, O Pāṇḍava, went from here to the realm of Death, together with their horses, chariots, and elephants.

8.51.26 And when the van of the army there had been struck down by the Pāṇḍavas, O Pārtha, Bhīṣma loosed fierce showers of arrows, O venerable one.

8.51.27 Covering with his arrows the Cedis, the Kāśis, the Pāñcālas, the Karūṣas, the Matsyas, and the Kekayas, that knower of cruel weapons led them to their destruction.

8.51.28 And with the arrows loosed from his bow, the rippers of the bodies of foes, gold-feathered and flying straight, the whole sky was filled.

8.51.29 Moving by the tenth course, abandoning the nine evil courses, he advanced and slew horses, chariots, and elephants; that mighty one, drawing his bow at full stretch, loosed his shafts.

8.51.30 For ten days Bhīṣma, smiting your host, emptied the seats of the chariots and laid low elephants and horses.

8.51.31 Revealing in battle a form like Rudra's or Upendra's, he plunged into the ranks of the Pāṇḍavas and shattered them.

8.51.32 Slaying the guardians of the earth—the Cedis, the Pāñcālas, the Kekayas—he consumed the Pāṇḍava army thronged with men, horses, and elephants.

8.51.33 Eager to rescue the foolish Suyodhana sinking in a sea without a raft, he ranged through the battle blazing like the sun, so that neither the Sṛñjayas nor the other kings of the earth could bear to look upon him.

8.51.34 As he thus ranged through the fight with the radiance of victory, the Pāṇḍavas with all their might rushed suddenly upon him.

8.51.35 But routing in battle the Pāṇḍavas and the Sṛñjayas alike, Bhīṣma, alone in the fray, attained to the rank of a single peerless hero.

8.51.36 That mighty car-warrior, that tiger among men, Śikhaṇḍin—guarded by you—closed with and struck down with his straight-jointed arrows.

8.51.37 There the grandsire lies fallen upon his bed of arrows, having met you, O tiger among men, as a vulture meets a crow.

8.51.38 For five days the dread Droṇa scattered the armies of his foes; arraying his battle-formation in the great war, he brought down mighty car-warriors.

8.51.39 That mighty car-warrior, guarding Jayadratha in the fight, fierce as Death itself, fought through the dreadful night and consumed living men.

8.51.40 For two days, counting today, the valiant hero, the son of Bharadvāja, fought; then, encountering Dhṛṣṭadyumna, he attained the supreme goal.

8.51.41 And had you not held off in the battle the enemy's car-warriors led by the sūta's son, Droṇa would never have perished in the fray.

8.51.42 But by you the whole strength of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son was checked, and so Droṇa was slain in battle by Pṛṣata's grandson, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.51.43 What other warrior, what other kṣatriya in battle, save you, could have done what you did, O Pārtha, in the slaying of Jayadratha?

8.51.44 Having held back a mighty host and slain heroic kings, you laid low the king of the Sindhus by the might and splendor of your weapons.

8.51.45 The kings deem the slaying of the lord of the Sindhus a marvel; yet from you it is no marvel, for you, O Pārtha, are a mighty car-warrior.

8.51.46 Once it has met you in battle, O Bhārata, the warrior class could not, even in a single day, remain unbroken and at ease—such is my conviction.

8.51.47 This terrible army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, O Pārtha, with all its heroes, was as good as slain in the fray the moment Bhīṣma and Droṇa fell.

8.51.48 With its foremost warriors broken, its horses, men, and elephants slain, the Bhārata host today shines like the sky bereft of sun, moon, and stars.

8.51.49 This army has been shattered in battle, O Pārtha, by Bhīma's prowess, as of old the host of the Asuras was shattered by the might of Śakra.

8.51.50 Of them, when the slain are counted, there remain but five mighty car-warriors: Aśvatthāman, Kṛtavarman, Karṇa, the lord of the Madras, and Kṛpa.

8.51.51 Slaying today these five mighty car-warriors, O tiger among men, and so destroying your foes, bestow upon the king the earth with its islands and cities.

8.51.52 May Pārtha of measureless valor and glory today win the earth, with its sky and waters and nether realms, with its mountains and its great forests.

8.51.53 As of old Viṣṇu, having slain the Daityas and Dānavas, gave the earth to Śakra, so do you, O Hari-like one, bestow this earth upon the king.

8.51.54 Today let the Pāñcālas rejoice when their foes are slain by you, even as the gods rejoiced when the sons of Danu were slain by Viṣṇu.

8.51.55 But if, O best of men, out of reverence for Droṇa your teacher, you feel pity for Aśvatthāman, or for Kṛpa from regard for a preceptor's dignity—

8.51.56 or if, honoring those bound to you by long and close kinship, you will not, on meeting Kṛtavarman, send him to the abode of Yama—

8.51.57 and if, meeting your mother's brother Śalya, the lord of the Madra people, you, O lotus-eyed one, in your compassion will not seek to slay him—

8.51.58 yet this wicked-minded, base Karṇa, ever utterly hostile to the Pāṇḍavas—him, O best of men, slay this day swiftly with your whetted shafts.

8.51.59 This will be a righteous deed of yours; nothing here is unfitting. We too know this well: in this there is no fault whatever.

8.51.60 In the burning of your mother and her sons by night, O sinless one, and in the gambling-match wherein Suyodhana moved against you all—in all of this, O Arjuna, the wicked-souled Karṇa was the root.

8.51.61 For Suyodhana ever looks to Karṇa for his protection; and so, emboldened, he set out to lay hold even of me.

8.51.62 Firm, O bestower of honor, is the conviction of the king, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, that Karṇa will conquer all the Pārthas in battle, beyond all doubt.

8.51.63 Relying upon Karṇa, O son of Kuntī, Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son chose strife with you, though he knew full well your strength.

8.51.64 For Karṇa ever boasts: 'I shall conquer the assembled Pārthas, and Vāsudeva, and the king with them, in the great battle.'

8.51.65 Inciting the evil-souled son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, that most malign Karṇa roars in the assembly—slay him this day, O Bhārata.

8.51.66 And in every wrong that Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son has wrought against you, the wicked-souled, evil-minded Karṇa has been the foremost agent.

8.51.67 And when I beheld the hero, the son of Subhadrā, with the eyes of a bull, slain by six cruel mighty car-warriors of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's side—

8.51.68 he who made the heroes Droṇa, Droṇa's son, and Kṛpa, mighty car-warriors, tremble; who emptied elephants of their riders and stripped great car-warriors of their cars—

8.51.69 who left horses without their riders and footmen bereft of weapons and life—that bull-shouldered youth, the glory of the Kurus and Vṛṣṇis—

8.51.70 who scattered the ranks and confounded the mighty car-warriors, dispatching men, horses, and elephants to the abode of Yama—

8.51.71 the son of Subhadrā, straining at the work, consuming the host as it were with his arrows—the memory of this burns my very limbs, my friend; I swear it to you in truth.

8.51.72 And there too the wicked-souled Karṇa wrought him harm, O lord—Karṇa, who could not stand before Abhimanyu in the forefront of battle.

8.51.73 Pierced by the arrows of Subhadrā's son, swooning, drenched in blood, breathing hard, inflamed with rage, turned away and tormented by the shafts—

8.51.74 bent on flight, and despairing even of his life, he stood there utterly distraught in the fray, worn out by the blows he had taken.

8.51.75 Then in the battle Karṇa, hearing the cruel counsel of Droṇa, fitting to that hour of doom, thereupon cut through the youth's bow.

8.51.76 Then, his weapon severed by that one of crafty cunning, the five mighty car-warriors—and he himself—struck him down in the fray with showers of arrows.

8.51.77 And the harsh words that Karṇa spoke to Kṛṣṇā in the assembly, before the very faces of the Pāṇḍavas and the Kurus, like a man without mercy—

8.51.78 'The Pāṇḍavas are ruined, O Kṛṣṇā; they have gone to everlasting hell. Choose another lord, O broad-hipped, soft-spoken one.'

8.51.79 'O delicately-browed, O you with curving lashes and lovely eyes, become a slave and enter the household of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; your husbands are no more.'

8.51.80 Thus that knower of no righteousness, that most malign and sinful Karṇa, spoke his sinful words within your very hearing, O Bhārata.

8.51.81 Let your gold-wrought arrows, whetted upon stone and life-severing, shot by you, silence forever the speech of that sinner.

8.51.82 And whatever other evils the wicked-souled one has wrought against you—let your shafts this day quiet them all, together with his life.

8.51.83 As his limbs feel today the dreadful shafts sped from the Gāṇḍīva, let the wicked-souled Karṇa remember the words of Droṇa and Bhīṣma.

8.51.84 Your gold-feathered iron shafts, slayers of foes, bright as lightning, loosed by you, shall pierce his vitals and drink his blood.

8.51.85 Let the fierce, keen shafts loosed from your arm, swift and rending the vitals, send Karṇa this day to the abode of Yama.

8.51.86 Today let the lords of the earth, crying out in dismay, wretched and stricken by your shafts, behold Karṇa toppling from his chariot.

8.51.87 Today let his own kinsmen and friends behold Karṇa sunk in his own blood, lying fallen upon the earth, his weapon flung aside.

8.51.88 Struck down by your broad-headed arrow, let the great elephant-girth standard of Adhiratha's son tremble and fall to the ground.

8.51.89 Let Śalya in his terror flee, abandoning the gold-adorned chariot, its warrior slain, its frame riddled by your hundreds of shafts.

8.51.90 Then, beholding Adhiratha's son slain by you, let Suyodhana this day despair of his life and of his kingdom alike, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.51.91 See, O best of the Bhāratas, the Pāñcālas, eager to rescue the Pāṇḍavas, take flight as they are cut down by Karṇa's keen arrows.

8.51.92 The Pāñcālas, the sons of Draupadī, Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, the sons of Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and Śatānīka the son of Nakula—

8.51.93 Nakula and Sahadeva, Durmukha and Janamejaya, Suvarman and Sātyaki—know them all to have fallen under Karṇa's power.

8.51.94 The dreadful outcry of the Pāñcālas, your kinsmen, smitten by Karṇa in the great battle, is heard, O scorcher of foes.

8.51.95 Yet never would the Pāñcālas, for all their fear, turn their backs; for those great archers, those mighty car-warriors, reckon death as nothing.

8.51.96 He who alone encompassed the Pāṇḍava army with floods of arrows—even Bhīṣma—the Pāñcālas, when they met him, did not turn their backs upon.

8.51.97 So too they climbed in their might against the unassailable Droṇa, blazing like the fire of weapons, the preceptor of all bowmen, consuming all before him.

8.51.98 Ever ready to conquer their foes in battle, those tamers of enemies, the Pāñcālas, would never out of fear of Adhiratha's son turn their backs.

8.51.99 As they rush upon him, the valiant Karṇa takes the lives of those swift Pāñcālas with his arrows, as fire devours moths.

8.51.100 Those heroes who thus front him, who lay down their lives for their friends' sake—the son of Rādhā brings them to destruction, the Pāñcālas by the hundred in battle.

8.51.101 The terrible weapon that Karṇa long ago received from Rāma of Bhṛgu's line, the most excellent of sages—its dreadful form now displays itself.

8.51.102 Scorching all the armies, terrible of form and most dire, it enwraps the great host and blazes with its own splendor.

8.51.103 See how these arrows loosed from Karṇa's bow range through the battle like swarms of bees, scorching your warriors.

8.51.104 See how the Pāñcālas scatter in all directions, O Bhārata, meeting in battle Karṇa's weapon, irresistible by those who lack his command of self.

8.51.105 There is Bhīma of unyielding wrath, O Pārtha, hemmed in on every side; fighting Karṇa with the Sṛñjayas about him, he is hard pressed by the keen shafts.

8.51.106 If left unchecked, O Bhārata, Karṇa would destroy the Pāṇḍavas, the Sṛñjayas, and the Pāñcālas alike, as a spreading disease destroys the body.

8.51.107 I see no warrior in Yudhiṣṭhira's host save you who, having encountered the son of Rādhā, could return home unscathed.

8.51.108 Slay him this day with your whetted arrows, O bull of the Bhāratas, and fulfilling your vow, O Pārtha, win renown.

8.51.109 For you alone are able in battle to conquer the Kauravas, Karṇa and all; no other warrior can, O best of fighters. This truth I tell you.

8.51.110 Having accomplished this great deed, having slain Karṇa the mighty chariot-warrior, your purpose fulfilled and your labor rewarded, O Pārtha, be happy, O best of men.

8.52.1 Saṃjaya said: Having heard the words of Keśava, O Bhārata, Bībhatsu in a moment became free of sorrow and filled with delight.

8.52.2 Then, stroking the bowstring, he swiftly drew the Gāṇḍīva bow, resolved upon Karṇa's destruction, and spoke to Keśava.

8.52.3 With you as my protector, Govinda, this victory of mine is assured—you who are gracious to me this day, lord of what has been, what shall be, and what is.

8.52.4 With you as my ally, Kṛṣṇa, even the three worlds gathered together I could dispatch to the world beyond—how much more then Karṇa in this great battle?

8.52.5 I see the army of the Pāñcālas fleeing, Janārdana; I see Karṇa ranging fearlessly through the fight.

8.52.6 And I see the Bhārgava weapon ranging on every side, loosed by Karṇa, O Vārṣṇeya, as Śakra looses the mighty thunderbolt.

8.52.7 This indeed is that battle, Kṛṣṇa, in which my deeds living beings will recount for as long as the earth shall endure.

8.52.8 This day, Kṛṣṇa, my barbless shafts, loosed from the Gāṇḍīva and driven by my hand, shall bring Karṇa to his death, wearing him down.

8.52.9 This day King Dhṛtarāṣṭra shall despise his own judgment, by which he consecrated Duryodhana—unfit for kingship—to the throne.

8.52.10 This day, O mighty-armed one, Dhṛtarāṣṭra shall be parted from his kingdom and his ease, from fortune, realm, and city, and from his sons.

8.52.11 This day, when Karṇa is slain, King Duryodhana shall despair even of his life, Kṛṣṇa—this truth I tell you.

8.52.12 This day, beholding Karṇa torn to shreds by my arrows, the lord of men shall remember your words spoken in favor of peace.

8.52.13 This day, Kṛṣṇa, let that son of Subala learn that my arrows are the dice, the Gāṇḍīva the gaming-board, and my chariot the gaming-circle.

8.52.14 That son of the charioteer who in battle deems no other man on earth his equal—this day the earth shall drink his blood, and the shafts loosed from the Gāṇḍīva shall send Karṇa to his final end.

8.52.15 This day Rādheya shall repent the cruel words he spoke against the daughter of Pāñcāla in the midst of the assembly, reviling the Pāṇḍavas.

8.52.16 Those who were there called barren sesame seeds shall this day become true seeds, once Karṇa Vaikartana, the vile son of the charioteer, is slain.

8.52.17 When he declared, 'I shall save you from the sons of Pāṇḍu,' my sharpened arrows shall prove that boast a lie.

8.52.18 He who said, 'I shall slay all the Pāṇḍavas together with their sons'—that very Karṇa I shall this day slay before the eyes of all the bowmen.

8.52.19 He in whose valor the arrogant son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra trusted, that foolish and evil-souled one who ever held us in contempt—that Karṇa Rādheya I shall this day slay, O slayer of Madhu.

8.52.20 This day, when Karṇa is slain, Kṛṣṇa, let the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra with their kings flee in terror to every quarter, like deer scattered by a lion.

8.52.21 This day let King Duryodhana gaze upon the earth, when Karṇa is slain by me in the fray together with his sons and his kinsmen and friends.

8.52.22 This day, beholding Karṇa slain, let the wrathful son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra know me, Kṛṣṇa, to be the foremost of all bowmen in battle.

8.52.23 This day, Kṛṣṇa, I shall become free of my debt to the bearers of bows, to my own wrath, to the Kurus, to my arrows, and to the Gāṇḍīva.

8.52.24 This day I shall be freed of the grief amassed through thirteen years, by slaying Karṇa in battle, Kṛṣṇa, as Maghavat slew Śambara.

8.52.25 This day, when Karṇa is slain in battle, let the great chariot-warriors of the Somakas, eager to serve their friends in the fight, deem their task accomplished.

8.52.26 And I do not know, Mādhava, how great this day shall be the joy of the grandson of Śini, when Karṇa is slain and I emerge crowned with victory.

8.52.27 By slaying Karṇa and his son, the mighty chariot-warrior, in battle, I shall give delight to Bhīma, to the twins, and to Sātyaki as well.

8.52.28 To Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin and to the Pāñcālas, Mādhava, I shall discharge my debt by slaying Karṇa in this great battle.

8.52.29 This day let them behold in the fight Dhanaṃjaya, unyielding in his wrath, battling the Kauravas in the fray and bringing down the charioteer's son. And in your presence I shall once more speak my own praise.

8.52.30 In the science of archery there is none in the world my equal, nor in valor who is a match for me. Who else is my peer in forbearance? And in wrath too there is no other like me.

8.52.31 With bow in hand, asuras and gods and all creatures gathered together, by the might of my own arms I would drive to ruin. Know my prowess to be supreme above the supreme.

8.52.32 With the Gāṇḍīva flaming with arrows, I alone, falling upon all the Kurus and the Bāhlīkas, would burn them and their hosts by force, as fire reaching dry brushwood at winter's end.

8.52.33 These shafts are as if drawn upon my hand; the bow with its arrow rests fixed in my left hand; my feet stand firm with chariot and banner. None can conquer one like me once I have entered the battle.

8.53.1 Saṃjaya said: Their battalions, with towering banners, mighty and arrayed for war, came together roaring with the thunder of kettle-drums, as cloud-masses thunder against cloud at the close of the hot season.

8.53.2 Thick with great elephants like storm-clouds, its rain the weapons, resounding with the noise of instruments, chariot-rims, and palms; lightning-bright with weapons adorned in gold, and clamorous with the press of mighty chariot-warriors.

8.53.3 Of terrible swiftness, bearing torrents of blood, thronged with swords, carrying off the lives of warriors—untimely, cruel, raining down what none desired—it became the destruction of living beings.

8.53.4 Chariots with their drivers and horses, elephants, and all his foes, Pārtha brought under the sway of death with floods of arrows—horses with their riders, and the throngs of foot-soldiers likewise.

8.53.5 Kṛpa and Śikhaṇḍin met together in battle; Sātyaki advanced upon Duryodhana; Śrutaśravā closed with the son of Droṇa, and Yudhāmanyu with Citrasena.

8.53.6 The son of Karṇa, the chariot-warrior, came against Suṣeṇa; Uttamaujas against the Sṛñjayas; and Sahadeva, ravenous, rushed upon the king of Gāndhāra as a lion upon a great bull.

8.53.7 Śatānīka, son of Nakula, a youth, assailed the youthful Vṛṣasena, son of Karṇa, with floods of arrows; and the heroic son of Karṇa, in turn, struck the prince of Pāñcāla with many showers of shafts.

8.53.8 The bull among chariot-warriors, Nakula son of Mādrī, skilled in varied modes of fighting, came against Kṛtavarman; and the lord of the Pāñcālas, son of Yajñasena, came against the commander Karṇa with his troops.

