saying, ’O Karna, slay the Rakshasa soon with thy dart.  These Kauravas and the Dhartarashtras are on the point of being annihilated.  What will Bhima and Arjuna do to us?  Slay this wretched Rakshasa at dead of night, who is consuming us all.  They that will escape from this dreadful encounter to-day will fight with the Parthas in battle.  Therefore, slay this terrible Rakshas now with that dart given thee by Vasava.  O Karna, let not these great warriors, the Kauravas, these princes that resemble Indra himself, be all destroyed in this nocturnal battle.’  Then Karna, seeing the Rakshasa alive at dead of night, and the Kuru army struck with fear, and hearing also the loud wails of the latter set his heart upon hurling his dart.  Inflamed with rage like a wrathful lion and unable to brook the assaults of the Rakshasa, Karna took up that foremost of victory-giving and invincible darts, desirous of compassing the destruction of Ghatotkacha.  Indeed, that dart, O king, which he had kept and adored for years for (achieving) the slaughter of Pandu’s son in battle, that foremost of darts which Sakra himself had given to the Suta’s son in exchange for the latter’s ear-rings, that blazing and terrible missile twined with strings and which seemed to thirst for blood, that fierce weapon which looked like the very tongue of the Destroyer or the sister of Death himself, that terrible and effulgent dart, Naikartana, was now hurled at the Rakshasa.  Beholding that excellent and blazing weapon capable of piercing the body of every foe, in the hands of the Suta’s son, the Rakshasa began to fly away in fear assuming a body gigantic as the foot of the Vindhya mountains.  Indeed, seeing that dart in Karna’s hand, all creatures in the sky, O king, uttered loud cries.  Fierce winds began to blow, and thunders with loud report began to fall on the earth.  Destroying that blazing illusion of Ghatotkacha and piercing right through his breast that resplendent dart soared aloft in the night and entered a starry constellation in the firmament.  Having fought, using diverse beautiful weapons, with many heroic Rakshasa and human warriors, Ghatotkacha, then uttering diverse terrible roars, fell, deprived of life with that dart of Sakra.  This also is another exceedingly wonderful feat that the Rakshasa accomplished for the destruction of his foes, that at a time when his heart was pierced by that dart, he shone resplendent, O king, like a mighty mountain or a mass of clouds.  Indeed, having assumed that terrible and awful form, Bhimasena’s son of frightful deeds fell down.  When dying, O king, he fell upon a portion of thy army and pressed those troops down by the weight of his own body.  Quickly falling down, the Rakshasa with his gigantic and still increasing body, desirous of benefiting the Pandavas, slew a full Akshauhini of thy troops while he himself breathed his last.  Then a loud uproar arose there made up of leonine shouts and blare of conchs and the beat of drums and cymbals.  The Kauravas indeed, beholding the illusion of the Rakshasa destroyed and the Rakshasa himself slain uttered loud shouts of joy.  Then Karna, worshipped by the Kurus as Sakra had been by the Maruts upon the slaughter of Vritra, ascended behind the car of thy son, and becoming the observed of all, entered the Kuru host.’”