The terrible carnage

Sanjaya said Vrikodara could not tolerate that slaughter of his own troops. He therefore, wounded Balhika with sixty and Karna with ten shafts.

Thereupon Drona, desirous of taking his life out of him pierced him in all his vital parts, with whetted shafts of exceeding sharpness, all coursing in straight lines.

Once more, desirous of giving Bhima no respite, Drona stuck twenty-six arrows, all resembling fire in touch and venomous serpents in fierceness, on the former. Then again Karna pierced him with twelve and Ashvatthaman with seven arrows.

King Duryodhana also covered him with six arrows. The highly puissant Bhimasena also pierced them in return.

He pierced Drona with fifty shafts and Karna with ten arrows and Duryodhana with twelve and Drona's son with eight swiftcoursing arrows.

Then uttering a loud war-cry, he engaged himself in battle. In that fight in which the warriors fought heedless of their lives and in which death seemed to be the common lot of all. Ajatasatru (Yudhishthira) urged on his troops to the rescue of Bhima. Those troops then approached Bhimasena of infinite prowess.

The, Yuyudhana and others, the twin sons of Madri by Pandu and other car-warriors headed by Bhima, assembled and united together and wrought up with rage, all foremost of men, fell upon Drona's division protected by many foremost archers, desirous of breaking and shattering it.

Then that foremost of car-warriors namely Drona, received unflinchingly those highly puissant heroic car-warriors, all masters in the art of fighting.

Then your troops, disregarding their kingdoms and the fear of death, encountered those of the Pandavas. Horse soldiers slew horse-soldiers and car-warriors slew warriors.

There were then veritable showers of lances and swords; and the battle was fought with battle-axes. Dreadful sword-fights producing great carnage were also fought.

The battle was all the more dreadful in consequence of the tremendous rush of elephants against elephants. Some fell down from the backs of the elephants, some from the backs of the horses, topsy turvy.

Others fell down, O sire, from their chariots, with hearts torn open with arrows. In that terrible crush as men fell down deprived of their armours.

Elephants crushed their heads having attacked them on the breast. Else-where might be seen elephants crushing other excellent prostrate warriors.

Many elephants (as they fell down) striking the earth with their tusks, were seen to mangle there with large bodies of car-warriors. With darts sticking to their trunks, many other.

Elephants careered through the field crushing men by hundreds. Some elephants again pressed and squeezed many fallen men, steeds, car-warriors and elephants, all furnished with iron armours, as if they were merely thick stalk or recds. On beds of arrows furnished with vulterine feathers, many rulers of men.

Endued with modesty, laid themselves down with pain, their hour having come. In that battle father rushing on his car, slew his own son,

Son also, out of confusion and disregardful of anything, fell upon his own father. Axels of cars were shattered, standards were torn to pieces, umbrellas were felled to the earth;

Dragging halves of broken yokes, horses began to ran away. Arms with swords in their grasps fell, as also heads graced with ear-rings.

Chariots, dashed against the earth by powerful elephants, became splintered into pieces. Wounded severely by elephants, steeds fell down with their riders.

Then there raged a fierce and dreadful fight in which nobody paid any regard to others. "Alas! Oh father" Oh son! Where are you, o friend! stay! Where do you run to!

Smite! Catch! Slay!" These and many other exclamations, mingled with loud laughter's, roars and war-cries, were uttered and heard there.

The blood of men and steeds and elephants mingled together, flowed in one current and caused the Earth's dust to disappear and inspired terror into the hearts of the cowards.

In that fight one hero having his car-wheel entangled with that of another and being too near to use any other weapon, smashed the other's head with a mace.

In that battle where there was no chance of safety, heroes, desirous of each other's safety, dragged one another by the head and fought with one another with blows, teeth and nails.

Upraised arms, with swords in grasp, of some heroes, were severed; the arms of others with bows or hook or arrows in grasp, were also lopped off.

Here warrior loudly challenged another, there, another turned away his face from the field. Another lopped off from the trunk the head of another who happened to encounter him.