8.53.9 Duḥśāsana, O Bhārata, and the mighty host of the Saṃśaptakas of the Bhāratas then closed in battle with Bhīma, foremost of weapon-bearers, whose onset none could withstand.

8.53.10 There the hero Uttamaujas struck down the son of Karṇa and forcibly severed his head, which fell to the ground, making the earth and the sky resound with its noise.

8.53.11 Beholding Suṣeṇa's head fallen to the earth, Karṇa, then stricken with grief, in his wrath cut down with keen, well-honed arrows the horses, the chariot, and the banner of his foe.

8.53.12 But Uttamaujas pierced him with sharp shafts, and with a gleaming sword slew the flank-guards and the horses of Kṛpa, and then mounted the chariot of Śikhaṇḍin.

8.53.13 But Śikhaṇḍin, mounted on his chariot, seeing Kṛpa deprived of his car, would not strike him with arrows; and the son of Droṇa, covering him, lifted Kṛpa onto his chariot as one would raise a cow sunk in the mire.

8.53.14 Golden-armored Bhīma, son of the Wind, with sharp shafts scorched the army of your sons most terribly, as the sun set in mid-sky scorches in the bright hot season.

8.54.1 Saṃjaya said: Now, in the tumultuous fray, surrounded—one against many foes—in that great peril, Bhīma, holding back the army of the Dhārtarāṣṭras, spoke thus to his charioteer: 'Drive on, charioteer, swiftly with the horses; I shall send these sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra to Yama.'

8.54.2 Thus urged by Bhīmasena, the charioteer of fierce speed drove on toward the host of your sons, to wherever Bhīma wished that army to be reached.

8.54.3 Then others among the Kurus advanced against him on every side with elephants, chariots, horse, and foot, and on all sides struck Bhīma's swift, high-mettled horses with clouds of arrows.

8.54.4 Then the great-souled one cut down the oncoming arrows with shafts feathered in gold; and those gold-feathered shafts fell, cleft in two and in three by Bhīma's arrows.

8.54.5 Then, O king, amid your hosts, from the elephants, chariots, and horses struck down by Bhīma there arose a fearful roar, O lord of men, like that of mountains riven by the thunderbolt.

8.54.6 And those foremost of kings, slaughtered and pierced through by Bhīmasena's choicest shafts, swarmed upon Bhīma in the battle from every side, as birds settle upon a tree for the sake of its blossoms.

8.54.7 Then, swift as one possessed of utmost speed, he made his onslaught in the midst of your army, eager to consume and destroy, like Time itself with rod in hand bringing creatures to their end at the hour of doom.

8.54.8 His exceeding onrush in battle your men could not withstand, even as none can withstand the gaping, swift-falling onset of Time bearing off creatures at the appointed hour.

8.54.9 Then the host of the Bhāratas, O great-souled Bhārata, burning in the battle and stricken with fear, scattered to every quarter, driven by Bhīma, as a mass of clouds is scattered by a mighty wind.

8.54.10 Then the wise and mighty Bhīmasena, joyful once more, spoke to his charioteer: 'Charioteer, mark whether these chariots and banners closing upon us are foes or our own; for fighting on I can discern nothing—let me not cover my own troops with my shafts.'

8.54.11 'Viśoka, look out upon the foes on every side; yet anxiety sorely afflicts my mind. The king is in distress, and the Diademed One has not come; many griefs, O charioteer, are mine.'

8.54.12 'This is my grief, charioteer—that the Dharma-king, leaving me, has gone into the midst of the foe. I know not whether he lives or lives no longer, nor whether Bībhatsu lives; that is my deepest sorrow this day.'

8.54.13 'I therefore shall destroy this towering host of the enemy, supremely confident; and having slain these gathered together in the midst of battle, I shall this day be glad together with you.'

8.54.14 'Look over all the quivers and the shafts: what store of arrows remains in my chariot, of what kinds, and how many? Knowing this clearly, tell it to me, charioteer.'

8.54.15 Viśoka said: Sixty thousand arrows there are, O hero; razor-shafts and broad-headed shafts numbering ten thousand each; two thousand iron arrows, O hero, and three thousand barbed darts, O Pārtha.

8.54.16 There remains weaponry yet, O scion of Pāṇḍu, such as a cart drawn by six oxen could not bear. Knowing this, loose them by the thousands; and you have besides your mace, your sword, and the wealth of your own arms.

8.54.17 Bhīma said: Charioteer, behold this day a battle of terrible aspect, where kings are pierced through by swift, fierce arrows loosed by Bhīma—the sun blotted out, a scene like the world of death itself.

8.54.18 This very day, charioteer, it shall be known to all the kings, down to the very children, whether Bhīmasena has sunk down in the battle, or whether alone he is the conqueror of the Kurus in the fray.

8.54.19 Let all the Kurus fall upon me in battle, or let the worlds, down to the children, sing my praise: alone I shall bring them all down, or let them all together strike at Bhīmasena.

8.54.20 May the gods, my well-wishers, alone bring to fulfillment this highest deed of mine. Let Arjuna, slayer of foes, come hither this day, swiftly as Śakra summoned to a sacrifice.

8.54.21 Behold this Bhārata host breaking apart: why do these kings flee? Surely the wise Savyasācin, foremost of men, is swiftly covering this army with his arrows.

8.54.22 Look upon the banners fleeing, Viśoka—the elephants, the horses, and the throngs of foot-soldiers in the fray; behold the chariots shattered, struck down by arrow and lance, and behold these chariot-warriors too, charioteer.

8.54.23 That Kaurava army, ever filling its ranks anew yet most grievously slaughtered, is devoured by the arrows of Dhanaṃjaya—swift as the thunderbolt, fledged with peacock-feathers and gold.

8.54.24 These chariots, horses, and elephants flee, trampling down the bands of foot-soldiers; bewildered, all the Kauravas flee like elephants in terror of a forest fire; and crying woe in the battle, Viśoka, the lordly elephants send forth vast bellowings.

8.54.25 Viśoka said: All your desires, O Pāṇḍava, are fulfilled: the ape-bannered one is seen amid the elephant-host. As lightning leaping forth from a dark cloud, so I behold that bow flashing.

8.54.26 That ape is seen on every side, mounted upon the banner-tip of Dhanaṃjaya; and this divine jewel, bright as the sun, blazes set within his diadem.

8.54.27 At his side, terrible and shining like a white cloud, behold the conch Devadatta of fair sound, in the hand of Janārdana who, reins in hand, plunges into the army of the foe.

8.54.28 Bright as the sun, with adamant nave and razor-edged rim, behold the discus standing at the side of Janārdana, ever increasing the glory of Keśava and forever revered by the Yadus—behold it, hero.

8.54.29 Bhīma said: For this welcome tidings, charioteer, well pleased I give you fourteen choice villages, a hundred handmaids, and twenty chariots besides—since you announce Arjuna to me, Viśoka.

8.55.1 Saṃjaya said: Hearing the rumble of the chariot and the lion-roar in the battle, Arjuna said to Govinda: 'Drive the horses swiftly.'

8.55.2 Hearing Arjuna's words, Govinda said to Arjuna: 'I go this instant, with all speed, to where Bhīma stands his ground.'

8.55.3 He came on, drawn by horses white as snow and conch-shell, harnessed with nets of gold, pearl, and gem—like Indra, lord of the gods, in fierce wrath, gripping the thunderbolt and bent on victory over Jambha.

8.55.4 Hosts of chariots, horses, elephants, and foot-soldiers—those lions among men, enraged—rose up against him for victory, making earth and the quarters resound with the twang of arrows and the din of wheel-rims and hooves.

8.55.5 Then between them and Pārtha there raged a mighty, fair-fought battle—destroyer of bodies, of lives, and of sin—even as once it was for the god Viṣṇu, best of the victorious, against the Asuras for the sake of the three worlds.

8.55.6 The diadem-crowned hero, alone, cut to pieces the flood of weapons high and low that they hurled, and with razor-edged and crescent-headed shafts, with whetted arrows, lopped off in numbers their heads and arms.

8.55.7 Parasols, yak-tail fans, banners, horses, chariots, throngs of footmen, and elephants—mangled in countless ways, they fell to the earth like forests shattered by the wind.

8.55.8 Great elephants, draped in nets of gold and arrayed with triumphal flags, standards, and warriors, studded with gold-feathered arrows, blazed like mountains afire.

8.55.9 Rending elephants and chariots and horses with peerless shafts like Indra's thunderbolt, he sped swiftly on, eager to slay Karṇa, as of old the lord of the Maruts went forth to break Bala.

8.55.10 Then that tiger among men, O tamer of foes, the mighty-armed one, plunged into the army of the Sūta's son as a sea-monster plunges into the ocean.

8.55.11 Seeing him, O king, your men, with chariots and footmen, thronged with elephants, horses, and riders, rushed upon the Pāṇḍava.

8.55.12 As they charged upon Pārtha there arose a tremendous roar, like the surging clamor of waters in a frenzied ocean.

8.55.13 Those mighty car-warriors, like tigers, fell upon that tiger among men in battle, casting off all fear for their lives.

8.55.14 As they bore down on him, loosing showers of arrows, Arjuna scattered their host as a great wind scatters the clouds.

8.55.15 Those mighty bowmen, banding together with their lines of chariots, charged Arjuna and pierced him with whetted shafts.

8.55.16 Then with his arrows Arjuna dispatched thousands of chariots, elephants, and horses to the abode of Yama.

8.55.17 Slaughtered in the fray by the shafts loosed from Pārtha's bow, those great car-warriors, as terror seized them, slunk away in this direction and that.

8.55.18 Four hundred of their heroes, great car-warriors striving hard, Arjuna sent with his whetted arrows to the dwelling of Yama.

8.55.19 Cut down in battle by his whetted arrows of many forms, they abandoned Arjuna and fled in terror to every quarter.

8.55.20 Loud was the din of those fleeing at the army's front, like that of a great flood—good fortune be yours—bursting apart as it strikes a mountain.

8.55.21 Having sorely pierced that army and routed it with his arrows, Pārtha, O excellent one, advanced straight against the divisions of the Sūta's son.

8.55.22 Great was the sound of him as he bore down upon the foe, like that of Garuḍa swooping of old for the sake of the serpents.

8.55.23 Hearing that sound, the mighty Bhīmasena was filled with the highest joy, longing to behold Pārtha.

8.55.24 The valiant Bhīmasena, the moment he heard that Pārtha was coming, set his life at naught, O great king, and crushed your host.

8.55.25 Matching the wind in fury, equal to the wind's rush in speed, the valiant Bhīma, son of the Wind, ranged the field like the wind itself.

8.55.26 Tormented by him, O lord of kings, O lord of peoples, your army reeled, O great king, like a foundering ship upon the sea.

8.55.27 Displaying the deftness of his hand, Bhīma then hewed at that army with cruel shafts, minded to send it to the realm of Yama.

8.55.28 Beholding there Bhīma's more-than-human might, O Bhārata, the warriors trembled in battle as before Time at the ending of an age.

8.55.29 Seeing his fearsome forces thus tormented by Bhīmasena, O Bhārata, King Duryodhana spoke these words.

8.55.30 That mighty bowman, O bull of the Bhāratas, commanded all his soldiers and warriors in the battle: "Slay Bhīma! Once he is slain, I deem the whole army slain to the last man."

8.55.31 Accepting that command of your son, the kings veiled Bhīma on every side with showers of arrows.

8.55.32 Elephants in multitudes, O king, and men greedy for victory, chariots and horses, O lord of kings, encircled Vṛkodara.

8.55.33 Hemmed in on all sides by those heroes, the hero, O king, O best of the Bhāratas, shone like the moon amid the stars.

8.55.34 That comely best of men so blazed in the battle, O great king, no whit different from Vijaya himself.

8.55.35 There all those kings, their eyes red with rage, cruel and bent on killing Vṛkodara, let loose their showers of arrows.

8.55.36 Cleaving that great host with his smooth-jointed shafts, Bhīma broke free of the fray as a fish breaks from the net in the water.

8.55.37 Having slain ten thousand elephants that never turn back, and two hundred thousand men and two hundred more, O Bhārata,

8.55.38 and having slain five thousand horses and a full hundred chariots, Bhīma set flowing a river of mire and blood.

8.55.39 Its waters were blood, its eddies chariots, thronged with elephants for crocodiles; men were its fish, horses its alligators, and hair its moss and grasses.

8.55.40 Severed arms were its serpents, great elephants its waves; it bore off jewels in plenty, thighs were its seizing crocodiles, marrow its mud, and it teemed with heads for stones.

8.55.41 Bows were its reeds, arrows its strewn rushes, maces and iron bars its banners; bearing throngs of warriors in the battle, it flowed toward the abode of Yama.

8.55.42 In a moment that tiger among men set that river flowing, like the dread Vaitaraṇī, impassable to the unrighteous of soul.

8.55.43 Wherever that best of car-warriors, the son of Pāṇḍu, turned his course, there he struck down warriors by the hundreds of thousands.

8.55.44 Seeing this deed wrought by Bhīmasena in the battle, Duryodhana, O great king, spoke thus to Śakuni.

8.55.45 "Conquer the mighty Bhīmasena in battle, O uncle. Once he is conquered, I deem the mighty sons of Pāṇḍu conquered."

8.55.46 Then, O great king, the valiant son of Subala set forth for the great combat, made ready and surrounded by his brothers.

8.55.47 Coming upon Bhīma of fearsome valor in the battle, that hero held him back as the shore holds back the abode of sea-monsters; yet Bhīma, though checked, turned upon him with his whetted shafts.

8.55.48 Śakuni, O lord of kings, sped into his left side, between the breasts, iron shafts gold-feathered and whetted on stone.

8.55.49 Piercing the golden mail of that great soul, the arrows, fledged with heron and peacock feathers, sank deep, O great king.

8.55.50 Sorely pierced in the fray, Bhīma at once sped a gold-adorned shaft against the son of Subala, O Bhārata.

8.55.51 That terrible oncoming shaft Śakuni, scorcher of foes, cut into a hundred pieces, O king—mighty and deft of hand.

8.55.52 When it had fallen to the earth, Bhīma in wrath, O lord of peoples, severed with a broad-headed arrow the bow of Subala's son, as though laughing.

8.55.53 Casting aside the sundered bow, the valiant son of Subala swiftly took up another bow and sixteen broad-headed shafts.

8.55.54 With those smooth-jointed broad-headed shafts, O great king, he struck the charioteer with four and Bhīma with five.

8.55.55 With one he cut the banner, with two the parasol, O lord of peoples, and with four the son of Subala pierced the four horses.

8.55.56 Then in wrath, O great king, the valiant Bhīmasena hurled in the battle an iron spear with a haft of gold.

8.55.57 Loosed from Bhīma's arm, flickering like a serpent's tongue, it fell swiftly upon the chariot of the great-souled son of Subala.

8.55.58 Then, seizing that very gold-decked spear, he, fierce of aspect, hurled it back at Bhīmasena, O lord of peoples.

8.55.59 Piercing the left arm of the great-souled Pāṇḍava, it then fell to the earth like a flash of lightning loosed from the sky.

8.55.60 Then a great shout went up, O great king, from Dhṛtarāṣṭra's men on every side; but Bhīma could not brook that lion's roar of the swift ones.

8.55.61 Grasping his strung bow in haste, that great car-warrior, O lord of kings, in but a moment veiled with his shafts the host of Subala's son in battle, the mighty one heedless of his own life.

8.55.62 Having slain his four horses and his charioteer, O lord of peoples, the valorous one in haste cut down his banner with a broad-headed shaft.

8.55.63 Abandoning in haste his car with its slain horses, that best of men stood twanging his bow, his eyes red with rage and panting; and with many arrows, O king, he assailed Bhīma on every side.

8.55.64 But the valiant Bhīmasena swiftly warded him off, and in fury severed his bow and pierced him with whetted shafts.

8.55.65 Sorely pierced by his mighty foe, that harrier of foes fell then to the earth, barely alive, O ruler of men.

8.55.66 Then, knowing him stricken, your son, O lord of peoples, bore him away from the battle on his chariot before Bhīmasena's very eyes.

8.55.67 When that tiger among men was on the chariot, the men of Dhṛtarāṣṭra turned their backs and fled in fear to every quarter, as great dread of Bhīma arose.

8.55.68 When the son of Subala had been vanquished, O king, by the bowman Bhīmasena, your son Duryodhana, broken by great fear, withdrew on his swift horses, anxious for his uncle.

8.55.69 Seeing the king turn his back, O Bhārata, the troops broke and scattered, abandoning their single combats on every side.

8.55.70 Seeing all those great car-warriors of Dhṛtarāṣṭra turn away, Bhīma swiftly fell upon them, scattering many hundreds of shafts.

8.55.71 Slaughtered by Bhīma, the men of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, turned in flight, reached Karṇa and made their stand around him on every side, O king; for that one of great prowess and mighty strength had become their island of refuge.

8.55.72 As shipwrecked sailors, O king, O tiger among men, find peace upon reaching an island when their hour of doom is past,

8.55.73 even so, having reached Karṇa, your men, O bull of the Bhāratas, took heart and stood firm, O king, rejoicing one with another, and came together again for battle, making their stand against death.

8.56.1 Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: When the armies had been broken by Bhīmasena in the battle, what did Duryodhana say, and what the son of Subala, O Saṃjaya?

8.56.2 Or Karṇa, best of the victorious, or my warriors in the fight, or Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman, or the son of Droṇa, or even Duḥśāsana?

8.56.3 Most wondrous, I deem, was this prowess of the son of Pāṇḍu; yet Rādheya too made good his vow concerning the warriors.

8.56.4 For all the Kurus, Karṇa the slayer of foes was their shelter, their armor, their mainstay, and their hope of life, O Saṃjaya.

8.56.5 Seeing that host shattered by the son of Kuntī of measureless might, what did Karṇa the great car-warrior, son of Rādhā, do in the fight?

8.56.6 And my unassailable sons, and the kings, those great car-warriors—tell me all of this, for you are skilled, O Saṃjaya.

8.56.7 Saṃjaya said: In the afternoon, O great king, the valiant son of the Sūta slew all the Somakas before Bhīmasena's very eyes; and Bhīma too, of surpassing strength, crushed the host of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

8.56.8 Seeing his force routed by the wise Bhīmasena, Karṇa said to his driver: "Bear me straight against the Pāñcālas."

8.56.9 Then Śalya, king of the Madras, the mighty one, urged on his white horses of great speed against the Cedis, the Pāñcālas, and the Karūṣas.

8.56.10 Plunging into that host, Śalya, crusher of hostile armies, joyfully reined the horses wherever their foremost driver wished to go.

8.56.11 At the sight of that chariot, dark as a thundercloud and draped with tiger-skins, the Pāṇḍavas and Pāñcālas were stricken with terror, O lord of peoples.

8.56.12 Then in that great battle the rumble of the chariot arose, loud as a rain-cloud, like the crash of a mountain splitting apart.

8.56.13 Then Karṇa too, with hundreds of keen shafts drawn back to the ear and let fly, slew the army of the Pāṇḍavas by hundreds and by thousands.

8.56.14 As he wrought that more-than-human work in the fray, the great bowmen and mighty car-warriors of the Pāṇḍavas encircled him.

