“When that crest of the Kuru race, viz., Bhishma of great energy, fell down, the Pandavas and the Srinjayas uttered leonine shouts.  When the grandsire of the Bharatas who was endued with great might was overthrown, thy son, O bull of Bharata’s race, knew not what to do.  And all the Kurus were entirely deprived of their senses.  And the Kurus headed by Kripa, and Duryodhana, sighed and wept.  And from grief they remained for a long while deprived of their senses.  And they remained perfectly still, O monarch, without setting their hearts on battle.  As if seized by thighs, they stood motionless, without proceeding against the Pandavas.  When Santanu’s son Bhishma of mighty energy, who was (regarded as) unslayable, was slain, all of us thought that the destruction of the Kuru king was at hand.[490] Vanquished by Savyasachin, with our foremost heroes slain, and ourselves mangled with sharp arrows, we knew not what to do.  And the heroic Pandavas possessed of massive arms that looked like spiked maces, having obtained the victory and won a highly blessed state in the other world,[491] all blew their great conches.  And the Somakas and the Panchalas all rejoiced, O king.  Then when thousands of trumpets were blown, the mighty Bhimasena slapped his arm-pits and uttered loud shouts.  When the all-powerful son of Ganga was slain, the heroic warriors of both armies, laying down their weapons, began to reflect thoughtfully.  And some uttered loud shrieks and some fled away, and some were deprived of their senses.  And some censured the practices of the Kshatriya order and some applauded Bhishma.  And the Rishis and the Pitris all applauded Bhishma of high vows.  And the deceased ancestors of the Bharatas also praised Bhishma.  Meanwhile the valiant and intelligent Bhishma, the son of Santanu, having recourse to that Yoga which is taught in the great Upanishads and engaged in mental prayers, remained quiet, expectant of his hour.”

SECTION CXXI

Dhritarashtra said, ’Alas, what was the state of (my) warriors, O Sanjaya, when they were deprived of the mighty and god-like Bhishma who had become a Brahmacharin for the sake of his reverend sire?  Even then I regarded the Kurus and all the others as slain by the Pandavas when Bhishma, despising the son of Drupada, struck him not.  Wretch that I am, also, I hear today of my sire’s slaughter.  What can be a heavier sorrow than this?  My heart assuredly, O Sanjaya, is made of adamant, since it breaketh not into a hundred fragments on hearing of Bhishma’s death!  Tell me, O thou of excellent vows, what was done by that lion among the Kurus, viz., the victory-desiring Bhishma when he was slain in battle.  I cannot at all brook it that Devavrata should be slain in battle.  Alas, he that was not slain by Jamadagni’s son himself in days of old by means of even his celestial weapons, alas, he hath now been slain by Drupada’s son Sikhandin, the prince of Panchala!—­