“Arjuna, getting at the son of Ganga, afflicted him with many arrows of keen points, and rushed at him like an infuriate elephant in the forest upon another.  King Bhagadatta, however, of great prowess then rushed at Arjuna, and checked his course in battle with showers of arrows.  Arjuna then, in that dreadful battle, pierced Bhagadatta’s elephant coming towards him, with many polished arrows of iron, that were all bright as silver and furnished with keen points.  The son of Kunti, meanwhile, O king, urged Sikhandin, saying,—­Proceed, proceed, towards Bhishma, and slay him!—­Then, O elder brother of Pandu, the ruler of Pragjyotishas, abandoning that son of Pandu, quickly proceeded, O king, against the car of Drupada.  Then Arjuna, O monarch, speedily proceeded towards Bhishma, placing Sikhandin ahead.  And then there took place a fierce battle, for all the brave combatants of thy army rushed with great vigour against Arjuna, uttering loud shouts.  And all this seemed extremely wonderful.  Like the wind dispersing in the summer masses of clouds in the welkin, Arjuna dispersed, O king, all those diverse divisions of thy sons.  Sikhandin, however, without any anxiety, coming up at the grandsire of the Bharatas, quickly pierced him with great many arrows.  As regards Bhishma, his car was then his fire-chamber.  His bow was the flame of that fire.  And swords I and darts and maces constituted the fuel of that fire.  And the showers of arrows he shot were the blazing sparks of that fire with which he was then consuming Kshatriyas in that battle.  As a raging conflagration with constant supply of fuel, wandereth amid masses of dry grass when aided by the wind, so did Bhishma blaze up with his flames, scattering his celestial weapons.  And the Kuru hero slew the Somakas that followed Partha in that battle.  Indeed that mighty car-warrior checked also the other forces of Arjuna, by means of his straight and whetted shafts furnished with wings of gold.  Filling in that dreadful battle all the points of the compass, cardinal and subsidiary, with his leonine shouts, Bhishma felled many car-warriors, O king, (from their cars) and many steeds along with their riders.  And he caused large bodies of cars to look like forests of palmyras shorn of their leafy heads.  That foremost of all wielders of weapons, in that battle, deprived cars and steeds and elephants, of their riders.  Hearing the twang of his bow and the slap of his palms, both resembling the roll of the thunder, the troops, O king, trembled all over the field.  The shafts, O chief of men, of thy sire were never bootless as they fell.  Indeed, shot from Bhishma’s bow they never fell only touching the bodies of the foe (but pierced them through in every case).  We saw crowds of cars, O king, deprived of riders, but unto which were yoked fleet steeds, dragged on all sides with the speed of the wind.  Full fourteen thousand great car-warriors of noble parentage, prepared to lay down their lives, unretreating and brave, and