8.56.15 Śikhaṇḍin and Bhīma, Dhṛṣṭadyumna the son of Pṛṣata, Nakula and Sahadeva, the sons of Draupadī together with Sātyaki — all surrounded Rādheya, seeking to slay him with downpours of arrows.

8.56.16 Then Sātyaki, that hero and best of men, struck Karṇa in the battle with twenty sharpened shafts upon the region of the collarbone.

8.56.17 Śikhaṇḍin pierced Karṇa with twenty-five and Dhṛṣṭadyumna with five, the sons of Draupadī with sixty-four and Sahadeva with seven, and Nakula in the encounter pierced Karṇa with a hundred shafts.

8.56.18 And the mighty Bhīmasena, enraged in the battle, pierced Rādheya in the region of the collarbone with ninety straight-jointed arrows.

8.56.19 Then the son of Adhiratha, laughing, drew his excellent bow and, exceedingly strong, loosed keen arrows that pressed them hard; and Rādheya pierced each of them in turn with five arrows apiece.

8.56.20 And that bull among men, having cut down Sātyaki's bow and his banner, then smote him with nine arrows between the breasts.

8.56.21 But Bhīmasena, enraged, pierced him with thirty shafts, and that scorcher of foes struck his charioteer with three arrows.

8.56.22 And that bull among men robbed the sons of Draupadī of their chariots in the mere twinkling of an eye, and it seemed a marvel.

8.56.23 Having turned all of them aside with his straight-jointed shafts, the hero slew the Pāñcālas and the great car-warriors of the Cedis.

8.56.24 As they were being slaughtered in the battle, O lord of peoples, the Cedis and Matsyas rushed upon Karṇa alone and tormented him with masses of arrows; but the son of the charioteer, that great car-warrior, struck them down with sharpened shafts.

8.56.25 This most marvellous thing I beheld in Karṇa, O descendant of Bharata — that the valiant son of the charioteer, alone in battle, faced those heroes.

8.56.26 He gave battle to those bowmen who strove with their utmost might, and held back the Pāṇḍavas in the fray with his arrows, O great king.

8.56.27 There at the deftness of the great-souled Karṇa, O descendant of Bharata, all the gods were pleased, and the Siddhas and the supreme seers.

8.56.28 The great bowmen, the followers of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son, honoured that best of men, Karṇa, foremost among the finest of car-warriors, the foremost of all the wielders of the bow.

8.56.29 Then Karṇa, O great king, consumed the host of his foes as a great fire, kindled in the summer heat, burns up the dry brushwood.

8.56.30 Slaughtered by Karṇa, the Pāṇḍavas, terrified, fled this way and that across the battlefield at the sight of the mighty Karṇa.

8.56.31 There arose a great wailing of the Pāñcālas in that mighty battle, as they were cut down by the keen shafts sped from Karṇa's excellent bow.

8.56.32 Affrighted by that uproar, the great army of the Pāṇḍavas — those foes there in the battle — reckoned Karṇa to be the one fighter that was.

8.56.33 There Rādheya, harrier of foes, wrought a supreme marvel, in that all the Pāṇḍavas together were unable so much as to look upon him alone.

8.56.34 As a flood, striking against the mightiest of mountains, is shattered and scattered, so that Pāṇḍava army, coming upon Karṇa, was broken asunder.

8.56.35 And Karṇa too, O king, blazing in the battle like a smokeless fire, the mighty-armed one, stood there consuming the great army of the Pāṇḍavas.

8.56.36 And swiftly, O great king, the hero severed with his shafts the heads of heroes — together with their swaying earrings — their ears, and their arms.

8.56.37 Elephants' tusks, hilts and swords, banners, lances, horses, elephants, and chariots of many kinds, O king, ensigns and fans —

8.56.38 axles, arrows, yokes and traces, and wheels of every kind — Karṇa cut them into a hundred pieces, keeping fast to the warrior's vow.

8.56.39 There, O descendant of Bharata, with the elephants and horses slain by Karṇa, the earth became impassable, a mire of flesh and blood.

8.56.40 With slain horsemen and foot-soldiers, with chariots and elephants, neither rough ground nor level could be told apart — nothing whatever could be discerned.

8.56.41 Neither one's own warriors nor the enemy's could be told from one another, in that dreadful darkness of arrows when Karṇa's weapon-storm had spread wide.

8.56.42 By the gold-decked arrows loosed from Rādheya's bow, O great king, the striving great car-warriors were wholly overspread.

8.56.43 Those Pāṇḍavas, the great car-warriors, though they strove their hardest, were broken again and again by Karṇa in that battle, O great king.

8.56.44 As an enraged lion drives off herds of deer in the forest, so did the far-famed Karṇa scatter the warriors here and there in the battle, and harried that army as a wolf harries flocks of beasts.

8.56.45 And seeing the Pāṇḍava army turn its back, the great bowmen of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's host charged forward, raising terrible roars.

8.56.46 For Duryodhana, O lord of kings, filled with the highest joy and exulting, had all manner of instruments sounded on every side.

8.56.47 The Pāñcālas too, great bowmen and best of men, though broken again and again, turned back like heroes, making death itself their rallying-point.

8.56.48 As those heroes returned to the battle, Rādheya, tormentor of foes, that bull among men, broke them many times over, O great king.

8.56.49 There, O descendant of Bharata, twenty car-warriors of the Pāñcālas were slain by Karṇa in his wrath, together with their horsemen, and more than a hundred of the Cedis.

8.56.50 Having made empty the seats of the chariots and the backs of the horses, O descendant of Bharata, and the necks of the elephants bereft of men, and the foot-soldiers put to rout —

8.56.51 hard to gaze upon as the sun at noon, that scorcher of foes, the cruel son of the charioteer, ranged about wearing the form of Time the Ender.

8.56.52 Thus, O great king, having slain those men and horses, chariots and elephants, the great bowman Karṇa, destroyer of hosts of foes, stood firm.

8.56.53 As mighty Time, having destroyed the multitudes of creatures, stands alone, so did that great car-warrior, having slain the Somakas, stand there alone.

8.56.54 There we beheld a marvel — the prowess of the Pāñcālas, who, though being slaughtered by Karṇa, did not forsake the forefront of the battle.

8.56.55 The king Duryodhana and Duḥśāsana, and Kṛpa the son of Śaradvat, Aśvatthāman, Kṛtavarman, and Śakuni the son of Subala — they slew the Pāṇḍava army by hundreds and by thousands.

8.56.56 And the two sons of Karṇa, O lord of kings — brothers of true valour — destroyed the mighty Pāñcālas here and there; and the battle that raged there then was cruel, a great carnage.

8.56.57 In like manner the heroic Pāṇḍavas, Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, and the sons of Draupadī, all enraged, smote down your army.

8.56.58 Thus did this destruction befall the Pāṇḍavas here and there, and yours likewise in the battle, when they came upon the mighty Bhīma.

8.57.1 Saṃjaya said: But Arjuna, O great king, having marshalled the army in its several divisions, and beholding the son of the charioteer raging furiously in that great battle —

8.57.2 having made the earth a stream of blood, a river bearing flesh and marrow and bone — that bull among men spoke these words to Vāsudeva:

8.57.3 "Yonder, Kṛṣṇa, is seen in the battle the banner of the charioteer's son; and Bhīmasena and the rest there are giving battle to great car-warriors; and yonder the Pāñcālas flee, terrified of Karṇa, O Janārdana."

8.57.4 "Yonder is King Duryodhana, beneath his gleaming white parasol, shining bright as he drives off the Pāñcālas already broken by Karṇa."

8.57.5 "Kṛpa and Kṛtavarman, and the mighty son of Droṇa — these guard the king, themselves guarded by the charioteer's son; and if not slain by us, they will destroy the Somakas."

8.57.6 "Yonder Śalya, seated in the chariot, skilled in the handling of the reins, shines bright, O Kṛṣṇa, as he drives the chariot of the charioteer's son."

8.57.7 "There my resolve is fixed: drive this mighty chariot thither. Until I have slain Karṇa in the battle, I shall by no means turn back."

8.57.8 "Else Rādheya will make an utter end, in the battle, of the sons of Pṛthā and the great car-warriors of the Sṛñjayas, while we two look on, O Janārdana."

8.57.9 Then Keśava swiftly drove his chariot through your host toward the great bowman Karṇa, for a duel of chariots with Savyasācin.

8.57.10 And mighty-armed Hari set forth, with the Pāṇḍava's assent, heartening the armies of the Pāṇḍavas everywhere with that very chariot.

8.57.11 The clamour of the Pāṇḍava's chariot resounded in the fray, O honoured one, like the thunderbolt of Vāsava, like a vast flood.

8.57.12 With the great din of his chariot, the Pāṇḍava of true valour, that immeasurable spirit Vijaya, advanced upon your host.

8.57.13 Beholding him come on, the warrior of white steeds with Kṛṣṇa for his charioteer, the king of the Madras, seeing the banner of that great-souled one, spoke to Karṇa:

8.57.14 "Yonder comes that chariot of white steeds, with Kṛṣṇa for charioteer, slaying foes in the battle — the one of whom, O Karṇa, you keep asking."

8.57.15 "Here stands the son of Kuntī, his hand upon the Gāṇḍīva bow; if you can slay him this day, that will be our good fortune."

8.57.16 "Yonder the army of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son is being shattered on every side, in swift terror of Arjuna as he slays a multitude of foes."

8.57.17 "Passing by all the other troops, Dhanaṃjaya presses on in haste — for your sake, I think, judging by how his frame is roused."

8.57.18 "For the son of Pṛthā, blazing with wrath because Vṛkodara is hard pressed, will be stayed in his eagerness to fight with none but you."

8.57.19 "Seeing the King of Righteousness deprived of his chariot and sorely wounded, and Śikhaṇḍin and Sātyaki, and Dhṛṣṭadyumna son of Pṛṣata —

8.57.20 the sons of Draupadī, Yudhāmanyu and Uttamaujas as well, and beholding his two brothers Nakula and Sahadeva —

8.57.21 the son of Pṛthā comes at you all at once with a single chariot, O scorcher of foes, his eyes red with rage, wrathful, eager to slay the foremost of all bowmen."

8.57.22 "In haste he falls upon us, leaving the troops aside, beyond doubt. Go forth against him, Karṇa, for there is no other bowman to match him."

8.57.23 "In this world I see no bowman other than you who, like a shore against the sea, could hold back Arjuna enraged in battle."

8.57.24 "And I see no guard of his, neither at his rear nor at his flank; alone he comes against you — behold the fulfilment of your purpose."

8.57.25 "For you are able to overcome the two Kṛṣṇas in the fray. This is your charge, Rādheya: go forth to meet Dhanaṃjaya."

8.57.26 "For by Bhīṣma, and by Droṇa, the son of Droṇa, and Kṛpa, you have indeed been made the match of Savyasācin — turn back that Pāṇḍava."

8.57.27 "Like a serpent darting its tongue, like a bellowing bull, like a tiger crouched to spring — strike down Dhanaṃjaya, O Karṇa."

8.57.28 "Yonder the great car-warriors of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's host flee in the battle, those lords of men, in swift terror of Arjuna, heedless of all else."

8.57.29 "And of them, as they flee in the fight, there is no other man, O hero, who could dispel their fear save you, O joy of the charioteer's race."

8.57.30 "All these Kurus, having found in you their island in the battle, stand fast, O tiger among men, seeking refuge from you."

8.57.31 "The Videhas, the Ambaṣṭhas, and the Kāmbojas, and likewise the Nagnajits, and the Gāndhāras, so hard to conquer, were vanquished by you in battle by that same firmness —"

8.57.32 Summon that same resolve, O Rādheya, and then go forth to meet the Pāṇḍava and Vāsudeva of the Vṛṣṇis, who rejoices in the Diademed One.

8.57.33 Karṇa said: Now, O Śalya, you appear to me restored to your true self and well-disposed, O mighty-armed one, and unafraid of Dhanaṃjaya.

8.57.34 Behold this day the strength of my arms, and behold my mastery of arms: alone today I shall destroy the great host of the Pāṇḍavas.

8.57.35 And the two Kṛṣṇas, those tigers among men—this truth I tell you: never shall I withdraw without having slain those two heroes in battle.

8.57.36 Either I shall lie slain by them in sleep—for victory in battle is never assured—or I shall achieve my purpose by killing them; otherwise I shall fall myself.

8.57.37 Never in this world, as far as we have heard, has there been so peerless a chariot-warrior. Against such a Pārtha I shall fight in the great battle—behold then my manhood.

8.57.38 This foremost of chariot-heroes ranges upon his car with swift horses, this prince of the Kuru kings. Either he shall bring me to grief this day, or else—mark this—the end of all of you lies in the end of Karṇa.

8.57.39 The prince's hands neither sweat nor tremble; they are broad and calloused with use. Firm in his weapon, skilled, swift of hand—there is no warrior equal to the son of Pāṇḍu.

8.57.40 He grasps many heron-feathered shafts as though they were but one, and crushing the lords of earth those unerring arrows fall a full krośa away. What warrior on earth is his equal?

8.57.41 The son of Pāṇḍu, that swift over-chariot-warrior with Kṛṣṇa for his second, gratified the Fire-eater—there the great-souled Kṛṣṇa won his discus, and the Pāṇḍava Savyasācin won the Gāṇḍīva bow.

8.57.42 From the Bearer of Oblations the mighty-armed one of undaunted spirit obtained that foremost chariot of fair thunder yoked with white horses, two great inexhaustible quivers of divine form, and divine weapons.

8.57.43 So too in Indra's realm he slew countless Daityas and all the Kālakeyas, and there he won the conch named Devadatta. Who upon earth, then, is greater than he?

8.57.44 That man of mighty power gratified Mahādeva himself in fair combat face to face, and thereby won the dread Pāśupata, the great weapon that works the destruction of the three worlds.

8.57.45 The guardians of the worlds, gathered together and each apart, gave him immeasurable weapons—with which that lion among men swiftly slew in battle the assembled Kālakhañja Asuras.

8.57.46 And in the city of Virāṭa, with a single chariot, he conquered us all assembled there, carried off that wealth of cattle in the midst of battle, and stripped the garments from the great chariot-warriors.

8.57.47 Such a one, endowed with the virtues of valor, with Kṛṣṇa for his second, do I choose to fight—him guarded by Keśava of boundless might, by the matchless Nārāyaṇa.

8.57.48 The virtues of that great soul—conch, discus, and sword in hand, Viṣṇu the conqueror, son of Vāsudeva—could not be told in ten thousand years even by all the worlds together. Fear indeed arises in me, and a shudder, to behold the two Kṛṣṇas joined upon a single car.

8.57.49 Both are brave, accomplished, firm in their weapons, great chariot-warriors of well-knit frame. Against such as Phalguna and Vāsudeva, who other than I, O Śalya, would come forth?

8.57.50 Either I shall lay these two low in battle, or the two Kṛṣṇas shall slay me this day. So speaking to Śalya, Karṇa the slayer of foes roared in the fight like a thundercloud.

8.57.51 Greeted with applause by your son when he drew near, he came together with the Kuru heroes and addressed them—Kṛpa and the Bhoja, both mighty-armed, the Gāndhāra king with his younger brothers, the preceptor's son, and his own younger brother, and others, the foot-soldiers and the elephant-riders:

8.57.52 "Hem them in, charge upon Acyuta and Arjuna, wear them down at once on every side with toil, that when both have been sorely wounded by you, O lords of earth, I may slay them with ease this day."

8.57.53 Saying "So be it," those bravest of the brave swiftly bore down upon Arjuna, eager to slay him; but as the great brimming ocean swallows the rivers and streams, so did Arjuna swallow them up in battle.

8.57.54 Neither in the nocking nor in the loosing of his finest shafts could Dhanaṃjaya be seen by his foes; and torn and slain by his arrows there fell men, horses, and elephants.

8.57.55 Flaming with arrows, his Gāṇḍīva drawn to a fair full circle, blazing with splendor like the sun at the dissolution of the age—the Kauravas could no more bear to gaze on the victor than men with diseased eyes can look upon the sun.

8.57.56 Kṛpa rushed upon him loosing arrows, and so too the Bhoja and your son himself; but in that great battle the Pāṇḍava, hastening, cut to pieces those finest shafts which they had sped with deadly care and effort, and pierced each of them through the breast with three arrows apiece.

8.57.57 With his Gāṇḍīva drawn to its full and ample circle, scorching his foes, Arjuna the sun shone forth—his rays the cruel arrows, ranging through the bright clear sky as the sun set within its halo.

8.57.58 Then Droṇa's son pierced Dhanaṃjaya with ten foremost arrows, Acyuta with three, the four horses with four, and the ape upon the banner he overwhelmed with choice iron shafts.

8.57.59 In return Dhanaṃjaya, with his quivering bow taken up, brought down from Droṇa's son's chariot his bow with three arrows, the driver's head with a razor-shaft, his four horses with four, and his banner with three.

8.57.60 Filled with fury, he took up another bow, adorned with gold like lightning's bolt, gleaming like the coils of Takṣaka, well-strung—as one might lift a great serpent-king from a mountain.

8.57.61 Strewing his own broken weapon upon the ground and stringing his bow afresh, the son of Droṇa, foremost in skill, from close at hand struck with his finest shafts those two unconquered best of men who rode together on one car.

8.57.62 And Kṛpa, the Bhoja, and your son fell upon him like rain-clouds upon the sun that dispels the dark; but with his shafts Pārtha shattered Kṛpa's bow together with its arrow, his horses, his banner, and his driver.

8.57.63 With his arrows he cut down the banner and bow of your roaring son, and the splendid hero slew the fair horses of Kṛtavarman and clove his banner asunder.

8.57.64 With their horses and drivers, their bows and their standards, he hastened and slew elephants, horses, and chariots; then your mighty host was scattered and torn through like a dam broken by the flood; and swiftly with Arjuna's chariot Keśava left the afflicted foes upon his left.

8.57.65 Then, as Dhanaṃjaya pressed swiftly onward like the Lord of a Hundred Sacrifices who had slain Vṛtra, other warriors eager for battle pursued him once more on well-yoked chariots with banners raised high.

8.57.66 Then the great chariot-warriors—Śikhaṇḍin, the grandson of Śini, and the twins—came up to ward off those foes from Dhanaṃjaya's car, and rending them with sharp arrows they shouted most terribly.

8.57.67 Then in their wrath they smote one another with straight-flying, keen-edged arrows—the Kuru heroes together with the Sṛñjayas—even as of old the Asuras fought against the foremost of the gods.

8.57.68 Longing for victory and eager to go to heaven, O scorcher of foes, elephants, horses, and chariots fell; they roared aloud, and mightily, each apart, they wounded one another with well-loosed arrows.

8.57.69 When the great-souled warriors had wrought a darkness of arrows upon one another in that mighty fray, the ten quarters and the heavens themselves grew dim, O king, and the radiance of the sun was wrapped in gloom.

8.58.1 Saṃjaya said: O king, Dhanaṃjaya, longing to rescue the son of Kuntī—Bhīma, beset by the foremost forces of the Kurus and as if sinking down—came to his aid.

8.58.2 Crushing with his arrows the army of the charioteer's son, O Bhārata, Dhanaṃjaya dispatched the enemy heroes to the realm of Death.

