Karna and Arjuna.  Thinking that that was the time for gratifying his animosity towards, as he thought, the wicked-souled Partha, he quickly entered into Karna’s quiver, O king, in the form of an arrow.  At that time a net of arrows was seen, shedding its bright arrows around.  Karna and Partha made the welkin one dense mass of arrows by means of their arrowy downpours.  Beholding that wide-spread expanse of arrows, all the Kauravas and the Somakas became filled with fear.  In that thick and awful darkness caused by arrows they were unable to see anything else.  Then those two tigers among men, those two foremost of all bowmen in the world, those two heroes, fatigued with their exertions in battle, looked at each other.  Both of them were then fanned with excellent and waving fans made of young (palm) leaves and sprinkled with fragrant sandal-water by many Apsaras staying in the welkin.  And Sakra and Surya, using their hands, gently brushed the faces of those two heroes.  When at last Karna found that he could not prevail over Partha and was exceedingly scorched with the shafts of the former, that hero, his limbs very much mangled, set his heart upon that shaft of his which lay singly within a quiver.  The Suta’s son then fixed on his bow-string that foe-killing, exceedingly keen, snake-mouthed, blazing, and fierce shaft, which had been polished according to rule, and which he had long kept for the sake of Partha’s destruction.  Stretching his bow-string to his ear, Karna fixed that shaft of fierce energy and blazing splendour, that ever-worshipped weapon which lay within a golden quiver amid sandal dust, and aimed it at Partha.  Indeed, he aimed that blazing arrow, born in Airavata’s race, for cutting off Phalguna’s head in battle.  All the points of the compass and the welkin became ablaze and terrible meteors, and thunderbolts fell.  When that snake of the form of an arrow was fixed on the bow-string, the Regents of the world, including Sakra, set up loud wails.  The Suta’s son did not know that the snake Aswasena had entered his arrow by the aid of his Yoga powers.  Beholding Vaikartana aim that arrow, the high-souled ruler of the Madras, addressing Karna, said, “This arrow, O Karna, will not succeed in striking off Arjuna’s head.  Searching carefully, fix another arrow that may succeed in striking off thy enemy’s head.”  Endued with great activity, the Suta’s son, with eyes burning in wrath, then said unto the ruler of the Madras, “O Shalya, Karna never aimeth an arrow twice.  Persons like us never become crooked warriors.”  Having said these words, Karna, with great care, let off that shaft which he had worshipped for many long years.  Bent upon winning the victory, O king, he quickly said unto his rival, “Thou art slain, O Phalguna!” Sped from Karna’s arms, that shaft of awful whizz, resembling fire or the sun in splendour, as it left the bow-string, blazed up in the welkin and seemed to divide it by a line such as is visible on the crown of a woman dividing her