son in battle, the divisions of thy army and of the foe, O Bharata, became mingled with one another.  Tremendous was the din, O Bharata, that arose there of those warriors burning with rage and rushing against each other.  And it was heard on all sides, O king.  With the blare of conchs and the leonine shouts of the soldiers, the uproar became awful.  The splendour, equal to that of either the Sun or the Moon, of bracelets and diadems of all the heroic kings, became dimmed.  And the dust that rose looked like a cloud, the flash of bright weapons constituting its lightning.  And the twang of bows, the whiz of arrows, the blare of conchs, the loud beat of drums, and the rattle of cars, of both the armies, constituted the fierce roar of those clouds.  And the welkin, over the field of battle, in consequence of the bearded darts, the javelins, the swords and showers of arrows of both armies, was darkened.  And car-warriors, and horsemen felled horsemen, in that dreadful battle.  And elephants killed elephants, and foot-soldiers slew foot-soldiers.  And the battle that took place there for Bhishma’s sake, between the Kurus and the Pandavas, O tiger among men, was fierce in the extreme, like that between two hawks for a piece of flesh.  Engaged in battle, that encounter between those combatants desirous of slaughtering and vanquishing one another, was extremely dreadful.”

SECTION CXVII

Sanjaya said, “Abhimanyu, O king, displaying his prowess for the sake of Bhishma, fought with thy son who was supported by a large force.  Then Duryodhana, excited with wrath, struck Abhimanyu in the chest with rune straight arrows, and once more with three.  Then in that battle, Arjuna’s son, inflamed with wrath, hurled at Duryodhana’s car a terrible dart resembling the rod of Death himself.  Thy son, however, that mighty car-warrior, O king, with a broad-headed arrow of great sharpness, cut off in twain that dart of terrible force coursing towards him with great speed.  Beholding that dart of his drop down on the earth, Arjuna’s wrathful son pierced Duryodhana with three shafts in his arms and chest.  And once more, O Chief of the Bharatas, that mighty car-warrior of Bharata’s race struck the Kuru king with ten fierce shafts in the centre of his chest.  And the battle, O Bharata, that took place between those two heroes, viz., Subhadra’s son, and that bull of Kuru’s race, the former fighting for compassing Bhishma’s death and the latter for Arjuna’s defeat, was fierce and interesting to behold, and gratifying to the senses, and was applauded by all the kings.  That bull among Brahmanas and chastiser of foes, viz., the son of Drona, excited with wrath in that battle, forcibly struck Satyaki in the chest with fierce arrow.  The grandson of Sini also, that hero of immeasurable soul, struck the preceptor’s son in every vital limbs with nine shafts winged with the feathers of the Kanka bird.  Aswatthaman then, in that battle, struck