8.58.3 Then his nets of arrows, veiling the sky in successive flights, became visible, and others besides, smiting your host.

8.58.4 Filling with his arrows the sky thronged with flocks of birds, Dhanaṃjaya, O great king, became as the End-Maker to the Kurus.

8.58.5 Then with broad-headed shafts, razor-arrows, and bright iron darts Pārtha wasted their limbs and severed their heads.

8.58.6 On every side the field was strewn with warriors—limbs hewn off, armor stripped away, heads gone—both with the fallen and with those still falling.

8.58.7 With chariots, horses, men, and elephants struck down by Dhanaṃjaya's arrows, the field of battle, O king, became like the great Vaitaraṇī river.

8.58.8 The earth was strewn with the chariots of the combatants—their poles, wheels, and axles broken, some without horses, some still with their horses, some with their drivers and some with drivers slain.

8.58.9 Mounted by warriors in golden mail and corselets and decked with gold, noble elephants of perpetual rut, armored and enraged, urged on by enraged drivers, advanced against Arjuna.

8.58.10 Four hundred of them, slain by the showers of arrows of the Diademed One, fell down like the living-creatured peaks of a great mountain hurled to the ground.

8.58.11 The earth strewn with the finest elephants laid low by Dhanaṃjaya's arrows, Arjuna's chariot pressed on like the sun cleaving through the massed clouds.

8.58.12 With slain elephants, men, and horses, with chariots shattered in many ways, with valiant fighters whose weapons, plumes, and armor were gone and whose breath had fled, with weapons cast away, the path was strewn over by Phalguna.

8.58.13 And the Gāṇḍīva thundered with a great and terrible sound, dread as the crash of the thunderbolt of a storm in the sky.

8.58.14 Then the host, struck by Dhanaṃjaya's arrows, was torn asunder, like a great ship lashed by a mighty gale upon the sea.

8.58.15 Arrows of many forms, striking weapons sped from the Gāṇḍīva, like firebrands, meteors, and thunderbolts, consumed your army utterly.

8.58.16 As a bamboo grove ablaze by night upon a great mountain, so your mighty army flared and quivered, tormented by his arrows.

8.58.17 Crushed, burned, and shattered by the Diademed One, your army, smitten and stricken by his arrows, fled on every side to all the quarters.

8.58.18 As herds of deer seized by a forest fire in the great wood, so the Kurus, scorched by Savyasācin, turned and wheeled about.

8.58.19 For when they had let go the mighty-armed Bhīmasena in that battle, the whole army of the Kurus, panic-stricken, turned its back in flight.

8.58.20 Then, when the Kurus were broken, the unvanquished Bībhatsu came up to Bhīmasena and lingered with him for a while.

8.58.21 Having joined Bhīma and taken counsel with him, Phalguna told him that Yudhiṣṭhira was free of his arrow and healed of his pain.

8.58.22 Then, with Bhīmasena's leave, Dhanaṃjaya went forth, making earth and heaven resound with the thunder of his chariot, O Bhārata.

8.58.23 Then Dhanaṃjaya was surrounded by ten terrible bull-like foes, your sons, the younger brothers of Duḥśāsana.

8.58.24 With drawn bows, cruel, as if dancing, O Bhārata, they assailed him with arrows as men torment an elephant with firebrands.

8.58.25 But the slayer of Madhu kept them upon the left with his chariot's wheeling; then those heroes fled, even while Arjuna's car was turned away from them.

8.58.26 As they rushed on, Pārtha swiftly brought down their banners, chariots, bows, and arrows with iron shafts and crescent-headed darts.

8.58.27 Then with ten more broad-headed shafts he struck off their heads to the ground—their eyes red with wrath, their lips bitten through; and those faces shone in the sky like clusters of stars.

8.58.28 Having pierced those ten Kauravas with golden armlets with ten swift broad-headed shafts feathered with gold, the slayer of foes passed on.

8.59.1 Saṃjaya said: As he who bore the banner of the chief of apes rode on with swift-coursing horses, ninety chariot-heroes of the Kurus charged forth to battle; those tigers among men encircled the tiger among men, Arjuna, in the fray.

8.59.2 Kṛṣṇa urged the white, swift horses, decked with gold and covered with nets of pearls, toward Karṇa's chariot.

8.59.3 Then, as Dhanaṃjaya rode toward Karṇa's chariot, slaying his foes, the chariots of the Saṃśaptakas advanced, smiting him with showers of arrows.

8.59.4 But all those ninety heroes, hastening on with their drivers, bows, and banners, Arjuna slew with his whetted arrows.

8.59.5 Slain by the arrows of many forms loosed by the Diademed One, they fell as Siddhas with their celestial cars fall from heaven when their merit is spent.

8.59.6 Then the Kurus, with their chariots, elephants, and horses, fearlessly bore down, O best of the Kurus, upon Phalguna, the foremost of the Bhāratas.

8.59.7 That great army of your sons—strained to the utmost, its weapons not yet spent, its mighty elephants reared up—Dhanaṃjaya held in check.

8.59.8 With spears, lances, javelins, and darts, with maces, swords, and arrows, the great-bowed Kurus overspread the delight of the Kurus.

8.59.9 That outspread and upraised rain of weapons of the Kurus the Pāṇḍava scattered with his arrows, as the sun dispels the darkness with its rays.

8.59.10 Then the Mlecchas, with thirteen hundred elephants in rut held ready, smote Pārtha upon his flank at the command of your son.

8.59.11 With barbed shafts, reed-arrows, and iron darts, with lances, javelins, and spears, with kampana-missiles and bhiṇḍipāla-slings, they harried Pārtha as he stood upon his chariot.

8.59.12 That rain of weapons hurled by the Yavanas mounted on elephants, Phalguna, smiling, cut to pieces with his whetted broad-headed and crescent-headed shafts.

8.59.13 Then all those elephants, with their banners and their riders, he pierced with great arrows of many kinds, as the thunderbolt cleaves the mountains.

8.59.14 Studded with gold-feathered arrows, garlanded as if with gold, those great elephants fell slain like mountains crowned with flames of fire.

8.59.15 Then a great din of the Gāṇḍīva arose, O lord of peoples, mingled with the bellowing and the moaning of men and elephants and horses.

8.59.16 The elephants, stricken, O king, fled away on every side, and the horses, their riders slain, ran scattering in all ten directions.

8.59.17 Chariots bereft of their warriors and their steeds, O great king, were seen by the thousands, looking like the phantom cities of the gandharvas.

8.59.18 The horsemen, O great king, fleeing this way and that, were seen falling here and there, struck down by Pārtha's arrows.

8.59.19 In that moment the strength of the Pāṇḍava's arms was made manifest, for alone in battle he conquered cavalry and elephants and chariots.

8.59.20 Then, O bull of the Bhāratas, seeing the Diademed One surrounded by a great threefold host, O king, Bhīmasena—

8.59.21 leaving behind the few chariots of your side that survived the slaughter, charged with speed, O king, toward Dhanaṃjaya's chariot.

8.59.22 Then that army, the greater part of it slain and stricken, took to flight, when it saw Bhīma go toward his brother Arjuna.

8.59.23 The swift horses that had survived Arjuna's killing, Bhīma, mace in hand and unwavering, scattered in that great battle.

8.59.24 He wielded a mace fierce as the Night of Doom, a devourer of men and elephants and horses, a shatterer of ramparts and watchtowers and city gates, exceedingly dreadful.

8.59.25 Then Bhīma swiftly hurled the mace among men and elephants and horses, and it slew many steeds and their riders, O honored one.

8.59.26 Those men and horses clad in armor of bronze and iron the Pāṇḍava crushed with his mace, and with a great noise they fell down slain.

8.59.27 Having destroyed that elephant division, mighty Bhīmasena remounted his own chariot and followed in Arjuna's rear.

8.59.28 The enemy's host, slain, all but turned in flight, drained of spirit, lingered there, O great king, for the most part encircled by weapons.

8.59.29 Seeing that army faltering, dispirited, and standing irresolute, Arjuna overwhelmed it with arrows that tormented the life-breath.

8.59.30 Then there arose among the Kurus a wail of anguish in that great battle, as they were slaughtered by Arjuna's shafts that stole the lives of chariot-warriors, horses, and elephants.

8.59.31 Crying out in dismay, clinging close one to another, your army then whirled about like a circle traced by a firebrand.

8.59.32 That army of yours, set ablaze and stripped of its armor by the arrows, was drenched in its own blood, like a grove of aśoka trees in full crimson bloom.

8.59.33 Seeing there the prowess of Savyasācin, the Kurus all grew hopeless of Karṇa's life.

8.59.34 Deeming Pārtha's torrent of arrows unbearable in the fray, the Kurus turned back, vanquished by the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva.

8.59.35 Abandoning Pārtha in the battle and mown down by his shafts, they fled in terror in all directions and cried out to the Sūta's son.

8.59.36 Pārtha pursued them, scattering many hundreds of arrows, gladdening the Pāṇḍava warriors led by Bhīmasena.

8.59.37 But your sons, O great king, made for Karṇa's chariot; as they sank in fathomless waters, Karṇa then became their island.

8.59.38 For the Kurus, O great king, like serpents drained of their venom, clung close to Karṇa alone, out of dread of the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva.

8.59.39 As all creatures that are bound to action, in their fear of death, O Bhārata, take refuge in dharma alone,—

8.59.40 so did your sons, O ruler of men, in their terror of the great-souled Pāṇḍava, cling to Karṇa, that mighty archer.

8.59.41 To them, drenched in blood, set in dire straits, tormented by arrows, Karṇa said: "Do not fear—come hither, to me, on every side."

8.59.42 Seeing your host broken by force at Pārtha's hands, Karṇa, twanging his bow, stood firm with intent to slay the foe, and charged once more upon the Pāñcālas before the very eyes of Savyasācin.

8.59.43 Then in an instant the lords of earth, their eyes blood-red like wounds, rained floods of arrows upon Karṇa, as the clouds upon a mountain.

8.59.44 Then thousands of arrows loosed by Karṇa, O honored one, parted the Pāñcālas from their lives, O best of living beings.

8.59.45 Then there was a great battle, O lord of peoples, as the Pāñcālas, slayers of foes, were cut down by the Sūta's son for the sake of his friend.

8.60.1 Saṃjaya said: Then, when the Kurus had fled, Karṇa, the Sūta's son, O king, with his white-horsed, armored car, scattered the sons of the Pāñcālas with his mighty shafts, as the wind scatters the masses of clouds.

8.60.2 Felling Janamejaya's charioteer from the car with an añjalika shaft, he slew his horses; and with broad-headed arrows he overwhelmed Śatānīka and Sutasoma, and cut their bows asunder.

8.60.3 Then he pierced Dhṛṣṭadyumna with six arrows and slew his right-hand horse in the fight; and having killed the steeds of Sātyaki, the Sūta's son slew Viśoka, the son of the Kaikeya king.

8.60.4 When the prince was slain, the Kaikeya commander, fierce of bow, charged upon him; pierced sorely by his swift and violent shafts, he in turn struck Suṣeṇa, Karṇa's own son.

8.60.5 With three crescent-headed arrows Karṇa forcibly severed both his arms and his head; and lifeless he fell from his chariot to the earth, like a śāla tree hewn down by axes.

8.60.6 Suṣeṇa, the charioteer's grandson, his own horses slain, covered the hero of Śini's line with swift, keen shafts and seemed almost to dance; yet, struck by an arrow of the Śaineya, he fell.

8.60.7 His son slain, his mind seized by wrath, Karṇa, eager to kill the bull of Śini's line, crying "You are slain, O Śaineya!" loosed an arrow that overcomes all foes.

8.60.8 But Śikhaṇḍin cut that arrow apart and struck back at Karṇa with three shafts after three; and Karṇa, cutting through Śikhaṇḍin's bow and banner, slew with two arrows the warrior Sujāta.

8.60.9 The fierce and self-controlled one pierced Śikhaṇḍin with six arrows and struck off the head of Dhṛṣṭadyumna's son; then the great-souled son of Adhiratha pierced Sutasoma with a whetted shaft.

8.60.10 Then, amid the tumultuous wailing, when the son of Dhṛṣṭadyumna had been slain there, Kṛṣṇa said, O lion among kings: "The Pāñcālas are being unmade—go, O Pārtha, and slay Karṇa."

8.60.11 Then, laughing, the foremost of men swiftly drove his chariot against the chariot of Adhiratha's son, the strong-armed one desiring to shield those who were being struck down by that leader of chariot-hosts.

8.60.12 Twanging the dread-sounding Gāṇḍīva and striking the bowstring hard against the leather guard, making at once a darkness of arrows, he slew elephants and horses and chariots and men.

8.60.13 Bhīmasena followed him with his chariot, guarding from behind that lone hero among the Pāṇḍavas; and the two princes, hastening on their two cars, set forth against Karṇa, breaking free of the foe.

8.60.14 Meanwhile the Sūta's son waged a mighty battle, crushing the Somakas; he slew their hosts of chariots, horses, and elephants, and shrouded all the directions with arrows.

8.60.15 Uttamaujas and Janamejaya, enraged, and Yudhāmanyu and Śikhaṇḍin, together with the son of Pṛṣata, assailed Karṇa with their shafts, crushing him in the press.

8.60.16 Those five Pāñcāla chariot-warriors, rushing upon Vaikartana Karṇa with their fair arrows, could not dislodge him from his chariot—no more than the senses can move a self-mastered man from his steadfastness.

8.60.17 Cutting away their bows, their banners, horses, charioteers, quivers, and pennons with his arrows, Karṇa struck those five with five shafts and then roared like a lion.

8.60.18 As he shot at and smote them down, bowstring and arrow in hand, at the twang of his bow the people sank in dread, thinking, "Surely the earth, with its mountains and trees, is being shattered."

8.60.19 With his bow, drawn taut and likened to Indra's rainbow, the son of Adhiratha, loosing arrows, shone in battle with a halo of blazing rays, like the sun garlanded in light.

8.60.20 He pierced Śikhaṇḍin with twelve whetted arrows, and Uttamaujas with six; with three swift shafts he struck Yudhāmanyu, and with three each the sons of Somaka and of Pṛṣata.

8.60.21 Those five great chariot-warriors, crushers of foes, vanquished by the Sūta's son in that great battle, O honored one, stood there bereft of effort, like the objects of sense overcome by a self-disciplined man.

8.60.22 As they were sinking in the sea that was Karṇa, like merchants with foundered ships upon the deep, the sons of Draupadī drew up their maternal uncles from the flood with their well-furnished chariots, as with boats from the ocean.

8.60.23 Then the bull of Śini's line, cutting apart with keen shafts the many arrows sped by Karṇa, and rending Karṇa with whetted iron-tipped darts, struck your eldest son with eight.

8.60.24 Then Kṛpa and the Bhoja and your son, and Karṇa himself, smote him with sharp arrows; and that best of the Yādavas fought against those four, as the lord of the Daityas against the guardians of the quarters.

8.60.25 With his bow evenly drawn, humming, bent to its full and raining countless arrows, that Sātyaki grew ever harder to assail, like the sun risen to mid-heaven in autumn.

8.60.26 Regaining their chariots, the Pāñcāla warriors, well-armored scorchers of foes, rallying in that great battle, guarded the hero of Śini's line, as the host of Maruts guards Indra in the crushing of his enemies.

8.60.27 Then there arose an exceedingly dreadful battle between your foes and your soldiers, destructive of chariots and horses and elephants, even as of old there was between the gods and the asuras.

8.60.28 Chariots and elephants, horsemen and footmen alike, wrapped about with weapons of every kind, wheeled to and fro; struck by one another they stumbled, cried out in anguish, and fell down lifeless.

8.60.29 In such a pass, your fearless son, the king's younger brother, advanced against Bhīma, scattering arrows; and Vṛkodara rushed swiftly upon him, as a lion springs upon a great ruru deer.

8.60.30 Then between those two, gambling with life as their stake, there was a battle beyond the human, each fixed in fury upon the other, those two exalted ones, like Śambara and Indra of old.

8.60.31 With body-ending, keenly sharpened arrows the two struck each other hard, like two great elephants in rut, their minds set on a single she-elephant between them, smiting again and again.

8.60.32 Then Vṛkodara, hastening, cut your son's bow and his banner with two razor-edged arrows, pierced his brow as well with a feathered shaft, and struck the head of his charioteer from the body.

8.60.33 That prince, taking up another bow, pierced Vṛkodara with twelve arrows; and himself reining in his steeds, he once more rained straight-flying shafts upon Bhīma.

8.61.1 Saṃjaya said: There the prince Duḥśāsana, fighting in the tumult, performed a hard feat: with a razor-edged arrow he cut Bhīma's bow, and pierced his charioteer with six shafts.

8.61.2 Then the great-souled one swiftly pierced Bhīmasena with many choice arrows; but he, pouring forth blood like an elephant in rut, hurled his mace at him in the tumult.

8.61.3 With it Bhīmasena, by main force, swept Duḥśāsana away the space of ten bow-lengths; struck by that swift mace, Duḥśāsana fell down trembling.

8.61.4 His horses with their charioteer were slain, O king, and his chariot ground to powder by the falling mace; his armor, ornaments, garments, and garlands shattered, he writhed, racked with grievous pain.

8.61.5 Then mighty Bhīmasena, recalling all the enmity that your sons had wrought, leapt down from his chariot and came to the ground, fixing his gaze with care upon him.

8.61.6 Drawing his keen, well-honed sword and treading upon the throat of the trembling man, he tore open the breast of the fallen one upon the ground, and drank his warm blood; and tasting it again and again and gazing about, wrathful beyond measure, he spoke these words:

8.61.7 "Than a mother's milk, than honey or clarified butter, than well-prepared mead, than the taste of celestial water, than the choicest draught churned from milk and curds—sweeter than all of these, I deem, is this taste of the lifeblood of my enemy that I drink today."

8.61.8 As he spoke thus and again rushed forward, tasting the blood and leaping in fierce exultation, those who beheld Bhīmasena then, shaken with terror, fell to the ground.

8.61.9 And those men there who did not fall—their weapons dropped from their hands, and they cried aloud in fear, and with closed eyes they would not look upon it.

8.61.10 All who there beheld Bhīma on every side drinking the blood of Duḥśāsana fled, overtaken by terror, crying out, "This is no man!"

8.61.11 In the hearing of the heroes of the world he spoke these words: "This blood of yours I drink from your very throat, O basest of men. Now, in your high fury, say once again, 'A cow! A cow!'"

8.61.12 "The sleep that you contrived at Pramāṇakoṭi, the feeding of the kālakūṭa poison, the cruel biting by serpents, the burning in the house of lac;—"

8.61.13 "the seizing of our kingdom by the game of dice, and the dwelling in the forest that followed, the arrows and weapons in the battles, and the miseries in our own house;—"

8.61.14 "these sorrows we know, and never once any joy—we, ever, through the wickedness of Dhṛtarāṣṭra together with his sons."

8.61.15 Having spoken these words, O king, and won his victory, Vṛkodara, O great king, smiling, spoke again to Keśava and Arjuna both:

8.61.16 "What I vowed against Duḥśāsana in battle, O heroes, all of that I have this day accomplished here. This very day I shall offer up the second sacrifice as well: slaughtering Duryodhana like a sacrificial beast, and crushing the head of that vile one with my foot, I shall win peace before the very eyes of the Kauravas."

