O thou of mighty arms, it behoveth
thee to say this to me!"

"'Bhishma said, "O foremost one of the Kurus, O lord of the earth, thou
enquirest about the strength and weakness of the foe. This, indeed, is
worthy of thee. Listen, O king, as I tell thee the utmost limit of my
power in battle, or of the energy of my weapons, or of the might of my
arms, O thou of mighty arms! As regards ordinary combatants, one should
fight with them artlessly. As regards those that are possessed of powers
of deception, one should fight with them aided by the ways of deception.
Even this is what hath been laid down in respect of the duties of
warriors. I can annihilate the Pandava army, O blessed monarch, taking
every morning ten thousand (ordinary) warriors and one thousand
car-warriors as my share from day to day. Cased in mail and always
exerting myself actively, I can, O Bharata, annihilate this large force,
according to this arrangement as regards both number and time. If,
however, stationed in battle, I shoot my great weapons that slay hundreds
and thousands at a time, then I can, O Bharata, finish the slaughter in a
month."'

"Sanjaya continued, 'Hearing these words of Bhishma, king Duryodhana then
asked Drona, O monarch, that foremost one of Angira's race, saying, "O
preceptor, in what time canst thou annihilate the troops of Pandu's son?"
Thus addressed by him, Drona said smilingly, "I am old, O mighty-armed
one! My energy and activity have both become weak. With the fire of my
weapons I can consume the army of the Pandavas, like Santanu's son
Bhishma, I think, in a month's time. Even this is the limit of my power,
even this is the limit of my strength." Then Saradwat's son Kripa said
that he could annihilate the foe in two month's time. Drona's son
(Aswatthaman) pledged himself to annihilate the Pandava army in ten
nights. Karna, however, acquainted as he was with weapons of high
efficacy, pledged himself to achieve that feat in five days. Hearing the
words of the Suta's son the son of the ocean-going (Ganga) laughed aloud
and said, "As long, O son of Radha, as thou encounterest not in battle
Partha with his arrows, conch, and bows and rushing to the combat on his
car with Vasudeva in his company, so long mayest thou think so! Why, thou
art capable of saying anything, even what thou pleasest!"'"

SECTION CXCVII

Vaisampayana said, "Hearing these words (of the leaders of the Kuru
army), Kunti's son Yudhishthira, summoning al