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Sanjaya said, “Then when the blare of conchs and the peal of drums became very loud, those two foremost of men, both owning white steeds, the suta’s son Vikartana and Arjuna, encountered each other in consequence, O king, of thy son’s evil policy.  Those two heroes endued with great impetuosity, Dhananjaya and Adhiratha’s son, closed with each other like two infuriated Himalayan elephants, both of full-grown tusks, fighting with each other for the sake of a she-elephant in her season.  Like a mass of clouds encountering another mass, or a mountain encountering a mountain, those two warriors, both pouring showers of arrows, encountered each other, their bows loudly twanging the while, and the wheels of their cars producing a deafening clatter, and their bow-strings and palms emitting loud sounds.  Like two mountains, both endued with tall cliffs and abounding in trees and creepers and herbs and both teeming with the diverse other denizens that are natural to them, moving towards each other for an encounter, those two mighty warriors encountered each other, each striking the other with mighty weapons.

The combat between the two heroes became furious like that between the chief of the celestials and Virocana’s son in days of yore.  Incapable of being endured by others and marked by a river whose distasteful water consisted of blood, the limbs of those two heroes, as also their drivers and animals, became exceedingly mangled.  Like two large lakes, both teeming with lotuses of diverse kinds and fish and tortoises, and echoing with the voices of diverse kinds of fowl, and softly stirred by the wind, approaching each other, those two cars graced with standards approached each other.  Both endued with prowess equal to that of the great Indra, both resembling the great Indra himself, those two mighty car-warriors struck each other with shafts that resembled the great Indra’s thunder, like the great Indra himself and (the asura) Vritra.

Both the armies consisting of cars and elephants and steeds and foot-soldiers, all equipped with beautiful armour and ornaments and robes and weapons, and those also that were in the welkin, were inspired with fear upon beholding that encounter of wonderful aspect between Arjuna and Karna.  Others among the spectators, filled with joy and uttering leonine shouts, raised their arms, waving their fingers or the pieces of cloth they held, when Arjuna rushed against the son of Adhiratha, from desire of slaughter, like one infuriated elephant rushing against another.

The Somakas then loudly shouted to Partha, saying, “Be quick, O Arjuna, go and pierce Karna.  Cut off his head without delay, and (with it) the desire of Dhritarashtra’s son for kingdom.”  Similarly many warriors of ours that were there, said unto Karna, “Proceed, proceed, O Karna, and slay Arjuna with keen shafts.  Let the sons of Pritha once more go to the woods forever.”

Then Karna first pierced Partha in that encounter, with ten mighty shafts.  Arjuna pierced him in return with ten keen-pointed shafts, shot with great vigour, in the centre of the chest.  Indeed, the suta’s son and Arjuna then mangled each other with many shafts equipped with goodly wings.  Desirous of obtaining advantage of each other’s lapses in that dreadful encounter, with cheerful hearts they rushed against each other fiercely.