8.61.17 Having spoken these words, exultant and his limbs drenched with blood, he roared aloud; and that mighty-souled hero of surpassing strength danced, even as the Thousand-eyed One had danced after slaying Vṛtra.

8.62.1 Saṃjaya said: When Duḥśāsana had been slain, ten of your sons, great chariot-warriors, heroes venomous with mighty wrath and never fleeing in battle, men of vast valor, O king, covered Bhīma over with their arrows.

8.62.2 They were Kavacin, Niṣaṅgin, Pāśin, Daṇḍadhāra, Dhanurdhara, Alolupa, Śala, Saṃdha, Vātavega, and Suvarcas.

8.62.3 These, gathered together and grieved by the calamity that had befallen their brother, hemmed in with their arrows the mighty-armed Bhīmasena.

8.62.4 Hemmed in on every side by the arrows of those great chariot-warriors, Bhīma, his eyes reddened with anger and full of wrath, shone like Death himself.

8.62.5 But the son of Pṛthā, his armlets of gold, with ten swift, keen broad-headed shafts feathered with gold, sent them, every one, to the abode of Yama.

8.62.6 When those heroes had been slain, your host, tormented with fear, fled before the Pāṇḍava, even as the Sūta's son looked on.

8.62.7 Then, O great king, Karṇa entered into the mighty fray, having beheld the prowess of Bhīma, which was like that of the Destroyer among living creatures.

8.62.8 But Śalya, splendid in assembly and knowing his bearing and his mood, spoke to Karṇa words fitting to the hour, O tamer of foes: "Yield not to dismay, O son of Rādhā; this becomes you not."

8.62.9 "These kings are fleeing, tormented by fear of Bhīmasena, and Duryodhana too is stupefied, stricken with grief at the destruction of his brothers."

8.62.10 "While Duḥśāsana's blood was being drunk by that great-souled one, their senses failed them and their spirits were broken by grief."

8.62.11 "Surrounding him on every side, O Karṇa, Kṛpa and the rest, together with the brothers who survived the slaughter, wait upon Duryodhana."

8.62.12 "And the Pāṇḍavas, sure of their aim and led by Dhanaṃjaya, those heroes, have come forward facing you alone, ready for battle."

8.62.13 "Therefore, O tiger among men, standing firm in your great manhood and setting the warrior's duty foremost, go forth to meet Dhanaṃjaya."

8.62.14 "For the whole burden has been laid upon you by Dhṛtarāṣṭra's son; bear it up, O mighty-armed one, according to your power and your strength. In victory there will be abundant glory, and in defeat heaven is assured."

8.62.15 "And while you are sunk in bewilderment, O son of Rādhā, your enraged son Vṛṣasena is rushing upon the Pāṇḍavas."

8.62.16 Having heard this speech of Śalya of measureless splendor, he steadied his human spirit firmly in his heart for the battle.

8.62.17 Then the enraged Vṛṣasena rushed against Vṛkodara—who had slain his foe and mounted his own chariot, mace in hand like Death wielding his rod—as he was crushing your warriors.

8.62.18 Against him the foremost hero Nakula rushed, in his fury piercing the foe with his shafts—against Karṇa's son, exultant in the fray—the victorious one eager to slay him, as Maghavan once sought to slay Jambha.

8.62.19 Then the hero Nakula with a razor-edged shaft cut down the banner, bright with crystal and conch-shell, and with a broad-headed arrow shattered Karṇa's son's gleaming bow, bound with bands of pure gold.

8.62.20 Then Karṇa's son, taking up another bow with great speed, pierced the Pāṇḍava; that master of mighty weapons struck Nakula with celestial great weapons, seeking to avenge Duḥśāsana.

8.62.21 Then the enraged, great-souled Nakula pierced him with arrows like great meteors; and Karṇa's son too, skilled in arms, pierced Nakula in return with celestial weapons.

8.62.22 Karṇa's son, O king, with his choicest weapons destroyed all the horses of the delicate Nakula—horses of the Vanāyu breed, white and swift, adorned with gold.

8.62.23 Then, alighting from his car whose horses were slain, he took up a beautiful shield marked with eight moons and, grasping a sword the color of the sky, he ranged about, leaping like a bird.

8.62.24 Then, coursing aloft through the air in wondrous paths, he cut down foremost men and horses and elephants; slain by his sword, they fell to the earth, like beasts slaughtered by the immolators at a horse-sacrifice.

8.62.25 Two thousand renowned warriors, valiant in battle, from many lands, well-nourished and true to their pledges, were swiftly cut down by Nakula alone, as fine sandalwood trees are felled by one who craves their essence.

8.62.26 As Nakula came on, he too fell upon him and pierced him on every side with his shafts; and Nakula, thus stung with arrows, pierced the hero in return, who, wounded, was filled with wrath.

8.62.27 As he, single-handed, scattered the foremost of men, horses, elephants, and chariots, sporting as he went, Karṇa's son pierced that hero with eighteen shafts; and he, wounded, was filled with wrath.

8.62.28 Then the heroic son of Pāṇḍu rushed in the fray, eager to slay Karṇa's son; but Karṇa's son with his arrows shattered, in that great battle, his shield studded with a thousand stars.

8.62.29 As he brandished his iron sword, whetted and keen-edged, unsheathed, able to bear a heavy stroke, the bearer-away of foemen's bodies, most terrible, dreadful in form like a serpent—

8.62.30 —that subduer of foes swiftly, with six keen, well-edged arrows, cut the sword in two, and again with sharp, whetted shafts, oil-treated, pierced him deep between the breasts.

8.62.31 Then Mādrī's son, his horses slain and sore beset by Karṇa's son, leapt up onto Bhīmasena's chariot, like a lion onto a mountain-peak, while Dhanaṃjaya looked on.

8.62.32 Then, learning that Nakula's bow and sword were severed, his car destroyed, himself tormented by the foe's arrows and broken by Karṇa's son's weapons, those chariots—banners shaken by the wind, rumbling, horses prancing, driven by the best of men—swiftly came on.

8.62.33 The five foremost sons of Drupada, with Śini's grandson as the sixth, and the five sons of Drupada's daughter, subduers of foes, slaying your elephants, chariots, men, and horses with arrows like serpent-lords, came on with weapons in hand.

8.62.34 Then your foremost chariot-warriors went forth against them in haste—Hṛdika's son and Kṛpa, Droṇa's son and Duryodhana, Śakuni, Śuka, and Vṛka, and Krātha and Devāvṛdha—with chariots that thundered like elephants and rain-clouds, and with their bows.

8.62.35 Your foremost of warriors, smiting those eleven heroes with their choicest excellent shafts, hemmed them in; but the Kuṇindas rode up against them on elephants the hue of fresh rain-clouds, like mountain-peaks and of terrible speed.

8.62.36 Well-caparisoned, born of the Himālaya, furious with rut, mounted by skilled men eager for battle, those elephants overspread with nets of gold shone forth like rain-clouds charged with lightning.

8.62.37 The son of the Kuṇinda king with ten great iron shafts sorely afflicted Kṛpa together with his charioteer and horses; but slain by the arrows of Śaradvat's son, he fell to the ground along with his elephant.

8.62.38 But the younger brother of the Kuṇinda's son, with iron lances like the rays of the sun, shook a chariot and roared aloud; thereupon the lord of the Gāndhāras struck off his head as he roared.

8.62.39 Then, when those Kuṇindas had been slain, your great chariot-warriors, exultant in look, loudly blew their conches born of the salt sea, and, bows in hand, advanced against the foe.

8.62.40 Then there arose once more a most terrible battle between the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas and Sṛñjayas—with arrows, swords, spears, lances, maces, and battle-axes—a fearfully turbulent fray that bore off the life-breath of men and horses and elephants.

8.62.41 Then chariots, horses, elephants, and foot-soldiers, striking one another, fell to the earth, like clouds charged with lightning and thunder driven together from the quarters by fierce winds.

8.62.42 Then Śatānīka slew your great elephants, your chariots, and your troops of foot-soldiers; and the Bhoja chief slew the horses; and the elephants, cut down and disarmed by Kṛtavarman, fell.

8.62.43 Then three other elephants, struck by the arrows of Droṇa's son, with all their weapons, warriors, and standards, fell lifeless to the earth, hurled down like great mountains smitten by the thunderbolt.

8.62.44 He who was next after the younger brother of the Kuṇinda king smote your son between the breasts with excellent feathered shafts; but your son with his keen arrows pierced his body and his elephant.

8.62.45 That lord of elephants, together with the prince, fell, pouring forth much blood on every side, as a mountain of red ochre, struck by the thunderbolt of Śacī's lord, pours down its waters at the coming of the clouds.

8.62.46 Another elephant, urged on by the Kuṇinda's son, crushed Śuka together with his charioteer, horses, and car; then, torn by Krātha's arrows, it fell along with its rider, like a mountain smitten by the thunderbolt.

8.62.47 The chariot-warrior Krātha, the unconquerable lord, was struck by the arrows of the mountain-born one mounted on his elephant and fell, together with his horses, charioteer, and bow, like a great tree felled by a mighty wind.

8.62.48 Vṛka sorely pierced with twelve arrows the dweller of the great mountains who rode his elephant; thereupon that one in haste with four shafts crushed swift-moving Vṛka, together with his horses and car, at the feet.

8.62.49 That lord of elephants, together with its driver, fell, sorely smitten by the arrows of Babhru's son; and Devāvṛdha's son too, afflicted and struck down by Sahadeva's son, fell.

8.62.50 On an elephant whose tusks, trunk, and other limbs were slayers of foes, the Kuṇinda's son went with speed to slay Śakuni, sorely afflicting him; thereupon the lord of the Gāndhāras struck off his head.

8.62.51 Then your great elephants, horses, chariots, and bands of foot-soldiers, slain by Śatānīka, like trees struck by the wind of Garuḍa's wings, went helplessly to the earth, crushed to powder.

8.62.52 Then the Kuṇinda's son, smiling, pierced Nakula's son with many keen arrows; thereupon Nakula's son with a razor-edged shaft severed from his body his head, whose face was like a lotus.

8.62.53 Then Karṇa's son pierced Śatānīka with three swift keen shafts, Arjuna with three, Bhīma with three, Nakula with seven, and Janārdana with twelve arrows.

8.62.54 Beholding that deed of his, surpassing the deeds of men, the Kurus, rejoicing, applauded him; yet those who knew Dhanaṃjaya's prowess deemed him already as an oblation cast into the fire.

8.62.55 Then the Diademed One, slayer of hostile heroes, beholding that foremost of men, Vṛṣasena, whose horses had been slain, rushed against him in battle, as he stood then before the Sūta's son.

8.62.56 As that fierce hero among men came on in the great battle, bearing a thousand arrows, Karṇa's son, the great chariot-warrior, fell upon him, even as Namuci fell upon Indra in the days of old.

8.62.57 Then, having pierced the son of Pṛthā with a wondrous hundred arrows, the Sūta's son's son, of great might, roared aloud, as Namuci of old roared when he had pierced Śakra.

8.62.58 Again Vṛṣasena pierced the son of Pṛthā with fierce arrows in the joints of the shoulders, and likewise afflicted Kṛṣṇa with nine, and again the son of Pṛthā with ten keen-pointed shafts.

8.62.59 Then the Diademed One, at the head of the battle, knitting in his wrath a three-forked frown upon his brow, the great-souled one loosed his keen arrows, O king, to slay the Sūta's son in the fray.

8.62.60 And the Diademed One pierced him forcibly with ten shafts in his vital parts where he was unguarded, and with four razor-edged arrows, fierce ones, cut off his bow, his arms, and his very head.

8.62.61 Struck by the arrows of Pṛthā's son, he fell from his chariot to the earth, armless and headless, his huge frame like a fair-blossomed, leaf-laden sāla tree shaken by the wind from a mountain-crest.

8.62.62 Beholding his son, struck by the arrows, falling from the chariot, the swift-acting son of the Sūta, sorely pained by his son's slaying, swiftly drove his car with speed against the chariot of the Diademed One.

8.63.1 Saṃjaya said: Beholding Vṛṣasena slain, the Bull among men, filled with grief and indignation, suddenly let fall from his eyes the waters born of sorrow.

8.63.2 Karṇa the splendid drove his chariot straight against the foe, his eyes coppery-red with wrath, challenging Dhanaṃjaya to battle.

8.63.3 Those two chariots, bright as the sun and draped with tiger-skins, men saw come together there like two suns met in one place.

8.63.4 Borne by white horses, those two suns among men, those crushers of foes, those great-souled ones, shone as they stood, like the moon and the sun in the sky.

8.63.5 Beholding the two, all beings fell into wonder, O sir, as though they were Indra and the son of Virocana striving for the conquest of the three worlds.

8.63.6 With the din of chariots, bowstrings, and leather guards, and with the clamor of arrows and conches, those two chariots rushed onward, while the lords of earth looked on.

8.63.7 And seeing the two standards joined in close conflict—Karṇa's elephant-girth emblem and the ape of the Diademed One—wonder arose in them.

8.63.8 And seeing those two chariots locked together, O Bhārata, the kings raised lion-roars and abundant cries of applause.

8.63.9 And hearing of the single combat between the two, the warriors on every side raised a great clamor of beating arms and waving garments.

8.63.10 The Kurus came thither then, accompanied by music, and, gladdening Karṇa, blew their conches in abundance.

8.63.11 Likewise all the Pāṇḍavas, gladdening Dhanaṃjaya, made all the quarters resound with the blare of trumpets and conches.

8.63.12 With roars, the slapping of arms, and shouts, there was tumult on every side, and the din of warriors' arms at the meeting of Karṇa and Arjuna.

8.63.13 Beholding those two tigers among men, foremost of chariot-warriors, standing upon their cars, their great bows grasped, armed with arrows, spears, and maces—

8.63.14 —clad in mail, swords girded on, borne by white horses, splendid with conches, furnished with excellent quivers, the two of them were fair to behold.

8.63.15 Their limbs smeared with red sandal-paste, like two bulls in rut, resembling venomous serpents, like Yama, Time, and the Destroyer—

8.63.16 —wrathful like Indra and Vṛtra, radiant as the sun and moon, fierce as two great planets risen at the ending of an age—

8.63.17 —divinely born, godlike, equal to the gods in form—beholding those two tigers among men, Karṇa and Dhanaṃjaya, come together.

8.63.18 Both bore the finest weapons, both were seasoned in the toil of battle, and both made the vault of heaven resound with the clamor of their arms.

8.63.19 Both were renowned for their deeds, in manhood and in might, and both were equals in war to Śambara and to the king of the gods.

8.63.20 In battle they were the peers of Kārtavīrya, and the equals of the son of Daśaratha; in valor they matched the might of Viṣṇu, and in combat they were the equals of Bhava.

8.63.21 Both had white horses, O king, and both rode in the finest of chariots; and the charioteers of each were peerless and of mighty strength.

8.63.22 Beholding those two great warriors in their splendor, O mighty king, wonder took hold of the hosts of the Siddhas and the Cāraṇas.

8.63.23 Then the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra with their forces, O bull of the Bhāratas, swiftly closed in around the great-souled Karṇa, resplendent in the fray.

8.63.24 In the same way the Pāṇḍavas, exultant and led by Dhṛṣṭadyumna, closed in around the great-souled Pārtha, who had no equal in battle.

8.63.25 In the battle, O lord of peoples, Karṇa was the stake of your men, just as Pārtha was the stake of the Pāṇḍavas in the fight.

8.63.26 They themselves were there as the assembled members of the gaming-court and became its spectators; and for those two who staked their lives, victory and defeat hung in the balance.

8.63.27 Upon those two the dicing turned, for victory or for the other lot, as we and the Pāṇḍavas stood ranged at the head of the battle.

8.63.28 Those two stood firm in the battle, O great king, skilled in war, each enraged against the other, each seeking the other's defeat.

8.63.29 Both longed to strike each other down on every side, like Indra and Vṛtra; terrible of form, they stood like two great smoke-wreathed planets of ill omen.

8.63.30 Then in the sky, O bull of the Bhāratas, there arose taunting wrangles and mutual divisions among the beings over Karṇa and Arjuna; the quarters were split, my lord, and all the worlds took different sides.

8.63.31 Gods, Dānavas, and Gandharvas, Piśācas, serpents, and Rākṣasas took up opposing partisanships at the encounter of Karṇa and Arjuna.

8.63.32 The heaven with its constellations was intent on Karṇa's side, O lord of peoples; while the broad earth was for Pārtha, O Bhārata, as a mother for her son.

8.63.33 The rivers and the oceans, and the mountains too, O best of men, the trees and the herbs—all there took the side of the Diademed One.

8.63.34 The Asuras and the Yātudhānas and the Guhyakas, O scorcher of foes, together with the birds that range the sky, took their stand on Karṇa's side.

8.63.35 All the jewels and the treasures, and the Vedas with their tales for a fifth, together with the Upavedas and Upaniṣads, the secret doctrines and the digests—

8.63.36 Vāsuki and Citrasena, Takṣaka and Upatakṣaka, and all the mountains too, and the sons of Kadrū with their lineages—the venom-bearing serpents of great wrath—took their place on Arjuna's side.

8.63.37 The serpents of Airāvata's race, the sons of Surabhī, and the Vaiśāleyas—these stood on Arjuna's side, while the lesser snakes were for Karṇa.

8.63.38 The wolves and beasts of prey, and the auspicious creatures, beasts and birds—all of these, O king, looked to Pārtha's victory and cleaved to it.

8.63.39 The Vasus, the Maruts, the Sādhyas, the Rudras, the Viśvedevas and the two Aśvins, Agni and Indra and Soma and the Wind, and the ten quarters—these came to Dhanaṃjaya, while the Ādityas stood on Karṇa's side.

8.63.40 The gods, together with the ancestors and their hosts, sided with Arjuna; and Yama and Vaiśravaṇa and Varuṇa stood where Arjuna stood.

8.63.41 The hosts of the divine, brahmin, royal, and human seers were on the Pāṇḍava's side; and the Gandharvas led by Tumburu, O king, were where Arjuna was.

8.63.42 The Prāveyas together with the Mauneyas, the hosts of Gandharvas and Apsarases, along with the wolves and beasts of prey, the elephants, and the chariot-riders and foot-soldiers—

8.63.43 Borne aloft thus by the clouds and the wind, the wise ones came together, eager to behold the encounter of Karṇa and Arjuna.

8.63.44 Gods, Dānavas, Gandharvas, serpents, Yakṣas, and winged beings, the great seers learned in the Vedas, and the ancestors who feed on the funeral offering—

8.63.45 Austerities, sciences, and the healing herbs, robed and gleaming in their varied forms, took their stand in the sky, O great king, crying aloud.

8.63.46 Brahmā, together with the brahmin-seers and the Prajāpatis, attended by Bhava, came in a celestial car to that place.

8.63.47 Seeing the Lord of creatures, the Self-existent, the gods drew near and said: "O god, let the victory of these two lions among men be even."

8.63.48 Hearing this, Maghavat bowed to the Grandsire and said: "Let not the whole world be destroyed through the ruin of Karṇa and Arjuna.