Some rushed to fight uttering fierce yells. Some became inspired with terror at the sound. Some slew with his sharp arrows a friend or a foe.

Here an elephant huge like the summit of a hill, slain by a lance, lay on the field, like a flat island in a river during the summer season.

There like a mountain with rellets flowing down its breasts, stood an elephant exuding the temporal juice, having crushed with its huge legs a car-warrior together with his steeds and charioteer.

Many weak-hearted cowards overwhelmed with swoons at the sight of heroes accomplished in the use of weapons fighting with one another, literally bathed in blood.

Everything rolled in confusion and nothing could be distinguished. Soldiers enveloped in dust fought on regardless of one another.

Then the generalissimo of the Pandava troops saying “This is the opportune moment" quickly led the Pandavas ever endowed with activity, to the battle.

At his command the mighty-armed Pandavas, like a flock of swans descending on the breast of a lake, came down upon Drona's car, spreading slaughter as they proceeded.

Then near the chariot of the invincible Drona, loud cries of “Seize," "Do not fly," "Be not afraid” “Cut to pieces" were heard.

Thereupon Drona, Kripa, Karna, Drona's son, king Jayadratha, the two princes from Avanti, viz., Vinda and Anuvinda and Shalya, checked that assault (of the Pandava troops).

Those irresistible and invincible warriors, the Panchalas and the Pandavas, all inflamed with righteous indignation, did not avoid Drona, though afflicted with showers of arrows.

Thereat Drona, excited to the highest pitch of fury, spread a great carnage among the ranks of the Chedis, the Panchalas and the Pandavas, by means of arrows which he discharged by hundreds.

Then, O sire, the twang of his bow and the slap of his palms were heard in all the points of compass, resembling the rumble of thunder and inspiring terror into the hearts of many a man.

At this juncture, the ever-victorious Arjuna, having vanquished the numerous host of the Samshaptakas, came to the spot where Drona had been crushing the Pandava ranks.

Then Phalguna showed himself in that part of the field, after having vanquished and slain the Samshaptakas and crossed many a lake whose waters were constituted by gore and whose mighty eddies were constituted by the numerous shafts.

Then we beheld the standard, bearing the emblem of the ape, of that one of illustrious renown and equal to the sun in effulgence, shine on that part of the field.

Having dried up the Samshaptaka ocean with his weapons that constituted his rays, that son of Pandu then looking like the sun during the dissolution period at the end of a Yuga, began to scorch the Kaurava ranks.

Like the comet risen at the end of a Yuga burning every creature. Arjuna then began to blast with the power of his weapons the Kuru hosts.

Pierced by him with thousands of shafts, elephant-riders, horse-soldiers and warriors, fell down on the earth, with hair dishevelled and bodies mangled with arrowwounds.

Some uttered distressful cries, some emitted loud roars; others again struck by the shafts of Pritha's son, fell down deprived of life.

Remembering the duties of a warrior, Arjuna then desisted from slaying those among the hostile warrior who were falling or fallen or those who turned away from the field of battle.

The Kuru warriors then, deprived of their cars and filled with wonder and with their faces turned away from the field of battle, began to utter cries of “Oh”! and "Alas" and called upon Karna saying "O Karna, O Karna."

The son of Adhiratha then hearing those distressful cries of those who deserved his help, proceeded to face Arjuna, saying at the same time, “Be not afraid, Owarriors."

Then that foremost of the Bharata combatants, that delighter of all the Bharata heroes, viz., Karna, that foremost of all conversant with the use of weapons, invoked into existence the Agneya weapon.

Dhananjaya however with the network of arrows woven by himself, repulsed the arrowy downpour of that hero (Karna) of bright shafts and effulgent bow.

Similarly the son of Adhiratha repulsed the arrows of Arjuna of blazing energy. Thereafter the former repulsing the weapons of the latter with his own weapons and discharging myriad's of shafts, uttered loud roars.

Meanwhile Dhrishtadyumna, Bhima and Satyaki, these mighty car-warriors, having approached Karna, pierced him each with three straight-flying arrows.

