made a loud uproar resembling that of splitting hills.  Stay—­Here I stand,—­Know this one,—­Turn back,—­Stand,—­I wait for thee—­Strike,—­these were the words heard everywhere.  And the sound of falling coats of mail made of gold, of crowns and diadems, and of standards resembled the sound of falling stones on a stony ground.  And heads, and arms decked with ornaments, falling by hundreds and thousands upon the ground moved in convulsions.  And some brave combatants, with heads severed from their trunks, continued to stand weapons in grasp or armed with drawn bow.  And a dreadful river of blood began to flow there, of impetuous current, miry with flesh and blood, and with the bodies of (dead) elephants for its (sub-aqueous) rocks.  Flowing from the bodies of steeds, men, and elephants, and delightful to vultures and jackals, it ran towards the ocean represented by the next world.  A battle such as that, O king, which (then) took place between thy sons, O Bharata, and the Pandavas, was never seen or heard before.  And in consequence of the bodies of combatants slain in that conflict, cars could not make their way.  And the field of battle in consequence of the bodies of slain elephants seemed to be strewn over with blue crests of hills.  And the field of battle, strewn with variegated coats of mail and turbans, O sire, looked beautiful like the firmament autumn.  And some combatants were seen who, though severely wounded, yet rushed cheerfully and proudly upon the foe in battle.  And many, fallen on the field of battle, cried aloud, saying—­’O father, O brother, O friend, O kinsman, O companion, O maternal uncle, do not abandon me.’—­And others cried aloud, saying,—­’Come!  Come thou here!  Why art thou frightened?  Where dost thou go?  I stand in battle, do not be afraid.’  And in that combat Bhishma, the son of Santanu, with bow incessantly drawn to a circle, shot shafts of blazing points, resembling snakes of virulent poison.  And shooting continuous line of arrows in all directions, that hero of rigid vows smote the Pandava car-warriors naming each beforehand, O Bharata.  And displaying his extreme lightness of hands, and dancing (as it were) along the track of his car, he seemed, O king, to be present everywhere like a circle of fire.  And in consequence of the lightness of his movements, the Pandavas in that battle, along with the Srinjayas, beheld that hero, though really alone, as multiplied a thousand-fold.  And every one there regarded Bhishma as having multiplied his self by illusion.  Having seen him now on the east, the next moment they saw him on the west.  And so having seen him on the north, the next moment they saw him on the south.  And the son of Ganga was thus seen fighting in that battle.  And there was no one amongst the Pandavas capable of even looking at him.  What they all saw were only the innumerable shafts shot from his bow.  And heroic warriors, beholding him achieve such feats in battle, and (thus) slaughtering their ranks, uttered many lamentations.