8.63.49 O Self-existent One, speak the word: let the victory of these two be equal. So let it be—homage to you; be gracious to me, O Lord."

8.63.50 Then Brahmā and Īśāna spoke this word to the lord of the thirty gods: "Let the victory belong assuredly to the great-souled Vijaya.

8.63.51 He is high-minded, strong, and brave, accomplished in arms, rich in austerity; and the mighty-splendored one wields the whole science of archery without exception.

8.63.52 By his greatness of soul he might overstep what fate ordains for him, through some turn of events; and were that overstepped, the destruction of the worlds would surely follow.

8.63.53 There is nowhere any withstanding the two Kṛṣṇas when they are wroth; for both of these bulls among men are the creators of what is not and of what is.

8.63.54 These two are Nara and Nārāyaṇa, the ancient and most excellent of seers; uncontrolled themselves, they are the controllers of all, fearless and scorchers of the foe.

8.63.55 Let this Karṇa, the bull among men, attain the foremost worlds—the hero Vaikartana, the brave; but let the victory be the two Kṛṣṇas'.

8.63.56 And let him win a place in the world of the Vasus, or of the Maruts, and, together with Droṇa and Bhīṣma, be honored in the world of heaven."

8.63.57 Thus addressed by the two gods of gods, the Thousand-eyed spoke his word, calling upon all beings by the command of Brahmā and Īśāna:

8.63.58 "You have heard what the two Lords have spoken for the good of the world. So shall it be and not otherwise—so let your anger pass, and abide in peace."

8.63.59 Hearing Indra's words thus, all beings, my lord, were filled with wonder, O king, and did honor to that decree.

8.63.60 And from the sky the gods let fall showers of fragrant flowers of varied kinds, and sounded the celestial drums.

8.63.61 Eager to behold the matchless single combat of those two lions among men, the gods, Dānavas, and Gandharvas all took their stations; and those two chariots, white-horsed, with banners set and loud of sound, drew on.

8.63.62 The heroes of the world, come together, blew their conches each apart—the valiant Vāsudeva and Arjuna, and Karṇa and Śalya, O Bhārata.

8.63.63 Then there arose that battle, terrifying to the timid, between the two who vied in valor, like that of Śakra and Śambara.

8.63.64 The two banners of those warriors, garlandless, shone forth as they stood upon the chariots, each of a different form, and they seemed to rouse each other's wrath in the fight.

8.63.65 Karṇa's banner, like a venomous serpent, set with the essence of jewels, firm, resembling Purandara's bow, an elephant-girth, shone resplendent.

8.63.66 But Pārtha's emblem, the foremost of apes, with gaping jaws and terrible, struck fear with its fangs, hard to look upon as the sun.

8.63.67 Eager for battle, the banner of the wielder of Gāṇḍīva drew near to Karṇa's banner, and it spoke, roaring out loud.

8.63.68 Springing up with great force, the ape struck at the elephant-girth with its claws and teeth, as Garuḍa falls upon a serpent.

8.63.69 Adorned with fair little bells, of iron like the noose of Death, the serpent-girth, sorely enraged, rushed upon the great ape.

8.63.70 As the supreme single combat of the two was joined like a game of dice, the two banners waged their own war, and the horses neighed defiance at the horses.

8.63.71 The Lotus-eyed one pierced Śalya with the arrows of his glance, and he in turn looked back upon the Lotus-eyed one just so.

8.63.72 There Vāsudeva overcame Śalya with the arrows of his eyes, and Kuntī's son Dhanaṃjaya likewise overcame Karṇa with his gaze.

8.63.73 Then the charioteer's son, speaking to Śalya with a smile, said: "If Pārtha should slay me here in battle today by any chance, what would then be your course thereafter? Tell me truly, my friend."

8.63.74 Śalya said: "If today, O Karṇa, the White-horsed one should slay you in battle, then I myself, with this one chariot, would slay both Mādhava and the Pāṇḍava."

8.63.75 Saṃjaya said: In just this way did Arjuna speak in turn to Govinda; and Kṛṣṇa, laughing, said this further word to Pārtha:

8.63.76 "The maker of day might fall from his place, the earth might shatter into many pieces, fire might turn cold—but Karṇa will not slay you, O Dhanaṃjaya.

8.63.77 But if such a thing should somehow come to pass, like the overturning of the worlds, then I myself would slay Karṇa, and Śalya too, with my bare arms in the battle."

8.63.78 Hearing Kṛṣṇa's words, the ape-bannered Arjuna, laughing, replied to Kṛṣṇa, the tireless doer of deeds: "Even both of them, Karṇa and Śalya, are no match for me, O Janārdana.

8.63.79 Karṇa with his pennon and banner, with Śalya and his chariot and steeds, with his parasol and armor, with his spear, arrows, and bow—

8.63.80 Today you shall see Karṇa cut to pieces by my arrows in the battle—him, with his chariot, his steeds, his spear, his armor, and his weapons; for my enmity finds no rest, since once he laughed aloud at Kṛṣṇā.

8.63.81 Today, O Govinda, you shall see Karṇa torn down by me, as a flowering forest tree is torn down by a maddened elephant.

8.63.82 Today, O slayer of Madhu, you shall hear those sweet words; today, freed of my debt, you shall comfort Abhimanyu's mother and Kuntī, your father's sister, with great gladness, O Janārdana.

8.63.83 Today, O Mādhava, you shall comfort tear-faced Kṛṣṇā, and with words like nectar shall comfort the king of righteousness, Yudhiṣṭhira."

8.64.1 Saṃjaya said: Thronged with the hosts of gods and serpents, Asuras and Siddhas, and with the hosts of Gandharvas, Yakṣas, and Apsarases, frequented by brahmin-seers and royal-seers and the bird-king's kin, the heaven shone with a form to fill one with wonder.

8.64.2 Resounding with sweet cries, with the music of instruments and song and hymns of praise and dances, all the men gazed up into the sky and beheld those sky-dwelling forms wondrous to look upon.

8.64.3 Then the warriors of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, exultant, with the din of instruments, the rustle of feathered shafts, and lion-roars, made the earth and the quarters resound, and with that uproar all of them fell upon their foes.

8.64.4 Crowded with the swarm of countless horses, elephants, and chariots, unbearable with the rain of fine swords, spears, and lances, frequented by the fearless and heaped with slain bodies, the field of battle shone red with blood.

8.64.5 As the rout of the weapon-bearers thus set in, Dhanaṃjaya and the son of Adhiratha, both armored, veiled the quarters and the host, and each other, with their sharp, straight-flying shafts.

8.64.6 Then, when darkness was wrought by the arrows of your men and of the foe, they could discern nothing; but out of fear all took refuge in those two chariots alone, the dispellers of gloom, like the rays of light spread out in the sky.

8.64.7 Then those two scattered each other's missile with their own, like the winds of east and west; and amid the thick-spread darkness, dispellers of gloom, they shone exceedingly bright, like two risen suns.

8.64.8 "These two are not to be assailed"—so urged, the foe and your men alike then stood still, ringing those two great warriors about on every side, as gods and Asuras ring Vāsava and Śambara.

8.64.9 While the air rang with the sound of tabors, kettledrums, cymbals, and drums, O Bhārata, and with the blare of conches, those two best of men, roaring like lions, shone forth like the moon and the sun amid a gathering of clouds.

8.64.10 Both standing within the circle of their great bows, both full of splendor, with a thousand arrow-rays for beams, as if longing to burn up the world of moving and unmoving things, they were unbearable in battle, like two suns set at the age's end.

8.64.11 Both unconquerable, both destroyers of the enemy, those two accomplished warriors sought to slay each other; in the great battle the two best of heroes, Karṇa and the Pāṇḍava, met like Indra and Jambha.

8.64.12 Then those two wielders of great bows, loosing mighty missiles with their fearful shafts, the matchless pair slew men, horses, and elephants, and struck at each other with their finest arrows.

8.64.13 Then, tormented again by the arrows of those two best of men, the followers of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas scattered, with their elephants, foot-soldiers, horses, and chariots, and fled to the quarters, even as forest creatures flee in terror of the lion.

8.64.14 Then Duryodhana, the Bhoja, and the son of Subala, and Kṛpa together with the son of Śaradvat—those five great warriors—smote Dhanaṃjaya and Acyuta with arrows that make an end of the body.

8.64.15 Their bows, their quivers, their horses, their banners, their chariots and their drivers Dhanaṃjaya at once cut to pieces with his arrows and struck them down; and with twelve choice shafts he pierced the son of the charioteer.

8.64.16 Then a hundred chariots and a hundred elephants rushed swiftly upon Arjuna, weapons drawn to kill, and the Śakas, the Tukhāras, the Yavanas and their horsemen, together with the foremost Kāmbojas, eager to slay him.

8.64.17 Their fine weapons grasped in their hands, hands and all, and their heads he swiftly sheared off with his razor-edged shafts; and the horses, the elephants and the chariots of those who fought—Dhanaṃjaya wiped out that whole host of foes.

8.64.18 Then in the sky the divine drums sounded, set ringing by the delighted ones with cries of 'Well done!', and showers of the choicest flowers fell, fair of form and fragrance, auspicious, borne on the wind.

8.64.19 Beholding that marvel, witnessed by gods and men alike, the creatures were filled with wonder, O king; yet your son and the charioteer's son felt neither dismay nor astonishment, both fixed in a single resolve.

8.64.20 Then the son of Droṇa spoke to your son, pressing his hand with his own to soothe him: 'Relent, Duryodhana, make peace with the Pāṇḍavas; enough of this enmity—a curse upon this war!'

8.64.21 'Slain is the preceptor, the equal of Brahmā, knower of the great weapons, and likewise those bulls among men led by Bhīṣma; but I cannot be slain, nor can my uncle—so rule the kingdom long together with the Pāṇḍavas.'

8.64.22 'Dhanaṃjaya will stand down when restrained by me; Janārdana himself desires no quarrel; Yudhiṣṭhira is ever bent on the welfare of beings, Vṛkodara obeys his will, and so too the twins.'

8.64.23 'Should you and the sons of Pṛthā be reconciled with one another, the people would find peace, for it lies with you; let the surviving kings depart to their own cities, and let the soldiers lay aside their feuds.'

8.64.24 'But if you will not heed my words, O lord of men, surely you shall come to grief, struck down by your enemies in battle; and this you have seen, together with the whole world—what the diadem-crowned one has wrought single-handed, such as neither Indra the smasher of Bala, nor Death, nor the lord Varuṇa, nor the king of the Yakṣas could do.'

8.64.25 'And Dhanaṃjaya is greater still in virtues than this, and he will accept my counsel entire and will fall in line behind you; relent, O king, for the peace of the world.'

8.64.26 'Highest is my regard for you always; therefore do I speak to you, and out of the deepest affection; for I will hold back even Karṇa, once you have become friendly.'

8.64.27 'The wise declare a friend to be of four kinds—the inborn, the one won by conciliation, the one won by wealth, and the one brought near by valor; and all four exist between you and the Pāṇḍavas.'

8.64.28 'By nature they are your kinsmen, O hero; win them firmly again by conciliation. If, when you are gracious, they would come to friendship, then surely act so, O king of kings.'

8.64.29 Thus addressed by his friend with these salutary words, he pondered, sighed, and, downcast, replied: 'It is just as you say, my friend; yet hear too what I, who would make my own mind known, have to say.'

8.64.30 'Having slain Duḥśāsana, that evil-minded Vṛkodara spoke much by force, like a tiger; that stands fixed in my heart—it is not hidden from you—so how can there be peace?'

8.64.31 'And out of regard, O son of the preceptor, you ought not, O steadfast one, tell Karṇa to desist; Phalguna is worn out today with great toil, and this Karṇa will slay him by main force.'

8.64.32 Having spoken thus to him, and pressed him again and again, your son commanded his own soldiers: 'Strike, charge these foes, with the twang of bowstrings—why should we stand idle?'

8.65.1 Saṃjaya said: As the blare of conch and kettledrum swelled, those two foremost of men, whose horses were white, met together—Vaikartana the charioteer's son and Arjuna—through the ill counsel of your son, O king.

8.65.2 As two Himālayan elephants in rut, tusks lowered, close for the sake of a she-elephant, so those two heroes of dreadful speed came together—Dhanaṃjaya and the son of the charioteer.

8.65.3 As cloud closes with cloud, or as by chance mountain with mountain, so those two, ringing with the slap of bowstring against guard and the rim of the wheels, met, raining down showers of arrows.

8.65.4 Like two mountains broken loose, mighty, their swelling peaks dense with trees, creepers and herbs, and teeming with all manner of mountain-dwelling beasts, so did they smite one another with their great weapons.

8.65.5 And that clash of theirs was vast, like that of the lord of the gods and the son of Virocana of old—its waters a sharp flood of blood, with limbs, drivers and mounts shattered by arrows, unbearable to any other.

8.65.6 As two great lakes, rich in lotuses and lilies, fish and turtles, loud with flocks of birds, drawn near and lashed up by the wind, so those two banner-bearing chariots met.

8.65.7 Both equal in valor to great Indra, both the likeness of great Indra, mighty car-warriors, with shafts like the thunderbolt of great Indra they struck at each other, as Indra and Vṛtra of old.

8.65.8 Both armies, with their elephants, foot, horse and chariots, their garlands, garments and ornaments of varied hue, trembled and reared up in wonder, as did those who watched from the sky, at the clash of Arjuna and Karṇa.

8.65.9 Arms with thunderbolt-fingers were raised aloft, with lions' roars, by the delighted onlookers, when the son of the charioteer bore down upon Arjuna, eager to slay him, as one rutting elephant upon another.

8.65.10 There the Somakas cried out to the son of Pṛthā: 'Make haste, go forth, Arjuna, pierce Karṇa! Sever his head—no more delay!—and cut off the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra's hope of the kingdom!'

8.65.11 And many warriors of ours called out then to Karṇa: 'On! On!'—'Slay Arjuna, Karṇa, and then let the sons of Pṛthā go back to the forest in their bark garments for a long age!'

8.65.12 Then Karṇa first pierced the son of Pṛthā there with ten great arrows; and Arjuna, exceedingly wroth, pierced him back with ten sharp-pointed shafts in the side, between the armpits.

8.65.13 With keenly sharpened shafts the two—the charioteer's son and Arjuna—gashed each other, and, seeking each an opening in the other, advanced upon one another in dreadful conflict, exulting.

8.65.14 Unable to bear it in that great fray, the great-souled Bhīmasena grew enraged there, and, striking palm against palm, biting his lip, dancing as it were and clapping out a beat, he cried: 'How, O diadem-crowned one, did the charioteer's son pierce you first with ten great arrows?'

8.65.15 'With that resolve by which you vanquished all creatures, giving them as food to the fire at Khāṇḍava, with that resolve do you slay the charioteer's son—or else I will crush him with my mace.'

8.65.16 Then Vāsudeva too spoke to the son of Pṛthā, seeing his arrows beaten back on the car: 'Karṇa today has utterly worn down your shafts, weapon against weapon—what is this, O diadem-crowned one?'

8.65.17 'O hero, why are you bewildered, why so unmindful? These Kauravas roar in their delight, putting Karṇa to the fore; for all of them have seen your weapon struck down by his weapons.'

8.65.18 'With that resolve by which the weapon of darkness was overcome, and the dread Rākṣasas age after age, and Dambhodbhava and the Asuras in their battles, with that resolve do you slay the charioteer's son.'

8.65.19 'Or with this razor-rimmed discus Sudarśana, hurled by me, sever today by force the head of this foe, as Śakra severed that of his enemy Namuci with the thunderbolt.'

8.65.20 'And that great resolve by which the Lord in the form of a Kirāta was won over by you—taking up that resolve once more, O hero, slay the charioteer's son with all his train.'

8.65.21 'Then bestow upon the king this earth girdled by the sea, with her cities, rich in villages and prosperous, her hosts of foes destroyed, and win for yourself, O son of Pṛthā, glory beyond compare.'

8.65.22 Spurred on by Bhīma and Janārdana, recollecting himself then and surveying his own strength, and knowing the purpose behind the great-souled one's coming, Arjuna spoke thus to Keśava:

8.65.23 'I now bring forth this great and terrible weapon, for the welfare of the world and for the slaying of the charioteer's son; for this let me have leave from you, and from the gods, from Brahmā, from Bhava, and from all who know the Brahman.'

8.65.24 Having spoken thus, he brought forth, governed by his mind, the unbearable Brāhma weapon; then that one of abundant splendor veiled all the quarters and intermediate quarters with his shafts, and the bull of the Bhāratas loosed his arrows by the hundredfold, as if they were one, of headlong speed.

8.65.25 By Vaikartana likewise, there in the midst of battle, were loosed masses of arrows by the thousand; roaring, they bore down upon the Pāṇḍava, like streams of water released by the rain-cloud.

8.65.26 He of more-than-human deeds and terrible strength struck Bhīmasena, and Janārdana, and the diadem-crowned one as well, each with three shafts, and roared dreadfully in a mighty voice.

8.65.27 Struck by Karṇa's arrows, the diadem-crowned one, gazing upon Bhīma and Janārdana so wounded, could not bear it; and the son of Pṛthā once more drew forth eighteen shafts.

8.65.28 Piercing Suṣeṇa with one arrow, Śalya with four, and Karṇa with three, he then slew with ten well-loosed shafts the lord of the assembly, clad in golden mail.

8.65.29 That prince, headless, armless, bereft of horses and driver, of bow and standard, fell broken from the front of his chariot, like a śāla tree hewn down with axes.

8.65.30 And again, piercing Karṇa with three, with eight, with two, with four and with ten, and slaying four hundred war-elephants with their fighters, he struck down eight hundred chariots, a thousand horses and their riders too, and eight thousand foot-warriors.

8.65.31 Beholding then the two foremost of the fight, those best of heroes, slayers of foes, locked in battle, men eager to watch—those in the sky and those on earth—reined in their mounts and stood still over Karṇa and the son of Pṛthā.

8.65.32 Then the bowstring of the Pāṇḍava, drawn back with a sudden mighty pull, snapped with a loud report; and in that instant the charioteer's son covered the son of Pṛthā with a hundred small arrows.

8.65.33 And with sixty iron shafts, sharp as serpents newly sloughed, washed in oil and winged with the feathers of birds, he pierced Vāsudeva; and in that interval the Somakas rushed forward.

8.65.34 Then, swiftly restringing his bow and scattering the arrows the son of the charioteer had loosed, the son of Pṛthā, in great fury, his body torn by Karṇa's shafts, took up the Somakas in battle; not even the birds could fly through the sky, so was the darkness made by his swifter weapon.

8.65.35 And the son of Pṛthā, laughing, pierced Śalya hard through the armor with ten shafts; then, piercing Karṇa with twelve well-loosed arrows, he struck him again with seven.

8.65.36 Struck hard by the feathered shafts of fearsome speed, driven by the force of the son of Pṛthā's bow, his body riven, his limbs bathed in blood, Karṇa shone like Rudra with his bow drawn.

8.65.37 Then with three arrows the son of the charioteer pierced Dhanaṃjaya, the equal of the lord of the thirty gods, and, bent on slaying him, launched five shafts like blazing serpents at the steadfast one.

