car-warriors and steeds and kings, flying away in fear, made, as they fled, a loud and awful din that, O monarch, filled the earth and sky and heaven and the cardinal and subsidiary directions in that battle.  Mounted on that foremost of elephants, king Bhagadatta penetrated the hostile army like the Asura Virochana in days of old into the celestial host in battle well-protected by the gods.  A violent wind began to blow; a dusty cloud covered the sky and the troops; and people regarded that single elephant as multiplied into many, coursing all over the field.’”

SECTION XXV

“Sanjaya said, ’Thou askest me about the feats of Arjuna in battle.  Listen, O thou of mighty arms, to what Partha achieved in the fight.  Beholding the risen dust and hearing the wail of the troops when Bhagadatta was performing great feats on the field, the son of Kunti addressed Krishna and said ’O slayer of Madhu, it seems that the ruler of the Pragjyotishas hath, on his elephant, with great impetuosity, advanced to battle.  This loud din that we hear must be due to him.  Well-versed in the art of grinding and battling from the back of an elephant, and not inferior to Indra himself in battle, he, I think, is the formost of all elephant-warriors in the world.[54] His elephant, again, is the foremost of elephants, without a rival to encounter it in battle.  Possessed of great dexterity and above all fatigue, it is, again, impervious to all weapons.  Capable of bearing every weapon and even the touch of fire, it will, O sinless one, alone destroy the Pandava force today.  Except us two, there is none else capable of checking that creature.  Go quickly, therefore, to that spot where the ruler of the Pragjyotishas is.  Proud in battle, in consequence of the strength of his elephant, and arrogant in consequence of his age, I will this very day send him as a guest to the slayer of Vala.’  At these words of Arjuna, Krishna began to proceed to the place where Bhagadatta was breaking the Pandava ranks.  While Arjuna was proceeding towards Bhagadatta, the mighty Samsaptaka car-warriors, numbering fourteen thousand, made up of ten thousand Gopalas or Narayanas who used to follow Vasudeva, returning to the field, summoned him to battle.  Beholding the Pandava host broken by Bhagadatta, and summoned on the other hand by the Samsaptakas, Arjuna’s heart was divided in twain.  And he began to think, ’Which of these two act will be better for me to do today, to return from this spot for battling with Samsaptakas or to repair to Yudhishthira?’ Reflecting with the aid of his understanding, O perpetuator of Kuru’s race, Arjuna’s heart, at last, was firmly fixed on the slaughter of the Samsaptakas.  Desirous of alone slaughtering in battle thousands of car-warriors, Indra’s son (Arjuna) having the foremost of apes on banner, suddenly turned back.  Even this was what both Duryodhana and Karna had thought of for achieving the slaughter of Arjuna.  And it