of Adhiratha, then pierced Bhima with nine keen arrows.  Struck with those arrows, like an elephant struck with the hook.  Vrikodara fearlessly rushed against the Suta’s son.  Karna, however, rushed against that bull among the Pandavas who was thus rushing towards him with great impetuosity and might, like an infuriated elephant against an infuriated compeer.  Blowing his conch then, whose blast resembled the sound of a hundred trumpets, Karna cheerfully agitated the force that supported Bhima, like the raging sea.  Beholding that force of his consisting of elephants and steeds and cars and foot-soldiers, thus agitated by Karna, Bhima, approaching the former, covered him with arrows.  Then Karna caused his own steeds of the hue of swans to be mingled with those of Bhimasena’s of the hue of bears, and shrouded the son of Pandu with his shafts.  Beholding those steeds of the hue of bears and fleet as the wind, mingled with those of the hue of swans, cries of oh and alas arose from among the troops of thy sons.  Those steeds, fleet as the wind, thus mingled together, looked exceedingly beautiful like white and black clouds, O monarch, mingled together in the firmament.  Beholding Karna and Vrikodara to be both excited with wrath, great car-warriors of thy army began to tremble with fear.  The field of battle where they fought soon became awful like the domain of Yama.  Indeed, O best of Bharatas, it became as frightful to behold as the city of the dead.  The great car, warriors of thy army, looking upon that scene, as if they were spectators of a sport in an arena, beheld not any of the two to gain any advantage over the other in that dreadful encounter.  They only beheld, O king, that mingling and clash of the mighty weapons of those two warriors, as a result, O monarch, of the evil policy of thyself and thy son.  Those two slayers of foes-continued to cover each other with their keen shafts.  Both endued with wonderful prowess, they filled the welkin with their arrowy downpours.  Those two mighty car-warriors shooting at each other keen shafts from desire of taking each other’s life, became exceedingly beautiful to behold like two clouds pouring torrents of rain.  Those two chastisers of foes, shooting gold-decked arrows, made the welkin look bright, O king, as if with blazing meteors.  Shafts equipped with vulturine feathers, shot by those two heroes, looked like rows of excited cranes in the autumn sky.  Meanwhile, Krishna and Dhananjaya, those chastisers of foes, engaged in battle with the Suta’s son, thought the burthen too great for Bhima to bear.  As Karna and Bhima for baffling each other’s shafts, shot these arrows at each other, many elephants and steeds and men deeply struck therewith, fell down deprived of life.  And in consequence of those falling and fallen creatures deprived of life counting by thousands, a great carnage, O king, took place in the army of thy sons.  And soon, O bull of Bharata’s race, the field of battle became covered with the bodies of men and steeds and elephants deprived of life.’”