8.65.38 Well loosed, they broke through the gold-wrought armor of that best of men and fell; with great speed they entered the earth, and, bathed there, turned back again to face Karṇa.

8.65.39 Each one of them Dhanaṃjaya cut threefold and threefold again with five swift, well-loosed broad-headed arrows, and they fell to the earth—great serpents winged like the sons of Takṣaka.

8.65.40 Then the diadem-and-garland-crowned one blazed up with wrath, like a fire consuming dry brushwood; with blazing, life-ending arrows drawn and loosed to the ear, he pierced Karṇa in the vital parts—and he reeled with pain, yet, by his boundless steadiness, stood firm.

8.65.41 Then, O king, with floods of arrows the quarters and the intermediate quarters, the radiance of the sun, and Karṇa's chariot became invisible, when Dhanaṃjaya was enraged—like the sky veiled in frost and mist.

8.65.42 Those guardians of the wheels, those guardians of the feet, the vanguard and all the rearguard, the slayers of foes appointed by Duryodhana, chosen out, fine charioteers, the very flower of the host—

8.65.43 —two thousand foremost warriors of the Kurus, them in battle Savyasācin, the bull of the Kurus, in a moment brought, every one, with their chariots, horses and drivers, to destruction, O king—he, a single hero.

8.65.44 Then your sons and the surviving Kurus fled, abandoning Karṇa, scattering as they went the slain and the arrow-wounded—their sons and their fathers wailing aloud.

8.65.45 Looking about him on every side at the emptied quarters, deserted by the Kurus rent with fear, Karṇa, O Bhārata, was not dismayed there, but charged straight on against Arjuna.

8.66.1 Saṃjaya said: Then the Kurus, their ranks broken, having drawn off the space of an arrow's flight, halted, and saw on every side, gleaming like lightning, the weapon of Dhanaṃjaya being raised up.

8.66.2 That weapon of Arjuna devoured the heroes, the firmament and the boundless-roaring sky, loosed swiftly by the wrathful son of Pṛthā in the great fray, for the slaying of Karṇa.

8.66.3 With the Atharvaṇa weapon of great majesty, the destroyer of foes, obtained from Rāma, Karṇa scattered that burning weapon of Arjuna and struck the son of Pṛthā with sharpened arrows.

8.66.4 Then a most mighty struggle arose, O king, between that Arjuna and the son of the charioteer, as they fell upon each other with their shafts, like two elephants with the dreadful blows of their tusks.

8.66.5 Then Karṇa set to his bow a foe-slaying arrow, keenly whetted, serpent-mouthed, blazing, terrible, well-burnished for the fray—meant for the son of Pṛthā and guarded over an exceedingly long time.

8.66.6 Ever honored, resting in powdered sandalwood, lying in a golden case, of deadly venom, ablaze, sprung from the lineage of Airāvata—with it he sought to carry off Phalguna's head in the battle.

8.66.7 To him the great-souled king of the Madras spoke, seeing Vaikartana with arrow already fixed: 'This shaft, Karṇa, will not reach the neck; take careful aim and fit a shaft that will strike the head.'

8.66.8 Then, his eyes red with wrath, Karṇa, his shaft already fitted, replied to Śalya by main force: 'Karṇa does not fit an arrow twice, Śalya; men like me are not given to guile.'

8.66.9 So saying, he loosed that shaft Balāhaka, honored by the dense rain-clouds, and cried, 'Phalguna, you are slain!'—then, hastening, he sent it forth with full force.

8.66.10 Seeing the serpent being fitted to the bow by Karṇa, Mādhava, best of the strong, pressed down the chariot with his feet by his strength.

8.66.11 As the chariot sank into the earth, the horses went down upon their knees; and then that arrow struck the diadem of that wise one.

8.66.12 Then that supreme adornment of Arjuna's head, renowned through earth, sky, heaven and the waters, the son of the charioteer carried off from his brow with that shaft, through the utmost effort, force, weaponry and wrath of his loosing.

8.66.13 Its splendor like that of the sun, the moon, fire and the planets, adorned with a net of gold, pearls and gems—it had been fashioned with effort and austerity, for Indra's sake, by the Maker of the world himself.

8.66.14 Of most precious form, terrifying to foes, exceedingly pleasant and fragrant, it shone—that which the lord of the gods, well pleased, gave with his own hand to the diadem-crowned one when he had slain the foes of the gods.

8.66.15 That which not even Hara, Varuṇa, Indra and the lord of wealth, those best of gods, with the Pināka, the noose, the thunderbolt and their choicest shafts, could batter to harm—Karṇa carried it off by force with his serpent-arrow.

8.66.16 Crushed by that best of shafts, kindled by the venom's fire, ablaze and flaming toward the earth, the beloved supreme diadem of the son of Pṛthā fell, like the blazing sun from the mountain of setting.

8.66.17 Then the serpent bore the diadem, adorned with many jewels, by force from Arjuna's head, as the thunderbolt of great Indra strikes the topmost peak of a mountain, with its trees in fair bud and flower.

8.66.18 As earth, mid-air, the heavens, and the waters appear riven asunder by the wind, O Bhārata, even so did that sound arise then throughout the worlds; men reeled in dismay and lost their footing.

8.66.19 Then, binding up his hair with a strip of white cloth, Arjuna stood unshaken, and shone like the mountain of sunrise crowned with the full-rayed, radiant sun upon its summit.

8.66.20 Then the great cloud-like shaft, sped by Karṇa's arm, blazing like fire and sun—the mighty serpent who bore an old feud with Arjuna—reaching the diademed one's crown, sprang forth.

8.66.21 Kṛṣṇa said, "Know him, this one who has wronged me, whose enmity was born of his mother's slaying." Then Kṛṣṇa said to Pārtha in the battle, "Slay you this great serpent who bears the ancient feud."

8.66.22 Thus addressed by the slayer of Madhu, the wielder of Gāṇḍīva, fierce-bowed among foes, said, "Who indeed is this serpent of mine today, who has come of his own accord into the mouth of Garuḍa?"

8.66.23 Kṛṣṇa said, "He whom you, the bowman who sated the fire-god in Khāṇḍava, drove into the sky—his body severed by your arrows, taking many shapes—his mother it was you slew."

8.66.24 Then the victorious one, turning aside the rest, cut with six keen and well-edged shafts the serpent that flew slantwise across the sky; and with severed body it fell to the earth.

8.66.25 In that very instant, with ten arrows whetted on stone and fledged with peacock feathers, Karṇa pierced Dhanaṃjaya, foremost of men, as he gazed askance.

8.66.26 Then Arjuna, having let fly twelve keen shafts drawn back to the ear, loosed an iron dart swift as a venomous snake, drawn full to the ear.

8.66.27 That choicest of shafts, well loosed, rending his bright armor as though tearing out his life, drank Karṇa's blood and entered the earth, its feathers smeared with gore.

8.66.28 Then the Bull-like one, enraged by the fall of that arrow, like a great serpent struck with a staff, swift in act, loosed his choicest shafts as a deadly snake spews its uttermost venom.

8.66.29 He smote Janārdana with twelve fresh shafts, and Arjuna with ninety; and piercing the Pāṇḍava once more with a dreadful arrow, Karṇa roared aloud and laughed.

8.66.30 The Pāṇḍava brooked not this exultation of his; knowing the vital points, he pierced his foe's vitals with feathered shafts, valiant as Indra, as Indra with his might struck down Bala.

8.66.31 Then Arjuna loosed at Karṇa ninety-nine arrows like the rod of Death; and Karṇa, his body sorely racked by those shafts, trembled like a mountain riven by the thunderbolt.

8.66.32 His fair ornament, adorned with choice gems, the finest diamonds and gold, struck off by the feathered shafts of Dhanaṃjaya, fell to the earth, and his splendid earrings as well.

8.66.33 That priceless, gleaming armor of his, wrought with toil over long ages by the best of craftsmen, the Pāṇḍava shattered in a moment, breaking it in many places with his arrows.

8.66.34 Then, in wrath, he smote that armorless one with four of his finest shafts; and stricken by his foe, he writhed exceedingly, like a sick man afflicted by ailments of bile, phlegm, and wind.

8.66.35 With keen shafts sped from the circle of his great bow, hurled with skill, effort, and strength, Arjuna in haste hewed Karṇa with many a choice arrow and pierced him even in his vital parts.

8.66.36 Struck hard by Pārtha with various keen-pointed, swift-flying shafts, Karṇa shone like a mountain red with ochre ore, streaming red water down its cascades.

8.66.37 The diademed one covered Karṇa, with his horses and his chariot, with calf-tooth shafts, O Bhārata, and overspread the very quarters with arrows golden-feathered, sped with all his might.

8.66.38 That son of Adhiratha, broad and full of chest, studded with calf-tooth shafts, shone like a mountain decked with aśoka and palāśa and śālmali trees in full bloom, and with spandana and sandalwood.

8.66.39 With arrows lodged in his body in many places, Karṇa shone in the battle, O lord of peoples, like the great mountain Mahendra, its slopes and caverns thick with trees and lovely with karṇikāra blossoms.

8.66.40 Loosing volleys of arrows from his bow, Karṇa shone, rayed with his net of shafts, blood-reddened, his orb of red beams—like the day-maker turned toward his setting.

8.66.41 The arrows loosed from between the arms of Adhiratha's son, blazing like great serpents, the keen-pointed shafts sped from Arjuna's arms met and scattered to the quarters.

8.66.42 Then his chariot-wheel sank into the earth, and the charioteer's son was bewildered in the battle; his car lurched by the brāhmaṇa's curse, and the weapon learned from Rāma would not come to his mind.

8.66.43 Unable to bear these calamities, wringing his hands, he reviled it: "Knowers of dharma have ever said that dharma guards those devoted to dharma; yet today, though I am bowed before it, it guards not its votaries—I think dharma does not always protect."

8.66.44 Thus speaking, his horses and driver staggering, shaken by the fall of Arjuna's weapons, faltering in his deeds from the blows upon his vitals, again and again he reviled dharma in the fight.

8.66.45 Then Karṇa pierced Pārtha's hand in the battle with three most dreadful shafts, and struck him besides with seven.

8.66.46 Then Arjuna loosed seventeen fierce-flaming arrows, straight-flying, dreadful, like Indra's bolt and like fire itself.

8.66.47 Those shafts of terrible speed pierced him through and fell upon the ground; and Karṇa, shaken to his soul, yet by sheer strength kept up his exertions.

8.66.48 Then, steadying himself by force, he sent forth the Brahmā weapon; and Arjuna, seeing it, invoked the weapon of Indra in answer.

8.66.49 Charging Gāṇḍīva, the string, and the arrows with sacred spells, Dhanaṃjaya loosed showers of shafts, as Purandara pours down his rains.

8.66.50 Then arrows full of splendor, issuing from Pārtha's car, appeared, full of great might, close beside Karṇa's chariot.

8.66.51 But Karṇa, the great car-warrior, made those shafts that sped before him fall in vain; and when that weapon was undone, the hero of the Vṛṣṇis spoke.

8.66.52 "Loose your supreme weapon, Pārtha—Rādheya devours your shafts." And Arjuna, having charged it with spells, then sent forth the Brahmā weapon.

8.66.53 Then, covering Karṇa with arrows and wheeling about, Arjuna pressed him; but Karṇa, in wrath, cut his bowstring with keen, well-tempered shafts.

8.66.54 Then, fastening another string and drawing his hand along it, the Pāṇḍava overwhelmed Karṇa with blazing arrows by the thousand.

8.66.55 So swift was he that Karṇa, in the battle, did not even perceive the cutting of the string nor the fixing of the new—and this was as though a marvel.

8.66.56 Rādheya struck down weapon with weapon against the ambidextrous archer, and displayed his own prowess as surpassing even Pārtha's.

8.66.57 Then Kṛṣṇa, seeing Arjuna hard pressed by Karṇa's weapon, said to Pārtha, "Strike! Bring to bear your peerless weapon."

8.66.58 Then Dhanaṃjaya charged with spells another arrow, like fire, like serpent's venom, made of tempered steel, and divine.

8.66.59 And as the diademed one took up the dread weapon, eager to hurl it, in that great battle the earth swallowed Rādheya's chariot-wheel.

8.66.60 With his wheel devoured, Rādheya in his anguish let fall tears, and he said to Arjuna, "Forbear a moment, O Pāṇḍava."

8.66.61 "Seeing my wheel here swallowed by fate, Pārtha, forsake the resolve that befits only a coward.

8.66.62 Upon one whose hair is loosened, who turns away, upon a brāhmaṇa with joined palms, upon one who has come for refuge, who has laid down his arms, or who is fallen into distress, O Arjuna—

8.66.63 upon one without an arrow, his armor fallen, his weapon slipped or broken—heroes strike not in battle, nor do princes so deal with a king. You too are a hero, son of Kuntī; therefore forbear a moment.

8.66.64 Until I lift this wheel from the earth, Dhanaṃjaya, you, standing in your car, ought not to slay me who am on the ground and unready. Not of Vāsudeva, nor of you, son of Pāṇḍu, am I afraid.

8.66.65 You are an heir of the kṣatriya line, the increaser of a great house. Remembering the teaching of dharma, forbear a moment, O Pāṇḍava."

8.67.1 Saṃjaya said: Then Vāsudeva, standing in the car, spoke: "Rādheya, how fortunate that you remember dharma now! Commonly the base, when sunk in calamity, blame fate—but not their own ill deeds, never those."

8.67.2 "When Draupadī, clad in a single garment, was haled into the hall—you, and Suyodhana, and Duḥśāsana, and Śakuni son of Subala—then, Karṇa, dharma did not shine forth for you there.

8.67.3 When in the hall Śakuni, skilled at the dice, defeated the son of Kuntī, Yudhiṣṭhira who knew not the dice—where then had your dharma gone?

8.67.4 When Kṛṣṇā, in her courses, stood in Duḥśāsana's power, and you laughed aloud in the hall, Karṇa—where then had your dharma gone?

8.67.5 Greedy for the kingdom, Karṇa, leaning on the king of Gāndhāra, you summoned the Pāṇḍava again—where then had your dharma gone?"

8.67.6 When Rādheya had thus been addressed by Vāsudeva, a fierce wrath entered the Pāṇḍava, as Dhanaṃjaya called to mind each of those deeds.

8.67.7 From his wrath, O great king, flames of splendor sprang forth from every pore of his body; and that was as though a marvel.

8.67.8 Seeing this, Karṇa then rained upon Dhanaṃjaya with the Brahmā weapon and strove anew to free his chariot. Warding off that weapon with a weapon, the Pāṇḍava struck at him.

8.67.9 Then the son of Kuntī loosed another weapon, the cherished one of the fire-god, aimed at Karṇa; and it blazed up fiercely.

8.67.10 With the weapon of Varuṇa Karṇa then quenched that fire, and with masses of cloud made all the quarters dark and overcast.

8.67.11 But the valiant son of Pāṇḍu, unperturbed, with the weapon of Vāyu drove away those clouds while Rādheya looked on.

8.67.12 That foremost standard—bright with the elephant-girth emblem, burnished with gold and pearls and gems and diamonds, fashioned fair and lofty and unclouded by the labor over long time of the most skillful of craftsmen—

8.67.13 ever giving strength to your host, terrifying to foes, of praiseworthy form, renowned throughout the world as belonging to one equal to the sun, in radiance like fire, sun, and moon—

8.67.14 with a keen, gold-feathered razor-shaft, intent, the great-souled diademed one tore down the banner of Adhiratha's son, that great car-warrior—the standard ablaze with splendor.

8.67.15 With that banner, O sir, glory and dharma and victory and all things dear fell away, and with it the hearts of the Kurus sank; and a great cry of "Alas, alas!" arose.

8.67.16 Then, hastening to slay Karṇa, Pārtha the Pāṇḍava took from his quiver the añjalika shaft, like the thunderbolt of great Indra, like the rod of fire, like the supreme ray of the thousand-rayed sun—

8.67.17 piercer of vitals, smeared with blood and flesh, like fire and sun, of priceless worth, slayer of the lives of men and horses and elephants, three cubits long, six-feathered, straight in flight, of terrible speed—

8.67.18 equal in splendor to the bolt of the thousand-eyed god, hard to bear as a flesh-devouring fiend, like Pināka and Nārāyaṇa's discus, terrible, the destroyer of all that breathes.

8.67.19 Joining it to a supreme great weapon, the knower of spells drew Gāṇḍīva and said aloud: "This great, matchless arrow is fixed, the breaker of bodies and the taker of life from the malign foe.

8.67.20 If austerity I have performed, and my elders satisfied, and the welfare of my friends desired by me, and sacred lore heard—by that truth let this well-aimed and unfailing shaft slay Karṇa, my enemy."

8.67.21 Having so spoken, Dhanaṃjaya loosed that dreadful arrow for the slaying of Karṇa—fierce as a spell of the Atharva-Aṅgiras, blazing, unbearable in battle even to Death himself.

8.67.22 The diademed one, exceedingly glad, said as he loosed it: "May this arrow of mine bring me victory; let it, of power equal to sun and moon, bear Karṇa to his end and to Yama."

8.67.23 With that choicest of shafts, victory-bringing, of splendor equal to sun and moon, the diademed and garlanded one, glad of aspect, the drawn-bow warrior bent on slaying, transfixed his foe.

8.67.24 That fair head of the army's lord, of splendor like the risen sun, like the sun at the midpoint of the autumn sky, fell to the earth, like the day-maker with his red orb sinking from the firmament.

8.67.25 With utmost reluctance the indweller forsook the body of that ever-blessed, exceedingly fair-formed doer of noble deeds—as a lord, attached to it, leaves a house of great abundance.

8.67.26 Broken by arrows, lifeless and stripped of armor, the towering body of Karṇa fell, its wounds streaming like a flow of ochre-tinted water, as the thunder-smitten summit of a mountain falls.

8.67.27 From the body of the fallen Karṇa a blazing splendor swiftly rose and plunged into the sky; and all the warriors among men beheld that marvel, O king, when Karṇa was slain.

8.67.28 The Somakas, beholding him slain and lying low, raised in joy a shout together with their hosts, and overjoyed they beat their drums, and waved their garments and their arms; and others, full of strength, danced, embracing one another, and cried aloud as they spoke.

8.67.29 They saw Karṇa moaning upon the ground, slain, struck down from his car by the arrow, like a fire flung down by a great wind—like the laying down of the sacred fire at the close of the rite, at the ending of the night—

8.67.30 his every limb thick-set with arrows, deluged in floods of blood, the body of Karṇa shone like the sun amid its own rays.

8.67.31 Having scorched the hostile host with the blazing beams of his arrows, the sun that was Karṇa was brought to its setting by the mighty Arjuna acting as Time.

8.67.32 As the sun, going to its setting, departs taking the light with it, so the arrow departed, bearing away the life of Karṇa.

8.67.33 In the late afternoon following midday, O honored one, the head of the Sūtaputra, severed in battle by the añjalika arrow, fell to the earth high-crested.

8.67.34 That arrow swiftly bore away, high over the heads of the armies, the lofty head of his foe Karṇa, carrying it straight on.

8.67.35 Saṃjaya said: But when the king of the Madras saw the hero Karṇa fallen upon the earth, studded with arrows, his limbs smeared with blood, lying upon the ground, he withdrew with his chariot, its banner cut away.

