Karna Parva — The thick fight

Sanjaya said Desirous of slaying one another and cherishing hatred, the Kshatriyas, O monarch, killed one another in battle.

Cars, horses, men and elephants, O monarch, in large numbers, encountered one another on all sides.

We saw the falling maces, Parighas, Kunapas, lances, and rockets discharged at one another in that terrible encounter. Dreadful showers of arrows shot through like locusts.

Elephants struck elephants, horses routed horses and the car-warriors fought with carwarriors. There fought foot-soldiers with footsoldiers and the infantry with the cars and elephants and horsemen and elephants with the three other kinds of forces. They began to crush, O inonarch and grind one another. arrows

On account of those combatants striking one another and shouting at the top of their voices, the battle-field became awful, resembling the slaughter ground of creatures.

Covered with blood, the earth looked like a vast plain in the season of rains covered with red cochineal.

The earth assumed, as it were, the form of youthful maiden of great beauty clad in white robes dyed with deep red. Variegated with flesh and blood the earth appeared as if decked with gold.

Large numbers of beads, cut-off from trunks and arms and thighs and ear-rings and other ornaments stripped off the bodies of the warriors, collars, cuirasses, bodies of brave bowmen, coats of mail and banners, lay scattered on the earth.

O king, the elephants approaching other elephants tore one another with their tusks. Stuck with the tusks of assailing elephants they looked beautiful.

Bathed in blood those huge creatures looked resplendent like moving hills covered with metals and streams of liquid chalk.

Many of them seized the lances hurled by horsemen whilst others broke and twisted them.

Many huge elephants, with their armours cut-off with arrows, looked like mountains divested of clouds at the approach of the winter.

Many leading elephants, struck with goldwinged arrows, looked beautiful, like mountains whose summits are lighted with torches.

Struck by their antagonists some of those creatures, huge as hills, fell down in battle like winged mountains.

Others, afflicted with arrows and much pained by the wound, fell down on the earth in that dreadful encounter with their frontal globes or the parts between their tusks.

Others roared like lions. And many emitting terrible sounds ran hither and thither and many, O king, uttered cries of pain.

Horses, adorned with golden trappings, kills by arrows, fell down or became weak or ran in all directions.

Others, wounded with arrows or dragged, fell down on the earth making diverse kinds of motion in agony.

Men also slain fell down on the earth uttering many cries. Many beholding their relatives, fathers, grand-fathers, while others, seeing their retreating enemies called one another by their own and their family names.

Cut-off by enemies, the arms of many warriors adorned with golden ornaments fell down on the earth and writhed in agony.

Thousands of such arms fell down on the earth and sprang up and many seemed to dart forward like five-headed snakes.

O king, those arms, resembling the bodies of serpents, pasted with gold and besmeared with blood, appeared like little mountains.

When such a dreadful battle raged on all sides, people not know themselves killed one another.

When everything was covered with dust raised by the weapons, they, O king, could not recognise who were their own and who were their enemies.

Then there took place a dreadful encounter and there flew a river of blood striking terror unto all.

It was filled with heads forming the rocks. The hairs of the warriors formed the floating weeds and mosses. Bones formed the fishes; and bows, arrows and maces formed the rafts by which to cross them.

Flesh and blood formed their mire. Thus dreadful and terrible rivers, with currents swelled by blood, were formed there.

They struck terror unto the timid and increased the joy of the brave. Those awful rivers led to the abode of Yama.

And many plunged into those rivers striking terror unto the Kshatriyas and dies. O best of men, on account of many carnivorous animals emitting yells on all sides the battle-field became terrible, like the territory of the Regent of the Dead.

And innumerable, headless trunks rose on all sides. And many terrible creatures eating flesh and drinking blood and fat began to dance around.

And gratified with fat, marrow and flesh crows, vultures and cranes were seen to move about in delight.

The heroes, however, O king, shaking off fear and observing the warrior's warrior's vow, fearlessly did their duty.

On that field where innumerable arrows and darts passed through the air and where various carnivorous animals in large number and the brave warriors armed moved about displaying their powers.

They called out one another by their own and family names. And many taking the names of their fathers and families began to assail one another with darts, lances and battle axes.

In that-onset the Kuru army became divested of its strength and unable to stand any longer like a ship foundered on the bosom of the ocean.