Thereupon Radha's son, having at first resisted Arjuna's weapons by his arrowy showers, cut-off the bow of those three warriors with three darts.

Then with their bows severed, those warriors with three darts appeared like serpents without venom. Then from their respctive cars, hurling lances at the foe, they uttered loud warcries.

Then those mighty and blazing lances hurled with fury by the arms of those heroes, coursed swiftly towards Adhiratha's son, looking like so many (flying) snakes.

Severing each of those lances with three swift-coursing arrows and speeding at the same time myriad's of shafts at Arjuna the highly puissant Karna uttered a loud roar.

Then Arjuna also piercing Radha's son with seven swift-flying arrows, slew the younger brothers of Karna with three shafts of great sharpness.

Thereafter Pritha's son having slain Satrunjaya also with six straight-going arrows, speedily deprived Vitapa of his head with lances, as the latter stood on his chariot.

Thus those three uterine bothers of Suta's son were slain by the singly-handed diademdecked Arjuna even before the very eyes of all the Dharitarashtras.

Then like second son of Vinata, Bhima jumping down from his chariot, slew with his sword of excellent make five and ten warriors of Karna's party.

Then once more ascending his car and taking up a bow he pierced Karna with ten and his horses and charioteer with five shafts.

Dhrishtadyumna also grasping an excellent sword and an effulgent buckler, slew Chandravarman and Vrihatkshatra the ruler of the Nishadha.

Thereafter mounting on his chariot and taking up a bow, the prince of the Panchalas pierced Karna with seventy-three shafts uttering loud shouts all the while.

the grandson of Sini, of splendour equal to that of Indra himself, also grasping a fresh bow pierced the son of Suta with sixty-four arrows and uttered a roar like that of a lion.

Then with two well-directed broad-headed shafts he burst open Karna's bow; and once more he pierced Karna on the arms and breast with three shafts.

Thereupon king Duryodhana, Drona and Jayadratha, with a combined effort, rescued Radha's son who had been sinking in the ocean of Satyaki.

Then hundreds of foot-soldiers, horse-men, elephant-riders and car-warriors. all accomplished in smiling, rushed to the rescue of Karna, inspiring terror into the hearts of the enemy.

Dhrishtadyumna, Bhima, Subhadra's son and Arjuna and Nakula and Sahadeva, all then protected Satyaki in that conflict.

Thus for the destruction of all the bowmen, raged the awful battle between your warriors and those of the enemy, in which everybody fought reckless of his life.

Foot-soldiers, car-warriors, elephant-riders and horse-men were engaged with elephantriders horse-men, car-warriors and footsoldiers; car-warriors fought with elephants, infantry and cavalry and cars and infantry were engaged with cars and elephants.

Horses were seen engaged with horses, elephants with elephants, car-warriors with carwarriors and foot-soldiers with foot-soldiers.

Thus raged between those high-souled and fearless warriors, the fierce fight marked by carnage, enhancing the delight of the fleshcating animals and adding the population of Death's domain.

In that battle many were the car-warriors, elephant-riders and foot-soldiers and horsemen that were slain. Elephants were crushed by their rivals. Car-warriors with weapons held over head, were slain by car-warriors and horse-men by horse-men and large bodies of infantry by infantry.

Elephants were slain by car-warriors, steeds। were crushed by excellent elephants; men were killed by horses and horses again by excellent car-warriors. With their eyes, tongues and teeth protruding out and with their armours and omaments shattered, many a creatures lay on the earth deprived of the vital spark.

Others, again, of dreadful aspect being slain by others armed with various and excellent weapons, fell down on the earth; they then were pressed inside the earth being trod upon by elephants and steeds and being crushed and mangled by sharp edges of car-wheels.

When that dreadful destruction of beings went on enhancing the joys of beasts and birds of prey and cannibals, mighty heroes, inflamed with wrath, coursed over the field of battle smiting one another with impetuosity.

When the ranks of both the armies were greatly thinned, the combatants, with bodies bespattered with blood, looked at one another. At that moment, O Bharata, the orb of the day disappearing below the horizon, the two armies slowly returned their respective encampments. to