8.67.36 When Karṇa was slain, the Kurus fled, tormented by fear and deeply wounded in the fray, glancing again and again at the great banner of Arjuna, blazing with its form.

8.67.37 As the thousand-rayed sun sinks at the close of day, so fell to the earth the fair head of him whose deeds rivaled the thousand-eyed Indra, whose face was like the thousand-petaled lotus.

8.68.1 Saṃjaya said: But Śalya, seeing the armies ground down by the arrows in the clash of Karṇa and Arjuna, and watching Duryodhana as he came on, showed him the field of battle, O Bhārata.

8.68.2 Beholding that host with its chariots, horses, and elephants struck down, and the Sūtaputra slain, Duryodhana, his eyes brimming with tears, sighed again and again, his form stricken with grief.

8.68.3 And around the hero Karṇa, fallen upon the earth, studded with arrows, his limbs smeared with blood, like the sun by some chance brought down to the ground, they stood encircling him, eager to gaze upon him.

8.68.4 Some were elated, some terrified, some despondent, some bewildered, and others as if sunk in grief; both your foes and your own men became, each toward the other, just as their nature was.

8.68.5 Seeing Karṇa, his armor, ornaments, garments, and weapons scattered, struck down by Dhanaṃjaya and his vigor destroyed, the Kurus fled in utter confusion, like cattle whose bull has been slain.

8.68.6 Having waged a fierce struggle with Arjuna, when the king of the Madras saw Karṇa slain and lying upon the ground—like an elephant felled by a lion—he, afraid, withdrew with his chariot in all haste.

8.68.7 And the lord of the Madras, his mind bewildered, came swiftly upon his chariot whose banner had been carried off to the side of Duryodhana, and addressing him, stricken with sorrow, spoke these words.

8.68.8 Your host, its elephants, horses, chariots, and champions shattered, has become like the realm of Yama, slain as they met one another in combat by mighty men, horses, and elephants vast as mountain peaks.

8.68.9 Never, O Bhārata, has there been such a battle as today was waged between Karṇa and Arjuna; for Karṇa, closing in, had seized both the Kṛṣṇas and all the rest of those who were your foes.

8.68.10 But that Fate which moves of its own power protects the Pāṇḍavas and destroys us; for all those heroes who labored to achieve your purpose have been overpowered and slain by the enemy.

8.68.11 Heroes equal in might to Kubera, to Yama the son of Vivasvat, to Vāsava, and to Varuṇa the lord of waters—endowed with valor, with prowess, with strength, and with whole floods of manifold virtues—

8.68.12 those kings, well-nigh unslayable, who sought your welfare, have been slain in battle by the sons of Pāṇḍu. Grieve not for this, O Bhārata; this is destiny. Success comes by turns; it is not forever assured.

8.68.13 Hearing these words of the lord of the Madras, and surveying in his mind his own misconduct, Duryodhana, his spirit broken and his senses gone, sighed again and again, his form stricken with grief.

8.68.14 To him, mute with brooding, pitiable, sorely stricken and wretched, the son of Ārtāyana spoke these words: "Behold this dreadful battlefield, strewn with men, horses, and elephants, and with slain heroes.

8.68.15 With great elephants like mountains, fallen, flung down at a single stroke, their vital parts pierced by arrows—some of them writhing, others lifeless—their drivers, weapons, armor, and warriors all shattered;

8.68.16 like lordly mountains shattered by the thunderbolt, their rocks, beasts, trees, and herbs broken apart—their bells, goads, lances, and banners flung away, garlanded with gold and drenched in floods of blood;

8.68.17 with horses pierced by arrows and fallen, some still breathing, others vomiting blood, wretched and groaning, their eyes rolling, biting the earth and crying out piteously;

8.68.18 with elephant-warriors and horsemen flung down, some with breath ebbing, others lifeless—with men, horses, elephants, and chariots all crushed, the earth is grim to look upon, like the great Vaitaraṇī river of death.

8.68.19 With elephants their trunks and limbs lopped off, shuddering as they fell to the earth; with glorious elephant-, chariot-, and horse-warriors, and with foot-soldiers, the enemies who fell facing the foe—their armor, ornaments, garments, and weapons scattered—the earth lies covered, as though strewn with fires burnt out at dawn.

8.68.20 With mighty men struck down by arrow-strokes, gazed upon as they lay fallen by the thousand—their senses lost, then breathing once more—the earth seemed as if pervaded by fires; the ground shone as if strewn with planets fallen from heaven and blazing bright, like a clear night-sky aflame with stars.

8.68.21 The arrows loosed from the arms of Karṇa and Arjuna, tearing through the bodies of elephants, horses, and men and swiftly casting out their life-breaths, entered the earth, like great serpents seeking their lairs on every side.

8.68.22 With men, horses, and elephants slain in the fray, and chariots shattered by arrows, the ground along the path of Dhanaṃjaya and the son of Adhiratha became impassable even for elephants, exceedingly hard to traverse.

8.68.23 With chariots, and warriors mangled by choice shafts, their drivers, horses, fine weapons, and banners pierced through, their arms scattered, their seats hewn apart, their wheels, axles, yokes, and triple-poles cut to pieces;

8.68.24 with their gear torn loose, their iron fittings broken, their appendages destroyed, their quivers and frames split, their bodies shattered though adorned with gems and gold—the earth lay strewn with them, like the sky with autumn clouds.

8.68.25 By heaps of men, elephants, chariots, and horses, war-chariots well-fashioned, swift and adorned, their drivers slain—as they rushed swiftly on, dragged along—were ground to powder in manifold ways.

8.68.26 Iron bludgeons banded with gold, battle-axes, spiked iron clubs, pestles, and pikes; and spotless swords drawn from their sheaths; and maces bound with bands of refined gold—all these had fallen.

8.68.27 Bows adorned with golden armlets and ornaments; arrows with shafts bright with gold; gleaming, spotless rapiers drawn from their scabbards; and javelins with swords, all shining like gold;

8.68.28 Parasols, yak-tail fans, conches, and garlands bright with the choicest flowers and gold; elephant-housings wrapped in banner-cloths; diadem-wreaths and gleaming crowns;

8.68.29 Whisks scattered about, and housings, and necklaces with quivering pendants of choicest pearls; head-ornaments, armlets, and fine bracelets; neck-chains and golden ornaments strung on threads of gold;

8.68.30 finest gems, diamonds, gold, and pearls, and auspicious jewels both great and small; bodies long accustomed to the utmost ease, and heads whose faces were like the moon;

8.68.31 Forsaking their bodies, their enjoyments, their possessions, and all that was delightful and pleasant, and attaining a great steadfastness in their own duty, they passed to the worlds that they had filled with their fame.

8.68.32 Having spoken thus, Śalya fell silent; and Duryodhana, his mind beset with grief, crying "Alas, Karṇa! Alas, Karṇa!", was stricken, bereft of his senses, his eyes streaming with tears.

8.68.33 All the kings, with the son of Droṇa at their head, comforted him and went on together, glancing again and again at the great banner of Arjuna, blazing with glory.

8.68.34 The earth, drenched red with the blood streaming from the bodies of men, horses, and elephants, shone like a woman robed and garlanded in red, gleaming with gold—open to the approach of all.

8.68.35 Their forms hidden by blood, O king, shining brightly in that dreadful hour, the Kurus could not stand their ground when they looked upon it; all were driven forth, as if banished from the worlds of the gods.

8.68.36 Sorely grieved by the slaying of Karṇa, crying "Alas, Karṇa! Alas, Karṇa!", they hastened swiftly to their camps, O king, gazing upon the reddened sun.

8.68.37 His body studded with the keen, gold-shafted arrows loosed from the Gāṇḍīva, their feathers smeared with blood, Karṇa shone upon the earth, slain though he was, like the sun wreathed in its rays.

8.68.38 The blessed Vivasvat, compassionate to his devotee, touching with his rays the blood-drenched body of Karṇa and taking on a deep red hue, drew near to the far ocean as if longing to bathe.

8.68.39 Reflecting thus, the hosts of gods and sages set out and went, each to his own abode; and the people too, having pondered, dispersed at their ease across the sky and the surface of the earth.

8.68.40 Having witnessed that wondrous battle of the foremost Kuru heroes, terrible to all living things—the battle of Dhanaṃjaya and the son of Adhiratha—the people, marveling and full of praise, then went their way.

8.68.41 Though the hero Rādheya, his armor cut through by arrows, slain in the slaughter, had given up his life, yet his beauty did not forsake him even then.

8.68.42 Adorned with manifold ornaments, O king, his armlets of burnished gold, the slain Vaikartana lay like a tree in blossom.

8.68.43 Bright as the finest gold, like a blazing fire, that tiger among men, with his son, was quenched by the splendor of Pārtha, O king—he who had scorched the Pāṇḍavas and the Pāñcālas with the fire of his weapons.

8.68.44 He who, ever a good man among the good, when entreated by suppliants would say "I shall give," and never "There is none"—that bull among men was slain in single chariot-combat.

8.68.45 For that great-souled one, all was bestowed upon the brāhmaṇas, nothing kept for himself; there was nothing he would not give to the brāhmaṇas—not even his own life.

8.68.46 Ever dear to men, a giver whose gifts were dear, he has gone to heaven, bearing away the hope of victory of your sons, their refuge and their shield.

8.68.47 When Karṇa was slain, the rivers ceased to flow; the sun went down darkened; and the planet that is the son of Yama, glowing aslant with the hue of the burning sun, rose up, O king.

8.68.48 The sky split asunder, and the earth roared; the winds blew harsh beyond all measure; the quarters, wreathed in smoke, blazed fiercely; and the great oceans heaved with a thunderous din.

8.68.49 The mountains with their forests and their ranges trembled, and the hosts of creatures were sore afflicted, O honored one; and Bṛhaspati, oppressing Rohiṇī, took on a hue like that of the moon and the sun.

8.68.50 When Karṇa was slain, the quarters could not be discerned, veiled in darkness; the heaven shook, the earth quaked; a meteor fell, bright as fire; and the prowlers of the night grew exceedingly glad.

8.68.51 When Arjuna struck down with his razor-arrow the head of Karṇa, whose face shone like the moon, then in the firmament, in heaven, and here below, again and again arose the cry "Alas!" from the people.

8.68.52 Having slain in battle his foe Karṇa, honored by gods, gandharvas, and men, Arjuna the son of Pṛthā shone with surpassing splendor, like the thousand-eyed Indra when he had slain Vṛtra.

8.68.53 Then upon his chariot—roaring like a mass of thunderclouds, gleaming like the sun at the zenith of the autumn sky, decked with pennons, its standard sounding a terrible note, shining like snow, the moon, conch, and crystal, adorned with gold, pearls, gems, diamonds, and coral, and of matchless speed—

8.68.54 those two best of men, crushers of the foes of the Pāṇḍavas, exalted and like unto fire and the sun, free from fear, shone upon the field of battle, as though Viṣṇu and Vāsava rode together in one car.

8.68.55 Then with the twang of bowstring, the slap of the palm-guard, and the rumble of chariot-wheels, having forcibly stripped their foes of their luster and overwhelmed the Kurus with floods of arrows, the ape-bannered one and he whose banner bore the king of birds blew their resounding conches with might, casting down the spirits of their enemies.

8.68.56 Grasping in their hands those finest of conches, overspread with nets of gold, deep-voiced, and white as snow, those best of men set them to their lips—pressed them with their noble mouths—and blew them together as one.

8.68.57 The blast of both the Pāñcajanya and the Devadatta filled the earth, the firmament, the heavens, and the waters.

8.68.58 Those two heroes, making the forests, mountains, rivers, and quarters ring with the sound of their conches, terrifying the army of your sons, gladdened Yudhiṣṭhira.

8.68.59 Then the Kurus, the moment they heard the rising sound of the conches, fled with speed, abandoning the lord of the Madras and their own lord, Duryodhana, O Bhārata, the lord of the Bhāratas.

8.68.60 In that great battle the assembled hosts of beings then applauded Dhanaṃjaya, resplendent in his glory, and Janārdana too, as men hail the two luminaries newly risen.

8.68.61 Both those scorchers of foes, Acyuta and Arjuna, studded with Karṇa's arrows, shone upon the field, like the spotless moon and sun newly risen, wreathed in their rays, having scattered the darkness.

8.68.62 Then, casting off those swarms of arrows, the two lords of matchless valor, surrounded by their friends, returned and entered their own camp at ease, like Vāsava and Acyuta summoned to a sacrificial assembly.

8.68.63 By gods, gandharvas, men, and cāraṇas, by great sages, yakṣas, and mighty serpents, they were honored with the highest exaltation of victory, having slain Karṇa then in that supreme battle.

8.69.1 Saṃjaya said: When Karṇa had thus been struck down and your army had fled, the lord of the Dāśārhas embraced Pārtha and out of joy spoke these words.

8.69.2 "Vṛtra was slain by the cleaver of strongholds; Karṇa has been slain by you, O Dhanaṃjaya. Men will tell of these slayings, of Karṇa and of Vṛtra together.

8.69.3 Vṛtra was slain in battle by the wielder of the thunderbolt of vast splendor; but Karṇa was slain by you with your bow and sharpened arrows.

8.69.4 This valor of yours, renowned in the world and bearing your fame, let us proclaim, O son of Kuntī, to the wise King of Righteousness.

8.69.5 By announcing to the King of Righteousness the slaying of Karṇa in battle—long desired through all this time—you shall be freed of your debt."

8.69.6 When Pārtha had said "So be it," Keśava, that bull of the Yadus, calmly turned about the chariot of that foremost of charioteers.

8.69.7 To Dhṛṣṭadyumna, to Yudhāmanyu, to the two sons of Mādrī, to Vṛkodara, and to Yuyudhāna, Govinda spoke these words.

8.69.8 "Stand watchful, facing the foe—may it be well with you—until it is announced to the king that Karṇa has indeed been slain by Arjuna."

8.69.9 Granted leave by those heroes, Govinda, taking Pārtha with him, went to the king's quarters and beheld Yudhiṣṭhira.

8.69.10 That tiger among kings lay upon a splendid golden couch; and the two of them, rejoicing, clasped the feet of the monarch.

8.69.11 Marking their great delight and the marks of their superhuman blows, and judging that Rādheya had been slain, Yudhiṣṭhira rose up.

8.69.12 Then Vāsudeva, the delight of the Yadus, ever pleasant of speech, related to him the death of Karṇa just as it had come to pass.

8.69.13 Then Kṛṣṇa, the Acyuta, smiling faintly, his hands folded in reverence, spoke to King Yudhiṣṭhira, whose enemy was now slain.

8.69.14 "By good fortune the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva and the Pāṇḍava Vṛkodara are safe, and you yourself, O king, are well, and Mādrī's two sons, the Pāṇḍavas."

8.69.15 "You have been delivered from this destruction of heroes, from this hair-raising battle. Swiftly now, O lord of the earth, attend to the tasks of the time that follows."

8.69.16 "The cruel Vaikartana, the mighty son of the charioteer, is slain. By good fortune you are victorious, O lord of kings; by good fortune you prosper, O Pāṇḍava."

8.69.17 "That basest of men who once laughed at Kṛṣṇā when she was won at the gambling match — today the earth drinks the blood of that son of the charioteer."

8.69.18 "That foe of yours lies there, his limbs torn by arrows, O bull of the Kurus. Behold him, O tiger among men, pierced in many places by shafts."

8.69.19 Yudhiṣṭhira, greatly delighted, honored in turn the scion of the Dāśārhas, crying "By good fortune! By good fortune!" O lord of kings, and then, in his joy, he spoke these words.

8.69.20 "This is no wonder in you, O mighty-armed son of Devakī — that with you as his charioteer Pārtha should this day perform such a feat of manhood."

8.69.21 And the best of the Kurus, the upholder of righteousness, taking hold of the right arm adorned with its armlet, addressed both Keśava and Arjuna, calling on Pārtha.

8.69.22 "You two were declared by Nārada to be the gods Nara and Nārāyaṇa, the ancient and supreme among men, appointed for the establishment of righteousness."

8.69.23 "And more than once the wise lord Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana told me this divine tale, O mighty-armed one."

8.69.24 "By your power, O Kṛṣṇa, Dhanaṃjaya with the Gāṇḍīva conquers the foes who stand before him, and nowhere has he ever turned his back."

8.69.25 "Victory is assured for us, and never defeat, since you have taken up the office of Pārtha's charioteer in battle."

8.69.26 Having spoken thus, O great king, that mighty warrior mounted the chariot adorned with gold, yoked with horses ivory-white in hue and black-tailed,

8.69.27 that tiger among men, surrounded by his own forces; and then, taking leave with kind regard of the two heroes Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna,

8.69.28 he came to behold the battlefield with its many turns of fortune, conversing all the while with those two heroes, Mādhava and Phalguna.

8.69.29 He saw Karṇa, that bull among men, lying on the field of battle, hewn to pieces on every side by the shafts loosed from the Gāṇḍīva.

8.69.30 Seeing Karṇa slain together with his son, King Yudhiṣṭhira praised both those tigers among men, Mādhava and the Pāṇḍava.

8.69.31 "This day I am a king upon the earth, O Govinda, together with my brothers, protected by you, my lord, a hero and a sage."

8.69.32 "Seeing the proud Rādheya, that tiger among men, struck down, this evil-souled son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra will today despair of his very life and of his kingdom both, now that the great warrior Karṇa is slain."

8.69.33 "By your grace we too have attained our purpose, O bull among men; you and the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva are the victors, O joy of the Yadus. By good fortune you triumph, O Govinda; by good fortune Karṇa has been brought down."

8.69.34 Thus, again and again, in his great gladness, did Yudhiṣṭhira the Dharmarāja praise Janārdana and Arjuna too, O lord of kings.

8.69.35 Then, surrounded by all his brothers headed by Bhīma, the great warriors, filled with joy, hailed the king with their praises.

8.69.36 Nakula and Sahadeva, and the Pāṇḍava Vṛkodara, and Sātyaki, O great king, the foremost chariot-warrior of the Vṛṣṇis,

8.69.37 Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Śikhaṇḍin, and the Pāṇḍavas, the Pāñcālas, and the Sṛñjayas — all honored the son of Kuntī, now that the son of the charioteer was slain.

8.69.38 Having hailed the king, Pāṇḍu's son Yudhiṣṭhira — they who bore the look of conquerors, who had attained their aim, those battle-drunk smiters,

8.69.39 praising the two Kṛṣṇas, those scorchers of foes, with words full of laudation, the great warriors, joined with gladness, went each to his own camp.

8.69.40 "Thus did this vast and hair-raising destruction come to pass, through your evil counsel, O king. Why now do you grieve for what is past?"

8.69.41 Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Having heard those unwelcome tidings, O king, Dhṛtarāṣṭra the lord of the earth, that Kaurava, overcome with utmost anguish, fell senseless to the ground, and so too did the lady Gāndhārī, faithful to her vows and seer of righteousness.

8.69.42 Vidura caught the king as he fell, and Saṃjaya likewise, and both of them sought to comfort that lord of the earth.

8.69.43 In the same way the women of the royal household raised up Gāndhārī. Comforted by those two, the king sat silent, his senses gone.