beautiful like a three-peaked mountain washed with water in the season of rains.  The son of Drona then afflicted the Pandava with hundreds of arrows, but failed to shake him like the wind failing to shake the mountain.  Similarly the son of Pandu, filled with joy, could not in that battle shake the son of Drona with his hundreds of keen shafts like torrents of rain failing to shake a mountain.  Shrouding each other with showers of terrible shafts those two great car-warriors, those two heroes, endued with fierce might, shone resplendent on those two foremost of cars of theirs.  Then they looked like two blazing Suns risen for the destruction of the world, and engaged themselves in scorching each other with their rays representing excellent arrows.  Endeavouring with great care to counteract each other’s feats in the great battle, and actually engaged in matching deed by deed with showers of arrows most fearlessly, those two foremost of men careered in that combat like a couple of tigers.  Both invincible and terrible, arrows constituted their fangs and bows their mouths.  They became invisible under those clouds of arrows on all sides like the Sun and the Moon in the firmament shrouded by masses of clouds.  And then those two chastisers of foes soon became visible and blazed forth like Mars and Mercury freed from cloudy screens.  Then at that instant during the progress of that awful battle, Drona’s son placing Vrikodara to his right, poured hundreds of fierce arrows upon him like the clouds pouring torrents of rain upon a mountain.  Bhima, however, could not brook that indication of his enemy’s triumphs.  The son of Pandu, O king, from that very station on Ashvatthama’s right, began to counteract the latter’s feats.  Their cars continuing to wheel around in diverse ways and advance and retreat (according to the exigencies of the situation), the battle between those two lions among men became exceedingly furious.  Careering in diverse paths, and (executing) circular manoeuvres, they continued to strike each other with arrows shot from their bows drawn to their fullest stretch.  And each made the greatest endeavours to compass the destruction of the other.  And each of them desired to make the other carless in that battle.  Then that car-warrior, viz., the son of Drona, invoked many mighty weapons.  The son of Pandu, however, in that battle, with his own weapons, counteracted all those weapons of his foe.  Then, O monarch, there took place an awful encounter of weapons, like to the terrible encounter of planets at the time of the universal dissolution.  Those shafts, O Bharata, let off by them, coming in collision, illuminated all the points of the compass and thy troops also all around.  Covered with flights of arrows, the welkin assumed a terrible sight, like to what happens, O king, at the time of the universal dissolution, when it is covered with falling meteors.  From the clash of shafts, O Bharata, fire was generated there with sparks and blazing flames.  That fire